Saturday, July 11, 2015

Years of Future Past #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

So far, the tie-in issues for "Secret Wars" have fallen along a pretty wide continuum when it comes to their connections to the main story.  For example, the characters in "Spider-Verse" #1 seem to be aware of the fact that Battleworld may be some sort of construct, and She-Hulk plays a Lando Calrissian role where she has to find a way to maneuver under the terms of an unfavorable agreement with Doom in "A-Force" #1.  However, Bennett falls on the other side of the spectrum, only alluding to the large issues at play in "Secret Wars" and instead focusing on the matter at hand.

In the "Days of Future Past" timeline, the heroes of the future seem not to have decided to try to change the past.  Instead, they're trying to take advantage of a movement where some humans are lobbying to relax the Mutant Control Act and plan to do so by exposing their suffering under the Act.  It has taken 15 years for Colossus, Magneto, Rachel Summers, Shadowcat, and Wolverine to find chemicals to destroy their restraint collars.  But, they're now free and set about their mission.  However, Rachel has discovered, in the work that she's forced to do for the United Doomstates, that someone has managed to insert a virus into the new Sentinels.  This unknown person now has full control over one and plans to assassinate President Kelly.  Magneto figures that the best play is for the X-Men to send their youngest members -- Kitty and Peter's daughter Cristina and Wolverine's son Cameron -- to save him, winning the sympathy of the people.  However, Kelly has freed the Blob and Mystique and sent them after Kitty, hoping that the footage of mutants fighting each other will show how dangerous they are.

Bennett tells a good story, though I'll admit that she may have gone a little too far in adopting a 1980s tone.  Everyone is either incredibly virtuous (like Cristina) or dastardly evil (like Kelly).  Even the plot seems overly optimistic, since a jaded reader in 2015 (like me) will likely find it hard to believe that Cristina and Cameron saving Kelly will accomplish anything.  But, I'm intrigued to see where it goes.

** (two of five stars)

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