Jed MacKay introduced a number of new threats for Cyclops and his team to face in the pages of X-Men, and the biggest is arguably the mysterious group known as 3K. 3K seeks to transform humanity into mutants, creating a new race and supplanting homo superior. They’ve also brought in old foes of the X-Men to achieve their goals, including Magneto’s clone Joseph and Cassandra Nova, the twisted sister of Charles Xavier. X-Men #24 focuses squarely on 3K as their members fight for leadership following the absence of their Chairman.
I was 50/50 on 3K since its introduction. The idea of a group of humans trying to achieve mutantdom is interesting, but was previously tackled in Grant Morrison’s New X-Men run with the U-Men. Thankfully, MacKay finally found a way to make this group more interesting, as he finally reveals who the Chairman is – and it spells trouble for the X-Men down the line. MacKay also continues to use the fallout from Age of Revelation to great effect, especially when 3K learns of the X-Virus that mutated half the planet. While most readers probably wrote off Age of Revelation as a stopgap in the X-Men line of comics, it’s proving to be fruitful for future stories.
MacKay also has a bit of fun with the classic “villains stabbing each other in the back” scenario. Prior to the Chairman’s reveal, Cassandra Nova and 3K member Astra plot to take leadership, each with an advantage: Nova is an immensely powerful psychic, while Astra can manipulate Joseph into working for her, and he has Magneto’s signature anti-telepathy helmet. Wyre, on the other hand, prefers to sit on the sidelines and lend his X-Men to whoever ends up the victor. These kinds of dynamics paint a sharp contrast between 3K and the X-Men, as the latter will follow Cyclops to the letter while the former would probably kill each other if given the chance.
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X-Men #24 also continues MacKay and Tony Daniel’s collaboration; fear not, dear readers, Daniel draws villains just as well as he draws heroes. Nova is the standout under his pencils, as her craggy brows and perpetually scowling expression make for a frightening visage – especially when accented by Mark Morales’ heavy inks. So does Joseph, who is clad from head to toe in Magneto’s signature red and purple, including the Master of Magnetism’s helmet; it leads into a splash page where he rips off pieces of 3K’s meeting table and flings them at Nova, who contemptuously blocks them with a thought.
The colors also shift to reflect the villains, with Fer Sifuentes-Sijo preferring to use darker hues to highlight 3K’s members. Most of their meetings also take place in the shadows, adding the right amount of menace to the settings. The sole exception comes toward the end of the book, which is out in the sunny sky…only for things to take a very dark turn in the final pages.
X-Men #24 shifts the focus to the villains, while also continuing to showcase the fallout from the Age of Revelation. I can say that after this issue, I’m actually looking forward to more of 3K and their potential future in the X-Men’s story.
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