All-New X-Men Special #1

All-New X-Men Special #1

The Arms of the Octopus part 1 (of 3):
"Elegy in the Classroom"

Story: Mike Costa
Penciler/Inker: Kris Anka
Colourist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Cory Petit

"The Arms of the Octopus" is a 3-part story that will take place in special issues of All-New X-Men, Indestructible Hulk, and Superior Spider-man Team-Up.  Does this story promise to be something special?  Hit the jump to find out.


Summary:  As seen in the All New X-Men books, Beast has brought the original X-Men (Cyclops, Jean, Iceman, Beast, and Angel) to the future in order to force the current Cyclops into seeing what he has become.  In this issue, Beast, Iceman, Cyclops, and Jean are seeing modern day New York City for the first time.  While Cyclops and Jean go off to do their own thing, Iceman and Beast hit up Central Park, where Beast meets a young woman with similar interests to his own.  When she reveals she is studying under Dr. Jude at Empire State University, Beast goes with her to reconnect with one of his old professors and to see his work with time travel.  Upon arrival, the lab is attacked by none other than Doctor Octopus, which is a real surprise to the Superior Spider-man, since, you know, he is the real Doctor Octopus in Spider-man's body.  Along with the past X-Men, Spider-man battles Doctor Octopus and defeat him, removing his mechanical arms in the process.  They find out that this Doctor Octopus is "blazing with gamma radiation", and Spider-man puts in a call to S.H.I.E.L.D to get Doctor Bruce Banner's help with the situation.

The good:  Kris Anka does a stellar job with the art in this issue, in particular, his fight scenes with Doctor Octopus are extremely well done.  He also nails the awkwardness with Beast and the girl in the park, in no small part because of the great facial expressions he draws.  The compliment the great art in this book, Costa delivers a top notch first issue to get this story going. Costa has a great handle on writing the X-Men from the past and their struggles to adapt to the modern world.  The scenes with Jean struggling to control her psychic abilities are well written and provide a nice contrast to the comical scenes with Beast trying to score a date and Iceman doing Yoga in the park.  Costa also writes a very good Superior Spider-man, which is a lot of writers outside of Dan Slott seem to

struggle with.  It is even more impressive given the situation in this story, with Otto confronting what appears to be a radiated-past-self.  The banter between Spider-man and the past X-Men is also a highlight in this issue, especially the moment after declaring time travel a rarity that Spider-man realizes these X-Men are from the past.  The conclusion to the issue sets up an interesting team-up going forward, as apparently the Hulk is set to join the cast in the next issue.

The not so good:  There really isn't anything bad to say about this issue.  It is exceptionally well done, especially for the first issue of a special, crossover, story.

Overall rating: A (9.7.10)

Ads:

The first ad is for a new Lego-Marvel video game, which looks pretty sweet.  The second is for some Iron Man costumes, being that Halloween is just a few weeks away.