For a while now, a few questions have been bugging me when it comes to X-Men. First, what the heck is going on with Magneto? Second, what happened on the iron night? Also, after issue #6, what the heck are they going to do with Piper Cobb? Thankfully, issue #7 provides a lot of answers and works quite well to tie together a lot of the loose threads this series has had thus far.
I’ve been a bit hesitant as of late, as I’ve been trying to understand where Jed MacKay and his incredible team are taking the X-Men with this relaunch. But at last, X-Men #7 provides an enormous amount of clarity. Altogether, in a series I’ve found to be a bit inconsistent lately, this issue does a lot of heavy lifting to organize the timeline of the series while preparing the team for the upcoming crossover arc with Uncanny X-Men.
Marvel Comics
The issue works to deliver two separate stories: one showing the Iron Night and the other in the present today, as the team tries to figure out what to do with Piper Cobb. The two are interconnected it seems, and it all comes down to Piper somehow. Without going too deep into that, what works very well in this book is that it finally shows the direct aftermath of the fall of Krakoa. In many ways, this changed the X-Men and Mutant world forever. And, this issue works very well to finally depict how severely The X-Man himself was impacted by this.
Marvel Comics
In the past, “X Months Ago” to be specific, Cyclops seemed to have hit a complete wall of depression unlike anything we’ve seen before. His leadership, dedication, and commitment to protecting mutants came crumbling down. Naturally, Magneto is the one to get him out of this rut. MacKay does a great job showing how their relationship has evolved. There’s a mix of banter and seriousness between the two as they both have come to respect one another. The two have always had such an interesting relationship, starting out as enemies and now becoming one and the same in many ways.
Meanwhile, in the present, things are eerily quiet at the X-Men’s humble abode. Bringing Piper may end up being a giant liability for the team, and it’s clear not everyone is on board with how it was done. During the story, we see Idie and one of the other X-Men at odds with one another over this. Here, Diaz does a great job adding to the page’s intensity. While one person carries a flippant disdain for their teammate, the other is clearly seething at being disrespected. It’s a short exchange, but likely not the last time the two are at odds. Here, Diaz’s paneling works quite well to show how quickly a moment in life can change from being calm to feeling frustrated. Additionally, he delivers an incredibly detailed fight sequence near the end of the story that should really captivate the readers’ attention.
By the end of the story, not only are many questions answered, but new ones pop up too! What happens now? With the shocking truth revealed in the aftermath of the Iron Night, nothing will be the same for some of the most prominent X-Men we know. Not to mention, the shocking final page will directly lead into the Raid on Graymalkin! Altogether, this is a very strong issue, and possibly the best in the series thus far, as it provides a lot of clarity about the mysteries surrounding the team.
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