Legion Of X #1
Nightcrawler’s Legion not only has to deal with a problem of the Arakkii but also one closer to home in Legion O X #1, by writer Si Spurrier, artist Jan Bazaluda, colorist Federico Blee, and letterer Clayton Cowles. Spurrier and company present an intriguing first issue, one that goes in many directions and establishes this new book’s status quo.
As Blindfold and Legion are reunited, Nightcrawler goes to Arakko to see Storm, as Forgetmenot and Juggernaut hunt down a murderer and Lost and Pixie investigate the Skinwalker someone who has been possessing mutants on Krakoa. On Arakko, Nightcrawler learns that he’s to hunt down a god who came to Arakko and sees firsthand how the Arakkii deal with gods. Legion goes to Arakko to tell Warlock his father was killed by Nimrod and has a charged confrontation with Xavier. Nightcrawler is assigned an Arakkii, Weaponless Zsen, to help him and takes her to the Legion headquarters, where the identity of the Skinwalker is revealed. Meanwhile, Legion and Blindfold are confronted by Mother Righteous, who come to offer them whatever they want.
Way Of X was highly underrated and served as a good set-up for this issue. Spurrier is a great writer, and this issue definitely gets that across. If there’s any problem with it, it’s that the story is a little all over the place. For example, part of this is that WoX wasn’t the kind of set-up that Excalibur was for Knights Of X. Legion Of X follows Nightcrawler’s Legionaries, who are basically Krakoa’s version of the police. The cast is still basically the same as WoX, with Forgetmenot and Juggernaut added, and this issue has to do a lot: introduce a lot of new stuff, a new team and its status quo, and several plotlines. At some points, it honestly feels a little overwhelming with just how much is thrown at the reader in this first issue.
That said, it’s not a bad thing. It’s great to see things like Legion and Blindfold get reacquainted or to learn more about Arakko, and seeing Forgetmenot and Juggernaut is awesome. On top of that, Spurrier points out twice just how bad of a person Xavier is - first with how he treats Legion and again when Juggernaut tries to namedrop him, and Nightcrawler point out it was his Kurt’s idea to bring in Cain, and Xavier voted against it - and there are a lot of interesting plot points in this book. The problem is that there is a lot. It’s a good read, but it’s so full that it never really gets a chance to breathe.
Bazaluda’s art is pretty great throughout. There are some pretty trippy sequences in the Altar, the Arakko scenes look great, and it’s wonderful to look at. The character acting is pretty good, but there’s something a bit house-style about a lot of it. Bazaluda’s linework is good, but it doesn’t always give scenes the most detail. The best-looking scenes take place in the Altar, where Blee’s colors and the pencils combine to create a lot of cool imagery.
Legion Of X #1 is an oversized issue, but it still feels like it’s stuffed with content. It’s well done, as Spurrier, Bazaluda, and Blee make a great team, but this issue can overwhelm readers with plots and characters. It would have been served better by either getting more pages or slowing the pacing down and making it two chapters. It’s still a good read and sets up some intriguing things for the future.