About Heroes

Authors: Craig Kyle & Chris Yost
Pencils: Skottie Young
Inks: Skottie Young
Colors: Skottie Young & Jean-Francois Beaulieu

The Children of X-men kicks off after the events of the Limbo storyline and right before we get bombarded by Messiah Complex. First of all that cover is completely genius! I'm a huge fan of Norman Rockwell so that cover really shines in my eyes. This was a rare treat for the New X-men, it really seems that since Kyle and Yost took over the book it's been kids fighting, screaming, dying, and just no time to relax. With a huge cast like this, you figure an issue to take a breather would be nice.

The title of this particular story might be a little misleading. We don't get to see Amiko (Wolverine does not have a son...it's just a bad dream) Cable, Marvel Girl, Rogue, Colossus' son, or Shatterstar (oohhh wait...thanks for fucking that one up Loeb)! The theme of the story is taken right out of Children of Men; for some reason Mercury wants to identify the youngest mutant alive, because she believes their life could be in danger. She might have just watched Children of Men, so I guess it kind of makes sense....maybe. Does Franklin Richards still have his power? Someone might want to let Mercury know. Cyclops, Shadowcat, Colossus, and Wolverine also take time to get to know these 25 mutants that are lurking around, which make for some really funny scenes. These characters are really growing on me and I hope the death toll has maxed out for the New X-men, at least for the near future.

I really thought they changed the artist on me without giving credit to the new artist. However, Skottie Young has completely changed his style for this issue. He went from crisp and clean cartoony style to gritty, sketchy, and loose. Remember those great covers from Cable & Deadpool? The textures, especially for the flashback scenes were incredible. Even though Cyclops looks like a grunge skater, it still fun to see how he draws the kids. The tone of the book seems to be brightening up at least for now and after all the shit that the kids have been through, it's about time. Endangered Species was entertaining too...even though there is another fucking Guthrie sibling we knew nothing about. I didn't know the Guthries were Catholic. B+