Fiery Force Meets Unstoppable Object: ‘X-Men’ #28 Reviewed
by Tony Thornley
The Fall of X has nearly devastated the mighty mutants. X-Men #28 gives the team hope as their mole helps give them an advantage in the war against Orchis.
Gerry Duggan, Joshua Cassara, Marte Gracia and Clayton Cowles escalate the war with Orchis on several fronts.
Orchis plans on dissecting Juggernaut and taking his power for their own. His only hope is Firestar, but can she save his life without blowing her cover? Meanwhile, the X-Men discover five mutants that may be able to help them gain another advantage. Unfortunately, they’re located in the one place more hostile than Orchis- Latveria!
Quite a bit of this issue is moving pieces into place for the next few issues, but Duggan makes it worth reading. Firestar has long languished in character Limbo, with occasional spotlights still not giving her much of a personality. Duggan has gone a long way towards changing that, especially in her double agent phase. Even with the Kate Pryde confrontation falling flat a few issues ago, it still went a long way towards fleshing her out and establishing her personality stronger. That continues here, and it adds a lot of charm to a plot that’s really just middling.
What elevates the issue the most though is Cassara’s art. His layouts are always eye-catching- whether they’re a grid or something more unconventional. He choreographs the fight between Juggernaut and Firestar in a way that makes it feel longer but without dragging it out. The Latveria sequence is paced extremely well and the Doom reveal splash is great. Gracia has adapted his style to the artist that he’s working with, which makes his always great colors even stronger.
X-Men #28 is available now from Marvel Comics.
Overview
The Fall of X has been hard on the X-Men, but it’s at least been fun to read. Even if it’s not reaching the heights of the line, I’ve been having fun.