Age of X-Man: The Amazing Nightcrawler #1
Writer: Seanan McGuire
Penciler: Juan Frigeri
Colorist: Dono Sanchez-Almara
Cover Artist: Shane Davis
Reviewer: KrisK
Nightcrawler! He stars in the Bond films, Titanic, and multiple other box office smashes! No, really. Not the Kurt Wagner you remember? Well, that’s because this is the AGE OF X-MAN!
If you haven’t been following the sensational Uncanny X-Men miniseries, which you really should, then let me catch you up. X-Man, aka Nate Grey, the ultra-powerful psychic son of Cyclops and Jean Gray in the Age of Apocalypse timeline, returned from the dead (basically). He picked Magneto, Blob, Omega Red, and Angel as his Four Horsemen of Salvation. They began a campaign to end pollution of the earth and all-around violence, by force. The X-men obviously interfered, and X-Man retaliated by taking all of the multiple teams of X-men there away.
Now, in a series of miniseries, we get a glimpse of the world they were brought to. In this timeline/universe/reality/mass hallucination, mutants run the world. Everyone seems to be a mutant, (at least in this comic there are no homo sapiens). Fans adore Nightcrawler for his appearance; he has endless fans and movies. He is a kind star, of course, always helping out the children and victims of the world. The governments disappeared, and peace reigns.
Seanan McGuire, the writer of the October Daye book series, has been bopping around Marvel for about a year, finally securing the Gwen Stacy: Ghost Spider tie in last year. She has been a part of a few anthology stories and one shots, but I have no doubt she is on the way to landing her own series. McGuire captures Nightcrawler’s humanity perfectly. Even with all of the fame, Kurt still serves the people around him. The story, though a small tie-in, allows the reader to understand Kurt a little more, and considering this amazing character gets so little books to star in, every bit matters.
The art suits the book perfectly, allowing it to feel both like an X-Men book and its own world. It takes the X-style and it makes it cleaner, like they were dropped into an Archie comic. I love the redesigns, but I hope they don’t carry over too much into the main universe. I prefer classic Kurt. The vibrant colors pop beautifully. Nightcrawler glows on the page, in a way I am not used to but dig completely.
Verdict: Buy! This comic offers readers the rare chance to enjoy a Nightcrawler solo title, and it’s miniseries status makes it perfect to pick up.
