DemonSlayer.com

X-Men Noir Premiere HC

Where Spider-man Noir was a Superhero origin story set in a dark and gritty Dick Tracy-like world, X-Men Noir is a pure crime/mystery story set in the real world with the characters just a shadow of themselves…

X-Men Noir takes place in a very real world. Missing are the over-the-top villains and the sense of hope that were found in Spider-man Noir. You are thrust right into the story, with the death of one of the X-Men. No origin story here… just pure straight up crime/mystery fiction. Many of the characters stay true to their original selves yet with a very gritty and realistic twist to each of them. Not to give anything away but it’s very much a “The Brotherhood vs The X-Men” story so you will see the familiar faces like Magneto, Quicksilver, Wolverine, Cyclops and the other original X-Men. The one main flaw… X-Men Noir just has too many characters in it that very few of them actually ever get fleshed out. Unless you know your X-Men and their vast history, you will find it hard to truly know the characters that are set before you. Oddly enough, Wolverine is an afterthought in the story. 

The art is very good and almost reflects a very Jae Lee (Dark Tower) look to it at times. Unfortunately that is also its downfall as some of the characters become hard to distinguish as they do not wear their “colorful” costumes but instead the trench coats and suits of the time period. Coupled with the fact that there are probably 20 X-Men (and 1 Golden Age) characters in the book, you can find yourself lost and unsure who is getting shot or beat up by who (or was that another character they just introduced?!?).  Not good for what one would call a visual crime/mystery novel where keeping up with what is going on is a priority.

All in all, the X-Men Noir world has some promise and is worth taking a look into if you are a diehard X-Men fan or love crime/mystery novels. Don’t come expecting “super-heroics” as the only way anyone is heroic during these times is with a pair of fists and/or a gun. With that said, it is nice seeing someone’s realistic take on the X-Men, as if they were NOT mutants and living in the 1930’s, so it will be interesting to see where this story goes from here.

click for more info:

X-Men Noir Premiere HC 

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.