You think you know how the beloved blue devil came into this troubled world? You think you know the tale of his mendacious mamma Mystique? You don’t! Mother and son reunite in a mold-shattering tale that exposes secrets held for decades and redefines both characters forever. X-Men Blue: Origins #1 dives into the history of Nightcrawler and Mystique, delivering the definitive “origin” and connection between the two settling decades of speculation.

Written by Si Spurrier, X-Men Blue: Origins #1 is a fairly straightforward comic. Mystique seeks out Nightcrawler who is now dressed as Spider-Man doing the heroic thing in New York and the two lay it all out on the table. For years there’s been speculation, rumors, confusion as to the connection between Nightcrawler and Mystique and this issue clears tha tup with the definitive take and answer. And it’s… kind of not surprising?

While Spurrier clears things up, the story overall isn’t as shocking/weird/new as one might expect. There’s some small details regarding Mystique’s mutation which sets up the character to have an even more interesting future, but the connection between her and Nightcrawler overall feels rather… anticlimactic.

There’s some emotional moments and in the end you feel bad for Mystique and the trauma she’s enduring but the issue really feels like it highlights the fact it’s taken so long to get here. This all should have been resolved years before. It also continues to highlight the fact that Professor X is kind of a bad guy in the big picture of things, continuing his slide over the years from visionary to borderline villain.

X-Men Blue: Origins #1 has some interesting aspects regarding Destiny and “fate.” That aspect hopefully will be explored in further storylines down the road as the implication on Nightcrawler and his role in events is pretty significant. Overall, it comes off as a concept that’s thrown out there but the reaction isn’t quite what you’d really expect and feels a bit subdued.

The art by Wilton Santos and Marcus To is solid. They’re joined by Oren Junior on ink, Ceci De La Cruz on color and Joe Caramagna on lettering. The comic looks great with some small bumps visually. You get the feeling of the emotion and confusion coming from Mystique but the visuals never quite give that overly dramatic moment where you really connect with the character and what she’s going through. It lays out the emotion but I never really connected with the emotional moments.

X-Men Blue: Origins #1 really is for those that care about the small details and need to know definitive origins. So far, its impact feels like what’s teased about Mystique’s power will have greater ramifications than the connection between her and Nightcrawler. Not a bad issue and some interesting history of the characters but overall what comes out of it, if anyhting, feels like it’ll matter more.

Story: Si Spurrier Art: Wilton Santos, Marcus To
Ink: Oren Junior Color: Ceci De La Cruz Letterer: Joe Caramagna Design Tom Muller, Jay Bowen
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle