Review: Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 2) #1 by Kieron Gillen & Carlos Pacheco

Reviews, Top Story

Ladies and gentlemen, renumbering mania has officially returned. Two months on the heels of DC renumbering all of its titles, Marvel decided to change the odometer from the last of their titles to never be renumbered, The Uncanny X-Men. And then relaunching it as Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 2). I’m sure it was pure coincidence.

Anyway, this book is relaunched in the aftermath of the X-Men Schism. Where Wolverine has split taking half of the X-Men back to West Chester, New York, where the most amazing builders in all of creation, were able to rebuild the Charles Xavier school in what seemed like a month.

Cyclops and the battle team stayed on the island of Utopia to remain a haven for mutants.

The most interesting thing about this book is that it may have the largest collection of unlikeable mutants ever. Okay, Storm is definitely a fan favorite, and Hope probably doesn’t have too many detractors. But Emma is an egotistical bitch, Namor is a pompous ass, Danger is a self-aware computer who wanted to kill the X-Men, Colossus is a wishy-washy pain who is less likeable when Kitty isn’t around, Magik was always really whiney, and Magneto is a former villain. And while Scott has his fans, you have many who think that Cyclops is an emo-driven, teacher’s pet who does not deserve the good fortune which has never satisfied him anyway.

So, I am at least curious to see what this creative team is able to pull off.

Uncanny X-Men (Volume 2) #1: Everything is Sinister

Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Pencils: Carlos Pacheco
Cover Price: $3.99
Review: Digital Version (from Comixology)

Well the basics of Schism is that the X-Men were divided into two groups. One group, headed by Wolverine, was going back east to reopen the school. The second group, headed by Cyclops, was going to remain outside of San Francisco in Utopia. The mainstays of Cyclops’s group are: Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Magneto, Emma Frost, Magik, Danger, Namor, and Hope. Additionally, there is a new Hellfire Club that is being headed up by intellectually superior elementary school children. And during Fear Itself, Colossus acquired (or was possessed) by the Juggernaut helmet.

Synopsis:

  • Mister Sinister is visiting the Dreaming Celestial and is able to activate its powers to his own end.
  • Scott creates a group called his Extinction Team, designed to combat mutant extinction agendas and be a force that shows humanity that it needs the X-Men.
  • SWORD contacts the X-Men to inform them of the Dreaming Celestial’s power ramping up.
  • The Celestial activates, and its head becomes the face of Sinister and Battle Bots emerge from the body of the Celestial
  • Magneto is able to contain the power of the Celestial, and Sinister has made his way to the Palace of Fine Arts where he converts everyone to look like him.

Questions and Answers

Q: How is the Dreaming Celestial connected to Sinister, or how does he understand its secrets?

Q: Is the flirtation between Namor and Emma simply flirtation?

Q: What is Sinister’s Agenda?

Q: Will the damage sustained to Emma have lasting effects?

Analysis

This issue was definitely a mixed bag. There was a lot of potential storylines and questions for the team’s future, and I always like Mister Sinister as a villain. And at the same time, some of the pacing and dialog was rather disjointed. And somehow, the group felt too powerful and yet not powerful enough at the same time.

First, after catching the art for Wolverine and the X-Men #1, I must at least give some fair credit to Carlos Pacheco. I thought the art was very well handled throughout the issue. (Especially given the “Welcome to San Francisco” tourist opening) He really captured the feel of the opening that Kieron Gillen wanted to capture. I thought that Sinister wasn’t drawn consistently from page to page, but generally the art was good.

I give credit for Kieron Gillen to come up with an interesting and unique idea, that not only are the X-Men part of the city of San Francisco, but that they are even included as part of the tourist scene. I mean the idea that people would come to a city to check out super-heroes is a pretty valid one. And I really liked that idea.

I found it very strange that at the beginning of the issue, Sinister enters the Celestial and then two weeks go by before the activity begins. It seemed a little weird.

