Fanboys Anonymous

Back to School for Nightcrawler

"And just like that, my new adventure beings," Nightcrawler exclaims.

School is in for the fuzzy elf. We have arrived back to 'normality' at the Jean Grey campus, the swashbuckling is toned down, so what next then?

Its felt a little flat for a while now but that is in comparison with other X-Men titles that have a different approach and purpose behind the,. The first arc for Chris Claremont certainly built with each issue, but it didn't smack me in the face and shout look at me from the outset. However, that isn't Claremont's intention with Nightcrawler.

Claremont wants to provide a meaningful experience to the reader. Developing a narrative that focuses on fitting in, but asserting individuality, the title character provides ample opportunity for the writer to explore how this can be possible.

As he has in the past, Claremont uses the characters at his disposal to develop a meaningful dialogue with his audience. In doing so, Claremont can explore broader subtext expositions, such as in this issue with the identification of one's own station in life and finding fit with this.

Never one to lose an opportunity for the subversive, it is great to see Claremont also poke fun at himself and give a quick little wink to the reader during Nightcrawler 5.

Towards the end of the issue, Nightcrawler takes Rico, one of the mutant students, for a ride in the X-Men's Blackbird jet. Nightcrawler has been gifted the old team plane as a thank you and the pair tune it up before embarking on a little adventure.

Bampf Baseball anyone?

During the flight, Claremont takes the opportunity to apparently sneak in what would appear to be a poke at himself as the conversation flows, Rico stating. "Flies great -- for such an old design...did I say something wrong?" Nightcrawler responds, "Appearances, youngster can be deceiving." The passage fits well in the context of the scene, but nods to the undercurrent of the issue about finding your place and owning it. Perhaps this dialogue also resonates with the writer-artist relationship.

It must be said, I like the art by Todd Nauck and colors by Rochelle Rosenberg—they fit in visually with the other X-Men series such as Amazing X-Men, X-Men, and All New X-Men.  It is nice to be able to jump from one series to the other and not feel jarred visually when doing so.

The visual elements of the art have been a consistent pull for this series, and it is now nice to see the development of new characters and enemies in Nightcrawler 5 by which all the collaborators can start to stretch some artistic muscles.

As the Nightcrawler series enters its next phase, the adventure is beginning to be set. New powerful mutants seem on the horizon and our key characters are coming back to life and developing their own purpose, much like this book. I look forward to the next issue to see what unfurls.

Let me know if you are to and what you think about Nightcrawler 5 below.