Two issues away from the end, from the highly anticipated Uncanny X-Men #700, comes this week’s X-Men #33. Gerry Duggan, Joshua Cassara, Romulo Fajardo Jr., VC’s Clayton Cowles, and Jordan D. White spearhead this installment of mutantkind’s final assault on Orchis. The antepenultimate issue of Krakoa’s X-Men book sounds on paper like can’t-miss storytelling, but unfortunately, that is not the case in reality.
X-Men #33 makes it more evident than ever what the flagship title’s role has become: a second-string event tie-in for plot beats that can’t be squeezed into Fall of the House of X or are too mutant-centric for Invincible Iron Man. This is not necessarily a bad part for the book to play, just one that feels off-key for the titular series in Marvel’s mutant franchise. Where the last few issues have checked off story threads for Talon, Synch, Krakoan medicines, and Magik like items on a checklist, #33 sets its sights on the man allegedly in charge of Orchis: Director Devo.
Despite the war at hand, the X-Men end up stumbling into shooting distance of Devo–one of their highest-value targets–about halfway through the issue. Until that point, its the last stand of the Princess Bar in Lowtown. The Shaws (Sebastian and Shinobi), Shadowkat, Emma Frost, The Reavers, and Callisto are all in Madripoor once more for a fight. Set in a corner of the world with several supporting characters who haven’t been seen much throughout the Fall of X, there’s a lot of fun in the issue, but it ends up feeling like the X-Men are guest-starring in a Fall of X: Marauders one-shot.
The Shaws’ shenanigans lead a squad of X-Men to Madripoor Harbor, where Director Devo has been stashed away alongside enough resources to rebirth Orchis if they lose the current war with mutantkind. Devo isn’t just going to lay down and die though, which means the issue gets to tick another plot thread off the list as Doom’s X-Men are called in for reinforcement. Volta Doom is a standout in her brief appearance here, not only dealing Devo’s death blow but confirming her kill shortly after. Between Doctor Stasis, Dr. Alia Gregor, and Director Devo, it’s clear that the comics adage about ‘seeing the body’ is being taken with surprising seriousness here.
Marvel Comics
X-Men #33 is a romp in Madripoor saturated with Things That Need To Happen. Wolverine traps and hacks through an Orchis goon deployment in the Morlock Tunnels because the X-Men Need To move from the sewers back into the spotlight. Shinobi has Devo’s whereabouts because the Director’s role in the narrative Needs To end. Ms. Marvel and Emma Frost call Doom because the X-Men of Doom Need To participate in the final battle for mutantkind. The intrusiveness of the Things That Need To Happen on the overall issue range from welcome inclusions to downright annoying. The most egregious of these moments is in the confrontation with Devo and the subsequent check-in with Cyclops. From this, Emma and Scott Need To reveal the truth to the team: Devo was a pawn of Omega Sentinel, and she and the other AI lords of Orchis have been using this conflict as a cover for their own supremacy play. This would be jaw dropping information if the audience hadn’t been aware of this for over two years and at least three other X-titles weren’t already focused on that endgame.
I’ve already reflected on some of X-Men #33’s weaker aspects, but this issue in particular feels like this book has lost its fire. It’s obligated to wrap up various plot threads and to have X-Men in it, and to that extent, it does very well. But this is the book of Krakoa’s X-Men in its final days. Why is Synch, the nominal team leader, only spared one line in the whole issue? Where is the IRL X-Vote Winner Juggernaut? What is Flag Smasher adding to this issue? When did Callisto leave Maggot? How come at least three other members of the Krakoan government are active in this war but Emma Frost is the only one acting like it? A popular complaint among X-Fans is that X-Men scribe Gerry Duggan has his talents stretched too thin in this era. Sadly, this issue points to a grain of truth in that opinion.
On a brighter note, issue #33 also marks X-Artist Joshua Cassara’s return to the title for the first time since December’s X-Men #29. Cassara has the skill to sell fun superheroics and tactile, pulpy violence. Teamed with Fajardo Jr’s colors, Wolverine, Shadowkat, and Callisto get bloody in the best way possible. Also worth shouting out is how amazing Devo’s death scene looks.
X-Men #33 is all fun and games until you remember that this is the third to last issue of the series. Using fond memories of Marauders to cover for the title’s Fall of X to-do list is only somewhat effective. That being said, the board is clear for the X-Men’s showdown at Sentinel City. Who knows what excitement awaits when Nimrod’s Death Star comes online.
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