I’m no stranger to Marvel Comics, even though I’m more of a DC fan, and I had no clue as to what the Dreaming Celestial was. Would it have hurt to have a small explanation of what it is, rather than me having to hit Wikipedia for the information?

I understood Emma Frost as ‘the other woman’, but she and Scott have now been together for close to 10 years. And there just isn’t any real chemistry between them… no real reason that keeps these two together as anything other than a sexual couple. It still seems like he is her pet project, rather than any real affection of any kind.

It’s a double-edged sword. I really think that seeing Peter again as the moping troubled hero is treading on overly well-travelled history. But, on its own I do like that Peter is struggling to hold back the power of the Juggernaut.

The best name that Scott (and by proxy Kieron Gillen) could come up with is “Extinction Team.” It’s kindof like the old Halloween costume rule, if you have to tell most people what your costume is, then it’s probably not a good costume.

I’m sorry but Scott’s speech about proving to the world how badly they need us, really just sounded like a boyfriend trying to be overly helpful so they don’t get dumped. Don’t get me wrong, the analogy may very well be apt, but it still makes Scott look extremely fragile emotionally. It’s an interesting tact if it’s purposeful, but Scott has seemed damaged for years now.

Scott’s not my favorite character, but he did have the best line of the issue, “Because if they’re not scared enough, it puts Logan’s little school and the whole mutant race in the firing line.” Little School! HA!

And as a very former X-Men reader, you could really see how Scott has completely given up on mutant and human being cut from the same cloth.

The one thing interesting about the new Uncanny X-Men team is that most of the members of the group have other interests. Hope leads the Generation Hope team; Danger is part of the X-Club science team; Namor still has the seas to govern; Colossus and Magik are working on keeping the Juggernaut power in check; and Emma, Magneto, Storm, and Cyclops are the leaders of Utopia.

Mister Sinister is one of my favorite villains. I both liked and hated how he was depicted in this issue. I liked how he seemed to be a gentleman mutant, and above the frays and normal trappings. And yet, when confronting the X-Men he seemed like an old school cackling, moustache twirling villain.

I really thought the idea of the Extinction Team having a support operations team back in Utopia. Maybe this has been the case for a while, but it seemed much more open in this issue.

The threat of the Celestial really did not seem too difficult for the X-Men to handle, and yet we were made to believe that it is. They get blasted around a lot, and Emma gets her diamond arm blown off, but at no time did the Celestial seem like a true threat to the team. But yet it took all of Magneto’s effort to stop it. Yes, maybe the X-Men are too powerful to give them a credible threat.

And it would have been interesting to see the Extinction Team missing something due to key members of their former team being elsewhere.

I don’t know what the conversation between Storm and Magneto was supposed to mean during the battle. I think something was off there for the creative team. Not sure.

Colossus wields the power of the Juggernaut, and then doesn’t have anything to fight because Magneto shut down the Celestial. Okay, so we have dramatic tension of Peter giving into the power, but then it’s not needed at all?

The finale of Mister Sinister transforming other people to look like him… So, Sinister used the power of the Celestial to make people look like him, or even be extensions of him. Okay, so forgetting that The Master used that plot in Doctor Who not too long ago… even so, it would be nice to know the extent of what that power gives him, and how it was accomplished. It just felt like, okay, we have a battle scene, now let’s wrap it up and show a cliffhanger.

Verdict

This was satisfying as a comic book experience, but really not much more than that. I didn’t have any real sense of a new direction for the Uncanny X-Men, and I really didn’t catch any real reason to renumber the book, other than to make a marketing splash. It was serviceable with decent art. I am neither looking forward to next issue nor wanting to remove it from my pull list.

4.5 (Average, very very very average)

RJ Schwabe is a man who just cracked his fourth decade, and has yet to put his toys away. He is a life-long comic book fan, who is enjoying digital comics more than he ever thought he would. Big fan of nerdy television and comic books, and is a recovering pro-wrestling addict. His review blog can be found at http://looksat40.wordpress.com