Broken Frontier

Reverend William Stryker assaults the Xavier Institute with a handpicked army of mercenaries, Nimrod’s arm, and God on his side.

In the closing of the second story arc since M-Day, the newest mutants to walk through the halls of Xavier’s mansion are faced with mounting troubles. Reverend Stryker, claiming the righteous Hand of God is at his side, has brought doom to the mansion, intent on slaughtering any and all who get in his way. Along with his cadre of assassins and mercenaries, he sneaks past the defenses and the slaughter begins. In there somewhere, the reader is "blessed" with a nod to the movie franchise, a shocking character change, and a subtle, but telling inference to a certain African wedding drawing near.

Craig Kyle and Chris Yost are doing their level best to torment these poor kids. Since they took over the writing chores the population at the Xavier Institute has been decimated. Some were shipped away, some ran away, and several were killed…by Reverend William Stryker on a mad mission from God. I can’t say if Kyle and Yost are trying to make a statement about the dangers of zealousness, or if they are simply trying to tell an exciting tale; either way, they are succeeding in both endeavors. They have changed my opinion of the book.

Where I once read it for a simple mutant fix and to try to guess at the longevity of the characters, now I read it for the story. The New X-Men behave like teenagers, cringing at villains, crying, screaming, not understanding anything, and being as unpredictable and exciting as their hormones will allow—which oftentimes is off the scale. Not only that, but the horror of what they are going through seems real, the deaths seem permanent, and the sadness in their words and behavior is clear. It is like Laguna Beach if those kids had super powers, real problems, and were even mildly likable.

Paco Medina and Juan Vlasco only add fuel to the Laguna Beach comparison fire with their art. Medina pencils the students at the Xavier Institute like he sits in a high school cafeteria during lunch, watching teenagers’ mannerisms, clothing, and expressions. Though at times it may be difficult to tell the age difference between the likes of Hellion and Emma Frost, the fact that the teens really do look like teens is enough to overlook some of the smaller things. And thanks to Brian Reber, the art has a bright, in your face kind of feel, which would totally and completely contradict the story in any other book, but since this sad, shocking, and sometimes disturbing tale is about teens, it fits nicely.

The New X-Men have grown up quite a lot in the last year. They have dealt with Decimation and death like teenagers do: dramatically, and they have looked good while doing it. If this run keeps up the pace it now has, it won’t be long before not only the closing of the school, but some of these kids become Uncanny, Astonishing, or adjective-free X-Men and thousands of fans are combing back issue bins for their first appearances.