Is It Good? All-New X-Men #15 Review

Like a good soap opera the cover to this issue is going to make people angry, sad, happy or at the very least gasp. Jean Grey with Beast!? Let’s take a look in this issue to see what the dealio is and, is it good?

All-New X-Men #15 (Marvel Comics)

Check out our review of All-New X-Men #14 here!

Last issue ended a story arc with the bad guys being captured and generally all of the heroes being cool with the time travelling X-Men sticking around. At least for a little while. This issue focuses mainly on the presumed love affair between young Jean and Cyclops and it’s bound to piss a lot of people off.

Why would a professor be macking it so openly on school grounds?

Brian Michael Bendis is still writing this series, so expect lots of dialogue. In fact, there isn’t much action to speak of in this issue, unless you count disassembling a motorcycle. The big thread Bendis plays off of is the fact that Beast always had a thing for Jean, but never felt like he could say anything. I won’t spoil it in the slightest, but I will say Jean confronts both old Beast and young Beast. If you’re not interested in this drama by all means skip this issue.

Bobby is like a cartoon character on the bottom left.

At the same time Bendis plays around with Bobby (Iceman) and Cyclops going out into public. They quickly run into some girls who recognize Cyclops and it’s clear Bendis is writing them as the young boys that they are. Cyclops may not be in love with Jean yet, so these stray interactions with women might throw him off her scent in the first place. It does bring into question whether Cyclops and Jean got together simply because they were stuck in Xavier’s school and not able to see other people.

Blushinnnnng!

The art by David Lafuente grows on you. The first page or two is striking, particularly because so many superhero comics these days are photo-realistic. Not so here, and in fact I get a strong cartooning vibe from his style. In the image below for instance, I could see the bottom panel fitting in nicely alongside Garfield or Dilbert. It also works nicely with the non-action heavy issue we have here. The expressions, body language and characters are all interesting to look.

But what about Jean?!

7.5

• Cartoon art works great for this material
• Drama heavy storyline at work here

• Too much soap opera not enough action!

Personally I’m not that interested in the Jean/Cyclops love affair, especially considering all these characters might get their memories wiped anyways. It is a neat concept to play with though and I commend Bendis for going there. It’ll also make it tragic if Jean does fall in love with Beast by series end, only to have her memory wiped.

Is It Good?

Yes, and if you like the soap opera drama this is a 10 for you.