Titan Books publishes X-Men: Mutant Empire – A Marvel Omnibus, comprising the trilogy Siege, Sanctuary, and Salvation – all written by Christopher Golden (author of Snowblind, Ararat, and Of Saints and Shadows). Main X-Men villain Magneto plans a global Mutant Empire. His first step in doing so is to take over a top-secret government establishment which houses the Sentinels, which are mutant-hunting robots. The X-Men, who wish to build a world where humans and mutants can live safely together, must prevent Magneto from utilising this dangerous technology. To achieve this they are obliged to team-up with old enemies, but the line between heroes and villains becomes somewhat blurred. The book format is paperback, and incorporates 688 pages of reading material. More than enough to keep the average Marvel fan happy.

No matter how anyone feels about the comic book characters of the late great Stan Lee, we cannot have failed to notice the swathe of high-quality big-budget Marvel movies which have practically swamped the cinematic world over the last decade and more. Their success has given the origin stories a well-deserved respected status and revitalised subsequent comic book sales. Consequentially, spin-off merchandising has rocketed, with detailed collectible figures, T-shirts and books such as this one making their mark in an adult as well as child demographic. When I first received this doorstop of a book for review, I made several assumptions about the content: that it was written for a young or teenage market; that it would have very wide margins and a large print font; that it would incorporate many sketches to take up space; and that the characters would act like over-enthusiastic children.

I’m happy to report I was wrong on all counts. The font size is average for a paperback, so you could be reading this omnibus for weeks (perhaps the ideal reading material for the holidaying Marvel aficionado – when he’s not donning his spandex to save the world). The aspect of this book which impresses me the most is the depth of characterisation. Considering there are so many individuals, it’s amazing just how relatable they become – and not just because of their mutant abilities. All of the main players have back stories; they feel, they rebel, they hurt emotionally. They have real problems as well as superhero ones (undoubtedly down to Stan Lee’s great early writing).

Batman and Spider-man (and Daredevil, to a certain extent) were my favourites as a child, and I still love the characters. It this had been a novel about them I would probably have been sucked right into it by the standard of writing, which is pretty good. However, because I’m not as invested in the X-Men, I found it somewhat more difficult to immerse myself in the situations. However, I will finish by saying that, if you’re a follower of the X-Men, the chances are you will love this book aimed at a normal adult audience.

7

Ty Power