Reviewing X-Men #1: Hello Ladies

There’s been a lot of hype around the internet regarding Marvel’s relaunch of its premiere X-Men title as this particular book is now sans men and features an all female roster. Speculation has abounded on how exactly an all-girl cast would perform, both in sales and in storytelling, and I’m giddy to let you all know that the haters are gonna have to suck it because X-Men #1 was the best-selling comic book of May, and perhaps even more relevant, it’s really good in a lot of ways.

Written by Brian Wood the story revolves around Jubilee returning to the X-Men with a child in tow that she’s adopted and the worry that she’s being followed (spoilers: she’s totally being followed!). Half of the team meets up with her for a fun action sequence on a train while Rachel and Psylocke deal with John Sublime showing up at their doorstep and a promise of a lot more to come in the issues to follow.

The story in X-Men #1 is interesting enough that I want to keep reading, and the art and character design are lovely, but the real strength in this book is the writing of the characters. These X-Men work as a perfectly oiled machine, both in social settings and action sequences, which only makes sense considering how long some of these gals have fought alongside each other. Watching these ladies coordinate their efforts and kick ass in a precise fashion is really a treat. The biggest compliment I can give this book is that I actually liked Jubilee as the main character, which is huge as my default setting is to cringe when I hear her name. She’s grated my nerves since the 90’s cartoon show and the comics storyline where she became a vampire was just horrible, but in X-Men #1 she has a vulnerability and sense of family that is truly touching and I found myself rooting for her even as I speculate that I’m fairly certain she kidnapped that baby she has with her.

I almost wish I hadn’t read this comic looking to review it as “the all female X-Men” because I honestly feel that if it hadn’t been pointed out to me I wouldn’t have even realized it was all girls. The story does a great job of not creating some reason to have a girls only team, it’s just a regular X-Men story where everyone involved happens to be female. It really goes to show how strong the X-Men have always been in female representation that they don’t even need all of their female characters in this book to make it work. There’s no sign of Jean Grey, Emma Frost, X-23, Domino or Hope Summers and yet we still have a full roster with Storm, Psylocke, Rogue, Rachel Grey, Shadowcat and Jubilee, and they’re all behaving rationally, wearing reasonable outfits and not a single T&A pose to be found.

If I have to have a criticism it would have to be giving Jubilee the lead in the book. This is hypocritical because I just said I liked her in it, but I was legitimately put off when I heard she was the main character and I don’t think I’m the only one who’s disliked her since the 90’s. Also, this is a soft relaunch of the title and Jubilee’s got a complicated history right now that seems to be purposely not touched upon (her powers were taken away during M-Day and she should just be a vampire right now technically, but again, it’s never mentioned) and we’re left wondering what her status is.

Still, I give X-Men #1 a big hell yes in terms of character, storyline and potential and look forward to more.