Imperial

Great story, great characters, a couple of new cool bad guys, great art by Kordey and Quitely, all in all, a great read.

Grant Morrison's revolutionary take on the X-Men continues here. Fresh from his encounter with Cassandra Nova, Prof. X decides to take his mutant vision global. With Jean Grey in tow, Xavier tours France, Great Britain, India, and the ruins of Genosha, visiting each of his brand new high-tech X-Corp locations. X-Corp, a global corporation devoted to protecting mutants and advancing mutant rights worldwide, is probably the freshest idea to hit the X-books in some time. With all of his money and resources, it's about time Xavier started to spread the wealth. After facing down the evil Weapon Plus Program's latest mutant killing machine and burying one of their own, the X-Men must face a threat at home in the form of a band of rebellious mutant students of the Xavier Institute called the Omega Gang. Morrison deftly uses the Omega Gang to show how Xavier's dream of human-mutant co-existence needs to be adapted for the younger generation. It is in this volume that Morrison begins the controversial psychic affair between Cyclops, the leader of the X-Men, and Emma Frost, a former villain and a skilled seductress. Feeling inadequate ever since he was possessed by the evil spirit of Apocalypse, Cyclops feels he cannot share his darker feelings with Jean and turns to the arms of Emma Frost, who just wants to play a little with stoic Scott Summers. Certainly controversial, undenibaly revolutionary, Morrison's New X-Men never disappoints.

The first volume of Grant Morrison's New X-Men was very good. Though it isn't the best X-Men book around (go read Astonishing!), it had a great story, introduced a powerful new villain, and found a new way to show how mutants can be persecuted. Imperial directly continues the events of E if for Extinction, with Prof. Xavier leaving Earth to contact the Shi'ar after revealing to the media that he's really a mutant and his school for the gifted means a school for mutants. Unable to understand why he would do such a thing, the X-Men, who include Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Wolverine, and Emma Frost, are left to deal with the protestors who are outside the school. If that weren't bad enough, a creepy cult has surfaced. They are humans who desire to be mutants, so they harvest mutant organs in order to implant in their own bodies to give themselves superpowers. While dealing with these crises, the entire X-team finds themselves coming down with a mysterious flu, and, eventually, they begin to wonder if the threat posed by Cassandra Nova is really as finished as they thought. In addition to the X-Men, some more of the studnets are featured. Emma Frost's new protoges, the Stepford Cuckoos, are introduced in this trade, Beak gets a part to play, and a new character, a girl with some physiology reminiscent of a fly, is brought to the school after she is thrown out of her house. All of these characters contribute to the story at some point, and it seems that Morrison is setting them up for bigger things to come. Imperial is definitely good and is a worthy read, but there are a few things that I must say. It seemed like there was almost too much going on to keep track of. There were numerous plots interwoven in these issues, which isn't a problem as long as the reader can keep them straight. I had a somewhat hard time remembering who was involved in which story. Still, this is a good read for any X-Men fan.

As one of the characters says, the X-Men must be nothing less than fabolous. Grant Morrison has given them a vivid personality and an intelligent plot. I have not read the last decade of the X-Men and after read this book I know I did not lost anything. It is amazing how a good idea can be wasted during years and how it can be rescued with a little bit of smart.I hope DC comics takes advantage of the growing number of Morrison's and publish his Animal Man and Doom Patrol.