X-Men: First ClassTomorrow's Brightest by Jeff Parker

X-Men: First ClassTomorrow's Brightest Reviews

• 
  Jeff

  A bargain find at the local thrift shop found right between the store’s hundredth stocked copy of Twilight and a book about Carrot Top…
  
  It’s a movie tie-in without being a movie tie-in.
  
  Marvel who doesn’t own the film rights to the X-Men wanted to somehow cash in with a same-titled yet unique-from-the-film volume. So they contrived some tales from Charles Xavier’s long lost notes – a cockamamie Untold Tales of the X-Men, if you will. *
  
  This one harks back to the original five X-Kids.
  
  
  
  Not all the way back where the Beast talks like he just moved out of Yancey Street and has the IQ of a Moloid or Marvel Girl has a girlish faint after doing nothing more than bending a spoon – these are throwback tales with the modern trappings (computers, email, indoor plumbing at the X-Mansion).
  
  Thankfully, Parker gave Iceman, one of my favorite X-men, and his humor, more than his share of the spotlight here. No longer Snow-Cone Boy…
  
  
  
  …or the icy-lad having puberty problems…
  
  
  
  …or a token Spidey-Friend public service spokesperson…
  
  
  
  …or a punch line.
  
  
  
  He’s an integral and functioning member of the group.
  
  
  
  Laugh, clown, laugh.
  
  As for the rest, Jean Grey gets slighted, Hank McCoy (the Beast) has some moments, Warren Worthington (Angel) is pretty much a lost cause no matter who’s writing these books and Scott Summers typically has a huge stick inserted up his butt.
  
  
  
  Bottom line: Who should read this book? The issues collected here are self-contained stories without the trappings of fifty-plus years of continuity weighing them down. As written, they’re inoffensive (mutant hatred is toned way down) and slight tales, probably aimed at the younger set, so they’d be perfect for introducing kids to the X-books. Plenty of Marvel Universe cameos, from the Skrulls to Dr. Strange to Thor. For the more savvy big-boy X-reader, there are better X-books out there.
  
  *Not true. I made this up. Not deliberately, but I have a head cold, I'm probably feverish and I'm too sick to re-write it. The book came out first.
  
  Thanks, Paul.
  
  *sips tea, goes back to bed*
• 
  Molly™☺

  A collection of entertaining shorts featuring the original X-Men. It's very much geared towards a younger audience, with lighthearted themes and charming cartoon-like art that, whilst directed at a specific demographic, can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Each member gets to shine, and the personalised pages are a nice touch that offer even more insight into the characters. A three star simply because a lot of the stories are fairly predictable, this mini-series knows exactly what it wants to be and succeeds very well at it.
• 
  Ｆｒａｎｋｈ

  Not to be confused with the 2011 X-Men film adaptation that features the young, hot versions of Professor X and Magneto going all-out bittersweet bromance of the same name, Jeff Parker's kiddie-to-early-teen series is nothing nearly as gripping but is rather so insistently fucking adorbs with a heartfelt sincerity that matches its varied visual color and illustrations courtesy of artist Roger Cruz.
  
  Though basically a re-vamp of the sixties version where the core five as mentioned before have the leading roles, the timeline for this comic book series seems to be placed in a more modern setting since Bobby mentions e-mail which means they have internet, which means this is not happening during the sixties.
  
  I was also happy with the fact that the long-held characterizations for both these characters are intact for this AU series. Just like in the Stan Lee originals, young Scott is hopelessly self-doubting, always terrified that he might injure someone he cares about with his powers. He'd approach the professor about him not being worthy of the leadership role only to be comforted time and time again that he is made to lead. I love emo-Scott like you wouldn't believe so this was a nice touch to preserve the vulnerability of an aspiring hero back then who has now turned into comics' most formidable villains these days.
  
