X-Men Blue #5 Review

Writer: Cullen Bunn

Artist: Julian Lopez & Cory Smith

Colorist: Irma Knivila

Letterer: Joe Carmagna

Cover Artists: Art Adam & Peter Steigerwald

Editors: Mark Paniccia & Christina Harrington 

Editor-In-Chief: Axel Alonso

Recap and Thoughts: We begin this new issue after last’s cliffhanger when the New Marauders showed up. Jimmy gets really angry and makes it clear he has no desire to go with them. A big fight takes place in the bar against these new Marauders. Beast figures out that they are also from displaced dimensions. The team is trying to get the civilians out of the bar with no harm coming to them, teaming up with Sheriff Kira Lee in order to do so.

Both teams are giving it their all in the fight, so Hank asks Jean to invade their minds in order to see who is pulling their strings. Lets just say if we X-Fans hear Marauders in any way, shape or form, we usually know who is behind them, but Marvel surprises as it turns out the individual behind these new Marauders is none only than Miss Sinister; wow, we have not seen her in a while, especially post Secret Wars. While both teams continue the fight, Jean and Miss Sinister have a chat. Jean wants to know why she wants Jimmy so bad, as well as the rest of the reality displaced mutants for that matter.

Sinister’s research revealed there were alternate realities which led to her collecting mutants from the different world in order to experiment on them. Jimmy escaped her clutches and we cut to reveal he is about to claw Mach 2 but hesitates. He exits the bar and The Marauders go after him, who in turn are pursued by the Original Five. During this time, Jean and Miss Sinister are still chatting and Jean accuses her of mentally wiping her prisoner’s minds, but apparently crossing over to the 616 universe automatically wipes their minds. However, Miss Sinister does take credit for turning them into living weapons.

After this revelation, she decides to extend an olive branch to the Original Five and recalls the Marauders. She also allows Jimmy to go with the X-Men. Once this is done, the Original Five say their goodbyes to Kira and head home to Madripor. They introduce Jimmy to Magneto and decide to make him part of the team. However, we also see that Miss Sinister left behind some sort of token with Jean who wonders what Sinister’s agenda could really be and if she can be stopped.

Conclusion: This ends Cullen Bunn’s second arc in the book, with the addition of a new team member (sorely needed) and a new ongoing threat to the team. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was Miss Sinister; I have enjoyed her character in prior stories. Maybe now that Bunn has established directions to where the title will be going (via Magneto and the multiverse), and now that there is a new member, perhaps the story will really take off. The art is still a problem for me; Julian Lopez’s art lacks a polish that I like in my X-books. Art Adams’ covers continue to kill though. Lets see what the third arc brings us; I think it will be a turning point.