As the Raid on Graymalkin rages on, tensions continue to rise! In the first crossover for the X-Men in the “From the Ashes” era, things couldn’t be worse! When both teams went to raid Graymalkin prison, formerly their home, to free their friends, things took a turn for the worse when they began fighting one another instead! It’s Uncanny versus adjective-less X-Men while the mystery behind Prisoner X continues to creep closer to being unveiled. Here, writer Jed Mackay collaborates with a plethora of artists for this issue. But is it worth it?
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
The story carries over from the pages of Uncanny X-Men, and here, things focus on one bombastic fight. Most of the issue revolves around the two X-Men teams finally working together, albeit begrudgingly, to fight some sentinels. On the one hand, it’s nice to see the pacing pick up and show the X-Men…being X-Men. I’ll be honest: I’m not a huge fan of how the arc’s speed has been across the board. Crossovers are a hard sell for me. Particularly when they are involved in reading other books to keep up with a series. However, Jed MacKay and Gail Simone worked neatly together to get this story delivered to readers in one month, and it has only been between two titles. That absolutely has helped this story to continue to have an exciting pace that keeps one wondering what happens next and still keeps everything fresh in one’s mind.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
However, the whole motivation for what instigated the two team’s fight still feels a bit too easy to me. These are world-class heroes, and their lack of defense from psychic attacks, particularly considering the founder of the X-Men is a psychic, feels a bit too easy. However, as the issue enters its later half, the conflict really gets interesting as the two teams’ ideological differences finally have depth.
It’s a shame there’s only one issue left because this is what makes for a good crossover! However, it looks like the new crossover X-Manhunt will deliver more of that. So, altogether, the story does a decent job leading us toward another event that offers an interesting step into a new direction that the X-Men may not have been before!
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
As a whole, the issue is very well depicted. One thing that is done well is that the fights feel very exciting and electric. Sometimes, when there’s a giant cast to work with, it can be overwhelming for the reader to see so many characters in giant spreads of action and keep up with the plot. However, the paneling and bright colors help to separate things well enough that the fights are distinguishable and able to be properly appreciated.
That said, one thing that felt off-putting was how faces were depicted. I’ve often been one to fixate on things like this, and this issue is no different. While sometimes things are well conveyed through body language and facial expressions, there are more than a few times when characters are depicted without significant detail or are drawn a bit too sharply. While this isn’t a big distraction, it does become slightly noticeable on double-page spreads. Altogether, the art does a decent job depicting explosive moments but struggles a bit with things such as facial expressions.
Altogether, X-Men #9 is an okay issue. The crossover as a whole has been right, but it has not really wowed me yet. However, in its final moments, the issue does a lot of heavy lifting to turn things on its head as things get really interesting. With that said, for longtime readers or those invested in the characters and series, it would feel worth picking up.
X-Men #9 may be an example of why crossovers are not always great early on in a series, as the development only seems to take shape leading into the final issue, but it does do a good job of maintaining interest.
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