X-Men: Misfits »

THE X-MEN GET A RADICAL NEW REMIX IN A STORY ABOUT TEEN ANGST, FIRST LOVE, AND WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

High school student Kitty Pryde has always been the odd girl out. A mutant, she was born with strange superpowers, magical talents that make her the class freak. But Kitty’s world is changed when she’s invited to study at Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, a special home for mutant teens. There’s just one catch: Kitty’s the only girl at the all-boy school, and she ends up just feeling like a freak all over again.

Then Kitty meets Pyro and the ultra-hot bad boys of the Hellfire Club. They’re the school’s elite–handsome, rich, and totally above the rules. Now Kitty seems to have it all: a dreamy boyfriend, super-cool friends, and the chance to develop her extraordinary talents. But why is her heart telling her that something is wrong? Will Kitty ever find the place where she belongs, or is she doomed to be a misfit forever?

Publishers Weekly

X-Men is renowned for being one of the most girl-friendly super hero comics franchises, so a shojo (girl's) manga “re-boot” of the series is not that far-fetched. The conceit of seeing the X-Men redrawn as supercute boys, or in the case of Beast, redrawn as an adorable human-size badgerlike thing, works without a hitch. 15-year-old Kitty Pryde, who has the mutant ability to slip through walls, enrolls in Xaviar Academy, where she meets classic X-men characters, most still in their teen years. By some unexplained twist of fate that could only happen in shojo, Pryde is the only female student (Storm is a teacher). This makes the formerly insecure girl very popular with her peers, so much so that she is asked to join the Hellfire Club, which is hilariously reimagined as a parody of Ouran High School Host Club rather than a sinister organization of wealthy elites. Telgemeier and Roman deliver a delightful script that will appeal to old fans while being friendly toward new readers or fans of the X-Men films. The art by Anzu (TheReformed) is over-the-top shojo parody, with lots of screentone and flowers. (Aug.)