Extraordinary X-Men #2 Review

Extraordinary X-Men #2

Mutants from past, present and future will need to unite to help overcome one of the darkest moments in their history. All these and more in the pages of Extraordinary X-Men issue number two. As the comic opens X-Men Magik and Colossus on their way to recruit their old friend Nightcrawler but they don’t find the blue elf, they do find his tail however and a puddle of his blood. But seems like Kurt Wagner can always loose on his tail and find another new one. Well, that may not be fun but at the very least that is a condolence. We can only assume that he was taken down by the new incarnation of the Marauders whom we saw chasing him previously for some unknown reason (Extraordinary X-Men #1).

In Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada, Iceman and Storm meet up with Logan for the very first time. Needless to say that all parties involved are pretty confused right about now. Well then Logan tells them that he’s from the future, a very different and alternate future (Earth-807128). However, he leaves out the part that in his future he kind of sort of killed all the X-Men during a massive super-villain breakout (Old Man Logan). And I mean, seriously, can you blame him? That’s not exactly the best ice breaker in the world, is it? Needless to say, Old Man Logan refused to join their team, instead choosing to be left alone so he can drink in Manitoba, Canada.

Back from a Damned Future

After that, we check on with Jean Grey at Brooklyn who’s dating her classmate Chris, while talking about how doomed the possibilities of her relationship were with Hank McCoy or Scott Summers after spending a lifetime of being the romantic object of Cyclops. So, right now Chris seems to be her re-bound guy. The two were about to be leaving the college bar when they see a mutant coming under attack by some angry mob. But only it was a bit more complicated than that. The guys that are beating up were actually the fathers who were worried about the safety of their children from the nearby apartment complex because this homeless mutant might very well carry the deadly “M-Pox”! That’s a rough one. However, when Chris calls him a Mutie, it causes Jean Grey to freak the hell out and go all Phoenix Force on everybody!

She's One of Them

The true irony of the situation is that the mutant that was getting beaten up wasn’t even a mutant at all, he is an Inhuman and that just doesn’t open up a whole bunch of questions right there. I guess, if you are a bigot you really don’t care who you’re discriminating against, do you? You’re not gonna take the time, do the research to find out you are hitting is a mutant or an Inhuman, are you?

That Poor Inhuman

Back with Colossus and Magik, we find out the other person who kidnapped Nightcrawler is none other than the villainous geneticist Nathaniel Essex, better known as Mr. Sinister. Of course it had to be Sinister, right? I mean with Magneto and Mystique having their own book he is probably the heaviest mutant villain who is not Apocalypse right now.

The Evil Geneticist

It’s at this point X-Haven, the last safe place for the mutants turns out not be that safe at all because it comes under attack by a bunch of Demon Pterodactyls. Yeah, it’s right here we find out the big twist that X-Haven indeed the entire school is not actually on earth anymore. No, they moved it to Limbo dimension with help from Illyana to better protect themselves and wow if that is not a beautiful bit of med attacks on me knowing the X-Men and the other mutants of Marvel are right now literally living in Limbo.

Limbo Was A Real Bad Idea!

The book ends with Old Man Logan drinking himself and he hears the voice of what he thinks is the ghost of Jean grey come to taunt him only it’s not a ghost at all, it’s the young Jean from Earth-TRN240, communicating with him psychically. She’s come to talk about his memories and what he really went through.

Logan's Bloody Past

Extraordinary X-Men issue #2 definitely moves at a much slower pace than the first issue did. Right now, in the story, we have about three different plotlines going on and I wonder if they are all going to converge at some point. I really like the direction of the book, especially how write Jeff Lemire (Green Arrow – New 52, Justice League Dark) is pitting Logan in his current path and he doesn’t want to join the team right away out of fear and really shame for what he did before. It also looks like the young time-travelling Jean Grey is about to be another in a long line of young wayward girls who have been mentored by Wolverine in a totally non-creepy fatherly way! Humberto Ramos (Amazing Spider-Man, Superior Spider-Man) was also fine at his job in every panel he took on.

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