Generation X 6 review

There tends to be two common traits with X-Men comics focused on teenagers. 1 – they tend to be really good. 2 – they tend to not sell as well as they deserve. The new iteration of Generation X seems to be following that pattern.

Written by Christina Strain, Generation X primarily focuses on three members of Jubilee’s remedial class of mutants. There’s Quentin Quire, a constant troublemaker among the younger X-Men, Benjamin Deeds, who’s struggling in school because he keeps heading out with Quentin, and Hindsight, who’s new to the class and hasn’t yet figured out if he wants to be there or not. He seems to be loosening up with the use of his powers. In any case, the three of them sneak out at night, because that’s what this group of X teens does. Not that I’m complaining. There’s also a quick yet fun scene with Jubilee and Chamber patrolling at night, searching for Monet. It touches on Jubilee’s personal struggles and how she sympathises with whatever is happening to Monet. That and they completely wreck a mugger. That’s always fun.

The trio of teenaged mutant boys head to an auction. For the most part this is a fun scene. The trio has a bit of a contentious, yet enjoyable chemistry. It introduces what will likely be a quick yet good story about a new form of nano sentinels. The problem is that it brings in one of the hellfire brats. He’s not as annoying here as he sometimes is, but the sooner Kade Kilgore disappears, the better.

The art by Eric Koda is decent. It’s a fairly simple look that’s usually light on details, but there’s enough focus on the backgrounds that you know where every scene takes place. There’s a fun variety of characters at the auction, ranging from normal looking to clearly suspicious. Facial expressions do a good job at conveying emotions, like Benjamin’s clear fatigue throughout the comic, Jubilee’s clear delight after knocking out the mugger by soccer kicking his gun into his face, and the suspicious glances that Hindsight gives people throughout the comic. That said, the faces themselves often look a bit weird and inconsistent in shape. The colouring by Felipe Sobreiro is good though.

On the one hand, the writing in this comic is good. There’s a strong mix of storytelling, character development and humour to keep the general tone light. On the other hand, the art is really mixed, and Kade’s appearance could have been replaced with so many better villains. This series deserve better artists, but when issue four is already at 22k sales or so, it probably won’t get that. I do still recommend this series if you’re interested in an X-Men series focusing on teenagers. That said, I can’t help but worry that it won’t last much longer.

7/10