The X-Men fight to rescue a new mutant, but the series continues to leave new readers in the dark.
Writer | Jed MacKay |
Illustrator | Ryan Stegman |
Inker | JP Mayer |
Colorist | Marte Gracia & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo |
Legacy Numbering | |
Content Rating | T+ |
Publisher | Marvel | 08.14.24 |
Spoilers Ahead
Man, time flies. We're already in the second issue of X-Men in this From the Ashes era along with several first issues across the line. Jed MacKay's debut last month was nothing to write home about, featuring a rather rote adventure with minimal effort to make things clear for incoming readers. The same can be said of this issue, although it at least starts to expand upon the burgeoning mystery of late-blooming mutants. It isn't going to win over anyone who wasn't convinced last month, but it remains a decent start for the series as we slowly, thankfully pivot away from Krakoa.
The issue begins with a troubled man named Ben Liu in San Francisco. He's speaking incoherently about someone "coming back" for him, which perplexes his concerned social worker. As the man tries to console Ben, we find out that he's worried about approaching aliens, who he believes are returning to abduct him once more. Enter the X-Men, who are registering Ben as a freshly emerged mutant. They want to swoop in, pick him up, and drive off the aliens without anyone realizing Ben is a mutant.
The field team of Cyclops, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Magik, Temper, Mercy, and Kid Omega are all here, with Beast and Magneto back in Merle, Alaska minding the fort. As with the first issue, there's no explanation why neither character can enter the field of battle, nor why Magneto is seemingly confined to his strange, floating throne. As I pointed out in my review of issue one, I get the sense that Magneto is paralyzed, but there isn't a single thing in the book confirming that, so all I can do is guess. If From the Ashes is supposed to lure in new readers, it's still not doing a good job of welcoming them. Basic details need to be front and center, not confined to Krakoan back issues I'm never going to read.
Back in SF, the X-Men are bantering aboard The Marauder, which is the team's alien spacecraft. Why they're in this and not the Blackbird is also never explained, presumably a carryover from Krakoa, I assume, but like Magneto's current status, I don't really know. What I do know is the thing is ugly and wish. along with the equally ugly uniforms, that the team looked more familiar. Regardless, Quentin acts smug as he takes verbal jabs at Cyclops for having common sense (he's an idiot, based on what I've seen so far), then Scott gets the team prepped for battle: half on the ground to handle alien foot soldiers, half in the air to deal with their ships.
The action all looks great, as Stegman is back once more with his energetic, stylish art. I again lament that the uniforms suck, but Stegman draws a mean squad of X-Men nonetheless. A shot towards the middle of the issue with Juggernaut flying through the air is pretty cool, but I would argue that if you're going to set a book in a specific place like SF, it should look more like it's happening there. Other than an obligatory Golden Gate Bridge shot, you'd have no clue where the issue was taking place, thus making the setting pretty perfunctory.
After fighting for a while, Scott declares that there's something off about the aliens, which Psylocke confirms after she probes into one of their minds and finds that there are no thoughts inside. Weirdly, Magik points out that the aliens were puffing out of existence as they fought, something she didn't feel the need to point out and apparently neither Scott nor Kwannon noticed. Ignoring that, they determine this is all a charade and that odds are the new mutant they're tracking is behind it.
Sure enough, Ben is the source of the invasion. Scott tries to explain to him that the aliens are a figment of Ben's imagination, brought to life by his burgeoning mutant abilities. Ben, however, isn't mentally stable and doesn't believe what Scott is saying, especially because he knows mutants manifest as teens, and he's well past that point of his life, thus deducing it isn't possible that he's a mutant. Scott insists he is, but Ben won't have it.
Ultimately, Scott gets Magik, Psylocke, and Quentin to help fake Ben's death and then take him home to Alaska. Beast and Magneto are watching over him as Scott explains what happened. Now, they're going to try to get to the bottom of what happened to Ben and why his powers have manifested so late into adulthood. Overall, the adventure was well paced, but some of the dialogue was groan-worthy, especially a moment where Kid Omega is presumably making some kind of anime reference that I didn't get.
MacKay is playing X-Men a lot cuter than he plays his Avengers book, something I wish he'd knock off. Like Zeb Wells demonstrates every month on Amazing Spider-Man, unnecessary, poorly executed humor kills all tension and makes the reader not believe there are any stakes during conflicts. If MacKay can reign himself in slightly, it would make X-Men all the better. As it stands, this second issue is fine, but I would like to start having circumstances cleared up around characters like Beast and Magneto in the near future.
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