We love an anthology here at AIPT, but this one is a collection of baffling choices. The first one being the title: For a collection that seems to be aimed at readers new to Marvel or the X-Men, one would think a less sweaty title would be used. “X-Verse,” for instance, isn’t really a codified thing. One could suppose it’s referring to stories containing Marvel’s mutant characters, but the first part of the title is already “X-Men” so it really just seems to only muddy the waters. Especially when books with “Spider-Verse” on the cover, which means something completely different, can be found on the same shelf.
Another odd choice is the selection of stories chosen for this collection. The lack of anything written by Chris “Is there any reason this character can’t be a woman?” Claremont is shocking considering the volume of his contribution to the X-Men and his highly lauded approach to female characters. There are plenty of Claremont penned stories starring Kitty Pryde that would be right at home in this collection.
Storm is iconic and incomparable, so her presence is welcome but she gets way more page space than any of any of the other characters. She is featured heavily in three of the six storied included in the collection, Uncanny Origins #9 being the best. There are so many X-Men characters it’s guaranteed that someone’s favorite is going to get left out but opting to included two unremarkable Storm stories instead of one with incredibly popular characters with storied publication histories like Kitty or Jubilee feels like an oversight.
X-Men: First Class (2007) #1
Charles calls upon Sue Storm to help a young Jean Grey harness her powers and provide unique insight to what it’s like being the only woman on a super team. It’s a cute teamup and readers get to see reasons why fans like both characters.
Uncanny Origins #9
Storm’s origins from her birth up to joining the second genesis X-Men team. This concise retelling of Storm’s origins is made even more appealing by the art of Mark Campos.
Uncanny X-Men: First Class #4
Storm, Jean, Misty Knight, and Colleen Wing fight Nightshade and do respectability politics. This one is the weakest of the bunch as the ladies are kidnapped by Nightshade and get restrained by power inhibitors in what feels like filler before the real story resumes next issue.
Marvel Age Spider-Man Team-Up #5
Storm and Spider-Man encounter a young Rogue in New York City. This one is occasionally fun but it again heavily features Storm for the third straight story.
Women of Marvel (2021) #1 Cretaceous Flirtatious
Mystique disguises herself as a paleontologist to infiltrate a dig with Stegron. She is doing her best Laura Dern in Jurassic Park and it’s a highlight.
Marvel’s Voices: Indigenous Voices – Mirage: Multifaceted
A young mutant manifests his powers at a fair causing a minor incident, Dani Moonstar and Wolfsbane have to track him down before the human authorities get to him and blow it out of proportion. Dani and Wolfsbane have chemistry and it’s fun to watch them work together.
Overall, it’s an entertaining collection, but not necessarily one you would want to hand over to a new comics reader to really sell them on the medium or the world of the X-Men.
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