X-Men Red #7 Review
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Carmen Carnero
Color Artist: Rain Beredo
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Published by: Marvel Comics
What happens when the X-Men Red team is besieged on two fronts from the evil that is Cassandra Nova? Can they survive and complete their mission? Will the X-Men be able to counteract the effects of these Nanite Sentinels placed within innocent bystanders?
The above is just a quick synopsis of the recap page from the latest issue of X-Men Red, and I have to say, it was extremely helpful. As a new reader to the Red series, I was coming in with a very vague notion of what was going on, but the recap did a good job of catching me up (which is not always the case with the recaps).
However, even without the recap page, I think I would have been fine throughout the issue since Taylor does a masterful job of moving the plot forward while still filling new readers such as myself as he goes. And the greatest part of it? It’s not exposition heavy. Comics being a visual medium, Taylor plays to this by having a lot of what is going on be shown and not told and Carnero is up to the task.
Since this is also part 7 of the storyline, some stuff has to happen and it does at a very fast pace. The Atlantean contingent needs to deal with a Nanite Sentinel brainwashed Teen Abomination while the team that is seeking an ambassador’s phone on a plane also run into some pretty nasty problems. What’s great is, you’re told that Cassandra Nova is the main villain, but her presence is not required to still attack this X-Men team.
The art team doe a wonderful job throughout the issue of capturing not only the magnitude of the action - there is a great visual of the plane with a sentinel above it that is really well done. I am not familiar with Carnero’s work, but I’ll definitely be looking out for it (especially if coloured by Beredo).
I can now understand a lot of the hype I’ve heard that has been surrounding X-Men Red these past few months. Even with a returning villain, the comic feels fresh and I can’t wait to read some more.