All New X-Men #16
Bendis has pulled off a miracle, if you can call it that. All New X-Men #16 continues where Battle of The Atom #1 left off and things get heated. We now know what it is that lit the fuse for this fight to have begun. As every problem that arose since the young X-Men came to the present, it all began with one specific person and it ends with that person as well. Easy to guess who that person may be, but the reason behind it is something that will throw you for a loop.
One thing that we always take into consideration when it comes to Bendis is being blindsided. Twists that will leave you shocked or filled with excitement. That is what every reader would have felt here and the suspense which built up to it was worth playing the guessing game. We now know who the future X-Men are and what it is that makes their goal so important. It would be hard to believe anyone and with them being a very “uncanny” crew it made finding out who they were all the more shocking. Some were revealed before the book released, yet others were still kept secret which was a good move by Bendis knowing how important someone like Xorna really was.
The style I found to be very unique in this issue. Something I wasn’t quite expecting given how chaotic things turned out to be and so suddenly. For Bendis to be able to pull off setting one-act in motion and then doing so again from another perspective really showed how he is also one who can handle a large cast of heroes. Not just Bendis, but Immonen as well because it is his illustration and execution of this act which made it feel special. We’ve seen many ways that telepaths can communicate and Immonen displayed it in a way that was very unique to Jean and showed her development as a telepath up to this point. Between Bendis, Hickman, and Tom Taylor, they all prove to be very impressive when it comes to handling teams without letting anyone fall short of deserved time.
While Battle of The Atom #1 laid the foundation for this event crossover to begin, this issue really set things in motion. It had emotion, humor, suspense, and a treat for all the fans whether new or current. Where I said that this story had promise, now I can also say it will be filled with surprises because what we saw now is more than likely nothing compared to what’s to come later on.
