Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Amazing X-Men #3Amazing X-Men #3
Marvel Comics
Aaron, McGuinness, Vines & Gracia

The latest issue of Amazing X-Men moves the plot forward to bring Nightcrawler back to life while providing a ton of action. The issue makes good use of McGuinness's art style by providing larger than life action sequences. The comic doesn't fully touch on all of the plot threads or characters in the arc but does a good job with the small cast that is present in the issue. Overall this is a good read.

Basically the comic focuses on Azazel, the demon father of Nightcrawler, and his band of pirates. The plot comes more into focus as the reader learns some of Azael's plans for his collection of pirates. While the recap page mentions a bunch of X-Men, the comic primarily focuses on Beast and Storm. Each finds themselves fighting on a different pirate ship with varying degrees of success. Each is handled very well by Aaron as he gives them some space to get a nice character spotlight. The whereabouts of the others isn't really addressed with the exception of Nightcrawler.

Nightcrawler's appearance is a great addition to the comic and is handled in a grand manner. The interaction with Storm isn't as heartfelt as it is meant to be as it seems to call on events that happened many years ago (real time) and is probably forgotten by much of the audience unfortunately. These scenes really dragged the pace of the book down.

The aspect of the book that makes this issue stand out is the action. There are some humorous moments and some creative ways the characters battle but it is more memorable because this feels like Pirates of the Caribbean meets the X-Men and there is something charming about that.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThe artwork is very good. McGuinness is at his usual level of big characters with big features battling in big fights. Page after page we get heavy details on pages that are crammed with characters, muscles and beatings. The art is enhanced nicely by the bright and vibrant colors. Overall the art is a terrific compliment to the story.

Amazing X-Men is a fun comic so far. It remains to be seen as to how this title will fit in and differ from the other X-Men books but for now this is the comic that brings back Nightcrawler. So far, the arc is a good one and is bringing something different to the table. This is worth checking out.

3 out of 5 Geek Goggles