(This review may contain spoilers).
From watching the X-Men cartoons and movies as a child, Nightcrawler has always been my favourite of the X-Men… and I really liked being able to see his origin story, as well as how he had to act as a paranormal investigator in the second set of comics.
In the first comic, I felt a lot of empathy for Kurt. It was awful to see how he was treated and I did think that his foster mother came across as a weak character for allowing her son to go through that. While she did visit him, I felt her compassions was lacking and while she could have been focused on her other children as well… I didn’t really see much evidence of that.
I did think it was good to see how Kurt took on the surname he didn’t have at the beginning of the comic, though I would have liked to see more of his interactions with the priest. There wasn’t a whole lot about how he came to faith, which I felt was an interesting aspect of his character from the start.
In the second set of comics, it was interesting to see his interactions with Amanda, though I didn’t like her character all that much. I felt she was too arrogant and there weren’t many humanising characteristics to her… plus, for being his ex-girlfriend, she seemed to have a bit too much interest in Kurt’s love life. It was, however, interesting to see what her realm was like… although the giant serpents were a bit creepy.
The first four comics in the second set were especially creepy and I felt a lot of sympathy for Seth. It was nice to see how he related to Kurt, despite being scared of his appearance at first. And I thought his gifts with the rope and the knots were really intriguing. I would have liked to see more of him… especially given how traumatic he must have found what happened to the other children.
I felt that Kurt came across as one of the true heroes in these comics, though I didn’t really like Logan that much in these. And it was interesting to see some elements of tension between Kurt and Storm… even if it looked like nothing actually happened between them.
Despite his appearance, Nightcrawler remains my favourite member of the X-Men… and seeing him in these comics only served to cement his place in my mind. I’m hoping to see more of him in future comics.
Ink of Blood 