Era #10, Part 01: Destiny, Part 1 (X-Treme X-Men)

Grade: C

The era opens with a brand new title, the X-Treme X-Men. Marvel wanted to move the X-Men in a new direction without losing the legendary Chris Claremont. They give him his own book opening up the core titles for Grant Morrison and Joe Casey. 

A small team of X-Men leaves their friends and families in search of Destiny's prophetic diaries. Afraid that even Xavier would succumb to the temptation of changing the future, Beast, Bishop, Rogue, Psylocke, Sage, Storm, and Thunderbird set out in complete secrecy severing all ties with their former teammates. They quickly learn, however, that they are not the only ones on the hunt. The deadly Vargas confronts the team in Valencia with deadly consequences.

The premise works here. The separation from the flagship titles allows Chris Claremont to tell more traditional comic book stories without disrupting the events unfolding in Uncanny X-Men and New X-Men. Salvador Larroca's artwork is beautiful, and he gets the opportunity to draw from his Spanish homeland. Chris Claremont continues to plot his own new direction introducing new characters. The run also includes some significant changes for Psylocke and Beast as well as a little character development of Sage (originally the Hellfire's Tessa) and Bishop. 

It isn't the original X-Men stories, and it isn't part of the new movement. It is a comfort read with familiar characters in uninteresting situations. 

[5-Stars] X-Treme X-Men (2001) #1

[5-Stars] X-Treme X-Men (2001) #2

[5-Stars] X-Treme X-Men (2001) #3

[4-Stars] X-Treme X-Men (2001) #4

Collected in X-Treme X-Men (Vol 1): Destiny