X-Men: Fairy Tales

Rather ingeniously, X-MEN: FAIRY TALES retells classic X-MEN stories and fairy tales but placing the characters of the former into the structure of the latter. The four-issue miniseries is now assembled into one book, so it can be savored at once, like all good fairy-tale collections should be. The first story, "The Peach-Boy," is based upon the Japanese folk tale of the same name (which I can sing in Japanese – no lie). Here, however, Momotaro-san – the boy born in the middle of a giant peach – is Cyclops. Whenever the peach pit covering his eye is removed, lasers shoot forth. He's asked by a Professor X-esque monk to retrieve the emperor's kidnapped daughter. Aiding him are a Beast-like blue monkey, a white wolf with the ability to form ice wih its breath and an Angel-ic bird; against him are Magneto, Toad, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Sana Takeda renders it in a style that's somewhere between painted and manga, as if bridging the old and new. Next up is another folk tale, Africa's "The Friendship of the Tortoise and the Eagle," in which a once-solid relationship is put to the test by the animals' true nature. A thinly veiled retelling of the fallout between Professor X and Magneto, it's drawn in a chalky style by Kyle Baker, which makes some scenes difficult-to-decipher, but is undeniably unique. The remaining two stories don't appear to be based on any particular fable or tale, but still work within the concept of the title. "Restless Souls" casts Mystique as a New Orleans voodoo queen, with Rogue under her employ and Gambit as her savior when client Emma Frost comes a-calling. It's the least satisfying of the lot – all written by C.B. Cebulski – but the final tales is better. Drawn by Bill Sinekiewicz, it recounts the comics' Dark Phoenix storyline (the basis for the recent film X-MEN: THE LAST STAND) with Jean Grey as a witch who will not die, and Cyclops and Wolverine as the men who get in her way. –Rod Lott Buy it at Amazon. Discuss it in our forums. OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THE X-MEN: • WOLVERINE: WEAPON X by Marc Cerasini • X-MEN: APOCALYPSE VS. DRACULA by Frank Tieri and Clayton Henry