Review: ‘X-Men’ #21 Gets Dark As The Brood Invade
by Tony Thornley
The Brood are one of the most brutal alien races in the Marvel Universe. In X-Men #21, their horror comes to a head and it leaves the X-Men divided.
Gerry Duggan, Stefano Caselli, Federico Blee, and Clayton Cowles bring the nightmare of the Brood- and the debate- to the foreground.
The X-Men have saved as many colonists from the Brood invasion as they can, and are headed home. Unfortunately, the demonic entity Nightmare has wrested control of the Brood from King Broo. Now the X-Men are sitting on a ticking timebomb, their entire contingent of refugees infected. Can Jean Grey defeat Nightmare in time to save her friends and family, or are the X-Men doomed to become Brood themselves?
There’s a lot to like in this issue, but one particular plot point gets into some difficult philosophical territory. As far as the action-adventure story, it’s great. The Brood are scary and the X-Men wriggling from a tough spot makes for an interesting and engaging story. Even better is Jean’s battle with Nightmare. When she’s written right, confident and powerful on her own, she’s one of the best X-Men, and her heroism here hits the right notes.
The treatment of the Brood though is a tough part of the issue. On one hand, it’s fascinating to see the debate over what to do with a threat as omnipresent and oppressive as the Brood. However, there’s already a textual solution on the page. Instead of advocating for genocide, the X-Men, and Cyclops in particular, know that Broo can control them. It seems like a black and white solution to a problem that’s a spectrum of grey.
Where there isn’t any shades of grey is in the art. Caselli’s work continues to be fantastic. He makes the psychic battle between Jean and Nightmare surreal while still easy to follow with figures that flow across his layouts. He creates several fantastic settings that are just relatable enough to be grounded without losing the sci-fi fantasy. Even better, he brings the humanity to the debate over the Brood’s fate, including humanizing Broo while keeping his monstrous traits, and showing the hatred for the aliens on Cyclops’ face.
Blee’s colors are stronger the more he works in the X-line. He makes the starship scenes cold and sterile, amplifying the scary elements, and adds warm tones to the more human moments. Cowles does good work as always, conveying dialogue and information clearly but also making it blend with the art.
X-Men #21 is available now from Marvel Comics.
Overview
The X-Men are in a tough spot in their war against the Brood. It’s a very pretty issue, but a mixed bag of a story. Hopefully some of the complexity of the issue comes back soon.
