The mutants of Louisiana are finally settling into Haven House. Surely, this is their happy ending, right? RIGHT!?!
Gail Simone’s ongoing Uncanny X-Men series is releasing the third volume of its trade paperback series, titled Murder Me Mutina, and the collection is anything but drama-free. Surprise, surprise, coming from an X-Men ongoing! Rogue’s team of mutant heroes, a collection of iconic X-Men like Wolverine and Jubilee, plus the new “Outliers,” face a murderous mutant movie star, an explosive comic con, and a shocking Mutant Appreciation Day in this dramatic “slice of life” volume.
This volume of Uncanny X-Men is an interesting one. Coming in at only five issues, covering 120 pages, Murder Me Mutina retails for $15.99, an appropriate price reduction from its beefier first two volumes. In terms of content, this volume is not interrupted by an event story, which is truly shocking for the X-Men’s current era, but that doesn’t mean the stories flow incredibly well. This trade feels more like a collection of separate stories diving into the lived experiences of the mutants getting comfortable at Haven House, and doesn’t have as much consistency as volumes that cover a full story arc.
If you are a big fan of Simone’s writing or love Luciano Vecchio’s artwork, then this volume of Uncanny X-Men is definitely for you. Each story delves into the personal lives and growth of Simone’s characters, as well as the Uncanny crew’s slow transformation into a true family. Vecchio’s art is, unsurprisingly, excellent. He does character design, movement, and emotion with expertise, and it is hard not to be drawn into stories that he illustrates. One issue is also illustrated by David Marquez, a series regular, who is a fun way to break up Vecchio’s style halfway through the collection.
Not only is the interior art throughout this trade gorgeous, but this volume also includes a plethora of variant covers! I am not sure if I have ever seen a trade with this many full-size variants, and I loved it. It might be because this is a slimmer volume, so they needed to add more to make it a full volume, but I am not complaining! Although… I am complaining about including a full-page Greg Land cover. We don’t need that, sorry.
If you wanted to read Simone’s Uncanny X-Men as a connected story, you really could skip this trade, because the issues feel very much like “capsule” issues or filler. However, that is not explicitly a bad thing! Often, fans of the X-Men say, “Why can’t we just get a slice-of-life comic about the X-Men living their chaotic lives,” and then when we get that, some fans will say, “Ugh, this doesn’t feel connected to anything that has been happening!” So, I don’t want to complain because I like these capsule stories, but I think I prefer them interspersed between arcs, instead of four or five of them happening back-to-back. Unfortunately, this trade ends up feeling like a “filler trade,” which you never want for a dedicated collection of comics.
All in all, I had fun reading this trade, but I don’t necessarily think I would have bought this trade directly off a shelf in my local comic book shop. Don’t get fooled into thinking that this entire trade focuses on the X-Men versus Mutina – that is definitely not the case. Mutina features in the first two issues, but her arc is not very important, and doesn’t conclude in this trade. If you really love Simone’s storytelling, the Outlier characters she has created, or Luciano Vecchio’s art, I truly think you would enjoy this volume, but if not, this collection may not be for you.
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