By Zack Quaintance — “What in the world is going on at the abandoned X-Mansion?” It’s a line of (on the nose) dialogue that gets delivered on the second page of Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler #1, and it’s also this book’s pitch/concept/mission statement. You know what? It’s also an effective one, one of those superhero comics ideas that make you immediately wonder why you hadn’t already been wondering about what was going on at the X-Mansion now that all the mutants were on an island.

There are a couple of other qualities of this book that enhance that (already great) concept even further. First, it’s written by Jonathan Hickman, who has been leading (and leading well) this ongoing X-Men revival. I like the auxiliary titles just fine, but for the most part, all of my favorite new X-Men comics to date have been penned by Hickman. This being his original vision just gives him a greater sense of control and ownership over it that you can feel in the work. On top of that, Hickman is teamed here with artist Alan Davis (colored by Carlos Lopez and lettered by Clayton Cowles).

Davis is best-known for his work on X-Men adjacent titles featuring Nightcrawler, specifically best-ever X-Scribe Chris Claremont’s Excalibur. This is an argument I’ve never thought to have, but one can make a case that Davis is the defining Nightcrawler artist (although Nick Robles on Twitter is doing some things with ol’ Kurt). Wherever you fall on that question, you’re still likely to admit that Davis is a great choice for this second edition of Giant-Size X-Men, a serious of one-shots that fill-in character-related details for the new status quo while at the same time giving artists a chance to shine. While Davis work with Nightcrawler is my favorite, he’s not bad here drawing Magik...or Lockhead...or a number of other characters.

So good pitch, good creators, but you know what makes said pitch even better? The answer to “What in the world is going on at the abandoned X-Mansion?” ...is actually that the abandoned X-Mansion is haunted, and haunted in a really X-Men-y way. This entire one-shot is sort of predicated on a twist (or two), so I’m hesitant to go past that, but I will say vaguely that I think this is yet another example of what Hickman has done best throughout his tenure as lead X-Scribe: take new ideas and fit them together with distinctly X-Men things in a way that feels like building something excellent with mismatched Legos. 

In the end, this comic is simply a satisfying read start to finish, one that does fun things with its ideas and characters while at the same time reminding us (both with its plot and its choice of artists) of things we’ve also liked in the past. I really enjoy the issues that push forward the overarching new X-Men storyline (with Krakoa being a paradise, but also is it?). At the same time, though, I can’t help appreciate these more contained stories, the ones that feel fresh and vibrant because they’re happening in the framework of the larger storyline, rather than in the service of it.

Overall: Powered by legendary X-Men artist Alan Davis, this mostly self-contained one-shot is a really satisfying read, both for long-time fans of Nightcrawler and for those who are more interested in the new ideas made possible by the Krakoa status quo. 9.5/10

Giant-Size: X-Men #1
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Alan Davis
Colorist: Carlos Lopez
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Designer: Tom Muller
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $4.99
Solicit: HICKMAN AND DAVIS HAUNT THE XAVIER SCHOOL! Superstar writer Jonathan Hickman teams with legendary artist Alan Davis (X-MEN, EXCALIBUR, AVENGERS) for an eerie tale of adventure! When the X-Men lose contact with the Greymalkin Habitat, it falls to  Nightcrawler to lead a mission into the unknown!

Read more great comic book reviews here!

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.