Review — ‘Uncanny X-Men’ #8 Gets It Wrong

A few weeks ago, my good friend Scott wrote about breaking up with one of his favorite franchises, with a writer missing the point. I’ve come to the same point with one of mine.

Uncanny X-Men #8 brings the Raid on Greymalkin crossover story to an end from Gail Simone, Javier Garron, Matthew Wilson and Clayton Cowles.

The psychic Scurvy has changed the shape of the battle between X-Men. Now the two teams must overcome their conflict to escape Greymalkin Prison. If they can’t mutantkind might fall forever.

Simone’s plot here is interesting. I like the idea of Rogue considering the needs of the few while Cyclops fights for the needs of the many. The prison is fascinating, even if it (and its staff) needed way more development before this story.

The problem is in how she writes the characters. This is the X-Men. There’s 60 years of history here. None of the characters seem to be informed by that though. Yes, we don’t need that full weight resting on a story, but when Rogue calls Cyclops out for allying himself with Magneto — AKA her second-most significant love interest — it’s impossible not to look past it. The characters here are like ultra-simplified cartoon or movie versions, which means its full of baffling and confusing character beats and behavior.

The art, though, is fantastic. Garron is able to balance superhero action and interpersonal conflict equally well. It’s hard to make a psychic fight engaging, but he does it great, and Wilson brings it to life with the colors. (It’s also very funny to point out that literally every character has an absolute dump truck ass, and it’s extremely noticeable.)

Unfortunately though, this series has been getting so much wrong that I can’t continue with it, even with the fantastic art from Garron and David Marquez. It doesn’t get its heroes, their motivations or even some of the most important parts of their relationships with each other.

Uncanny X-Men #8 is available now from Marvel Comics.