X-Men Legacy #7 Review

I wish it were possible for Marvel to release X-Men Legacy in a week where there weren't half a dozen other major X-books hitting the stands, but the magic of Marvel NOW! is that there is no such week. So it is that Legacy will probably never receive the attention it deserves. But for those wise enough to add Legacy to their pile, they'll find a consistently entertaining book with a very unique tone and voice not just in the X-Men lineup, but Marvel's catalog in general.

Issue #7 is a bit of a standalone tale as Legion heads down to North Carolina to deal with a church full of radical, mutant-hating whack-jobs in funny hats. Simon Spurrier allows himself to be a bit sillier in this issue than he was during the first arc. There's no real sense of danger to David's current quest, but it's fun to watch him test his mettle against the church members and manipulate Abigail Brand and her S.W.O.R.D. minions against them. Short of Doctor Nemesis, no X-Men character is better suited to Spurrier's blazingly sarcastic brand of humor. Her presence alone makes this issue worth a read.

The issue has some other nice touches to it, such as the fact that his internal monologue is broadcast over a loudspeaker whenever the script shifts into the Qortex Compelx inside his mind. Spurrier also spends a lot of time building up the relationship between David and Blindfold, the latter of whom accompanies our hero via her astral form. The two make an endearingly cute couple, though Blindfold is the one character whose voice and dialogue seem a bit off-kilter.

Tan Eng Huat's artwork suffers a bit in comparison to recent issues. His facial work is pretty inconsistent, with Blindfold sometimes looking more like the Wicked Witch of the West than an ordinary teenager. Huat's dynamic camera angles ensure that every scene is brimming with energy, but there are times when the angles are pointlessly extreme and distorted.

Issue #7 is the most purely enjoyable installment of the series so far. Is it too much to hope that will translate into higher sales for once?

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

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