With Cry Havok finished, a new tale unfolds for the Blue team. Cullen Bunn, Nathan Stockman, and Matt Milla all push forward in X-Men Blue to finally answer the question: what do the young X-Men do after their crossover with Venom has ended?
The original 5 X-Man are back on Earth, and the Poisons from the Venomized crossover have all been defeated, with the small problem that X-Men Blue team member Jimmy Hudson has gone missing and was infected by the Poisons. Luckily, the Original 5 and Bloodstorm are able to track him down. Unfortunately, they’re too late. Jimmy seems to be gone. Poison is all that remains.
After the unfortunately lackluster ending to Cry Havok and the awkward uselessness of the new Blue Team, it’s great to see that Bunn still has a good handle on the team that started the book. Bunn making use of the almost out-of-nowhere Venomized crossover is a real treat and comes as a surprise now that it’s been a few weeks since the event ended with no books acknowledging its existence. The objective of rescuing a team member from what has happened to them isn’t a new plot concept for X-Men, but it’s played well here.
The art by Stockman and Milla is solid as well. It's a new art team for this story, and Stockman handles the younger main X-Men well. They, simply put, look like teenagers. The design for Poison is also a great one, modifying his Venomized appearance with tentacle claws and a color scheme like Wolverine the elder’s classic outfit from the 1980s. A special nod also has to go to colorist Milla for some of the flashbacks, where a sepia film grain feel has been added. As with Daredevil, his work is great with spikes of excellent.
It’s great to see the original Blue Team back as the focus of the book, and the hook at the end is a great idea. One can only hope that this storyline lands better than Cry Havok did.
Grade: B+
