Now here is what should have been issue 25 of X-Men Forever, even at the end its says, End of Volume 1, but this issue didn’t fit the flow and feel established by issue 24.
Giant-Size X-Men Forever #1 gives the reason why Professor X will not present in Volume 2, well at least not for the first few arcs.
Apparent the last time the X-Men were in Space and ran across the Shi’Ar, Charles monkeyed with the security systems and left them unwillingly open to attacks by the Skrulls, Good work Chuck! So the Shi’Ar come to Earth looking for Charles to bring him back and fix the problem he caused. Upon leaving he gives Scott, Cyclops, full and complete control of the X-Men and the School.
There is also a couple of pages used as setup for the first arc in Volume 2.
With one lone director in charge of the Consortium, we don’t know who it is though, she lets SHIELD know that the X-Men are no longer to be trusted and something has to be done, and then SHIELD gets the Avengers on the case, and with the recent death of both Tony Stark and Hank McCoy, The Avengers want answers for the actions.
Sadly, I feel the Shi’Ar story was really lackluster. I know alot of people were excited about Mike Grell doing pencils but I feel his work did not suit the story at all. It was often muddy looking, mostly sketched with harsh inks over top that made everyone look stiff and the action look cut and paste.
Complaining about Claremont’s writing at this point is pretty much moot. If you have come this far in the series, you are most likely enjoying what he is doing. One thing that I have notice now, is that every so often he uses the phrase, “How’s By You?”. I have never heard this expression before and every time I read it, it really jars me out of the story and makes me question an editor letting it pass. A minor quibble at best.
The preview for Volume 2 got me super psyched. Seeing how much influence the Consortium has over SHIELD is interesting, especially to the point of making SHIELD act on their behave. Also see The Avengers all assembled at the end was nice. I love bearded Thor and seeing Hawkeye all pissed off, almost demanding blood was cool. I think the first arc is gonna be pretty good.
Overall, is the Giant-Size X-Men Forever #1 worth it? Well, if you have been reading the book from the beginning, yes. If you are thinking of jumping on with Volume 2? Maybe not. I think new readers jumping on here might be slightly lost, best to wait for Volume 2 #1 next Wednesday is the better idea.