Uncanny X-Men is back and on a weekly basis. Everyone’s favorite Marvel mutants are back in the proper place. Marvel’s previous ResurreXion initiative was just a warm-up, now we’re in for a real return to greatness.
***SPOILERS LIE AHEAD***
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Our new weekly series is wasting no time in establishing itself as a 90’s X-Men comic with more to say. Writers Ed Brisson, Kelly Thompson and Matthew Rosenberg are quickly finding a groove together, not stepping on each other’s toes or making the script seem disjointed.
There’s a major Madrox problem and our teams are split-up handling crisis’ of all sorts. There’s a lot happening but the pace and screen time for each character makes this an easily digestible epic that fans of any amount of familiarity (or lack of) can jump in.
Rosenberg’s recent Multiple Man mini-series gave us a brilliant, fresh take on Jamie Madrox. Utilizing him here as an unpredictable mystery problem is exciting. Remember the recent years when there were ZERO appearances by Jamie in an X-Men title?
One of the major adjustments and strengths this series has early on is the roster chemistry. All of these interactions are satisfying, no matter how seemingly minor. Our trio of writers have been doing their homework (probably for a very long time) and have no issue settling into the voices of their characters.
Juggling multiple subplots does a lot of good for Uncanny X-Men in an effort to make this series feel like the X-Men stories of old. Thompson, Brisson, and Rosenberg are tapping into the elements that worked for ResurreXion and discarding the safety net. We’re going to get some stories that push boundaries in a time where we could really use it.
Having one of those subplots focus on the younger mutants, yet to become full-time X-Men, is crucial. Every successful era of X-Men has a young crop of students looking to make the big league roster. This group has been cooking for years now and it looks like they’ll finally be taking steps towards finally graduating.
Uncanny X-Men #2 ends with the arrival of David Haller (Legion), another classic character added to an already stacked cast. It’ll be interesting to see what this creative team does with Legion, he’s a character that works best the deeper you dive into the weird.
Most of the nostalgic appeal comes from the art team. R.B. Silva’s pencils are smooth and precise. The redesigns we’ve gotten so far are sleek and practical for comic book crafting purposes. There are a lot of new, distinct designs but none of them are drastic or desperate attempts to leave a “mark” on the character.
Rachelle Rosenberg is one of the best colorists in the business, it was a wise choice to hire her to add a ton of life and layer to Uncanny X-Men. She’s got a tough job in managing this massive cast of colorful characters without any of them looking too similar and she’s doing great work.
Inker Adriano Di Benedetto and letterer Joe Caramagna play their part in making sure Uncanny X-Men is the complete package. The inks don’t take anything away from Silva’s pencils, only strengthen them. This art team is strong, the real test comes with how we fair trying to keep up with the weekly release schedule.
Uncanny X-Men #2 keeps the pace and energy level of the massive introductory issue. This is truly the ResurreXion we were promised by Marvel a year ago. That first batch of Gold and Blue books was an appetizer, now we’re back in serious business!
The series has gotten off to a great start and we haven’t even touched anything with Adamantium or eye-beams.
