How Do You Solve A Problem Like Talon? is a question that best captures the core of this week’s X-Men #31. Gerry Duggan, Phil Noto, VC’s Clayton Cowles, and Jordan D. White are the creative team tackling this question. Unfortunately, fans eager to see what would become of Synch and Talon’s arc may be left disappointed by the answer.
Despite the dire times of AI Supremacy and reality-breaking Dominions that may lay ahead, the most immediate threat for the X-Men to handle is Orchis’ leverage over them. After M.O.D.O.K.’s meddling, every baseline human who benefitted from Krakoan medicine is being held hostage unbeknownst to them. After spending the last few months hiding and on the run, the X-Men have shifted their focus to proactive measures such as rallying allies and locating bio-hacking solutions for the tainted medicine issue. At the cost of Talon’s physical body, Synch narrowly escaped the High Evolutionary’s clutches last issue with the necessary tech and Talon’s consciousness safely in tow, or so we thought.
The opening scene establishes the core dilemma of X-Men #31. Synch is still using Jean’s power to keep Talon’s psyche alive in his mind. However, the strain has left him nearly catatonic, and Everett lingers on the verge of death for the lion’s share of the issue. The plan to negate M.O.D.O.K.’s medicine manipulation by using modified High Evolutionary tech is working, but Spider-Man and the X-Men have to keep Nimrod from destroying the device before their work is complete. Also, Wilson Fisk and Typhoid Mary have a guest interlude. A lot is going on.
Between Invincible Iron Man, Fall of the House of X, and now both X-Men #30 and #31, Duggan is developing a penchant for dream sequences. Krakoa’s beginnings were made on the promise of “it’s not a dream if it’s real,” but its end is filled with dreams whose elements are quite real. Synch’s shared dream with Talon very quickly becomes a nightmare as Talon confronts Everett with a hard truth: his team and their work will die if he does not let her pass on. Up above, Spidey, Ms. Marvel, Shadowkat, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine are doing their best to keep Nimrod on his toes, but in reality, the only thing likely keeping him from murdering the heroes where they stand is that it would involve killing three famous former Avengers in the middle of a crowded New York City street.
The emotional beats of Synch and Talon’s final one-on-one feel empty, and the team’s fight with Nimrod is amusing, but the most fun part of the issue is the shortest one. Despite being spoiled by Amazing Spider-Man: Gang War, Duggan and Noto deliver Kingpin and Typhoid Mary’s much-anticipated reunion. It’s tender and odd, which is exactly what their relationship demands. Unfortunately, the issue directly contrasts this couple with Synch and Talon, which only highlights the flaws of how the latter couple’s story has been told.
Taking a wider lens, Everett Thomas has had a strong showing throughout the age of Krakoan storytelling. His mission to the Vault left him with some serious upgrades as well as a tragic lost love. This narrative potential eventually propelled him onto the mutant nation’s first team of X-Men, and was reelected the following two years as well. His centuries of experience even made Synch part of the triad leading the team alongside Jean Grey and Cyclops. All of that energy was shifted to the back burner with Talon’s arrival over a year ago. Amid the Fall of X, these two were meant to fill the leadership gap in mutant kind left by Jean and Scott, but once they did in this issue and the one preceding it, Synch’s great love is lost once again with no growth to show for it. Synch and Talon’s arc together has ended for the time being, and in the end, it served no one, developed no one, and has not left a lasting impact on the story moving forward. On top of that, the majority of their romance before and after the Vault took place off-panel, making it even harder for readers to find a reason to care. Along with the apparent abandonment of issue #29’s cliffhanger, X-Men #31 is a low point.
Noto finds plenty of places to shine throughout the issue. Even if readers don’t especially care about Talon and Synch’s relationship, the emotional subtleties in their faces are worth a look through. Everett’s heartbreak hits even harder as he rises stone-faced against Nimrod while syncing Storm’s powers. A smaller moment to shoutout is Noto’s Spider-Man, specifically how he sells the comedy of Peter Parker hitting Nimrod with a dump truck.
When so much of the X-Line is firing on all cylinders, X-Men #31 doesn’t quite hit the mark. The end of a romance that was more told than shown, and a fight with Nimrod that leaves us wanting more are brightened with the elimination of Orchis’ most concrete threat to all the people of Earth. Despite this being a minor disappointment, next month’s Shadowkat and Magik team-up issue still seems quite promising.
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