|
|
X NECROSHA
 SEND THIS TO A FRIEND!
 X NECROSHA
By: Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Zeb Wells, Mike Carey
Art: Clayton Crain, Laurence Campbell, Ibraim Roberson
Reviewed by: Brian Hofacker
Never has creepy been so pure awesome than in the trio of tales presented in X Necrosha! For longtime X-Fans, this one-shot brings back a festival of frighteningly familiar faces… but certainly not in a good way. The Hellions! Pyro! Blink! Destiny! All long dead…. are back, infected with a techno organic virus and under the control of Selene!
For fans of the original team of New Mutants, X Necrosha is something of an unexpected treat because the sight of long gone characters easily stirs an impression from a different era of Marvel’s mutant books; however, this pleasant nostalgia for the days of leg warmers, slumber parties and Magnum P.I. is quickly dispersed … replaced rapidly by the rank realization that these re-animated mutants of yesteryear are here for a more deadly sort of class reunion.
 The first story of this one-shot comes from writers Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost with art by Clayton Crain; a trio of bold talent that has proven time and again that they will neither spare the gore nor cap the death toll. “Necrosha: Chapter One” features the march of Selene and her small army (Wither, Blink, Senyala, Morts and Elipahs) to the desolate land of Genosha, which she finally declares as “Necrosha.” Here, readers should immediately remember the nearly sixteen million mutants that met their end in Genosha at the hands of Cassandra Nova’s Sentinels (New X-Men #115) and begin to understand the scale of Selene’s master plan. Not to mention, with Yost, Kyle and Crain orchestrating the X Necrosha storyline, and Selene on the brink of raising an unstoppable army, readers should be quite fearful for all their favorite mutant heroes and villains.
One of the more intriguing aspects of “Necrosha: Chapter One” is the reaction of certain characters when confronted with their undead friends and enemies, especially since these are not the usual brainless horror movie zombies, but rather talking, thinking and even sarcastic re-animations. For instance, Emma Frost, in her current kinder and gentler X-Men persona, breaks down at the sight of her former students, the Hellions. Even Sebastian Shaw is taken by the appearance of his son, Shinobi Shaw, who he killed, and Harold Leland, the formerly deceased “Black Bishop" of the Lords Cardinal of the Hellfire Club, and quickly realizes the overall hazard of the situation. As well, these reactions also foreshadow the question of what Warpath, with his “kill or be killed” X-Force ideology, will do when confronted with the return of Thunderbird, his brother.
 The second story, “Binary” by Zeb Wells and Ibraim Roberson, is perhaps the most truly tantalizing for X-Fans due to its dealing with the return of Doug Ramsey. With the recent reunion of the original New Mutants, this should be the joyous key to the return of their fallen teammate, Cypher. The story presents the contrary, though; Doug Ramsey is back, but he is under the control of the Black Queen, and apparently in a way that may prove deadly for one of the New Mutants. Fortunately, the story picks up in New Mutants #6, which serves up more than a few surprises.
“The Foretelling” is the final of the three stories contained in X Necrosha and deals with not only the resurrection of Destiny but also the idea that not all of the Black Queen’s army are fully under her control… or are they?
Overall, this is a flawless introduction and beginning to the next big X-Crossover, which has the potential to be an event as big as the “X-Tinction Agenda” or even the “Dark Phoenix Saga.” There is not a single part or aspect of the X Necrosha that does not leave the reader anxious for what, or who, is to come next or how it will affect the mutants in the long term. For anyone that has given up on the X-Books or hasn’t come back into the fold of X-Force or the New Mutants, X Necrosha is at the very least an interesting chance to see some dead friends again.
About Brian Hofacker: When not out saving the world from space monkeys or rescuing damsels in distress, Brian works for Dynamic Forces and Dynamite Entertainment, conducting interviews and producing reviews of comic books. Brian also writes a weekly column, “What’s in Brian's Bin” for DF. If you would like to be interviewed or have product that you would like reviewed for Dynamic Forces, please contact Brian at brian@dynamicforces.com
|
 |
