Anghus Houvouras reviews the latest issue of Marvel NOW!’s Uncanny X-Men…
“Frazer Irving (Batman and Robin) joins the creative team of Uncanny X-Men! Learn what it’s like to be a student at Cyclops’ new school.“
If you’ve been reading any of my Marvel NOW! themed reviews, the recurring theme is “anything can happen”. There’s a kitchen sink mentality in so many of the titles that it’s hard not to appreciate the effort which has freshened up many a stale title. Uncanny X-Men has been one of the best beneficiaries of this mentality.
So far we’ve seen the book take a handful of dejected mutants, put their backs to the wall by breaking their powers and their wills, and seeing how they deal with the pressure. Cyclops and company have been existing in a potboiler since the end of the most recent Phoenix saga. These are desperate times and the cast of characters has never been more interesting.
Ilyanna Rasputin aka Magik / Darkchylde is one of the “new” mutants that popped up in the 1980s and was dragged from title to title having her back-story altered and adjusted to suit a more popular gaggle of mutants. While her dark side has been explored before, the character has rarely been this fragile. After surviving the events of Avengers vs. X-Men, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto, and Magik have had their powers stripped down and they are having control issues.
This is a major concern for someone literally trying to bottle a demon and the hell dimension upon which they rule.
The issue takes Magik into Limbo into an epic and excellent confrontation with Dormammu, everyone’s favorite flame faced demon. It turns out in her absence Dormammu has decided to reclaim Limbo and end her reign. Push comes to shove, and Magik pushes back. Her inner demon is released and things get real ugly.
Once again the title benefits from the unexpected. I wasn’t exactly expecting a supernatural and interdimensional interlude to the title, but it delvers a continuing stream of surprises. By issue’s end, the fledgling team of mutants has finally been been assembled in a do or die situation: they’ve been transported to Limbo and can’t get out. It’s an excellent cliffhanger for a book that is moving at a ridiculously brisk pace. Something all the Marvel NOW! titles have been delivering.
Uncanny X-Men continues to surprise. That can only be a good thing.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the graphic novel EXE: Executable File, is available from Lulu.com.