X-Treme Fun

As the Marvel and DC universes get shaken up, yet again, new titles will be launched and some will be cancelled. With all these changes I have been taking advantage and really looking at these new titles and deciding what books I want to add to my monthly pull list and what ones I do not. With some of the flagship titles on both sides (mainly Marvel though) raising their book prices and doing more and more tie-ins and crossover story arcs, price point and a self contained story lines are two parameters high on my list of critiques for new books.

I’ve been getting into Green Lantern lately and with Brian Wood writing Ultimate X-Men (as well as X-men) it’s hard not getting pulled into The Ultimate’s and Ultimate Spider-Man with the United events as well as Green Lantern Corpse, New Guardians and Red Lantern with the Rise of the Third Army event. It seems like very few titles are homogeneous onto themselves anymore. I’m not saying crossover stories are bad, I think that having the other titles can extend and deepen story telling but, I’m just stating that too many crossovers can where thin my comic dollar.

So, when I picked up X-Treme X-Men I was pleasantly surprised that the story sends a group of vagabond X-Men from other dimensions through different periods of existence and time. A fantastic sense of speed, especially in the first comic, helps pull the reader quickly into the story. There’s enough quirkiness to the premise proving it could only truly exist in the pages of comic where Emma Frost, James Howlett, Kurt Wagner and Dazzler hop through different dimensions tracking down and killing an evil Professor Xavior that inhabits said dimension all in order to save the multiverse. Did I mention a floating head of Prof. Xavior rounds out the group? Juxtaposing the weird is enough gravity to the characters that make the book feel real with some great character development between the characters; already Howlett and Kurt shown hints of their lives and hardships from their own periods of time. Dazzler acts like a good anchor to a familiar reality and a window to the story, with all the other cast from alternate Marvel U’s while Dazzler’s from the familiar Marvel U that we’ve all grown to love and relate to it as our own actual Earth and home. Once the story is concluded she will also be the one character that carries the weight and deals with the outcome, whether good or bad, so her presence in the story carries some weight.

In a shorter response, in a way, I’d use in casual conversation and, really could’ve saved you all from reading this by saying it at the beginning. But, the easiest way to explain this book is: Doctor Who meets the X-Men. Definitely give X-Treme X-Men a chance especially if you like fantastically weird premises, science fiction, comic adventure and great character narrative. Enjoy!