Comics Cornerstone: The Summers Family Vacation
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Happy Sunday everybody! How’s everyone’s weekend? I hope it went well. You know, one of the things that I enjoy most about the Holiday Season is getting to spend quality time with friends and family, especially those you don’t see very often. Speaking of quality time, the issue of “X-Men” that I’m about to review is all about Scott Summers getting to spend the day with his kids. Though, as you’re about to find out, their definition of “quality time” is drastically different than ours. So, let’s find out what kind of trouble this dysfunctional family gets into today!
Johnathan Hickman continues his run in “X-Men” issue #2. Much like the last issue, he’s still trying to set up this new universe for the mutants. I said it in the last review, and I’ll say it again here, we spent 12 issues building this universe before the proper series even started. I don’t understand why we’re still in this phase! I understand that Hickman likes to draw out his stories as much as possible to keep people interested and most of the time that works to his benefit. However, we’re only on the second issue and I’m already feeling fatigued. That’s not a good sign.
I guess I was just hoping that Hickman would start off the proper series with an action-packed arc. I probably should have known better. Instead, we get an even deeper look into the personal lives of the Summers family while also being introduced to some extremely dense concepts. The sad thing is, I really don’t care about the Summers. No X-Men fan does and that’s because Scott, aka Cyclops, has been written like such a jerk over the past decade. He’s so unlikeable at this point that no amount of retconning will change people’s opinion of him. It’s sad but true. And I want to like this book so bad! But I can’t get on board if all we’re doing is introducing new concepts every other issue that I’ll never understand.
So, let’s talk about the issue itself. We start off with Cyclops and his kids from the future, Cable and Prestige, on their way to investigate a mystery on the neighboring island of Arakkoa. It seems that Arakkoa is moving and is on a collision course with Krakoa. The three of them are tasked with finding out why and, above all, preventing the collision. Easier said than done. Cyclops and Prestige see this as an opportunity for some good old-fashioned family bonding time. Cable just wants to kill stuff. After all, he is a high-tech mercenary from the future. It’s in his nature. However, things on the island are not as they seem. There are plenty of hostile creatures preventing the three mutants from accomplishing their mission. And it doesn’t help that they only have a few hours before the two islands crash into each other.
At this point, I’ll move into my final thoughts because going any further into the plot will be spoiler territory. Let’s just say that, towards the end of the issue, they run into a mysterious island deity with some major ties to Apocalypse. And there’s also a weird thing that happens with the islands that can easily be compared to human anatomy. That’s all I’ll say. Overall though, I was pretty disappointed. It seems like Hickman, instead of advancing the story, would rather add more ingredients to an already too thick plot soup. I won’t give up on this yet since it’s only the second issue. But I’ll strongly consider it if we haven’t gotten anywhere by issue #5 or #6. I can only let Hickman slide so far.
Well, folks, that’s a wrap! I hope you learned something from this. Can I recommend it? Ask me after this first arc when I can give an informed opinion. Though don’t take it from me. Judge for yourself! If high concepts and long, drawn-out stories are your jam, then don’t let me stop you! As for what’s next, I’ll be reviewing the closing arcs for both Iron Man and Guardians in December. And there’s more awesome stuff coming too, so keep checking the feed! Until next time, stay comical!