  Meanwhile, we have Jean Grey who is such a sweet thing that even the stuffy Xavier finds himself softening whenever he's around her, most likely because they're both telepaths which means there's an immediate intimacy and relation there. I sure hope they won't bring back the angle where the professor is secretly infatuated with his teenage student because goddammit, Stan Lee, that was creepy as all fuck. But at this point, being the only girl but with badass telekinesis at that, who can't help falling for Jeanie?
  
  And then we have Henry McCoy who is your typical big-guy-with-a-soft-heart but also a nerdy motherfucker who is totes the teacher's pet during classroom discussions. It's because Henry doesn't really have anyone to bond with when it comes to science stuff aside from the professor so he eagerly chats away whenever Xavier is around to accommodate him. We have Warren who would rather fly out in the sky with his pretty wings than study world history. Xavier communicates telepathically with him when this happens, always finding the right words to say to humble the impulsive upper-class white boy himself.
  
  Finally, we have Bobby Drake who is the youngest of the bunch and his zingers and overall laid-back attitude make me laugh. He definitely makes everything in the stories fun.
  
  If you want something light, quirky and fun then you will enjoy this series as long as you're not the type of comic book reader who thinks superhero stories need to be gritty and mature all the time. Centered around the Original Core Five of Stan Lee's idyllic sixties era, X-Men: First Class is endearing and captivating enough for all ages to enjoy. If you have a child of your own or any niece or nephew who loves the superheroes particularly the X-Men and they're under 13 or so then this is the series I can recommend you buy for them.
  
  RECOMMENDED: 9/10
  
  DO READ MY REVIEWS AT:
  
  
  
• 
  Anne

  2 stars for adults
  4 stars for kids
  
  This was cute. If you're looking for a kick-ass mutant story, skip this one and move on to something else.
  
  I'm going to assume that the target audience here is kids, because there is not much here that an adult would find interesting. It reads like one of my son's Marvel Adventres books.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  In other words, if you're looking for a comic that's appropriate for the younger set, then this one would do just fine.
• 
  Paula G.

  telenovela con superpoderes
• 
  Kat

  Lots of fun!
• 
  Michael

  Eine beträchtliche Enttäuschung bereitet mir Parker hier; für wen sind die Stories konzipiert? Jugendliche Leser dürften eher gelangweilt sein und manche der gottlob vorhandenen Witze und Anspielungen gar nicht erst bemerken, und mir waren die Geschichten zu substanzlos und forderten massiv das Opfer des Intellekts, mehr, als ich bereit zu geben war.
  Ein "X-Men 101", das mit dem Charm des Originals nicht mithält und zeichnerisch nicht meinen Geschmack trifft, zu cartoonhaft hingehuscht sind die Panels (dabei hatten die einzelnen Cover die Erwartungen hochgeschraubt).
  First Class - im umfassenden Sinne oberflächlich!
• 
  Himanshu Karmacharya

  This book was incredibly fun to read. The writer has done an excellent job with the early lives of the very first X-Men. The vivid personalities of different characters, their lack of experience, the jokes and dialogues are exceptionally well done.
  I wasn't a very huge fan of the art at first, but it grew on me. I have to admire the fact that the artist has added lots of details and easter eggs in the book.
• 
  Baba

  The initial volume of the less angsty more 'fun' tales of the original X-Men team. First Class volume 1 #1-6 and Special. A pretty pointless addition to the X-men mythos! 4 out of 12.
  
• 
  Gökçe

  Okuması eğlenceliydi ama ben daha başlangıç bir hikaye istiyordum, X-men’in nasıl oluşturulduğunu, karakterlerin bundan önce ne yaptığını biraz olsun görebileceğim... Yine olmadı. Genel olarak Marvel’ın çizgi roman serilerine Stan Lee’nin yazdığı seriyi okumadan en başından başlamak mümkün olmuyor anladığım kadarıyla.
  
