A new era of X-Men officially launches this summer, but X-Men: From the Ashes #1 is a tasty morsel of a bridge to that era you can read right now. The series aims to focus on specific characters from today into August while we wait for the From the Ashes comics to hit comic shops, and this first issue is all about Jean Grey and the Cyclops. As first issues go, it’s a good mix of dread and horror as an unknown threat takes men into the deadly cold!
This first Infinity Comic opens like a good horror, written by Alex Paknadel with art by Diógenes Neves. A man and woman are on vacation to do some hiking in the cold, but we see he’s all alone and nearly naked, freezing to death. Captions draw us into his predicament as he wanders as if being called to something. Surely, there’s a hero nearby who can help!
Enter Cyclops and Phoenix, who are on a vacation to see the northern lights. The two don’t seem to be on the same page, with Phoenix looking to go somewhere warm, but Cyclops disagrees. There’s a tension that’s obvious that boils up into an outright fight. Fans of the Krakoa era hot-and-heavy moments will be pleased with a scene with Jean and Scott too, but they’re mostly at odds here.
There’s tension between them.
Credit: Marvel
As far as the larger story, Paknadel has set up an interesting threat that will push Scott and Jean’s relationship. It’s not yet clear what is controlling the minds of the victims, but it’s certainly something Phoenix will need to figure out or lose Scott forever!
As Infinity Comics goes, Neves stretches the art to fit in a rectangular phone screen. There are some good transitions, like an ice wall that transitions into the moon. Mostly, the transitions are cross-deck between panels, but the framing works well enough in most scenes.
The format does leave a bit to be desired since it’s shorter, but we only need to wait a week for the next chapter. That said, the threat is so vague it’s hard to know where this is going.
For anyone wondering how this fits into the X-Men canon, Paknadel makes it clear this little vacation for Cyclops and Phoenix is meant to be some time alone before she heads to space. That adventure will be captured in Phoenix, coming out in July.
X-Men: From the Ashes #1 is a good start to a side adventure within canon. There’s a horror vibe to this story as Jean and Scott navigate some uncomfortable moments. This story feels edgy and right at home for horror fans.
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