As Sins of Sinister continues to pump out distorted glimpses of a possible future, this week sees the arrival of the flagship book, Immoral X-Men. Kieron Gillen is one of the writers taking the lead for this big event and he’s bringing some of his favorite mutants along for the ride. Mr. Sinister is front and center for this book, but he’s also joined by a vicious Emma Frost. So what happens when two power houses go up against one another? Issue one gives us a little insight into that. Joining Gillen on this issue are Paco Medina on pencils, Jay David Ramos and Chris Sotomayor on colors and Clayton Cowles on letters.
WRITING
For as much as this would seem like it’s a Mr. Sinister title, it’s also Emma Frost’s book as well. Gillen makes Emma the point of view character as we read through the issue. Gillen gives us her internal monologue, which is helpful in seeing how dark she’s turned in this reality. As charles makes heroes jump to their death, Gillen shows us that Emma considers Charles soft for not torturing them. It should be no secret that Gillen loves to write Mr. Sinister. He made good use of the character when he wrote Uncanny X-Men with Cyclops’ extinction team. For this issue Gillen has the opportunity to turn the villain into somewhat of a hero as he scrambles to reset the timeline. Gillen gives a Sinister at his most vulnerable. He’s finally met people who are as disturbed and sneaky as he is. Isn’t there a saying about being careful what you wish for?
ART
The pencils are handled by Paco Medina this issue. Medina is a pro always turns in a good performance on whatever book he works on. One of the most important things Medina does in this issue is give us a lot of emotion from Mr. Sinister. He goes through the emotional ringer this issue as he get angry, stoic and even a little flustered. All of these pages needed to have a different look and feel, and Medina accomplished that. There is a page where Sinister shows off some of his new Chimeras. This is an important page because Medina has to mash up a couple of different mutants and make them look cool. Medina of course does a wonderful job, and the mutants do look unique and interesting.
The colors are split up between Jay David Ramos and Chris Sotomayor. The pair have similar styles and it’s hard to differentiate between the two. The backgrounds in this issue are a big tell in how a scene will play out. In the first few pages, human survivors are attempting to stop the mutants. The background is a dark maroon which can signify danger. Another example is when Mr. Sinister is mad about being locked out of his secret lab, the background is a bright orange, which can signify anger. Characters are colored nicely, specifically Emma Frost, who spends a lot of this issue in diamond form. The colorists allow her to shine on the page just like Gillen allows her to shine in the issue. For a pair of colorist working on one issue, Ramos and Sotomayor do a wonderful job of blending styles and making the pencils pop.
The letters by Clayton Cowles are very good this issue. His sound effects are top notch as he utilizes them multiple times throughout the issue. As Mr. Sinister is banging his head off of the table in frustration, Cowles lays down three “THUDS” to signify Sinister is doing it multiple times. There is also a panel where someone melts. Cowles makes sure to distort the word bubble as the character yells “No” to signify pain. This is effective and helps as we read what the character says. Cowles enhances the reading experience with his effective lettering and makes the issue more enjoyable.
CONCLUSION
Immoral X-Men is certified hit in the Sins of Sinister event. Kieron Gillen is weaving a tale of intrigue and betrayal as the mutants fight among one another. The art goes a long way in helping this issue come to life as well. If this quality writing keeps up, the X-Men will be ushering in the next great era for the mutants. Immoral X-Men #1 is available at a comic shop near you!
