Review: ‘X-Men’ #17 Asks Tough Questions

Forge has crossed lines and done some horrible things in the name of protecting Krakoa. In X-Men #17, we see if it may have been a line too far.

Gerry Duggan, Joshua Cassara, Guru-eFx, and Clayton Cowles d wrap up the trip to the Vault with a slew of answers.

Forge has discovered Laura Kinney, alive and well, deep inside the Vault, his rescue mission for Darwin thwarted. What does this mean for the Laura Kinney walking around Krakoa? Where is Darwin? And will he even be able to make it out of the Vault alive?

Duggan wraps up probably his best arc on the book to date here, and I’m so happy we got this story. Forge is confronted with his horrible ethics. We get some resolution to Darwin’s fate, without closing the story entirely. The Vault remains a threat looming over Krakoa. He takes dangling plot threads from Hickman, infuses them with his strong character writing, developing them into a stronger whole. It’s intriguing without just being a tease.

Cassara gets to cut loose too. He swings from action, to body horror, to some sweeping vistas. Hiswork through it is uniformly great, and he knows how to make those shifts. The action uses tight grids, while the vision that Forge has is wider, and the POV set back further. Each bit of the storytelling is adapted to fit the scene, and it shows how Cassara has grown as an artist.

The Guru-eFx team is as big a part of the storytelling as Cassara’s line art. The shift from dark blues and purples to bright, near-blinding light changes the tone of the story completely. They are always able to deepen the lineart as well, always enhancing the story. Cowles does the same with his letters, complimenting the art, and his work on the data pages are great.

I would love to see this series continue its upward swing. Some interesting elements are in play right now, and it keeps getting better.

X-Men #17 is available now from Marvel Comics.