  Karakterleri yeterince tanıyamadık. Olayların bir ağırlığı ya da büyük bir düşman yok gibiydi. Bilmiyorum eksik olan bir şeyler vardı. Scarlet Witchli bomboş bir bölüm vardı mesela bir anlam veremediğim... Tabii bunlar seriye devam etmeme engel değil, sadece First Class’ın hiç aşina olmayan biri için seriye doğru bir başlangıç noktası olmadığı kanaatindeyim.
• 
  Belén Perrone

  Hace un tiempo que quería empezar a leer lo más básico de X-Men e internet me sugirió arrancar con First Class. El primer volumen (9 issues en total) muestra a la primera generación en diferentes circunstancias y aunque no hay mucha historias continuada es entretenido y siento que es una buena forma de entrarle a este universo.
• 
  Iván

  2,5
• 
  Jesse

  This was a lot of fun. Light hearted compared to some of the X-Men collections I've read. Great art, a cool look at the beginning of Xavier's school. I'd read more in this series.
• 
  Kayla

  3.5 stars.
• 
  GodzillaGus

  First Class is easy reading, episodic, and easy on the eyes. Though I'm unsure where each issue lands in the timeline, I'm not too bothered by it. It's enough to know we're teamed up with literally the 1st class. From what I can tell, this volume doesn't replace the original 1960's run, just adds to it somewhere. I hesitate to use the word "filler" because there's so much negative baggage that comes with that word and this was genuinely a fun read.
• 
  Gayle Francis

  A fun update to the original X-Men team, allowing for curious readers to get caught up in an 8-issue mini specifically designed to do just that. In this mini, Parker hands us the original five: Scott, Jean, Warren, Hank, and Bobby, and puts them at the Xavier school, only this time they're older teenagers (it's noted they're in a college environment), and Xavier is only about 10% as creepy as he was back in the day (there's still occasional mind-reading-without-permission). It's a really fun book that introduces all the basic characters in the X-Men universe. You get the original five and Xavier, mentions of Magneto and the Brotherhood, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, and a really interesting story device where rather than taking up whole issues resetting old, well-known stories, they're mentioned as part of what the X-Men have already done.
  
  The issues are technically standalones, with each issue taking on a single villian, but there's an overall story arc of simply the team being a team and being friends. It's a fun read with pretty solid art (there are a few faces I didn't care for), and it's nice to see an X-Men book where people are actually having FUN and not just grim-facing at one another.
  
  
• 
  k.wing

  This is an excellent new series by Jeff Parker (art by Cruz), and this trade consists of 8 stories. The beauty of First Class is the novelty ironically mixed with nostalgia. Although the stories are all new, the setting and time is back when the X-men first began with Beast, Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman, and everyone's least favorite X-man, Cyclops. There are many guest appearances including Dr. Strange, which allude to things that happen in the future or in other series.
  
  Rarely do I laugh out loud reading, but it seemed as though I couldn't turn a page without giving a chuckle. The only draw-backs to X-Men First Class are: 1. it only comes in hard cover as of now (about $25) and 2. the stories leave you wanting a little more, as if they were cut short. However, I am very happy I spent my hard-earned twenty-five bucks on it, and although I thought the stories could have possibly developed quicker or could have been more climactic, they were still extremely fun to read. Plenty of pop-culture references, great globe-trotting adventures, refreshing art, and hilarious one-liners are all in store for anyone who decides to pick this one up.
• 
  Tracy

  True story: on my way home from picking this up at the library where I'd put it on hold, a friendly stranger sitting across from me on the train asked which one I was reading, so I held up the cover for him to see. "How long have you been reading comics?" he asked, and I just shrugged. Since forever, really, since I could read. I grew up on Tintin and Asterix and Suske en Wiske, at first mostly in Dutch. I tend to forget that not everybody reads comics, that they're kind of marginalized even when dressed up as "graphic novels" in marketing-speak. Anyway, he gave an eloquent hand wobble at about waist height, and I nodded agreement.
  
