Uncanny X-Men Volume 1, Kieron Gillen

"In the wake of Schism, Cyclops leads a team of X-Men whose express purpose is to deal with extinction-level events. Meet the X-Men's ""Extinction Team"": Storm, Emma Frost, Magneto, Namor, Colossus, Danger, Magik and Hope. And the team's formation hasn't come a moment too soon, for Mr. Sinister has brazenly taken possession of the massive alien Dreaming Celestial - an act of open hostility designed to put the X-Men in their place, but also an offensive that will draw the attention of the godlike Celestials themselves. Collecting: Uncanny X-Men 1-4"










I got two X-Men graphic novels in a bid to catch up on the post Schism story lines as I'm loving the current run of X titles from Marvel. For those who are unaware, Schism was the sundering of the united mutant front into two separate sides, led by Cyclops and Wolverine. After years of simmering romantic competition over Jean Grey, a mutual distrust of one another's methods and the fact that they're just a ridiculous buddy cop duo (uptight control freak mutant leader meet psychotic berserker Samurai super soldier) their relationship utterly broke down and leads to the creation of two separate teams of X-Men.

With Wolverine off teaching school in Wolverine and the X-Men, Scott is left in Utopia leadin the cool mutants, like Magneto, Colossus and Doctor Nemesis. So, we have the best, and most powerful characters, characters bunched into a single 'Apocalypse Team' and it's written by fan-favourite writer Kieron Gillen! So, I was pretty excited about this one, certainly more than Wolverine's title.

Sadly, this isn't living up to expectations. Gillen can be bait hit or miss, and for a writer who is known for his ability to create 'the feels' he's created an exceptionally sterile narrative. Part of this is down to the large cast; with a focus on Scott and Emma Frost, mutant messiah Hope, Storm, Danger and side characters galore there's very little here to allow anything like emotive resonance.

But a bigger problem is the villain; Mr Sinister is probably one of the most underwhelming enemies the X-Men have. I don't really know what his deal is. He's an immortal Victorian geneticist obsessed with mutants, and the Summers bloodline especially, who wants to create a master race and was the lieutenant for Apocalypse? And he can shoot energy and has psychic powers? Or something.

Whatever, the point is that he's a rubbish villain, which make an introductory book that features him creating an entire city of Sinister's to fight the X-Men slightly boring. It doesn't help that the back up story is all about a mechanical parasitic alien that turns people into robot duplicates. That's two stories about impersonal replicants in one book! So if you're into that kind of thing, go for it.

Also Try:

Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men

Age of Apocalypse

Judd Winick, Exiles

Victor Gischler, X-Men: Curse of the Mutants
Jason Aaron, Wolverine and the X-Men