Era #10, Part 03: E is for Extinction (New X-Men)

Grade: A+

And so starts the Morrison Manifesto -- not with a hint but with a bang! As the popular story goes, legendary scribe Grant Morrison outlined for Marvel leadership a new direction for the X-Men that capitalized on the popularity of the movie and drives home the key elements that made the franchise so popular. He opens his run in dramatic fashion with a new villain, Casandra Nova, unleashing wild Sentinels to destroy Genosha. The complete devastation of Magneto's mutant utopia brings the mutant conflict back into the headlines with more students enrolling at Xavier's. 

The writing is sharp as the X-Men deal with more mature themes and situations. For example, Emma Frost is buried alive with her dead students during the attack, and both Jean and Scott find it difficult to communicate in their marriage. I found the scene shifts and pacing jarring at times (I had to reread passages to ensure that I hadn't missed something), but the dialog was both witty and character-building (particularly Emma Frost). Grant also adds new story elements such as secondary mutants and wild Sentinels in order to upend up the status quo, and his multi-arc approach allows him to set a much more insidious tone for the title that quickly unfolds with diabolic treachery. 

"E is for Extinction" changes the game with a plot and storytelling technique reminiscent of the classics which makes this collection, in effect, a classic in its own right. This is how the X-Men are done -- this is how comics are done.

[8-Stars] New X-Men (2001) #114

[9-Stars] New X-Men (2001) #115

[9-Stars] New X-Men (2001) #116

[9-Stars] New X-Men (2001) #117

Collected in New X-Men (Vol. 1): E Is for Extinction