Writer: Jason Aaron
Penciler: Carlos Pacheco
Inker: Cam Smith
Colorist: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Cover artist: Carlos Pacheco, Cam Smith, Frank D’Armata
Production: Irene Y. Lee
Editor: Jordan D. White, Daniel Ketchum, Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: September 2011
Cover Price: $4.99
Title: “Schism” Part One
In this issue, Scott Summers and Wolverine travel to Switzerland to address an International Arms Control conference on behalf of Utopia. Scott appeals to the Nations of the world to decommission all of their mutant hunting Sentinels; The X-Men would assist in their dismantling. This does not go over well though.
During this discussion, they are interrupted by Kid Omega, who somehow has gotten free from his containment by the X-Men. He uses his telepathic powers to compel the leaders to reveal their darkest secrets on live television. Deeming this an attack, security then releases several Sentinel robots to take down the mutants.
Quentin Quire, aka Kid Omega, then escapes leaving the X-Men – and mutants in general – to take the blame for what happened. This creates a problem which the X-Men are not sure how to handle. The world has seemingly declared war on the last 200 remaining mutants in Utopia and they are prepared to use the world’s full force of Sentinels to destroy them.
Elsewhere we are introduced to a 12 year old super-intelligent, cunning mastermind by the name of Kade Kilgore. Kade is the son of Carlton Kilgore, one of the world’s top arms manufacturers, and has taken the liberty of installing himself C.E.O. of his father’s company. This kid is very determined.
Schism Part One clearly shows how the anti-mutant tide quickly rises and will forever change their lives. There are several pages that depict the activation and deployment of the Sentinels from all over the world, greatly ranging in size, that really brings home the severity of the problem Utopia is facing.
Jason Aaron does a great job at presenting the Scott Summers and X-Men as they face this dire situation. The art by Carlos Pacheco and Cam Smith captures the tension and uncertainty in the story. Pacheco has also drawn a “thicker” looking Wolverine for this story, which I find works rather well.
Kade Kilgore looks to be an interesting character moving forward in this story. He shows up out of nowhere and makes quite an impact from the start. This is one kid to watch.
The events of X-Men: Schism #1 actually happen before the X-Men: Prelude to Schism miniseries which in reality makes this issue the actual prelude to the prelude to Schism (I hope you’re following me). I’m assuming that the Prelude miniseries takes place somewhere in the middle of this story.
There’s a lot of setup going on in this first issue and it will make for a very eventful series, but at $4.99 for 32 story pages, the value seems fairly low. Otherwise it was a good story with a lot of questions to be answered.
– The Comic Book Critic
Comic Book Critic Rating: 7.5