Welcome back to another installment of Mutantversity! Mutantversity is your home for all things X-Men. In Mutantversity, I, your loyal X-Men tutor, will look at all the things happening in the mutant universe. Each month, I’ll look at a handful of titles and rotate around in these columns. Sometimes, I’ll focus in on specific topics or characters. We’ll have fun here. I’ve been away for a couple of months so for this edition, I’m going to look at some of the new series that have launched since I’ve been away. There will be spoilers all through this so if you’re trying to avoid those, look away.

“Domino” #1 by Gail Simone, David Baldeon, Jesus Aburtov and Clayton Cowles

Domino is a character enjoying a little bit of a moment right now thanks to Deadpool 2 (which was actually pretty good so go see it). Her movie version and her comic book version are pretty different characters though but their powers remain the same. In the comics, Domino was experimented on and from that, she ended up with the power of luck…basically. When she ends up in life threatening situation, she sort of telepathically taps into something that changes probability. So, if she’s falling from a rooftop, she may land on something soft or someone will catch her. If you try to shoot her, your gun may backfire or just not work or you’ll miss. Something usually happens and you can see why that makes for a good movie character because the comedy basically writes itself.

“Domino” #1 is a return to Marvel for legendary writer Gail Simone. Her strengths often lie in gritty action with the right touch of humor and with “Domino,” she’s right in her wheelhouse. The issue opens with Domino talking to a puppy that was left with her. She talks to it about how she’s never home and doesn’t want it to get attached to her. She then talks about how this is her birthday and the issue goes back through the events of that day. We see Domino and her friend Inez out in the woods dealing with a situation. At her birthday party later that night, everyone from her past is there. Her ex boyfriends (including Colossus) are there and Dazzler is performing. When the party settles down, she’s accepts her puppy as her own and when it all seems like a perfect day (at least for her), things change and she’s confronted by an old man and a tall, red headed woman named Topaz. Topaz throws her out of the window and the issue ends with Domino no longer feeling her powers working for her.

“Domino” #1 is good because it really establishes this character for new readers but what it also does is establish what her world looks like. She’s not one of the X-Men so she doesn’t have a school to operate out of and because she’s a mercenary, her life is a little more violent. Simone approaches all this really nicely and she hits that place that she’s so good at. Read her “Red Sonja” run and you’ll notice this too. She’s great at pacing out action with the right amount of humor but without going too much to the juvenile side. I think anyone who’s looking to follow up on something after the movie will find a lot to like here from the writing to the very solid artwork from Baldeon and Aburtov. They work well with what Simone sets up here and I’m very eager to read a little more of this. I think what’s especially great about “Domino” is that it doesn’t require you to be acquainted with any other part of the X-Men universe and that should please a lot of you out there.

“Dazzler: X-Song” #1 by Magdalene Visaggio, Laura Braga, Rachelle Rosenberg and Joe Sabino

I love Dazzler. She’s not Storm or Jean Grey and that’s why I love her. She’s got a really fun power involving sound and light and is a freaking pop star. That’s the absolute best. She’s made lots of appearances here and there but her most recent, lengthy series appearance came in “A-Force.” However, with “Dazzler: X-Song,” she’s left the superhero game and is working the club scene with a new band. In this one shot, we’re introduced to a couple of her fans, one of which is an Inhuman. At Dazzler’s shows, there are some absolutely garbage anti-Inhuman Mutants trying to keep Inhumans out. Dazzler is approached by Colossus about coming back to the X-Men but she tells him no. Dazzler is made aware of this hate group but keeps out of it. She can only do that for so long when she’s witness to them harassing and gives them a beat down they absolutely had coming. Dazzler realizes that no, she doesn’t need to be an X-Man but she still can help people through her music, her fame and just by being a good person.

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The thing about “Dazzler: X-Song” is that it is the exact kind of story that the X-Men universe has struggled to tell in the last few years. Dazzler is faced with a very nasty hate group attending her shows and making Inhumans feel unsafe. She constantly says that she’s given up the superhero game but this isn’t about being a superhero, this is about doing what’s right and standing up against hate. This is a genius way to use Dazzler, her fame and the current situation between Mutants and Inhumans and it works so well as a one shot. This issue is the most socially relevant story that the Marvel universe has seen in quite some time and I love it. I don’t know if this will lead to anything more but I think if you’re a long time X-Men fan who’s looking for something more from the current line up, this is a one shot to pick up.

“Deadpool” #1 by Skottie Young, Nic Klein, Scott Hepburn, Ian Herring and Jeff Eckleberry

“Deadpool” #1 marks a new creative team and new direction for the series. This first issue finds Deadpool hanging out with Negasonic Teenage Warhead and working jobs here and there. He’s upset because the jobs he’s been getting are very small fries type of things. The issue itself opens up with him taking out a guy who leads some kind of biker gang. The bulk of the issue involves a weapon that will help defeat a villain the Guardians of the Galaxy come across. However, that storyline gets dropped so quickly for an extended joke involving origin stories.

I’ve never been a big fan of Deadpool and this issue is kind of why. I’m not into the whole edgy for the sake of edgy thing. There’s got to be something more to your story other than swears and lots of violence. That’s just not what I’m into. Gerry Duggan’s run on “Deadpool” was the first run I got invested in because it was really funny but also had heart. There was something more happening here than just being the kind of thing the character initially was when he was created. Humor is a crucial part of “Deadpool” but it should be actually funny and not just dick jokes. The references to other origin stories was pretty funny but went on too long because it totally derails the actual plot. What really works is the relationship between Negasonic and Deadpool because it’s very much borrowed from the movies and that works a lot for me, a casual Deadpool fan. Skottie Young is a really great artist but ultimately his writing falls flat for me and the issue doesn’t work at all for what I’m into.

“Exiles” #1 by Saladin Ahmed, Javier Rodriguez, Alvaro Lopez, Jordie Bellaire and Joe Caramagna

Saladin Ahmed is an incredibly talented writer who’s star is rising fast in comic books. “Exiles” is a book that I consider an X-Men book because of Blink and the initial team being a splinter X-Men squad. In this first issue, we’re caught up with Nick Fury, the original one, not his son. Nick Fury is basically a very depressed Watcher. He’s chained to the Moon and doomed to watch everything without being able to do anything. He’s watching what’s happening in other multiverses and he’s able to get the Tallus to him which he’s able to use to summon Blink. He then sends Blink on a mission – assemble a team and save the multiverse from Time-Eater.

I really liked “Exiles” #1 because it felt like a very different comic book from anything else in the X-Men line. It has incredibly high stakes but is still pretty self contained and I’m a sucker for alternate versions of characters. I love this older, meaner and more world weary Kamala Khan and I love the personality Ahmed infuses in her and in Blink. This issue basically does everything you need a first issue to do. It sets up the bigger story, makes you fall in love with the lead character and most importantly, it entices you to come back for more. “Exiles” has a big personality and I’m really eager to see where this all goes and I hope that we get more than just this story arc.