Legion of X vol. 1

“Way of X” had Nightcrawler picking apart the underpinnings of Krakoa as a means of addressing the spiritual malaise that had set in around this utopia.  What he, and Legion, came up with was the Spark.  A literal representation of creative energy housed in Legion’s mindspace, the Altar, where mutants are free to try new things.  This extends to the real world, and while there’s always a certain amount of messiness when it comes to the new, Nightcrawler and his “Legion” of peacekeepers are here to make sure no one gets hurt in the process.  Which is almost certainly going to happen when they have to track down a missing Arakii god and a troublemaker colloquially known as the “Skinjacker” who has been spreading a very malevolent kind of mischief across the island.

Writer Simon Spurrier acknowledges the need for a peacekeeping organization on Krakoa and while the opening issue flirts with the conventions of the police procedural, this first volume is anything but that.  While there are crimes to be investigated, the writer is much more concerned with addressing the means by which justice is administered on the island and showing how laws can be upheld with empathy as well as force.  It’s an approach that has them dubbed “emocops” by one prominent mutant, but this is one more instance where Spurrier’s aversion to formula is more interesting than irritating.

It’s an aversion that leads us to characters like Ora Serrata, a giant floating eyeball whose childlike body rides on its top.  Mother Righteous, a trickster mutant/spirit/god(?) who’s all about offering power to anyone who wants it for the right price.  Weaponless Szen, who is still plenty deadly even if her mutant power is not.  They all mix interestingly with familiar characters like Nightcrawler, who’s still the heroic beating heart of the writer’s story, and feature memorable designs courtesy of artist Jan Bazaluda, who displays some impressive variety with all of the landscapes they have to draw within the real world and without.  Even if we’re only getting one more volume of this series, I’m definitely planning on sticking around to see how the law continues to be upheld on Krakoa.