787. X-Necrosha #1 ... #mutants ... #x-men ...

This story arc came out maybe 8 or 9 years ago and with the deluge of new materials, somehow or other, this kind of went under our reading radar and that's because there has been so many renumbering and relaunches that we did not know what to buy and read but all that aside, the artwork here is by Clayton Crain

Crain is a digital artist and while his covers are generally good, he seems to have an issue doing interiors and quite frequently, they look very dark/ muddy/ hard to make out. It feels like you are watching a B-grade movie or even lower. Don't get us wrong. We are huge fans of Crain but for the covers

Anyway, this title is certainly entertaining especially to long time X-Men and New Mutants readers because we open with Selene, the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club actually revealing the truth about who she is! We knew she was long lived and uses life force of others to sustain but to potentially be thousands of years old? Born during a time when people are literally cavemen? And her mother gave everything up for her and so did her tribespeople? WHOA!

So Selene is the leading nasty bad guy or villainess in this series and what she harbours is that she has been patient for far too long. She has tried to achieve her true potential to be a demi-god. And to be that, she needs lots of sacrifices. Unfortunately, she was let down several times in the past and in the 20th/ 21st century, she thought to learn more about modern civilization by aligning with the Hellfire Club. Unfortunately none of them really give a damn about her goals and this she showed us in her narration. What is her solution then? She actually gave credit to Emma Frost using young mutants and thus, she set out to recruit her own team except that she brought only killers and confused/ misguided/ disillusioned mutants to her side and spin them onto her own web so that they are loyal to her

And as this issue progresses, we watch in shock and awe as she sets up her power base in the former mutant island Kingdom of Genosha (now she renamed Necrosha) while her young followers and a former lover who is also thousands of years old put her plans into motion including attacking the X-Men on their home island of Utopia. But all this is merely distraction for she plans to resurrect as many of the dead mutants as possible and while they fight for her, she gathers for the right time to absorb them all for her greater purpose

However, to make matters worse for the heroes, someone else is making an entry except that until the end of this issue, we still have not an inkling of this special old villain's return. Not even a hint.

Amongst those making a comeback include Destiny, the first Thunderbird and Cypher. What the new writers did with Cypher is simply amazing and you will have to follow next few issues in the crossover to read it all!

A great first issue!

Ratings: 7/10 (lost 1 point for artwork)