An X-cellent adventure
Munhall native’s X-Men reboot debuts
With new comic book universes being introduced and shake-ups to its narrative continuity, it’s extremely difficult for anyone to understand what is going on in today’s comics. One of the biggest superhero brands to suffer from excessive rebooting and other such villainy has been Marvel’s longrunning “Uncanny X-Men.”
This rag-tag gang of misunderstood mutant misfits has been restarted and revamped so many times that only the most dedicated fan can keep track. The X-Men have been around for more than half a century.
Now a Pittsburgh native attempts to right the ship of continuity. Ed Piskor of Munhall gets the mutant brand back to its classic comic roots with “X-Men: Grand Design,” which will be on the shelves of your friendly neighborhood comic stores on Wednesday.
For those unfamiliar with XMen lore or the blockbuster movies about them, the Marvel Comics
universe has a group of people called mutants — people born with extraordinary powers. Professor Charles Xavier, a mutant with extreme telepathic abilities, starts a school for the “gifted youngsters” to serve as a safe haven for these kids as they learn to develop their powers and use them for the good of both mutant and mankind. It’s as well-worn of a story as an original 1963 copy of “The Uncanny XMen #1,” by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
The twist here is that Mr. Piskor dons the cape of writer, artist, inker, colorist and letterist (the first ever to do so in Marvel’s storied history), to hit the restart button with just the right gusto that could reignite a very tired and bewildered fanbase. Mr. Piskor’s grand conceit with “X-Men: Grand Design” is to reconcile the often conflicting history of the X-Men universe and tell a coherent story from the beginning of the Marvel Universe to today.
Issue #1 of “X-Men: Grand Design” lays out the original groundwork as we see an extraterrestrial being known as Uatu (aka “The Watcher”), whose purpose is to watch the ongoings of the human species, begin to document the history of mutants. Along with guest appearances by some familiar (and not so familiar) Marvel faces we see the early history of the X-Men unfold in simple, yet enthralling fashion.
From an illustration standpoint, Mr. Piskor recreates the familiar heroes and villains of the X-Men in a way that will tug at the Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko heart strings. The abrasive and grotesque features that he chooses to mark aren’t overly jarring. They help to highlight the original looks of characters such as Magneto and Iceman who don’t look like their modern-day movie star counterparts. The layout of the panels is a throwback to yesteryear’s simplicity, following almost a Sunday funny paper format. The comics are meant to have that old school feel and smell that would have been familiar to anyone picking up comics from a newsstand in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
Very much like its artwork, the dialogue and story description keep to the basics that hearken back to simpler days, but add coarse language here and there to keep the mature reader honest. It’s a nice reminder to know that we’re not completely back in the ‘Excelsior!’of Stan Lee, but we still get the best of both worlds.
The best part of “X-Men: Grand Design” is the efficient precision that Mr. Piskor takes when re-introducing us to our original squadron of heroes and foes. It’s been more than 20 years since the character of Angel has had any cache with me, but Mr. Piskor was able to get me fully invested into his personality and backstory in just 18 simple panels. Even minor forgotten villains such as the Conquistador gets enough of a nod that it makes you aware of his intentions and purpose, but doesn’t overstay his welcome to overshadow the Beast or Cyclops. If some of these characters or references go over your head, there’s always the option of going down a Wikipedia rabbit hole to fill in the blanks.
Issue one of “X-Men: Grand Design” gives comic purists and newbies something solid to sink their adamantium claws into. This is the beginning of a new (and successful) mutation in comics.
Marvel artist/writer Ed Piskor will be autographing copies of “X-Men: Grand Design”
at Phantom of the Attic on 411 S. Craig St., Oakland, from 4-7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Dominic DeAngelo is a freelance writer who lives in the East End.