Review: ‘X-Men Red’ #10 Ends An Era And Looks To The Future

All through X-Men Red, one of the team’s greatest enemies has been one of their own. In this wrap-up to the series’ first mega-arc, that enemy faces comeuppance, but the X-Men might not survive the encounter.

Al Ewing, Stefano Caselli, Jacopo Camagni, Federico Blee, and Ariana Maher bring the story to an end for now before Sins of Sinister.

Abigail Brand is used to being the smartest person in the room. Unfortunately, she’s never been in the same room as Cable, Sunspot or Storm. Now the Brotherhood face Brand and Vulcan, and are the only thing standing between them and the destruction of what’s left of Arakko.

Ewing is an excellent planner and plotter on top of his actual scripting. After nearly two years over the course of SWORD and X-Men Red, pieces from all across the series (and in some cases even earlier) fall into place here. Brand’s story comes to a close for now, Sunspot proves himself as a leader of mutantkind, and so on. It’s meticulously plotted, but also executed so well that every big moment is exciting, and incredibly satisfying.

Caselli does the bulk of the art this issue, and Camagni assists with a few key moments with some great work. Caselli makes the action grand and awe-inspiring, while also making the smaller moments feel intimate. Brand’s conflict with Mentallo in her office is paced in his layout just as tense as the continent sprawling brawl between Storm and Vulcan. Blee’s colors drive home the grandiose nature of the battles through the book, making it all jump off the page.

Maher continues to prove herself. She puts the script on the page perfectly, making it feel like a part of the art. Beyond that though, she makes the sound effects pop on the page, and the alien dialogue feel like something unearthly. It’s great stuff.

I’m thrilled to know the book is coming back after Sins of Sinister. It’s one of the best ongoing superhero books of the day, and we need more.

X-Men Red #10 is available now from Marvel Comics.