All of the “X-Men” titles I’ve read so far from Marvel’s latest relaunch have done a good job of offering up familiar yet fun takes on the ideas and characters that have populated the franchise over the years. This version of “Uncanny X-Men” is a bit different from its peers in that it’s basically an “X-Force” book in disguise. (Much as I liked it, the swift commercial death-spiral of Si Spurrier’s quirky take on that series has likely forced the “X-Force” name into hibernation for a while.) Don’t believe me? We’ve got a team made up of Magneto, Psylocke, Sabretooth, Monet, and Archangel, with Mystique and Fantomex gallivanting around the fringes to likely join up in the next arc. They’re out to take the fight to those who would attack mutants in their time of trial as they succumb to the M-Pox brought on by the Terrigen Mists. For this first arc, that would be the Dark Riders, Apocalypse’s disciples who view the threat brought on by the mists as a welcome harbinger of their master’s “survival of the fittest” ethos. In order to help mutantkind along on their way to extinction, the Dark Riders have decided to take out all of the known mutant healers. This team of X-Men isn’t about to let that happen, or above finding a more permanent solution to the menace of this threat.
Cullen Bunn likely got this gig off the great work he did with his “Magneto” series, and his grasp of the character is as solid as ever. You can believe that he’d be able to hold together this group of misfits and psychos through sheer force of personality. As for the rest of the cast: Psylocke makes a good foil, Archangel’s inclusion is clearly fodder for a future story, Monet’s here for added snark and strength, and my god I hope they find a way to revert Sabretooth to his natural personality soon. All the “inversion” from the “Axis” event has accomplished with his character is to make him into a toothless Wolverine-lite.
Whether or not these characters look good in this story will likely come down to your feelings on its artist, Greg Land. Only the occasional manic grins from the female characters bother me about his style at this point. I still think he’s better suited to drawing more outlandish sci-fi stuff, and that’s not something we see here. At least Bunn is good with balancing this cast in what is basically a straightforward action story. It’s fine for what it is, but I hope that the threads left hanging at the end of this volume lead somewhere more interesting than the (hopefully) final showdown with some disposable thugs that was served up here.
Co mic Picks #298: War of the Realms
Comic Picks #297: Star Wars by Kieron Gillen
Comic Picks #296: B.P.R.D. -- The Devil You Know
Comic Picks #295: Bendis at DC
Comic Picks #294: Elfen Lied Omnibus vol. 1
Comic Picks #293: The Walking Dead -- The End
Comic Picks #292: Mage by Matt Wagner
Comic Picks #291: S.H.I.E.L.D. by Hickman and Weaver
Comic Picks #290: Buried Treasures of Manga -- Four Shojo Stories
Comic Picks #289: Kazuo Koike -- Offered/Crying Freeman
Comic Picks #288: Detective Comics #1000
Comic Picks #287: Darth Vader -- Dark Lord of the Sith
Comic Picks #286: Spider-Geddon
Comic Picks #285: Frau Faust
Comic Picks #284: Incognegro
Comic Picks #283: The Apocrypha of Battle Angel Alita
Comic Picks #282: On Horror
Comic Picks #281: Best of 2018
Comic Picks #280: Into the Spider-Verse
Comic Picks #279: Aquaman by David and Johns
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