In ‘All-New X-Men’ #31 we saw that the gifted youngsters from the past had not just been forced forward in time but now forced into onto an alternate Earth as well. To be specific, they were sent over to the Ultimate Universe from a new mutant who seems to have absorbed and now pushes people through the rift that had previously been opened between these two worlds.
That’s where things get even more complicated.
In this issue, Bendis does a great job at throwing each of our heroes into an unlikely situation. While they are all stranded in an alternate universe, most of them don’t realize this right away and they are split up to boot. That isn’t going to help matters. Each of the X-Men get their own amount of page time and while they are all fun, I think he does his best work with the interaction between Jean and Miles as they figure out what is going on. He is terribly ashamed of what he’s thinking when it comes to an attractive woman and she is once again pushing the limits of what she should morally be doing as a telepath, at least she says what she is doing while it happens. On the flip side my second favorite section is everything with Laura and the mess that she gets herself into. From being a mutant in an even more anti-mutant world than the 616 universe to an amazingly fun chase scene it was really just a treat to read.
The art in this issue stands out. Of the recent issues, I feel that this has been some of my favorite work from Asrar in that it really gives the cast a youthful feeling. I’m not sure if it is because he is illustrating them in the Ultimate Universe or what, but it just felt right.
While the characters I mentioned above stole the show for me, we also get Hank, Iceman, and Angel stuck in various places of the Ultimate Universe and I’m beginning to get curious how they are all going to get together when they are spread across the globe and are without the normal resources at their disposal. With S.H.I.E.L.D. gone and this world’s X-Men not quite setup like our own, this could be a fun obstacle to get past. I’m sure it won’t take Bendis too long to creatively bring the team back together though.
‘All-New X-Men’ #32 was a great read though wasn’t perfect for me. I’m not sure if it is the timing, but Moleman was placated on this world recently in a way that makes me feel we’re either going back in time a little or someone slipped up on continuity. Either way, errors aside it is a fun issue.
I personally follow this 616 and Ultimate Universe though if I wasn’t, I’m not sure how happy I’d be with this crossover. The worlds fit together so loosely that readers who don’t follow both might not appreciate the crossover, especially so close after the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ event that happened.
ALL-NEW X-MEN #32
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Mahmud Asrar
