New X-Men begins "Too Much Information" which, unusually, is a two-parter.  Perhaps we're finally emerging from the period where everything had to run to six issues whether the story merited it or not.  Pace for the trade paperback by all means, but that just means there has to be a convenient break point every six issues.  Doesn't mean you can't have several stories per trade. 

Thankfully, that way of thinking seems to be gathering momentum, which allows us to get stories like this - a plot which couldn't in a million years be dragged out to six months. 

David Alleyne is stung by criticism that he relies entirely on borrowed knowledge and lacks anything of his own to fall back on.  So he asks Emma why he doesn't hold on to all the knowledge he absorbs.  Emma establishes that it's a mental block, and David talks them into removing it.  As you can probably imagine, disaster ensues, although David remains blissfully oblivious to the fact that he's turning into a complete bastard.

Now, it's pretty obvious where we're going with this story.  The reset button looms on the horizon.  When the story careers forward for months in half an issue, and the lead character discovers the cure for cancer, well, you know the reset button's being hit.  (Plus, the solicitations for issue #12 pretty much give the game away.)  It's not a time loop, though; the get-out is obvious when you think about it.

I'm not quite sure about the logic of David's powers here.  Cyclops points out early on that "David's ability to absorb the knowledge of people around him makes him the smartest man on any battlefield."  Well, no, it makes him the best informed, which isn't the same thing.  Still, there's something interesting about the approach taken to the character, who sticks to perfectly laudable goals while developing odd "ends justify the means" ethical blind spots.  I'm not entirely persuaded that this is a natural consequence of amping up his powers, but I'm willing to be persuaded, depending on how things go next issue.

We get yet another change of artist, this time with Paco Medina taking over.  His cuddly, slightly exaggerated figures kind of fit the style of the story, although there's a bit of a problem with ages - the kids look no younger than the X-Men, and there really ought to be a clear age gap.

I'm not entirely won over by this one, but I'm interested to see where they're going with it.

Rating: B

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