Well, It's time to talk about Gerry Duggan's X-Men.
I enjoyed the first volume a good amount, enough to give it an 8.5, but it didn't really wow me at any point to put it higher. The second volume was similarly still good, but it felt less focused. But I would still give it an 8 for how it handled a couple of key storylines.
The volume starts with a Judgment Day tie-in, which is okay. It's largely based around the Eternal invasion of Krakoa, with a tiny piece dedicated to the Progenitor. It probably didn't need to be multiple issues, but it doesn't go on long enough to be a problem.
We also get deeper into the Children of the Vault, which has some big repercussions that I won't spoil, but I am interested to see where they go. We also get to see how Forge's intellect matches with a society that is able to develop faster than most people can think, which I just think is really cool. I don't know. I like Forge. I think his powers are neat and I like seeing them applied in places that feel challenging from a writing perspective instead of just making him a "guy in the chair" like some runs do.
We also get to see a good amount of something I've liked seeing in the Duggan run so far, (especially in the annual and in Iceman's story in the Judgment Day tie-in) which is the X-Men being superheroes and saving humans because it's the right thing to do. As much as I find Krakoa a fascinating concept and love all the extra X-books we're getting as a result, I won't deny that how isolationist it feels hasn't sat well with me at times, both because it's too similar to the Inhumans and because it feels odd for them to (for lack of a better word) abandon Xavier's idealistic idea of human/mutant integration and go live on an island away from everyone else. The idea of having a team dedicated to helping normal people keeps that (for lack of a better term) human connection with the X-Men I felt we were kind of losing.
Now, let's talk about the roster, because that's something I care about a lot with team books. I like to see a good balance of different personalities and archetypes so that the team doesn't just feel like a bunch of the same person. And while I don't dislike this team by any means, I definitely prefer the team from the first two volumes more. I liked the additions of Iceman and Magik, don't get me wrong, (Side note, I like seeing New Mutants like Magik advance to being on the main team. It shows their growth from where they started to now in a tangible way) and the inclusion of Firestar and Forge adds some fun variety, but there was something about the last roster I just clicked with, and this one doesn't quite do that for me. Especially because I feel like Havok's spot could have gone to someone else, though I realize now after finishing this and as I'm reading Dark Web that he was always meant to feel off. I do like that Synch has been getting more to do in this series, though. I like that the Krakoa era has given us such a good opportunity to explore obscure characters.
Not much to say regarding any technical measures of quality, as it is pretty solid all around. But I had a realization as I was writing this review that I want to share before I give my rating. I realize that this series is nothing special, and I probably shouldn't be rating it as high as I am with how generic it gets at times, but for reasons I can't describe, the series just captures something about the X-Men that just makes me happy when I read it. Almost evoking the mix of superhero fun and real life issues that the animated series did, which along with the Claremont run was my introduction to the X-Men. So with that in mind I'm going to give this volume an 8/10. It's not perfect, but I enjoy it in spite of its flaws.
Have you read this book? If so, what did you think of it?
