The Messiest Affairs — Reviewing ‘Uncanny Spider-Man: Fall Of X’

Before the Krakoa era came to a very unceremonious semi-thud ending, there was the mostly-thud Fall Of X line. A bunch of titles supposedly putting mutants backs up against the wall, often in the most sigh-inducing ways.

Uncanny Spider-Man was one of those books, where anticipation and exasperation walked hand in hand. A tangled affair from Simon Spurrier, Lee Garbett, Javier Pina, Simone Buonfantino, Marcus To, Wilton Santos, Oren Junior, Ceci de la Cruz, Matt Milla, and Joe Caramagna.

Oh boy, where to even begin.

A series so full of highs and lows that often a single issue featured both ends of the spectrum. Much like the entire Fall Of X event as a whole. While, clearly, plans were made for all the books involved, since they made it to print, there is no way anyone will ever convince me that the whole final year or so of the Krakoan era was not a mad-dash rush to the finish line. The more we learn about the behind-the-scenes changes (chiefly in the editorial – status quo space), the more it’s clear Krakoa ended faster than intended.

That’s not to say these endings were not conceptually where things were going, but just looking at them it’s clear this planned meal was not allowed time to fully cook. Just gooey to the touch, and most definitely very cold in the middle still.

Spurrier’s handling of Nightcrawler through all of the Krakoan era never sat right with me. Overly religious, very judgy, and often bizarre in motivations. Here he attempted to get back to a swashbuckling Kurt who flirts (with Silver Sable), but this bravado and horniness doesn’t mesh with the fact that — at the time — mutants are scattered (the majority believed dead) and facing another genocide. Seems the wrong time to be getting your freak on and cracking jokes while pretending to be a new Spider-Man like hero.

Just feels like the wrong time to finally see the freewheeling sexy time stuff back. Read the room a bit, Kurt.

I will say that the moments with Kurt and Sable where he is made to confront his issues and why he’s trying to hide things were good. Unfortunately the stuff with Mystique running around as a hysterical “crazy” woman through the whole thing, and her and Kurt’s interactions were just bad. If more of the first sentence was the core of the series and we lost the Raven stuff (or it was done better), this would have been a much stronger series as a whole.

As part of this story, though, we did get X-Men Blue: Origins #1, which finally canonized the status of Mystique and Destiny as Kurt’s biological parents. Just like Chris Claremont originally wanted.

Oh boy, is it rough though.

We’re told a story here about what Mystique and Irene went through, and their pain and suffering and trauma, and everything else is just a side note. The story is about putting Nightcrawler through the wringer, bringing him peace, and allowing him to be all about faith and forgiveness or whatever. This story about queer love, trauma, creation, and more is all wrapped up through the lens of a cisgender heterosexual white male (both the creator and the protagonist). It de-centered the characters this story should have been about, to service one that barely features in that past told tale.

Let me be clear: it’s about damn time that Marvel made this origin change. Spurrier was the wrong person to write this. Plain and simple.

In the end, this big trans/queer story is clumsily handed. It’s rife with female hysteria, plenty of stuff bordering on or slipping into misogyny, and good old Kurt makes sure to drop in some transphobic and homophobic ‘shocked’ face stutters in there. Take this story away from this writer, place it away from this title, give it to a writer who understands, and center it around Mystique and Destiny as actual people it might have actually been the ‘collector’s item’ the solicit proclaims it to be.

If only there were quite a few more discerning queer writers who were still in the X-Fold, like there used to be in the most golden portion of the Krakoa era. Instead, we got this.

Garbett would find a prominent place if I were to compile a list of favorite comic book artists. He employs an art style that is dynamic, expressive, slick, detailed, and amazing in motion. Everything and everyone feel like they have actual weight and exist in a realistic sort of space. Yet, there’s the right amount of whimsical and fantastical energy, befitting books taking place in a superhero and fantasy-style world. Love the use of the white space to create varied shaped panels and interesting effects between panels.

The color palette choices in effect are just as solid. Plenty of really vibrant popping colors sprinkled throughout that keep things heroic where needed. Milla also uses plenty of softer tones with plenty of shadows at work in order to balance things out. It creates its own level of weight and depth and gives some grounded feelings to the overall setting. Even the more colorful stuff has darker aspects brought into play, fitting the darker tone of Fall Of X.

Pina’s work shares a similar DNA to that of Garbett. Plenty of details and depth, with an overall sort of smooth appeal. Plenty of dynamic action energy is woven in, as things feel like they are moving. Some of the quieter panels can feel a tiny bit more static at times but that’s because of the overall moment. Examples of this are found in the moments between Kurt and Sable. That being said, the expressions and facial work are very solid which helps greatly.

What Santos and To, with Junior’s inks, present on the page is pretty engaging, detailed, and moves smoothly. It has weight and a strong presence that fits with the very important hefty feeling the story needs. There is just a bit of hyper-sexualization, especially in the pages concerning Mystique and Destiny. These pages do the heavy lifting to showcase the emotional weight of the moments and do a better job centering characters than the overall story beats.

Much of this issue relies on flashbacks, and the vast majority of them are narrated. Therefore, the artists make sure that everything being stated is clear in the character’s movements, body language, position, facial expressions, etc. As Mystique tells Kurt (and us) the tale, we’re shown it. Together the duo of artists make sure that it all flows and feels cohesive.

There is a smoothness or slickness to the whole affair. Colors feel cool and tend to be on the more vibrant side in many cases. There are plenty of toned-down elements though, keeping that feeling of normalcy for the settings/spaces. There are plenty of darker elements that de la Cruz sprinkles throughout, keeping with the heavier tone of the story.

Caramagna always does a great job at capturing voices and making sure things work on the page. We can feel the angst, joy, or horror along with the actual personalities of the characters. In this case, the fonts are pulled back a bit to smaller levels to fit things on the page better since there is so much being said about these issues. Just like the other art, we get variety here as the bubbles shift and change, colors are brought into play, and other fonts or SFX choices bring in some fun energy.

Uncanny Spider-Man: Fall Of X is now available from Marvel Comics.