Storyline: Sins of the Father part 1 (of 3)
Date: May 14, 2008
Price: $2.99 US
Writer: Mike Carey
Artists: Scot Eaton and Frank D’Armata

Synopsis: Professor X is trying to rebuild memories of his past using other people’s minds. But the past is coming back to haunt him in another way, as a swathe of tragic deaths turns out to be linked by only one factor: Brian Xavier, the Professor’s long-dead father. And solving the mystery means paying a visit to the Hellfire Club…

Opinion: I’m a bit biased on this issue, I’ll warn you now! Why is that, you might ask; it’s because of the return of my favorite character! I won’t tell you who it is until after the jump - but it was one of those moments where I flipped to the last page and actually got excited (which rarely happens when I read a comic anymore). That in and of itself made this issue a highlight for me.

With this in mind, I’ll still try to make a fair review, check it out after the jump!

After the events in Messiah CompleX, we didn’t know what was going to happen to our favorite bald visionary, Professor X. ‘Ole Chuck has been through some stuff, let me tell you that - but losing his memories a la Wolverine style is a bit of a redundancy. I guess the story has to move along somehow.

I’m not too sure about the involvement of Cassandra Nova, the twin sister of Xavier who.. ok, let me just quote Wikipedia on this:

Cassandra Nova began life at the same time as Charles Xavier. Conceived without a body, Cassandra improvised one by copying Xavier’s DNA to make her own body, effectively becoming his twin sister. She grew with her brother until the time when Charles sensed her monstrous thoughts. Charles attempted to kill the creature, resulting in its physical body being stillborn. Despite this, the creature survived as chaotic cellular matter and clung to a sewer wall for decades, rebuilding its physical form and perfecting its effort to mimic human traits. During this time, she grew convinced that the womb in which she had fought Charles and the universe she now inhabited were one and the same, a universe in which only she and Charles were real, and that her purpose was to destroy every illusion Charles held dear: his dream, his X-Men and his beloved Lilandra.

Jean Grey later discovered that Cassandra Nova is the mummudrai (from a Shi’ar legend, meaning opposite) of Charles Xavier. “Legend says each of us faces our own personal mummudrai in the womb, shortly before birth - it is our first experience of the alien, the other, the different”. In reality, the mummudrai are a parasitic species born bodiless on the astral plane, and it was only through becoming entangled with Charles Xavier’s developing telepathic mind that Cassandra Nova created a body for herself.

Now, let me point out that Cassandra Nova was a creation of Grant Morrison, who the more I learn about the less I dig his story lines. Either way, it is a plot device to move Charles to grow as a character, which is always a good thing.

Throughout this issue, we see Charles is being hunted by some soldiers wearing some sort of protection against psychic detection. He is at their mercy with no awareness of their ambush or a way to defend himself with his powers, when none other than Gambit (highlight to be spoiled) shows up to confront the soldiers about to descend upon Xavier! Whoohoo!

Overall, this book is pure X-Men fun, as always. We get some important backstory, some details revealed about Mr. Sinister’s role in Xavier’s development and some rich character insight based on Xavier’s travels.

This was a good issue, and I think the pacing is appropriate for the sotry and the money.

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