Children of the Atom #3/ Review/Spoilers

[jwatson]

Ok so i waited for someone to do one so here i go. I won't respond to the thread like last time because i feel when i review i shouldn't give my opinion beyond that which will be hard lol, but i feel this issue deserves a review.

Like in issue two Vita does AMAZING character work but this time we focus on Carmen Maria Cruz.

The story basically follows Carmen and we find out a lot of people depend on her and she wants nothing more than to be accepted not for being special but just for being Carmen and though she is, she just doesn't see it. She is a chracter imo, that is the definition of a bleeding heart, and that's not always a bad thing.

We see the team go into space which is one of the main stories and really get a feel for their dynamic as the ship is about to crash and they have to get into escape pods. We find out here Carmen is very much in love with Beatrice who is either obtuse or not sure Carmen feels the way she thinks she does imo. There is a confession but unfortunately due to the circumstances it goes unheard.

The team gets together in present day and want to go see cole who is feeling better, Carmen decides not to go because she is feeling sick and so the other members go and Cole is basically mixed now, Human/Mutant. While he doesn't have an x-gene and is still considered human he may have abilities now much like what was done to Dominio, so the plot has been introduced for healing human sickness by splicing mutant DNA into humans. Cole get's angry feeling like the other kids don't really like him because of their mutant obsession and how they stopped coming to see him when he was sich which was just too painful for some of them, but he doesn't appreciate it and wants them to leave. The whole time he is saying that he is sweating and looking as though he is going through some sort of trauma.

Cole thinks the other kids are only coming to see him because they think they can use him to trick the Krakoan gates because of the spliced mutant dna he has.
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That trauma and that scene is matched by what is happening to Carmen. Carmen who is there for everybody, who helps everyone and apparently cole has a crush on, is alone on her bathroom floor with only her cat watching her as she sweats and gasps, veins popping everywhere. It is hinted she is Becoming, which is the term for manifesting mutants.

Carmen is basically the heart of the team, she makes their costumes, she is a pleaser in the most innocent sense of the word.

There was just a lot here, i don't and didn't even know how to review it but it was an amazing read and an emotional read. 10/10 for me. This is probably a horrible review but imo this is what high concept modern comics is suppose to be.

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[Digifiend]

Well at least next issue the team will find out what's happening to Carmen, and she can finally fulfil their dream. The gates should work for her now.

[Mutant_Lover]

This was hands down my favourite release today - which is something I never thought I’d be saying about this book when it was announced! !

[jwatson]

This was hands down my favourite release today - which is something I never thought I’d be saying about this book when it was announced! !

Mine too! i just feel like Vita is my spirit animal. I hate reviewing the issues because i want to delve into what i thought with others but it's just so good. I mean even if you just want to understand people it's here, Vita just does such a good job expressing human emotion and i haven't seen someone produce what to me feels like such real characters in so long. I'm so fascinated by Vita's writing.

[Kingdom X]

I have a couple of thoughts.

1. Do we know how these kids got this tech yet?
2. In issue one Buddy made it seem like someone was standing in the way of her feelings for Gabe. Back then I thought it was because something was going on between him and Carmen but clearly that's not the case, so what was Buddy talking about?
3. After X-Factor got cancelled I'm bracing myself for anything, but I'm actually realizing I'd be cool with this as a mini-series. Each character is getting their due and the only big plot thread they have to resolve is whether they end up on Krakoa or not.

[Jeremy!]

Stellar read once again. Light on the action but the pathos Vita uses really has me invested in the outcome of the story.

[cranger]

Anyone checking in on this topic who was wondering who the hand holders were from a X-Men Monday preview or something, it happened in this book.

I have a couple of thoughts.

1. Do we know how these kids got this tech yet?
2. In issue one Buddy made it seem like someone was standing in the way of her feelings for Gabe. Back then I thought it was because something was going on between him and Carmen but clearly that's not the case, so what was Buddy talking about?
3. After X-Factor got cancelled I'm bracing myself for anything, but I'm actually realizing I'd be cool with this as a mini-series. Each character is getting their due and the only big plot thread they have to resolve is whether they end up on Krakoa or not.

