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Title: X-Men Deadly Genesis
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Trevor Harsine
ISBN: 0785118306
Format: Trade Paperback
Page Count: 200
Overall Concept 6
Execution 8
Art 7

I must admit I was a HUGE X-Men fan from issue #199 of the Uncanny X-Men all the way to the Age of Apocalypse debacle from 1995 (that series was the point when I stopped buying comics all together). I bought Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, X-Force, X-Men and all the crossovers throughout those years.

Recently, I got back into comics, in 2002 with the 9 cent issue #489 of the Fantastic Four, and I shied away from the X-Men series for 2 reasons; 1) X-titles were notorious for being very continuity driven, so I was dearthly afraid of being completely lost after a 7+ year absence and 2) I wasn't very fond of the art being produced by Ramos, Young and Pachelo.

What brought me back was the very recent 13 issue Messiah Complex, which I will review later on when I receive the Trade Paperback. I was reading this series and wanted to understand the back story more (specifically who the heck was Vulcan, how come they refer to Prof X having lost /regained his powers, and why was there so much vitriol between Charles and Scott) and started researching the previous issues.

Well, it seems that Ed Brubaker's run on the X-Men begins with this limited series, which happens to also tell the story of Vulcan, the missing Summers brother.

I read this series over the coarse of 2 days and found it to be a very entertaining read. I was initially concerned that this series would be a huge 'retcon' (retroactive continuity - a popular writing device in comics whereby something that is told in the present is either a retelling of the past events or a previously unknown past event which causes a total restructure or very different viewpoint on the present story lines) as this was the story that brought this new powerful 'villain' to the X-titles, and he happens to be the long lost Summer brother.

My fears, fortunately, were very unfounded as the tale is not only well told but well worth reading. The concept is very much a comic book concept ("I was ripped from the womb of my murdered mother, raised in a tank and made a slave of the murderer of my mother"), yet isn't terribly unrealistic or simple, despite my oversimplification.

The art was pleasant and did a very fine job of representing the characters, I know so well, appropriately and accurately.

The interesting 'gimmick' to this series was the use of back-up stories that initially seem to have nothing to do with the main tale. They are not only good stories of themselves but also mesh seamlessly with the overall story before it is all over. And, without them the overall story would be diminished significantly.

I must thank and damn Mr. Brubaker all in the same breath, as he's writing the X-men in a way that makes me both interested and care for them again yet this now means that I'm spending even more money on comics..........

As I said on a blog posting, this series, and the rest of the Brubaker story line, are like finding an old comfortable pair of slippers you had lost in the back of the closet, they are old and comfortable and yet new at the same time.

To any fan of comics, and especially to those X-men fans who may have been away for a while, I would easily recommend this book. And to those non-comic fans, there might just be a tad too much expectation on behalf of the reader knowing the finer details of who's who for this to be truly enjoyable. Though the writing can easily show a non-comic fan why there are comic fans.