Later, Jean reports that the Children cannot be detected by Cerebro. When the X-Men attempt to bring the Children to Krakoa, they flee.
In both pacing and premise, its closest antecedent is the blockbuster Ultimate Spider-Man #1 a fairly decompressed beginning to a Bendis-esque teen superhero story, though starring a team rather than a solo character.īut the premise is complicated by the nature of the Children of the Atom themselves, which is the central mystery of this issue. The premise is in large part classic Marvel fare: These teenagers have to balance their lives as superheroes with the demands of high school.
We primarily follow Cyclops-Lass, aka Beatrice “Buddy” Bartholomew and learn about her struggles with her family, her strained relationships at school, her crushes, and her realization that she is, in some way, different. What is Children of the Atom about?įive new superheroes - Cherub, Marvel Guy, Daycrawler, Gimmick, and the delightfully named Cyclops-Lass - debut on the streets of New York City, seemingly wielding the powers of and modeling their appearances after Angel, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Gambit, and, of course, Cyclops. Neither are new to the X-Men Vita Ayala wrote one of the hidden gems of pre-Krakoa X-Men, Prisoner X, and Bernard Chang not only drew several issues of X-Comics in the 90s, but recently returned for S.W.O.R.D #3. They’ve also written Valiant’s Livewire and a number of well-received indie titles (such as Submerged, a kind of Orpheus-meets-Jung horror story, and The Wilds, a floral zombie apocalypse with shades of Mad Max and the aesthetics of Midsommar).Ĭhang, on the other hand, is a veteran of the ’90s, having worked on properties ranging from Turok to Batman Beyond.
Atomic society mutants series#
Ayala is one of comics’ rising stars, having written a number of Marvel and DC one shots and short series (such as the “Batgirls” of Future State: The Next Batman, Nebula, and Marvel Knights). New Mutants writer Vita Ayala is joined by Bernard Chang on pencils, Marcelo Maiolo on colors, and Travis Lanham on letters. Will they succeed in becoming heroes? What place is there for them in this changed world? And above all else: Who and what are they? Children of the Atom #1 asks these questions and more. These teenagers, the eponymous Children of the Atom, struggle to survive in their typical, casually cruel and bigoted high school, but beyond its bounds they thrive as superheroes, taking up the mantles of their idols, the X-Men. But Marvel’s latest book in the X-Men umbrella is something new even for that new status quo.Ĭhildren of the Atom isn’t about Krakoa, but a team of young superheroes who decline to visit the mutant utopia. When Charles Xavier announced a new era of mutantkind, we got a new era of X-Men comics.