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 X-Men Origins: Beast
Written by Mike Carey with art by J.K. Woodward
Reviewed by Kenne
Beast is the latest X-Man to get his own origin book, and while Beast’s origin was certainly not something new, it is nice to see a new take on an old origin. In this issue, we get to see what a pre-hairy and pre-X-Man Hank McCoy was like as he tries to be a normal student in a normal high school. The thing that impressed me the most about this story is how the writer really gets Beast especially how he is as a young man. This is the type of story that one would expect to read about Beast, an incredibly intelligent man who relies more on his brain than his brawns.
I only have one complaint, and it’s more a concern than a complaint. I don’t know if it was originally this way or not, but apparently, according to this story, Xavier was freer with mind manipulation when forming his X -Men than originally thought. While I wouldn’t put it past Xavier to do the sort of thing that occurs at the conclusion of this story, I have to wonder if this is something new that retcons the past or if this is just an element to Beast’s story that hadn’t come to light before now. While I’m all for giving new writers a chance to play with stories of the past, I have to say that it makes me nervous when new things that didn’t happen before are suddenly created.
Now, for the art, I have nothing but praise. I wish this sort of art could be seen on more comics these days. J.K. Woodward has provided us with a paint-like style that really makes the characters and scenes pop. In fact, I’m usually more of a verbal person who can usually forgive lackluster or bad art because I usually ignore it, but this is the kind of art that makes me want to open the book and look at it because the art is just so pretty.
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