With Nightcrawler mutating more than usual, he must team up with new and old friends to solve a mystical mystery in Spurrier’s Legion of X #8!
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Legion of X #8
- Writer:
- Si Spurrier
- Artist:
- Netho Diaz, Sean Parsons
- Letterer:
- VC’s Clayton Cowles
- Cover Artist:
- Ben Harvey
- Publisher:
- Marvel
- Price:
- $3.99
- Release Date:
- 2022-12-14
- Colorist:
- Federico Blee
From the ashes of A.X.E.: Judgment Day and with the hotly anticipated Fall of X arc on the horizon in 2023, the X-Men canon roars onward with Legion of X #8. Penned by Si Spurrier, with returning pencils/inking duo Netho Diaz and Sean Parsons, alongside the project’s long-time color artist Federico Blee and VC’s Clayton Cowles on letters. Continuing to follow the exploits of David Haller, AKA Legion, the consequences of his self-cultivated dimension and his relationship with Mother Righteous continue to push the series into strange new directions.
After the last issue ended with a shocking revelation at the XCorp building in California, Legion of X #8 returns to the drama, with Angel and Nightcrawler being mutated in an unknown way by their X-gene powers. Simultaneously on Krakoa, Banshee, now partially merged with Ghost Rider, and Nightcrawler’s Legionnaires realize that the Phalanx may have already made their move. Elsewhere in the dreamscape, Blindfold gives Charles Xavier a stern talking to about his parenting skills. Pixie solves the mystery of the new mutations with some help from Black Knight, but tackling the culprit takes them into the unknown annals of Nightcrawler’s past.
Spurrier artfully juggles numerous characters and plotlines in Legion of X #8, allowing a vast stream of X-Men storylines to flow together in a single issue. Expanding the focus from Legion and Nightcrawler, Spurrier maintains sharp characterization and witty dialogue across a sprawling cast, depicting a vast range of emotional beats without the pace or tone feeling fractured. Legion of X feels like a puzzle box of a comic, with endless seemingly unconnected narratives slowly merging together, all hurtling towards a conclusion that the reader can’t even begin to guess. Spurrier makes the cacophony of storylines and characters feel like a rip-roaring existentialist adventure.
Diaz and Parsons team up to present some fantastically detailed, high-intensity art. Their action sequences are particularly impressive. The intricacy of the art creates the impression of dynamic movement. Diaz and Parsons have put together some stunning tableaus, complete with incredible levels of texture and shading. Blee’s colors are thoughtful and stylishly executed as always, although the demands of Legion of X #8 are less extravagant than previous issues, with only one brief psychedelic moment in The Altar. Blee nonetheless provides some beautiful atmospheric moments with his color choices and adds excellent visual punch to intense action scenes.
Cowles’ lettering is solid throughout, making great use of bold and italics to give the character’s speech a natural cadence that lends itself to moments of levity and severity in the dialogue. Cowles also includes some excellently constructed sound effects, including clever use of repeating and off-center letters to convey concussive reverberation.
The visual spectacle of Legion of X #8 is a little pared back compared to previous issues, but it gives the sheer amount of information in the comic room to breathe. This issue is jam-packed with character development and enough interwoven narratives to keep even a seasoned X-Fan on their toes, wondering who is going to burst into the story next. This issue is a veritable grab-bag of X-Men excellence, deftly exhibiting a narrative that no other comic line has the versatility or sheer scope of content to accomplish. That being said, Legion of X #8 might not be the best starting point for new fans.
