Uncanny X-Men marches on, fighting fatigue and staleness along with setting up the next era for the flagship Marvel title.
***SPOILERS LIE AHEAD***
X-Man and Legion have become one and it’s up to the massive roster of X-Men to stop Nate Grey and his horsemen from wiping out humanity.
The biggest obstacle the X-Men and their creative team face with this rapid weekly release schedule is that of fatigue. Writers Ed Brisson, Kelly Thompson, and Matthew Rosenberg have done well to avoid becoming stale by keeping the tempo high and the action constant.
While we might not be getting bored with this “Disassembled” story, there’s not a whole lot to differentiate each issue from the last. The actual progression of the story feels like it’s at a snail’s pace if you’re reading it week-to-week. My hope is that once this storyline is done and Uncanny X-Men is at a regular release schedule, it’ll be a refreshing change of pace to slow things down and dig into the mutants themselves again.
Jamie Madrox is once again a scene stealer, foiling X-Man’s plan by being a cowardly alcoholic. This was a character moment in line with Rosenberg’s recent Multiple Man mini-series. I’m willing to bet Rosenberg wrote this scene, it’s good to see that characterization continue for Madrox.
One of the biggest letdowns of this story so far has been the utilization of X-Man’s Horsemen. They’ve mostly been props and a reason to give a few characters a sweet costume redesign. With the story all running together at this point, it could’ve been nice to take a moment and examine the new scenario from these character’s perspectives.
Another sign of feeling a bit of fatigue from the nonstop action is how riveting the Beast/Anole subplot appears at first. It ends up being another instance of the government being given an X-Gene vaccine for them to weaponize but it’s a nice, quiet moment to break up all the noise. I’ll never turn down a scene where Beast gives a mutant teenager advice.
These pages are lit up by so many colorful beams and blasts. The problem is there isn’t much of an in-depth conflict behind them from the story. This issue is loud and explosive, making it a joy to look at. The emotional height of the issue is easily Jean’s showdown with her son before the beautiful final page.
Yildiray Cinar does a fine job populating these pages and keeping the background scenes entertaining. We also finally get Legion in a decently drawn suit thanks to Cinar! Colorist Rachelle Rosenberg has made every issue an explosion of eye-satisfaction. Art isn’t where the series feels the effect of a weekly release schedule (Which is a rarity).
Next issue we get Nate Grey/David Haller facing off against even more X-Men! Most importantly, our creative team has brought some long lost favorites back into an X-Men book (MAGGOTT FTW). Uncanny X-Men #9 is a solid superhero punch-fest that could use a slowdown moment or two to avoid giving readers fatigue.
