WHAT IF…? X-MEN – What Could Have Been

Creative team – Ashley Allen, Sumit Kumar, Sonia Oback, VC’s Clayton Cowles, Lucas Werneck

Published by Marvel Comics

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The Story

This comic is reviewed by Nerd Initiative’s Shawn, and your truly, Megan!

Shawn – I genuinely can not get enough of what Ashley Allen is putting out. This story was simply phenomenal. Allen perfectly captured Cassandra Nova’s depravity while building a story unlike any What If… we’ve seen in this run. This feels like the first true horror-style What If… we’ve gotten, and Allen absolutely kills it. Nova is so incredibly terrifying and sociopathic the way that Ashley Allen writes her. The best selling point of this issue is that it packs a lot of story into not a lot of pages, and Allen does it in a way that draws you in. Nova is the perfect villain, desperate for control, making her chaos incarnate as unpredictable as anything.

The result is a dark, twisted psychological thriller with aspects of body horror worked into the story. Allen uses Cassandra Nova to show us such a cruel, unusual, and dark means of connecting with telepaths. She really is written in a way in this issue that captures her role as the antithesis of what Charles Xavier was. I loved the question mark at the end, because it gives me hope we could see more from this What If world.

Megan – I have to say, I was never a fan of the What If…? stories, but these new ones are really changing me. What If…? X-Men is one of many What If…? stories that truly capture you and keep you hooked into the pages until you finish reading. In What If…? X-Men, we’re given probably one of the darkest stories we’ve been told in the What If…? world where Cassandra Nova takes the place of Charles Xavier and actually kills Charles in the womb instead of the other way around. Cassandra comes out of the womb already unhinged, and only gets worse from there. There’s a huge hunt for telepaths so Cassandra can run the worst experiments on them, feeding into her desperation for control and power. The story is dark, it’s wicked, it’s so Cassandra Nova. It keeps you on the edge of your seat because you truly don’t know what she will do next.

Ashley Allen knocks it out of the park twice this week with What If…? X-Men and Tomb of Apocalypse #1, so it’s safe to say that this is her week. This What If…? story has everything I love in a comic. The darkness, the different looks at the characters, the feeling of not knowing what’s coming around the next corner, all handled perfectly.

The Art

Shawn – Sumit Kumar, Sonia Oback, and Clayton Cowles definitely passed the vibe check for this issue. It’s clear from the narrative that Allen’s script called for something darker and more foreboding than we have previously seen in this round of what-if stories. Kumar captures the vibe perfectly with the dark heavy lines balanced against crisp thin lines creating a vibrant landscape between characters and the environment.

Sonia Oback perfectly captures the tone, with the shading and coloring stealing the show in several of the panels. Oback utilizes different palettes for different power sets in this issue while still keeping the cooler tones to blend well within this issue. The colors really make the non-traditional panel design utilized by Kumar throughout the book pop off the page, briefly drawing your attention to the art before letting your eyes slowly fade back to the story.

Megan – The artists of What If…? X-Men knew exactly what they were doing here. They perfectly captured the darkness and the menacing tone of the story and the characters so beautifully well. Sumit Kumar, Sonia Oback, and Clayton Cowles were able to put the reader right in the story, making it very hard for your eyes to leave the page. Sumit Kumar’s linework was top tier with everything from the characters’ looks to their facial expressions. There was something special and terrifying about how Kumar was able to harness the look of pure terror on the faces of those who had Cassandra’s fingers in their minds. Another thing I love that Kumar did was the paneling! When the other mutants you’d usually see on the X-Men made their presence known, I absolutely loved how the panels were split up, even with one page in the shape of an X! Beautiful and creative!

Sonia Oback leaned in to the darkness of the story when handling the colors, which stuck the landing. With different tones of vibrancy highlighting the powersets against the dark and ominous backgrounds, you’re treated to some extraordinarily gorgeous pages. Clayton Cowles handled the lettering and really captured the menacing tone of Cassandra Nova through the dialogue, as well as the other characters and their heightened emotions. Together, the artists, as well as the writer, made this issue an easy 10 out of 10.

Final Thoughts

Shawn – 10/10. What If…? X-Men #1 immediately jumps into my top three for this round of What If…? stories. The creative team took a chance on the dark approach to the story and it paid off with a stellar narrative supported by compelling art.

Megan – 10/10. There’s not enough words in the English language to explain how much I loved What If…? X-Men #1. It had everything I wanted, darkness, action, a very compelling story, and artwork that made it hard to turn away from. Excellent work from an X-cellent creative team!

Overall Grade -10/10

Let us know in the comments what you thought of What If…? X-Men #1!