(lower than it probably would've otherwise been because Wood is an alleged sexual assaulting pig.) ( )

3.5 rating

It's off to a good start. I love Jubilee and the other X-Women. I'm excited to read this series and can't wait to see what happens next. I think Jubilee will make a great mom. ( )

Jubilee is returning from a mission in Bulgaria with a baby in tow. She plans on adopting the child and providing it a home just like the X-Men did with her. The baby was in an orphanage and she felt that she just couldn't leave him there. Someone is following her home. His name is John Sublime and he has been on earth since its beginning. He can infect hosts since he is a bacteria lifeform. His plan has been to take over the world. He has been fighting the X-Men for a long time. Once he figured out that Jubliee was headed for the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning he headed there as quickly as possible to talk to them.

He explained to Rachel Summers and Psylocke about his sister whom he kicked away from the earth at the beginning and how she is now back and being reborn in a host body and that she wants to destroy the Earth. She has the power of mechanics and tech. It turns out that she is hiding inside the baby that Jubilee is carrying on a train back to the school. Rogue, Storm, and Kitty have all gone to pick up Jubilee from the train thinking she is in danger and they are pretty right as the baby sets the train on a collision course with another train. The three manage to save the day and get Jubilee and the baby back to the mansion where Sublime's sister, Arkea Prime takes the body of Karima Shapandar who was being held in stasis because no one was sure if she was completely dead or whether some part of her consciousness still lived on.

Arkea immediately gets into their computer and begins to go to work. She sets off the danger room protocol which locks everyone out of the room she is in with Beast, but Rogue is able to bust through. Arkea proves stronger than Rogue and completely cybernetic. Kitty has a chance to end her but this is still the body of Karima and there's a chance that she is still in there so she doesn't take it and let's Arkea get away.

Now the X-Men must find and defeat Arkea while at the same time fixing the damage done to the computer system that is now attacking them at the mansion. Also included in this book is Uncanny X-Men #244 the issue where Jubliee is first introduced. It's interesting to see the old Rogue that was having problems with integrating Carol Danvers into her mind. Also seeing the tough as nails Psylocke in a dowdy dress with her hair pulled back in a bun is hilarious. This is an interesting storyline, though to be honest, Jubilee is not one of my favorite X-Men. I really don't like her. But in this comic, she's trying to act more grown-up than I've ever seen her. She really was an annoying teenager. Hopefully, she'll be a less annoying grown-up. It was pretty cool to read a pretty much all female X-Men comic for a change. I really recommend this book. ( )

I have extremely fond memories of the X-men from my teenage years and it's still one of my favorite franchises to pick-up. I've always loved the social justice themes and how diverse the characters are. So, when I heard that there would be a run focusing on some of my favorite X-Ladies I got pretty freakin' excited. Unfortunately, [b:X-Men, Vol. 1: Primer|17824754|X-Men, Vol. 1 Primer|Brian Wood|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387147446s/17824754.jpg|24934358] did not live up to my expectations.

Jubilee is heading home with a baby she adopted when she notices she's being followed. Freaked out, she calls the all female X-team on a payphone and they fly in to the rescue. Turns out the person who was following Jubilee is John Sublime. Johns is attempting to track down his sister before she spews death and terror all over the place and enlists the X-Team's assistance.

I hate to say it, but this collection felt like it was pandering to what it thought a female audience would want to read and it did this at the expense of having an engaging plot and character development. This caused some serious imbalances in the way characters are portrayed and how the world appeared. One example is how Primer seems to err on the side of "No Boys Allowed" in order to focus on its female characters. In a world that is as diverse as X-men it does not make sense to have a team made up of only one gender. Like most things, it should be about balance. You can have men on the active team without having to automatically focus on them.

Also, I found it disappointing that a run concentrating on female X-Men is also choosing to latch onto a baby storyline. Dominating the collection are scenes of Jubilee with her new baby which thread the story with forced sentimentality and rather melodramatic angst. The scenes of Jubilee enjoying a day out on the town with junior as she strolls down memory lane, with a very G rated Wolverine at her side, were never ending. They came after the climax of the main plot and I'm still baffled at why they even exist. I got the idea that it's supposed to show how Jubilee is maturing by taking on the responsibility of having a baby. I'm hoping that this plot gets dropped. There are a million other less cliched and more interesting ways this can be accomplished for her character. Honestly, I'm hoping that they return to the "baby is evil" idea that seemed to pop-up briefly in the beginning. I would definitely pick-up the second volume if the baby turns out to be evil incarnate.

All in all, I thought that X-Men: Primer had issues but it also has some potential. The series has some really great artwork by Oliver Coipel and lot of characters with interesting backgrounds to support it. But I would love to see Wood add some real conflict into the group and give them a morally complex issue to deal with. Towards the end of the collection it seemed like Wood was trying to insert some of this by having Rachel and Storm at odds. Their conflict came a little out of left field but I think it was an interesting idea. For now though, I don't think I'll be picking-up [b:X-Men, Vol. 2: Muertas|18359965|X-Men, Vol. 2 Muertas|Brian Wood|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388589097s/18359965.jpg|25959446]. ( )

The Marvel Now launch for the X-Men, or should I say X-Women, gets off to a strong start. I’m surprised it took Marvel so long to put together an all-female team that isn’t cobbled together (like The Fearless Defenders). These characters have been working together since the beginning, albeit always with men in the group, and so this line-up not only makes sense, it actually works.

I’ve never read any of the X-Men series until now because I was intimidated by so much continuity/backstory for so many major characters. So, I freely admit I bought the first volume of this X-Men because it was all women. I’ve been hoping for a strong female-led series, besides Captain Marvel, and it’s great to discover one here. First off, the story jumps right in without burdening readers with background. Storm, Rogue, Psyloche, Rachel, Jubilee and Kitty Pride work at the Jean Grey School. Sublime, who I am not familiar with, has the power to possess bodies. He arrives at the school to warn them that his sister Arkea has returned to Earth and is a major threat. And what Sublime can do to people, she can do to technology. The team comes together naturally, but was not planned. And that leaves Storm and Rachel butting heads on who exactly the leader should be. But, it’s not outright antagonism; they do respect each other, even if they do not agree. This was a refreshing change from the big personality clashes that occur in Avengers’ teams. And, the villain is unique and original, in addition to being a threat that is most certainly going to return. The story has resolution, but also lays the groundwork for future stories.

Overall, this was a very strong start to the new series. Unlike Defenders, which I keep reading hoping it will improve, X-Men fulfills most of its potential right out of the gate. Highly recommended. ( )