As the first arc for this new X-Men stretches to its halfway point, the tone of this series becomes a little clearer. This really is a jumping-on point for readers. What does that mean? This issue jumps right into things and sparses no time to waste getting into the action. This seems to imply a “business as usual” approach to the title for now.
This approach may not be for everyone, as the story seems to call out the differences between this era and its predecessor. It’s a little tongue-in-cheek at times but ultimately seems to serve a greater purpose. The stark contrast between this era and Krakoa seems to be intentionally omitted from the reader, and it does, at times, feel deeply connected to why the X-Men are in Alaska and why Scott picked this team to work with.
Writer Jed Mackay has continued to hint at a greater picture that connects this mystery to others presented in the series’ first four issues. But that’s seemingly for later. While whatever mysterious problems are going on with Cyclops, Magneto, and Beast will have to wait, for now, their mission is simple. And so is the book because of that. Or is it?
Fans of Miss Illyana Rasputina may be excited about her upcoming book, which was announced. For those fans, or possibly new ones, this story ensures she gets the spotlight before that. Her relationship with Juggernaut has been pushed to be a huge source of comedic relief in the series, and it’s been great. But here, we see Magik lead. While she’s quite a different leader than Scott, she certainly knows how to be a superhero.
Throughout the issue, writer Jed Mackay does a great job showing how strategic Illyana is capable of being, both on and off the chess board. However, it’s hard to see what kind of leader it is at first. Granted, the payoff certainly comes in spades when Magik finally plays her hand. Furthermore, the story benefits from misleading the reader by using it as an opportunity to raise the stakes beyond being a run-of-the-mill story about stopping the ‘bad guy.’
The story itself is much like issue #2: a mutant is in trouble and needs saving. The X-Men may or may not do some saving. But once again, like issue #2, it’s not about the fight. Writer Jed Mackay is playing a long game here. This is about what’s coming. Clearly, in the wake of Krakoa, new Mutants are popping up left and right. And while it’s getting a lot of attention insofar as mutantphobia from the rest of the world, it’s starting to turn other heads too.
This issue seems to work on building up towards the first big conflict the X-Men are geared to face, and it may not be from who they expect. However, it does feel weird having two issues focus on what’s going on behind the scenes and two on the X-Men saving the day. The back-and-forth nature of this does feel a bit jarring, but the final pages of this issue seem to bring things together.
Altogether, this issue works well to elevate the overall narrative of the book as a whole by working to further clarify who’s going to be the first big antagonist for the X-Men.
Ryan Stegman takes a brief break from X-Men as Netho Diaz pencils the issue, with Sean Parsons inking the story. Diaz’s sharp and pointed linework brings a different art style to the story, helping to convey some emotion throughout the story as nuanced gestures and expressions become more noticeable.
However, one thing that also sticks out is that the action sequences feel a bit stagnated. While Diaz’s linework feels very intense and fast, it feels held back a bit because it lacks motion. This, in part, seems like an impact of Parsons’ thick inkwork and bright colors from Marte Garcia. The relatively lacking action sequences do feel offset by engaging dialogue exchanges between characters and moments in the story that aren’t as reliant on fluidity.
A great example of this contrast could be found in how different pages appear between having the X-Men jump onto the scene to take action in contrast to Cyclops’s meeting with the team at the beginning of the story. Altogether, the art has some benefit from its smaller moments sticking out as important, while the main action sequences feel a bit lackluster.
Moreover, X-Men #4 is a good issue in a series that is still gaining momentum. While some of it feels a bit lost within this issue, seemingly being another story of the X-Men saving a new mutant, it seems there’s more than meets the eye. X-Men as a whole seems to be a book where momentum is building up slowly, and threads of conflict are being weaved as the book progresses. Thus, the first arc seems to be doing quite a bit of work in not just introducing the readers to this era of the X-Men but also showing where things are headed. As a result, this issue feels like it will carry important weight when read within the cohesive first arc of the series.
On its own, it does seem to spend more time building things up than doing much beyond that. This may be unappealing for some, but for others, it may indicate that this book is one part of a bigger vital story to be told. Moreover, this is a good story that benefits from the buildup of the preceding work and will have significant implications for the team moving forward.
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