ADVANCED REVIEW: ‘X-Men: Curse of the Man-Thing,’ Issue #1

X-Men: Curse of the Man-Thing #1 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Steve Orlando, art by Andrea Broccardo, colors by Guru-eFX, and letters by Clayton Cowles. With Harrower’s fires spreading across the planet, earth’s heroes struggle to hold the blaze at bay. Meanwhile, Man-Thing discovers that his summoning hasn’t brought Belasco to him but rather Magik. Though perhaps this unexpected turn may prove to his benefit.

Magik has seen a lot of terrible things in her time. Despite her relatively young age, one does not become the Demon Queen of Limbo without passing through their share of fires. This seems to give her a particular point of view that helps her as she confronts Doctor Sallis(the man in the Man-Thing) about what he intends to do to help stop Harrower’s attempt to burn humanity from the face of the earth.

Writer Orlando delves into a lot of areas throughout the opening scene between Magik and Man-Thing.  Not only is the current situation addressed but also the origins of the Man-Thing as well. As someone who has only ever had a passing knowledge of Man-Thing’s beginnings, this was a welcome bit of exposition.

And while it’s Man-Thing’s name on the cover, Magik completely dominates this sequence. Thanks largely to Orlando’s script, Magik wields a far stronger presence here than the overwhelmed Sallis can manage.

The other primary focus X-Men: Curse of the Man-Thing #1 looks at is the Harrower. Even as her fires rage across the planet, she is found seeking a way to widen her attack on humanity. The unfettered rage this character lashes out with is delivered well within Orlando’s writing of the character’s various moments throughout the book.

Beyond these two focal points, the story also bounces among several ancillary points where the situation is being addressed somehow. From the Avengers deployed at the epicenter of the crisis to the Silent Council of Krakoa, these far-flung moments help to stress further the scale of the danger facing the earth.

While these moments work fine in the first half of the book, as the story comes to a close, a bit of disjointedness begins to seep into them. As events speed to a conclusion, the reader is caught up on situations as they conclude, without seeing the development. This leaves some parts of X-Men: Curse of the Man-Thing #1 resolution feeling like it was just dropped there to wrap the book up.

The art from Broccardo delivers the story’s moments fairly well, though there are a few moments where the characters feel a bit wooden within the frames. None of these moments are story-breaking, but they were just enough to pull me out of the moment.

The colorwork by Guru-eFX creates a strong contrast of visuals throughout the story. With the many scene changes marked by noticeably different color palettes, the story always maintains a feeling of visual freshness.

Rounding out this book’s visuals is Cowles lettering. The lettering here does a competent job of delivering the story in a way that is easy and clear for the reader to follow.

When all is said and done, X-Men: Curse of the Man-Thing #1 delivers a solid tale. While a couple of characters get to stand out, the story as a whole feels a bit run of the mill.

X-Men: Curse of the Man-Thing #1 is available May 5th wherever comics are sold.