There are a lot of X-Men books out this week including X-Men Red, Wolverine, X-Force, X-Cellent, New Mutants, and Wolverine: Patch, but what of the Immortal variety? Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck left the first issue off with a kaiju on Krakoa and Hope being our only, well, hope. How will the second issue play out? In short, it surprisingly wraps up some loose ends!
This issue juggles a few characters well, although Hope and Mr. Sinister float to the top for attention. Both characters end up helping stave off the Kaiju in their own ways. What’s becoming more obvious with this series is how Gillen isn’t afraid to drop in a cool idea that would otherwise take up multiple issues by another writer. Hope does something spectacular, for instance, and Mr. Sinister uses science to resolve a problem.
These two characters come out of the issue somewhat changed, too, which is a nice development. Hope is a freaking badass in the final pages, giving readers a feeling that she’s different after this issue, which is a satisfying element. So often characters barely change at all over the course of an arc and it’s a bold development by Gillen. It’s not sudden, either, as there are nods to how she used to be harder under Cable’s tutelage but she’s grown a bit soft. No longer.
Don’t panic.
Credit: Marvel
The main threat is Selene, a magical mutant who has a bone to pick with the Quiet Council. Characters like Magneto and Doctor Nemesis get pulled into the fray as well, reminding us this is a large cast of mutants with very impressive abilities.
Fans of the last issue will remember Jesus Christ was brought up and that theme continues here in a subtle way. Clickbait news sites will likely pull from this issue, and it’s fun to see how Exodus plays into that here. There are some interesting ideas about messiahs passed around which is interesting when you have mutants running about using powers far more spectacular than Jesus’s. Either way though, it’s an interesting concept and it’s nice to see Exodus get some time to shine.
Art by Werneck is solid here with Hope looking great as she takes center stage. How he draws her hair is particularly good, with colors by David Curiel adding a bit of layering to them. In general, the colors and inks give this issue a darker feel which adds an ominous touch to the story. Werneck’s detail is interesting as it wavers in the issue. Sometimes it’s a little rougher, especially when Mr. Sinister enters the battle, but in other cases, it’s as clean as anything you’ll see in comics.
Immortal X-Men #2 has a good balance of plot development and character work. It’s also a strong finish to a two-part story, which is rather bold in modern comics superhero storytelling. But bold is the name of the game with Immortal X-Men and Gillen and Werneck’s work here.
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