Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen—Volume 2

Comic Info

Uncanny X-Men (2) #6

Reprints Uncanny X-Men (2) #5-10 (March 2012-June 2012).  After a mission by X-Force, the town of Beaver Lake, Montana finds itself host to a long dead race.  The X-Men head to Tabula Rasa in the hopes of helping survivors but discover a battle that could threaten the world.  Plus, Unit has staged an escape from S.W.O.R.D. and the Avengers and X-Men must round up the alien invaders…but Unit has a plan of his own.

Written by Kieron Gillen, Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen—Volume 2 continues the collection of the second volume of Uncanny X-Men.  Following Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen—Volume 1, the series features art by Greg Land, Carlos Pacheco, and Paco Diaz.  The issues in this collection were also collected as part of Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen:  The Complete Collection—Volume 2.

X-Men is in a miserable place right now for me.  While I like some of the team members, I found the lack of camaraderie between the two X-Men teams (the second fronted by Wolverine) and the internal interaction between the characters such a downer due to the rich past of the characters in the series.

Cyclops is trying to create a response team in the comic book.  While this Extinction Team is logical, it misses a big aspect of the X-Men.  The X-Men were always family.  None of them fit in and because they are together as a unit, they form a bond that is stronger than some real families.  It had heart and “squabbles” between the family members were a natural part.  Here, there doesn’t seem to be much of a heart.  Illyana has Colossus (sort of), and Cyclops has Emma (sort of)…the rest of the team feels detached and formulaic.

Uncanny X-Men (2) #9

The first storyline in the comic book has a very early X-Men kind of plot like the visit to the Savage Land or something and largely ties in to Uncanny X-Force.  This tie doesn’t seem explained enough if you weren’t reading Uncanny X-Force and could potentially dissuade readers who are just trying to pick up the book.  The alien/interdimensional Apex creatures show potential but don’t really develop enough (I do like the X-Men battling non-mutant characters on occasion).

The second story serves as a lead-up to AvX (aka Avengers vs. X-Men).  I actually kind of liked the basic nature of this story (a team-up), and Unit seemed like a very old-school villain.  The story is brief, but long enough, and does serve to set-up future events.  It isn’t perfect, but it is a bit closer to the style of comic book I like…but it still largely lacks the X-Men heart I want.

Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen—Volume 2 feels like more of the same with some bright points mixed in.  The comic feels really directionless and it seems like it is floundering a bit as it gears up for the real event.  I am not a “big event” lover and feel that they mess up the flow of comics (and they are also often written in a way that the event doesn’t make much sense if you just read one of the series).  Uncanny X-Men doesn’t have much flow right now so AvX could maybe help it…we’ll see.  Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen—Volume 2 is followed by Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen—Volume 3.

Related Links:

Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen—Volume 1