1. Probably got some start with that alien spaceship. Probably picking up odds and ends like those Magneto helmet bits.
2. There might be something more to it, but it comes off as just as simple as Buddy thinks they have something (whatever it is) whether they do or do not. That is a bit of a theme in this book, people making choices based on what they think other people think.
3. I feel like the Krakoa gate plot is throwing the readers off from what could be a much more interesting story. It has a Runaways feel to it, or a modern Power Pack, but the time spent with the X-Men and Krakoa is less time spent to give this book its own thing.

[cranger]

That trauma and that scene is matched by what is happening to Carmen. Carmen who is there for everybody, who helps everyone and apparently cole has a crush on, is alone on her bathroom floor with only her cat watching her as she sweats and gasps, veins popping everywhere. It is hinted she is Becoming, which is the term for manifesting mutants.

Becoming is just something Buddy says, and I don't know if Ayala is trying to make that happen, if they are just giving the kids their own language, or if it is a nod to the Marvel Cosplay show. I think Cole and Carmen have something more in common than thinking it is lousy hanging out with someone just because they might be a mutant, if you know what I mean.

[Leirus]

Gorilla-Man! It was ages since I last saw him around. Arthur Nagan. Vita likes weirdo villiains.

[Havok83]

Im losing interest. We've had less and less X-men with each issue and thats been a turnoff to me

[pkingdom]

From the looks of it, she might be 'becoming' a mutant, but not one of the.........for lack of a better word, 'cool' ones. So she might get her wish, but look like a disgusting monster instead of a superhero. Which is an interesting idea, but I still don't think its enough to justify this book.

[Jeremy!]

From the looks of it, she might be 'becoming' a mutant, but not one of the.........for lack of a better word, 'cool' ones. So she might get her wish, but look like a disgusting monster instead of a superhero. Which is an interesting idea, but I still don't think its enough to justify this book.

If she does mutate into something "ugly" she'll be in for a rude awakening when she gets to the Akademos area of the island.

[Covetous_One]

I liked the issue. I feel like Buddy was wrong for asking him about the gate or anything mutant related at the time. I mean the dude could have died and you ask him a question the could be taken as selfish. It seems to be framed as “do you care more about what I am, than who I am.

[pkingdom]

If she does mutate into something "ugly" she'll be in for a rude awakening when she gets to the Akademos area of the island.

I mean, right now the kids of that habitat are so desperate to look better they're making deals with a literal evil spirit to possess corpses. So body positivity is a big issue.

[Grunty]

From the looks of it, she might be 'becoming' a mutant, but not one of the.........for lack of a better word, 'cool' ones. So she might get her wish, but look like a disgusting monster instead of a superhero. Which is an interesting idea, but I still don't think its enough to justify this book.

I keep expecting that kind of twist to happen. Because this scenario of humans wanting to become mutants, because their minds are so focused on the "cool" ones and the positive aspects of their "community", that they seemingly forget or ignore that it comes with a ton of baggage and involves a high propability of not getting what you want.

It reminds me to topics of "If you could have one mutant's powers, what would you pick?" which i always find somewhat amusing since in the Marvel Universe you don't get a say when it comes to the X-gene. Sometimes you get a great power and keep your normal appearance, sometimes you get a great power but also suffer some nasty physical changes, often you get pretty weak powers and then there is the chance of getting an entirely bad power/transformation.

Which feels like something this book has to adress.

Especialy since these characters are so far a bit too "perfect" for a better lack of word, so something which drives them appart, creates drama and makes them show their negative sides would be in order eventualy.

Hence why i expect that either one of them becomes a mutant but gets the reality check of becomming one of the uncool types, one becomes a mutant but gains the powers which one of the other wanted or both.

It would also explain why Maggot of all people was introduced as someone the kids know and respect. Because imagine someone trying to whine to him about getting a bad mutation.

But yes it's not enough to give this book enough purpose.