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.

(more…)

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.

(more…)

X-MEN #35. (Annotations here.) Billed as a prelude to DNX, this is mostly a character-based issue with the Beast and Magik, though it does end by leading into the story proper. The heart of it is to show us the conversation between the Beast and the Chairman that took place after the end of issue #25, which apparently still qualifies as recent. I guess logically it does, since “Danger Room” takes about a day, but it doesn’t feel like it, which is another reason I’m not so wild about the four-parters in this series. But this sort of issue leans into the book’s strengths. The broad idea that the Beast sees the Chairman as his dark side is hardly surprising – it’s the entire concept of having a rebooted version of the Beast in the first place – but it’s elevated by giving Illyana’s perspective on the idea, and by the hints of the Chairman himself having a slightly ambivalent attitude towards his “good” self. I’m not especially interested in the X-virus itself, but I am keen on seeing how this character arc plays out.

X-MEN UNITED #6. (Annotations here.) This seems to be cancelled with issue #10, and it’s now acquired a co-writer. To some extent, that does seem to have punched up its superhero aspects, which feel a bit tighter than they did before. There’s at least an attempt here to draw out an idea that the Shadow King is taking advantage of doubts and mutual distrust, so the X-Men need to beat him by drawing together (though that would have worked better as a justification for setting up the school in the first place, not as something that happens after the fact). It’s still a book with a lot of problems, though. Shuhvahrak is miles out of character from the way she was written in Uncanny X-Men, to the point where I was on my third reading of the book before it even occurred to me that she wasn’t meant to be an obvious illusion. The whole idea of all mutants having versions of their dark sides in the Penumbra is just bizarre, and falls apart if you think about it too hard – it’s there to justify a fight against dark doppelgangers, but makes no sense as an actual feature of the Penumbra. The book still can’t figure out the basic ground rules about whether people travel physically to Graymatter Lane or not. Nobody really feels in character, and the Exceptional X-Men cast have almost all been lost in the shuffle. I liked that book a lot. I’m just looking forward to this one being over with, I’m afraid.

(more…)