The third and final of Marvel's trio of new core X-Men titles has arrived in September 4's Exceptional X-Men by writer Eve L. Ewing, artist Carmen Carnero, color artist Nolan Woodward, and letterer Joe Sabino, which puts Kitty Pryde in the spotlight as she reels from the end of Krakoa and her role in the mutant resistance that followed the mutant island's fall.
And while Kitty's trauma and reluctance as a result of Krakoa's end have her keeping her distance from the X-Men, the plight of young mutants everywhere has her reconsidering what's next - and another A-list mutant has her eyes on a renewed future for mutants that puts Kitty front-and-center.
Spoilers ahead for Exceptional X-Men #1
In the wake of Krakoa's fall, Kitty Pryde has moved home to Chicago where she is trying not to succumb to the growing anxiety and trauma that haunts her by working as a bartender as a way of distracting herself from confronting the violent role she took on as one of the main enforcers of the mutant resistance.
But through all of her distractions, Kitty is still confronted by the hatred and bigotry of humans who are at best skeptical of mutantkind and at worst outright hostile to mutants in their midst. And when she tries to distract herself with a night out at a concert mostly attended by much younger people, she's forced to deal with anti-mutant bigotry head on when the bouncer at the concert venue tries to accost a young mutant whose powers manifest as she defends herself.
This mutant turns out to be the previously revealed new recruit Bronze, whose skin becomes metal and creates lashing whips as weapons - though for now she's still simply Trista Marshall, as her X-Men training has yet to begin.
Kitty intervenes to help Trista escape the security guards who give chase after she uses her powers to defend herself, using her phasing abilities to get them both to safety before giving Trista a ride home. As Kitty gets ready for work the next day, she receives a gift from Trista thanking her for her help, putting the first cracks in the shell Kitty has put around herself to insulate herself from X-Men business.
Meanwhile, as Kitty tries to get back to immersing herself in working way too hard, another mutant is scanning the minds of all her possible mutant allies in the vicinity - Emma Frost, who is living in the lap of luxury in a hotel. As Emma chooses not to psychically contact several other X-Men in the area, she decides to make contact with Kitty, apparently with the intent of recruiting her into a new team.
We know that this will form the basis of the Exceptional X-Men team, with Emma and Kitty training several young recruits including Trista/Bronze. But there's also one more surprise cast member who is revealed in the last pages of Exceptional X-Men #1: Iceman, who is shown boarding a plane to Chicago.
So far, Exceptional X-Men may be the most subdued of the new X-Men flagship titles, focusing more on the idea of training and recruiting young mutants who are still being introduced to the title. But it also puts a light directly on what the concept of the so-called "mutant metaphor" means in a post-Krakoa world.
Eve Ewing's script deftly explores what it's like to be a person whose identity is under attack, putting an emphasis on the feeling of loss that is tied to the fall of Krakoa, and the fear and shame inflicted on mutants by distrustful humans. It also brings Kitty Pryde back down to earth from her place as a ninja assassin, showing her reverting to her old nickname after going by 'Kate' through the Krakoa era and also dealing with the traumatic fallout of her bloody actions as an anti-Orchis enforcer.
Meanwhile, Carmen Carnero and Nolan Woodward's art strikes a strong balance between the youthful energy of Trista and her environment against Kitty Pryde's world-weariness, setting up Kitty's place as a mentor to Trista while the younger mutant helps revitalize Kitty's own sense of purpose in her community.
Exceptional X-Men #1 may be a bit slower start than X-Men #1 or Uncanny X-Men #1, but the issue's 'handle with care' approach to Kitty Pryde's recovery and the new place of mutants in the Marvel Universe may in fact be setting the title up as the most thoughtful and emotional comic of the new X-Men line - qualities that the X-Men soap opera thrives on.
Exceptional X-Men #2 goes on sale October 9.
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