Generation X #3 Review - Marvel Monday

All Around Me Are Familiar Faces

Writer: Christina Strain

Artists: Amilcar Pinna, Roberto Poggi

Colorists: Felipe Sobreiro, Nolan Woodard

Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles

Cover Artists: Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 14, 2017

Review by: Ryan Douglas

Next to the Jean Grey series, Generation X was a series I had a lot of interest in. I’ve always been attracted to the weirder mutants who have no place. But a few issues in I’m not loving the series yet, although optimistic it’ll build the foundation and take off. Let's waste no time and get into it.

A few of the team members are visiting Central Park Zoo (which I’m assuming is next door to the school?) and standing out like sore thumbs. When they come across a fellow mutant, Inferno Boy who lays there unconscious, our new student Nathaniel is overwhelmed since coming to the school, dealing with the Purifiers, he’s a bit reluctant to use his powers to help answers the questions of who attacked the mute mutant. Back at the Xavier Institute prior, Bling is out on her own training towards her goals while she’s at the Institute. But once the team figures out where to start their hunt for the protagonist, they think it’s best to take this mission on their own without leadership approval.

Once I got past the dialogue on the couple pages I found myself overall enjoying this issue. Though I would’ve wanted to see more nuggets of the mysterious villain, the bits of character development was worth taking in. The seed Christina Strain plants within Blings subplot has me paying close attention to watch that play out. We even get to see the return of a character **crossing fingers** leads to a reunion soon reflecting what the movies have planned. There really didn’t need to be any action as Christina Strain provides inter-school drama and character emotions leading up to the cliffhanger. I don’t care for Quentin leading the team and hoping by the end of this Bling stays on and takes leadership. Jubilee may soon need to sit out, she hasn’t played a big role in the student's education or training. They’re rebels and want to learn on their own. Now that we’re past the three issue hump, I’d like the main plot to take the forefront, while still developing our cast of characters. My only gripe with the art would be the similarity in character faces. It really throws me off and hard to grasp a character when they seem like clones. Besides my dislikes, I still found enjoyment in the story being set up and look forward to seeing how Christina Strain handles the neighborhood threat.

Overall: 
Moving forward, we may finally see the series finally take off. While this new threat may keep our young team close by in the neighborhood. We'll see how the teams attempt to handle the issue on their own. Jubilee being portrayed heavily in the covers has taken a back seat and doesn't get much to do. With a cool unique art style, the pages still suffer from off-putting facial expressions and similarity face designs making it hard to pay attention.

6.8/10