X-Termination #1 Review

Part of me can't help but resent Marvel's X-Termination crossover, as it's going to culminate in the cancellation of two books I enjoy very much -- Age of Apocalypse and X-Treme X-Men. But if they have to go, at least they're going out with a bang, right? X-Termination gets off to a pretty solid start in this opening chapter. But its main flaw is the fact that it's a crossover in the first place. This storyline brings three teams of X-Men together, yet only one of them actually feel like a vital part of the conflict.

Luckily, most of the issue revolves around the characters that matter most -- the Age of Apocalypse crew. David Lapham frames much of the issue from Nightcrawler's point of view as the disgraced X-Man struggles to return to his own universe. This approach pays off, as readers are able to understand Kurt's mindset and sympathize with this once heroic mutant who has now lost everything in his pursuit of revenge. The scenes between Kurt and dark Beast are a highlight.

In addition to a strong dynamic between the two AoA refugees, Lapham takes the opportunity to delve into the more colorful aspects of the Marvel Universe, striking a somewhat different tone from his usual Age of Apocalypse work in the process. Before long, the story takes on all the scope and drama of a Crisis event at DC. David Lopez is able to capture that colorful scope well, though his individual figures are sometimes lacking in detail.

Sadly, the wheels start to wobble once the setting actually shifts to the Age of Apocalypse and the other two factions enter the fray. The pacing accelerates too quickly at the end, and the final pages lose some of the impact they should have. Worse, none of the X-Treme X-Men characters and most of the Astonishing crew have no pressing need to be in the story at all. All this crossover demands is the involvement of the AoA cast and Wolverine. I'm afraid the other dozen mutants are just going to get in the way from here on out. Is X-Treme really going to receive a proper finale through this crossover?

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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