Krakoa Falls, Shadowkat Rises — ‘X-Men’ #25 Reviewed

Kate Pryde has been through more than most of the X-Men since House of X. In X-Men #25, she becomes mutantkind’s greatest hope in the wake of their bleakest tragedy.

Gerry Duggan, Stefano Caselli, Marte Gracia and Clayton Cowles begin the Fall of X, as Kate Pryde takes center stage.

She is no longer the Red Queen or Captain Pryde. In the wake of the second mutant massacre, she is Shadowkat, the greatest intelligence asset the resistance against Orchis has. And Kate Pryde is about to show Orchis that they should have never left her alive…

This is a hell of an exploration of a young woman with PTSD coping in all the wrong ways disguised as an action comic. Kate is scarred and angry, coping with the deaths of her friends and family through violence mixed with espionage. Frankly it makes for some of the best X-Men reading since the first year of the Krakoan era. Duggan and Kate just click together, and that comes through so well on the page, especially when Duggan adds Emma Frost in the mix. Cowles continues to excel in his lettering as he places his captions and balloons in such a way that it maximizes the impact of Duggan’s words.

What’s less successful is the issue’s handling of Kamala Khan. In my opinion, Duggan’s probably writing Kamala as a character better than any white male writer since Mark Waid. Her characterization though lands perfectly (her line about standing with the X-Men even if she didn’t have the X-Gene is PERFECT Kamala) and I really like her interactions with the more classic X-Men, especially Emma Frost. However, the plot hoops this issue goes through to get her back home with her family are eye rolling. I’m not going to lay blame for that on any one person- writing or editorial- because the scripting isn’t terrible, but it’s incredibly frustrating, particularly after how poorly her death was handled.

Caselli and Gracia make a great team here. Caselli continues to craft the story incredibly well, with page compositions that draw focus to the character’s emotions. Everything is bad for mutants right now, and we see anger, open defiance, mournful compliance all on character’s faces, while still pushing forward larger action and moments. Gracia makes it dark without going murky or grey. Where this issue really gets exciting is in the issue-ending action sequence. Feeding off the end of the Gala, seeing Kate (graphically) tear through a group of Orchis troopers was cathartic and exciting, all thanks to Caselli’s layouts,pacing and figure work.

X-Men #25 is available now from Marvel Comics.