  Is there a point to this story? I don't know, but this was a fun book, even if's hell of creepy that Professor Xavier tells Scott "You're welcome" after finding a way to get Scott and Jean alone together. Creepy creepy creepy! but for the rest this book had remarkably few off notes; it's fun to watch these characters having relatively low-drama high-school-kid hijinks (highjinks? I don't know how that's spelled), especially since the last X-book I (re)read was the Dark Phoenix Saga. Yay for unicorn chasers!
• 
  Sandra Rosa

  For millions of years, mankind’s place on Earth was unchallenged – until five young people paved the way for a new kind of human! While students at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast and Iceman taught the world what it meant to be X-Men. These are the hidden stories of the team that laid the foundation of a mutant dynasty! Written by Jeff Parker (AGENTS OF ATLAS) and illustrated by Roger Cruz (ARAÑA). Collecting X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #1-8.
  The X-Men these days are so grim and gritty that it's nice to see this new take on the old group, specially nice with all the references to the old age (geez who even remembers those old villains anyway) and all the in-jokes about the future.
  It's also nice to see Jeanie again, and without all the cluttered up back story always surrounding a Marvel Comic, this is a real breath of fresh air among the X Books, i think i'll continue to collect this in paperback form.
• 
  Mariah

  This is a really fun and relaxing read! There are eight different stories featuring the characters: Angel, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Marvel Girl and Professor X. I picked this up because the X-Men are probably the superheroes I know the least about. This is a really nice read. You don't really find out the back stories of each of the characters, but it's a really good first novel for newbies like me. I would recommend this and I already put the second graphic novel in the series in my "to read" on goodreads.
  
  My favorite character is probably Iceman just because I have always thought that he was super funny and sarcastic. Though all the characters are entertaining for many reasons.
  
  I highly recommend this, it was fun to read!
  
• 
  Vendea

  Můj první X-men komiks. Skvěle jsem se bavila. Knize jen prospěl fakt, že tu najdeme několik různých příběhů jdoucích po sobě, takže si každý určitě najde ten svůj oblíbený. Mimo klasickou první pětku u profesora X tu najdeme i hrdiny jako Thora a další Marvel hrdiny. Vše je doplněno krásnými kresbami - obvzláště vydařené jsou ty se Scarlet Withc a Angelem ♥.
• 
  Dani

  Delightful! Fun! I like the X-Men, but it can be hard to read X-Men because (like any comic series, actually) I haven't read every previous issue and don't always know what's going on. This series can be a great introduction to X-Men, I feel, but it also served Marvel fans well since various other characters "guest starred". It was also just an enjoyable, light-hearted read!
• 
  Tshepiso

  After bringing most of the X-Men movies this week I wanted to get a feel for what they were like in the comics. X-Men comics have always been incredibly intimidating, but I was told this was a good place to start and I concur. This comic was a fun series of adventures set in the early days of the original five X-Men.
  
  I will say Jeff Parker's dialogue was a little on the nose at times. Characters would occasionally spout lines that were clearly intended to inform the audience about a character's personality or backstory but didn't feel like something they would naturally say. But despite that, I overall really enjoyed this series. It was a fun, lighthearted series of episodic adventures that gave me a strong sense of who these characters were and how they relate to each other.
• 
  Seleni

  Quizá amé tanto estos cómics porque los leí en un momento específico de mi adolescencia donde el dolor de Jean Grey, los problemas amorosos de Scott Summer y todo los desajustes identitarios de Ángel entraban en perfecta sintonía con un corazón angustiado de escolar en plena crisis. Por lo mismo creo que puede ser una historia muy disfrutable para una persona dentro de ese rango etario. Sin embargo, no sé si desde una perspectiva más adulta funcione de la misma manera; para saberlo tendría que echarle una releída.
• 
  Lola

  2,5/5
  
  I liked it, but it was a rather simple, uninteresting way to get into the X-Men universe. I think I'm going to jump from this directly to the Phoenix Saga story arc and more fascinating stories about my favorite mutants.
• 
  Jamie Lovett

  They're pretty straightforward superhero stories befitting the Silver Age era it's replicated. Still, Cruz and Parker make the original five X-Men more endearing and fun to adventure with here than anywhere else before.