A Nazi/naked alien? Really? Worst X-Men run ever.

No X-Men in this book. A character I suppose we are supposed to like learning about...hmmm

New Rule: If your character is entirely made of tropes, don't spend more than one page per trope explaining his origin. By that measure this should have taken two pages.

In the first issue of Gold we are introduced to a demon looking member of the new Brotherhood of Mutants. Later placed in captivity, his story slowly unfolds. He is an alien. He was under Mesmero's control. Now we get the story of why he is on Earth. Just as has been done with numerous characters he was exiled because he was a mutant. He grew up a wild man that then re-entered civilization like an otherworldly Tarzan. Eventually he is exiled again to Earth for unexplained reasons. I found the story cliche, but still kept me reading. Where his story lost me was the inclusion of a rebellion that used Nazi (like) imagery. It was just one too many used tropes. Especially after Secret Empire. I was also unclear if he was just trying to get home or now wants to take over Earth. Earth in this case is just a prison planet where he was exiled so that seems unlikely. Since we are not told however, it is still possible that this is his new plan. This had little payoff for me making it a wast of time. The story tries to make him a sympathetic and menacing villain, but he comes off as redundant. I will give the writing credit for trying to present Mojo more like he was in the Longshot solo series. He is deadly and over the top. Where this issue did shine for me was the art. The pencils did a lot with tired character designs. The colors are a good balance of bright and washed out that did not lean to heavy between cartoon or gritty. It felt like a good fit for an X title. more

GOOD IDEAS: I definitely see plenty of good ideas. 1. A.I./Sentinel hybrid that attacks everyone because everyone's body contains genetic mutations. CHECK. Rachel needing to grow. CHECK. Bringing in more of the great characters available to liven up the book like Pixie and Gambit. CHECK. Interpersonal/emotional attachment and development. CHECK. The problem is that even though these ideas are all great, the execution is off. I see you trying, I do. And I appreciate it. But reading the X-Men these days, to be honest, most Marvel Comics, is like seeing a beautiful picture trying to come into focus and going TOO FAR and turning into a caricature/fun house mirror of what a good comic book is supposed to be. What this book is lacking is FOCUS. What are each character's powers and how do they solve their challenges using their powers intelligently and creatively, and preferably as a team? MISS. Characters having genuine and MOTIVATED emotions and emotional challenges that we share with them? MISS. (Storm gratuitously kissing Gambit? GROSS) Sure fire signs you're missing the target is when you can take any character in the entire comic book and replace them with any other character in the entire comic book and virtually none of the action or dialogue will be any different is a sure fire MISS. Anytime the height of emotional involvement is one character melodramatically shouting another characters name is a sure fire MISS. Anytime the solution to a problem is doing the same tired thing over and over and over again, only this time, just a little tiny bit HARDER is a MISS. I'm sorry Mr. Guggenheim. I see you trying. I do. And I appreciate the effort. Maybe you'll one day grow into a writer that doesn't make me cringe every time I pick up the X-Men and count the pages impatiently, wishing it was already done. more

I'm just happy to see the X-Men aren't playing the whoa is us card. IT'S REFRESHING! Sometimes, you do really need to go back to good team book basics. I love the mix of characters. The Nightcrawler/Storm moment was sweet. The Kitty/Prestige scene was cute. It was overall a great solid team book. Syaf is surprisingly well for this book and I can't wait what Guggenheim has in store for us!

It's fine, not great. Recycling the prejudice theme for the billionth time. I like the 80's lineup of characters. I like the tension between Kitty and Colossus. Giving Rachel the new name of "Prestige" is the worst idea ever. 5 bucks for 5 minutes of reading is hard to justify. If you are going to emulate Claremont's work from the 80's, try using at least 20% of his word count.

This comics is bad. The art looks good in individual panels but the characters still stand around most of the time doing nothing. STATIC. But the 'writing' is worse than bad, it's TERRIBLE. How did Terrax get here? I don't know. Why is he here? I don't know. What does he want? I don't know. But what is worse, the 'writer' of this comic book CLEARLY believes that the answers to these questions DON'T MATTER! After all, the only people who buy 'funny' books are illiterates who never learned to read, so stupid things like character motivations and logic are unnecessary and meaningless in Marvel Comics in 2017. Why are the unstable molecules of Kitty and Storm's uniforms torn but not their skin? I don't know. Why are the X-Men grouped up like sitting ducks in front of Terrax? I don't know. Why doesn't he take advantage of that? I don't know. If Terrax managed to rip their unstable molecule uniforms open AND he also managed to decimate chunks of New York City, why are they standing around and talking so calmly? I don't know. And all of these STUPID STUPID STUPID questions pop up on only the first panel. Why is that building threatening to fall on them? I don't know. How does Kurt manage to teleport Kitty and Logan to a destination that he can't see, without killing all three of them? I don't know. When did Logan add 'leaping tall buildings in a single bound' to his power set?
I don't know. I could go on and on and on but I'm tired of pointing out the insane amount of stupidity in these Marvel Comics. MARVEL! If you're not interested in employing writers and artists who know how to write and draw the most beloved franchise in the history of comic books, then PLEASE just stop putting this crap out. CANCEL them already! But since I know you won't, you leave me no choice: I am no longer buying any more Marvel comics. more