UNCANNY X-MEN #35. (Annotations here.) Just this one, then? Well, Marvel would say no – there’s also an issue of Deadpool and something from X-Men ’97 – but I don’t regard either of those as falling within our remit. And apparently even this issue was released digitally by mistake, and won’t be released physically for another two weeks. So that’s weird.

This isn’t really an ideal book to write about in isolation, either, because it’s a middle chapter of a storyline that still leaves me a little puzzled. The basic story is perfectly straightforward: Rogue and Gambit looking for the help of Marvel Universe exorcists to free Gambit from the influence of the Eye of Agamotto. Quite what demon is involved is left intentionally vague, and instead of the usual Marvel Universe magical trappings, we have more conventional Christian exorcist material. So we’ve got the obscure Devil-Hunter character from the 1970s, who was Marvel’s attempt to cash in on the Exorcist, and a guy called Repent who’s more of a Marvel Universe exorcist, but still very much in the Christian vein. It certainly makes things feel less familiar than they normally do, and there’s something of a problem in Marvel magic with the standard elements being so well established that they no longer even feel particularly odd. This arc is doing a fairly good job of getting around that problem, though I’m not entirely sure the art matches the effect.

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X-MEN #36. (Annotations here.) This is the conclusion of the two-part prologue to “DNX”. That seems to be a remarkably self-contained event, running through its own miniseries, X-Men and Fantastic Four. The inclusion of FF seems random, but I’m more than happy to see these things being kept tighter. “Age of Revelation” was a good X-Men storyline that suffered from being repurposed as a line-wide event, so if DNX is going to be a good X-Men storyline that stays that way, I’m all for it. The X-Men themselves are somewhat on the margins of this issue, which is more about the Chairman version of the Beast trying to win over Magneto (with predictable lack of success) and the 3K X-Men getting annoyed at being saddled with Joseph as their new field leader. Netho Diaz really does a great version of this Chairman Beast design, and I do enjoy the hints of the Chairman genuinely admiring Silver Age Magneto while backtracking to “never needed you anyway” when he gets rebuffed. Jed MacKay did something similar with him and Beast in the previous issue, and it’s being kept fairly subtle for now. I’m not all that bothered about the X-Virus, but I am intrigued to see where this is all going.

WOLVERINE #26. (Annotations here.) Oh, we’re going back to revisit the alternate timeline Wolverines from issue #20? I guess I can see that – it makes their introduction seem a bit less random with hindsight. But we’re going to their worlds to fight the Adamantine? Again? Already? Even if the Adamantine storyline had worked better, this feels far too soon to be going back there. Julius Ohta’s art does sell the settings rather well, and I do quite like Red Hare being a relatively cheerful Wolverine despite his supposed “savage champion” status, but I can’t say I’m particularly engaged by any of this.

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UNCANNY X-MEN #34. (Annotations here.) This is an odd arc, but then magic ought to be out of the X-Men’s regular wheelhouse (Illyana being the exception that proves the rule). One thing that’s worked quite well for be in Gail Simone’s run, and your mileage may vary here, is that its magical elements haven’t quite made sense, or felt fully explained, but in a way that seems appropriate for them – magic shouldn’t make sense to these characters. And I’m intrigued to see those organic Sentinels from a previous arc showing up again, even though it doesn’t actually make any logical sense for them to do so – they seemed random in that story, so perhaps it’s going to get tied together in this one. They’re the highlight of the art in this issue, too, which makes them nicely creepy. Now, whether I’m particularly invested in Gambit’s whole possession arc… I’m not so sure about that, since it doesn’t really feel to me like it grows organically from the character, even though I quite like the way he remains mostly himself as Wyvern. And I can’t say I’m that interested in Devil-Hunter, who’s a bit one-note from what we’ve seen on the page so far, though you can read between the lines of his back story and wonder how he got back to this point if you want. As for the material back at Haven, Howler himself doesn’t seem like anything terribly new, but the art makes him endearingly pitiful. And I do like Monet’s attempts to put herself forward as a substitute mother figure, particularly when there are such obviously better candidates right there. It plays as her having something to prove to assert her status, and that works for me with her character.

INGLORIOUS X-FORCE #8. (Annotations here.) X-Force finally take down Kali, who is indeed just an extremist streamer in a shed – though the story complicates matters a bit by giving her access to actual super-tech so that there can be a fight scene. That bit’s all rather odd, since it both cuts against the idea that she’s secretly dull and mundane, and it also requires her to know a lot of things that she shouldn’t obviously know about, such as Boom-Boom’s vanishingly brief connection with the Beyonder. Maybe that’s a plot point, maybe not. Even so, I do enjoy this book and its tendency to hurl ideas at the wall or dig up unlikely backwaters of continuity. Nobody’s gone near the Clan Chosen in years, probably because the Askani future timeline isn’t actually all that interesting as a setting for stories, but Cable’s family do seem like they’ve deserved a little more attention. Resonant gets some good moments as the disillusioned MLF member who seems to mean well. And Luca Maresca’s art keeps the energy levels up. It’s nice, really, to have a run of X-Force that isn’t grimdark and just wants to have fun.

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