[Comic Book Review] AGE OF X-MAN: PRISONER X #1 (of 5) from Marvel Comics

PopCultHQ received an advance review copy of AGE OF X-MAN: PRISONER X #1 (of 5) from Marvel Comics. Available March 6th, 2019, the creative team for this issue features writing from Vita Ayala, art from Germán Peralta, colors by Mike Spicer, and lettering from VC’s Joe Sabino.

Here’s PopCultHQ’s spoiler-free review of…

Age of X-man: Prisoner X #1 (of 5)

Writer: Vita Ayala
Artist: Germán Peralta
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: Joe Sabino

Main Cover Artists: Patrick Zircher & Brian Reber

ENTER THE AGE OF X-MAN!

In the Age of X-Man, when you break the law, you aren’t sent to just any prison. You’re sent to the Danger Room…a penitentiary filled with the roughest and meanest mutants that don’t fit into X-Man’s utopia. They each have a reason for being there. And they’re all ready to kill each other. But that’s about to change, because the newest prisoner just arrived…Lucas Bishop!

PopCultHQ’s Comic Book Review:
AGE OF X-MAN: PRISONER X #1

The omega level mutant X-Man has reshaped reality into a near paradise. Everyone on earth is a mutant and the X-Men are a benevolent team of proactive heroes standing watch and aiding a world that doesn’t seem to need them all that much.

Bishop has been incarcerated in the Danger Room Prison Complex for his violations against contact laws. Once inside, he must fend for himself as he tries to piece together what is really going on.

Writing:

Vita Ayala’s baby steps in comic book writing give way to a solid effort into the mainstream with the first issue of Prisoner X. Their dialogue is the most promising thing here, forcing honest interactions between characters and squeezing in a little exposition and some world building where they can. Although the pacing seems a bit off and it doesn’t extend past the most cliché of prison tropes, there is still enough to like from the relative newcomer. Obviously, Ayala has more creative freedom on Black Mask’s The Wilds and the properties and universe are more well-defined than the still growing universe of Submerged. But Vita Ayala has spent enough time paying dues on fill issues and back-ups across DC to have earned this opportunity at more straight forward superhero adventure (albeit in an alternate reality). Those clichés and tropes are still executed with perfect pitch, it’s another Age of X-Man issue laden with Easter eggs for X-fans to spot too. This issue’s writing won’t blow you away, but it hits all the right notes and keeps you interested enough to hang around for the next installment.

Art:

Following on from the excellent and undervalued recent work of Thanos and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., German Peralta’s art is the highlight of this book. The most visually separate of the Age of X-Man line, this book wears that distinction like a badge of honor as the illustration explores a completely different, hidden level of this alternate reality. Peralta’s character acting and action scenes help the storytelling immensely and the character designs are unique and dynamic. That’s a credit to the art team considering this takes place in the uniformity of a prison. I especially like the artist’s take on Beast here and the level of detail and care that has gone into the finer points of Bishop’s skewered recollections. If the Age of X-Man storyline serves as a showcase of up-and-coming creators, then German Peralta is most deserving of a solid tenure in a top ten book soon.

Colors:

Mike Spicer’s color work has graced the pages of titles such as Sons of Anarchy, Mythic, and Extremity. Each of these titles occurs in vastly different environments and call for a colorist who can adapt accordingly. Prisoner X is another feather in Spicer’s bow. Take a close look at how, through colors, Spicer places the prison setting just out of reach of the outside world. You can almost feel the utopian society beyond the prison walls. He manages to make the prison interiors feel authentic and cold while still not boring the eye to death and adding enough to the characters look that even the stationary background fodder is a treat to the eye. His full blasts of single colors lend even more impact to the moments intended to spike the levels in your reading experience and his shades and tones add just the right amount of realism to the still very comic book stylings of the story.

Letters:

Joe Sabino, of multiple Deadpool projects and most recently one of the shining lights of Return of Wolverine, again provides instrumental lettering talent to the visual feel and storytelling of a mutant-related Marvel book. Given more to do here than some other letterers have been tasked in the Age of X-Man line. His understanding of the size a sound effect should be and the underlying of Bishop’s plagued mind are just a few key examples to look out for from the letterer who really should be given far more recognition for the intricacies and work he brings to Prisoner X. There’s no Snikt here, but the action scenes would surely lose some of there impact, as would the moments of solitude, if it weren’t for Sabino’s contribution.

PopCultHQ’s overall assessment:

A smart parallel to Bishop’s role in the original Age of Apocalypse storyline shouldn’t be unmentioned. In the scope that Age of X-Man is reaching for, this title debuts with a decent first issue that takes a detour from the utopian society and earns points for showing you something different within an all-new, all-different world. An easy and entertaining read that can hopefully build further across the next four issues.