X-Men has been a unique series in the X-line so far. It’s the flagship title, and yet it doesn’t ever quite come with the epic scale or masterful character work as other books like X-Men: Red, Immortal X-Men, and New Mutants do. Instead, X-Men has been comfortably sitting in its place in the middle of the scale, having interesting beats and moments while never really filling them out to make them as compelling as other books do with their plots.
SPOILERS AHEAD for X-Men #16!
The Children of the Vault plot was one of the highlights of Hickman’s run, giving Krakoa a terrifying threat and telling a compelling story for Laura, Everett, and Darwin in the process. For the most part, the implications of the Vault haven’t been explored on panel, save for a few instances of Everett talking about it in X-Men previously. Last issue of the run, however, Duggan changed that and decided to bring the Vault plot back to the forefront.
Forge inside the Vault is good stuff, propelling a really interesting plot forward while also highlighting some of Forge’s greater strengths as a character. In the past, there were times Forge really annoyed me (the proposal thing with Ororo was…a choice), but so far in this run, Duggan’s done a good job of actually making Forge a more likable character. He’s cocky but in a charming way, and the reader knows such faith in his intelligence is well-earned. Like the last issue, Forge’s segments here are the best part of the book and he’s got the responsibility to steer the plot in whatever direction it goes since he’s still in the Vault by the end.
The rest of the book has its ups and downs, as X-Men right now tends to do. On the plus side, Duggan seems to be doing a much better job at balancing his cast of characters this time around. For the last round of X-Men titles, most fans noticed that the panel time was not evenly distributed between members in the least. Most of the time, it was the Scott show or the Jean show, which hurt the book in the end because those characters are both A-listers who are almost always guaranteed content and you couldn’t say the same about others on the team like Sunfire. So by the end of the run, it felt like a little bit of a missed opportunity.
This time around, Duggan seems to have ditched the “focus on one character per issue” schtick for this book, which changes its roster every 12 issues. The character-focused issue structure works far better on Gillen’s Immortal X-Men, which constantly provides thorough and thought-provoking character analysis. In X-Men, the book is working much better as a team ensemble, with every character getting at least a little panel time or a few lines.
Marvel Comics
On the less great side of things, there are certain beats of this issue that just fall flat. The biggest one is probably the growing drama between Scott and Alex, which stems from Alex learning that Forge asked for Alex to be on the team just to spite Scott. Alex and Scott aren’t typically a hostile relationship (emphasis on typically) — the two are often support beams for each other and there is never any doubt that there is love between the brothers. In this issue when they start squabbling the X-Men around them are saying things like “oh they always do this” and I have to wonder what interactions between the brothers these characters are typically seeing that we aren’t.
The other (and bigger) concern is what this means for the elections and the characters themselves. Scott and Jean founded the X-Men of Krakoa specifically on the premise that the Council was not involved and that Krakoa would vote for their own heroes. That was a huge focus of the first year of X-Men as well, with each character spotlight issue touching back on why they were voted to be on the team. Here, Scott selects Forge specifically for the purpose of learning about the Vault mission and Forge picks Alex. So…where was the vote this year?
The idea of Scott scheming to get Forge on the team just for this mission is actually really good, it’s just mishandled at the moment. Scott isn’t the boy scout anymore who sees the world in black and white — he’s been a leader of mutantkind and previous mutant nations, and he knows that sometimes you have to tip the scales. With his tactical mind and tendency to plan far enough ahead to always have the upper hand, it could have been really interesting to see how Scott manipulated the vote to get Forge on the team in the first place instead of just nixing the vote and picking him. Emma and Jean both have strong connections to Scott and are privy to all the secrets, as well as being two women who aren’t afraid to use their telepathy in perhaps unethical ways to get the desired result for the greater good. Had Emma or Jean (or both) intervened to ensure the vote would go the way they needed it to, a much more interesting plot is set up. The way it’s being done right now just feels like an insult to Scott’s intelligence and feels more like forced than anything too compelling. And more than that, what’s the purpose of the vote in-universe if Scott just selects people?
I’m sure the drama between Scott, Forge, and Alex will get more interesting as time goes on, but right now it feels cheap.
Cassara’s art has been a highlight of this new X-Men era, especially with his work on X-Force, which often allowed him to think outside the box for panel layouts and get creative with his backgrounds. His work on X-Men is great from a technical standpoint — all the characters look fantastic and it’s hardly an ugly book. X-Force delving into the horror elements really allowed Cassara’s art to flourish, giving him the opportunity to flex his skills more freely. X-Men seems much more limited and constricting, making the art here feel more stilted than his usual fare. There’s just not much opportunity for Cassara to really show what he can do and treat readers to the visual gifts we usually get from his art.
The one thing I will say, however, is that Alex Summers looks…well, he looks pretty funny. The egg beater head costume has proven to be quite tricky for artists, either making it look goofy or pretty OK. This book definitely leans towards the ridiculous side, and Alex looks quite silly the entire time.
Duggan’s exploration of the Vault has ultimately been much less exciting than Hickman’s, but the plot being rolled out is still ultimately quite interesting. Nothing illustrates this better than the last panel of the book, which raises so many questions that I for one can’t wait to learn how they are answered.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
