“All New X-Men,†written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Stuart Immonen, enters the graphic books hardcover best-seller list this week at No. 3. Mr. Bendis is no stranger to team books. Since 2004, Mr. Bendis has also been the guiding hand of the Avengers, and has pushed that team of heroes, which includes Captain America, Iron Man and Thor, to new heights of popularity. In fact, the Avengers started to outshine the X-Men, who had previously been Marvel’s top franchise. “All New X-Men,†which collects the first five issues of the new series, is wonderfully entertaining. Time travel stories are old hat, but Mr. Bendis manages to squeeze some delight out of this one. The original X-Men have traveled from the past to the present and are alarmed by what they see: one of them has betrayed their founder, Charles Xavier; one of them has evolved beyond recognition; another of them is dead. Though it may cause problems with the space-time continuum, the younger team opts to stay in the present hoping to right some wrongs. I, for one, am eager to see what happens next.
“Relish,†by the cartoonist Lucy Knisley, also visits the past, but not via time travel. This is an illustrated memoir subtitled “My Life in the Kitchen.†We follow Lucy from childhood to adulthood, each stop along the way punctuated with a celebration of food â€" and, at the end of each chapter, some illustrated recipes. I was particularly taken with chapter 4, “Junk,†in which she discusses her fascination with and appreciation of junk (despite the delicious, healthier and more nourishing food provided by her parents), as well as chapter 5, “Getting Ours,†about a friends-and-family trip to Mexico, mothers who were waylaid by the flu but still keenly aware of what their children were doing and an appreciation of the local food and candy. “Relish†is at No. 8 on the paperback list.
As always, the complete best-seller lists can be found here, along with an explanation of how they were assembled.
