Uncanny X-Men (by Kieron Gillen) vol. 1

It’s frustrating that the next volume in Kieron Gillen’s run hasn’t actually come out yet, that would be the “Fear Itself” tie-in arc which is scheduled to arrive in paperback next month, but since this picks up from “Schism” it’s not that big a deal.  This is the title focusing on Cyclops’ team, made up of Emma Frost, Storm, Magneto, Namor, Colossus, Magik, Danger, and Hope, with the intention of handling extinction-level threats.  The idea behind that is that if they save humanity from certain destruction enough times, they’ll eventually stop  hating mutants -- until then, making sure they’re sufficiently feared will hopefully be enough to keep everyone off their backs.  Fortunately for them, an extinction-level threat drops right in their lap when Mr. Sinister shows up, steals the Dreaming Celestial’s head, and starts making clones of himself in San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts. ----more---- Putting aside the deep cynicism and resentment I have for relaunching this title from a new #1 issue and the shift to “premiere hardcover then paperback edition,” Gillen has yet to write a story that I don’t like.  I’m sure he’ll disappoint me eventually, but not today.  His first volume of “Uncanny,” which should’ve had the subtitle “Everything is Sinister,” is a solidly constructed superhero story with plenty of action and some great character moments and dialogue.  Things get off to a good start (for the reader, at least) in the first issue when Cyclops is making his case for the “Extinction Team” and Storm then asks for a show of hands for all the people in the room who have never gone through a phase which could be described as “mainly super villain.” It’s a moment which underlines the danger in assembling such a team of powerhouses where “doing the right thing” or “putting the needs of others above their own” is not second nature.  While I haven’t been reading “Avengers vs. X-Men,” it’s not hard to see the actions of Cyclops and his team here as the beginning for the whole thing going completely off the rails later on once the Phoenix gets involved.  Here, though, it’s them versus a clearly evil villain which is resolved through a clever use of telepathy and the team’s purpose is justified.  Yes, you’ve seen this all done before, but it’s done with just amount of style to offset the familiarity.  Though, even I will admit that Gillen lets Sinister run off at the mouth too much during this arc. What you likely haven’t seen before is the other story in this collection which focuses on one of the Phalanx, the “X-Men’s” techno-organic assimilating answer to the Borg.  After being viciously experimented on and subsequently discarded by Sinister, the lifeform eventually finds its way into a  human household and starts assimilating everyone in sight.  The difference from every other story I’ve read involving the Phalanx is that this is told from the organism’s point of view.  While it’s clearly not what you would call “nice,” Gillen establishes the importance of the species’ hive-mind mentality to it at the beginning and shows how everything it does after that comes out of a desire to regain that kinship.  Though the  actions it takes to do so are monstrous and unforgivable, the organism still comes off as remarkably sympathetic in its plight. Art for that issue comes from Brandon Peterson and it’s a clear step up from his contributions to “Ultimate Comics Ultimates.”  Where his work there was perfectly competent, here he gets more of a chance to show off with the designs and details for the Phalanx and in the action from the fight against it.  It’s very distinctive and a step up from Carlos Pacheco’s (and friends) work in the Sinister arc.  Pacheco is a good superhero artist, but lately his work has been marked more by a feeling of competence than any kind of excitement.  That doesn’t change here, and I imagine it also made the job of the other artists that much easier when they had to fill-in for him in the latter half of the arc. A must-read for everyone?  No, but still quite enjoyable and it also has me looking forward to the rest of Gillen’s run.  It’ll be wrapping up soon as the writer will be moving on to “Iron Man” and the long-awaited third volume of “Phonogram.”  I’ll be looking forward to reading more, when the volumes arrive in softcover.