LIFE OF X: Part One
Written By Charles Soule
Penciled by Jim Cheung
Cover by Jim Cheung
Published July 19, 2017
Throughout the world, various psychics are dying from someone attacking them. The lonely ones go down easy but for Betsy Braddock - aka the X-Man known as Psylocke, she puts up a fight. Meanwhile in a nearby library, Bishop studies scrolls of Asia - proof that his war will truly never be won. And in Scotland, Warren Worthington flies peacefully - hard at work to contain his archnemisis, the deadly Archangel.
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| Brooding and fighting inner struggles - My kind of X-Men |
In Paris, Gambit and Fantomex rob the Lourve while Rogue and Logan make their way back to the states. Suddenly they're all interrupted by a psychic distress call. Psylocke has cried out to any and all nearby X-Men. As they make their way to her, she mindlessly attacks London as a huge pink psychic butterfly. The Blackbird approaches and is nearly fired upon as Rogue quickly leaps from the window, leaving Logan solo. She nears Psylocke and tries to touch her when she's pelted by debris. A lighting quick Angel shields her with his metallic wings.
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| OW OW OW OW OW OW OWWW! |
Gambit and Fantomex draw closer but their ship is blown out of the sky. Meanwhile Logan tries to convince the crowd below to disperse. He pops his claws as extra motivation before being shot at by Bishop. Their truce is short though, as Angel swoops down and picks up the future X-Man to help Rogue above.
They fly up to her and Rogue prepares to draw her energy out. She touches her face and absorbs the energy. Overloaded with the energy, she has to find an outlet and fast. She kisses Bishop and the mutant uses his power to channel the energy and expel it upward. With a quick second to collect their thoughts, they recap how Psylocke called out to each and every one of them. And the call didn't just stay local. Beast arrives to help as well and with the ragtag group of X-Men again assembled, Psylocke informs them that the problem is the Shadow King - and he's come for them all.
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| Ok. Look concerned on three. One.. Two...THREE! |
Although once thought dead, Farouk is alive and well. And with as much damage as he was able to cause with just Psylocke, the sky is literally limit with what he could do with the other X-Psychics. They come up with a plan - send Logan, Beast, Rogue, and Gambit to the Astral Plane to fight while the still fragile Angel will hang back to protect them. Even Fantomex offers to go though his presence is far from required by Psylocke's standards.
Bishop agrees to stay behind with Angel as well. Although doubts persist it won't exactly be a shoot out, he explains the Shadow King is a more than formidable opponent. With that, the five mutants lie down and prepare to be transported to the Astral Plane.. and true to her warning, he's immediately aware of their presence.
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| Aw jam! PARTYTIME! |
The issue wraps with Farouk the Shadow King overjoyed that the X-Men are coming. Anticipating their fight, he knows that in the Astral Plane, the apocalypse is more than just a sign of destruction. It's the secrets. And behind the biggest locked door in the dimension sits his most well kept secret of all. Charles Xavier. With that, we're left to be continued.
As all new books take a few issues to grow on me, this one is no exception to the rule. It feels like Uncanny 281 - when all the big time characters bailed for Jim Lee's new series and you were left with what was left. Now with Gambit and Rogue rekindling what might have been, this story's interest has a growing point. Logan's presence is unnecessary. He's in X-Men Gold, his son is in Blue - so we gotta deal with him in Astonishing too? That's the definition of overkill. Still, the rest of these characters needed a place to shine. And with Professor X, they have the chance to have the biggest impact in the X-Universe. Pretty good first issue... I give it a 9/10.
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