X-Men by Gerry Duggan vol. 1
In case anyone was wondering just how successful Duggan’s tenure on “Marauders” was, this should answer your question. As the new writer on “X-Men” he’s effectively setting the direction for the line as a whole; though, I’m sure the expectation is that he’ll play nice with Kieron Gillen whose Quiet Council book “Immortal X-Men” also has the feeling of flagship title about it as well. As for what this first volume indicates for Marvel’s Merry Mutants in the post-Hickman era, we’re going to see the team doing a lot more flashy superheroic stuff going forward. That’s not necessarily a step down as the writer gives us some clear signs that he has long-term plans for the series as well.
Technically speaking, we haven’t had a proper X-Men team since the start of the Hickman era. His “X-Men” title didn’t feature a set team and was mostly devoted to telling shorter stories that filled in the gaps and set up things for his overarching story for the line. What we have in this volume is a proper team with a clearly defined membership: Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Wolverine (Laura Kinney), Rogue, Polaris, Sunfire and Synch. What are they here to do? Be the best damn mutant superhero team the world has ever seen.
They hit the ground running in that regard when an alien war machine crash lands in the middle of New York City and starts blowing things up. The team’s solution? To combine their powers and improvise a giant X-Mech capable of taking it out right on the spot. There’s similar team-based action in the stories that follow as we get to see everyone take on a version of the Annihilation Wave that’s set upon Earth, and a visit from the High Evolutionary who comes bearing a gift that involves the death of all humans.
Not all of the stories go this big, however. There’s a one-off where Nightmare comes to do his thing among the sleeping denizens of NYC and winds up tangling with Marvel Girl. We also get an issue dedicated to Polaris to show why she’s a valued member of the team even if her presence on the team was voted on by the (comics-reading) public. Then there’s the final issue where we’re introduced to mutantdom’s very own Superman-type hero: Captain Krakoa. From rescuing kittens from trees, to saving people from fires, to stopping bank robbers, to team-ups with Spider-man, there’s nothing he can’t do! So why haven’t we heard of him before now?
I realize that the way I’ve been describing these issues makes them sound like a lot of done-in-one stories that involve a lot of fighting between the X-Men and their antagonists. That’s broadly true, but not entirely so. You see, there are actually multiple subplots running through all of the issues here in a way that recalls old-school “X-Men” storytelling.
One example is the introduction of genius scientist Feilong in the first issue. He was planning an expedition to colonize Mars only to have his glory stolen by the mutants. Now he’s fallen in with Orchis and is looking to get some revenge for this perceived slight. We’re also introduced to another Orchis operative, Dr. Stasis who has come across an interesting discovery: Dead mutants are suddenly walking around again. It’s information that he passes on to honest reporter Ben Urich who feels that he has an obligation to investigate this and report on it if it’s true.
It’s that last part that flagged something about mutant resurrection that I hadn’t realized up until now. While everyone in Krakoa knows how it works, it’s not something that has been shared with the Marvel Universe at large. I know that makes me seem kind of dumb, but in my defense death is already a revolving door there anyway. Heroes coming back to life is a running joke on a regular basis in this universe, and there was even an issue of “She-Hulk” where half of a courtroom raised their hands when asked if they came back to life (post-”Infinity Gauntlet,” of course).
The fact that this information might become public knowledge is an interesting idea to explore and we get a taste of how mutant resurrection can produce its own problems here. My only issue with that is how it involves the death of a really prominent mutant that we’re told happened off-panel and are meant to accept it just like that. It’s not a huge issue, but it does seem like an oversight to not see how this death actually happened.
Backing up a bit, all of the subplots in this volume also help to prop up some of the lesser issues of this series. None of them are outright bad, however, the Marvel Girl vs. Nightmare issue is the closest that one comes to feeling superfluous. You get the feeling that Duggan thought it’d make for an interesting match-up, but it doesn’t work out that way. It leaves the brief bits about Urich’s investigation and Feilong’s trip to Mars being the most interesting part of the issue.
The Polaris issue has a similar feeling to it, though it at least has some decent character work propping it up. As well as some clever uses for her powers that Wolverine is thankfully cool with. I realize that this issue was going to happen with whichever mutant was voted onto the team and it’s a good sign that Duggan was able to make it work as well as he did. Still, it’s the business with Urich and Cyclops that will stick in your head as it’s made clear that, with resurrection, mutants now have their own dominion.
Making all of these issues look good is the work of three different artists. Chief among them is Pepe Larraz, who did excellent work on “House of X” and the “Creation,” “Stasis,” and “Destruction” issues of “X of Swords.” He hasn’t lost a step here as Larraz’s work in issues 1-3, and 6 is the kind of big, bold, and flashy superhero artwork that you want to see on these kinds of stories. The fight scenes have real energy to them, while the conversational ones also have enough style to hold your interest as well. Javier Pina illustrates issues 4 and 5, with Ze Carlos pitching in on the latter, and his work isn’t quite on the same level. It doesn’t jump out at you in the same way, but Pina does manage a welcome degree of stylistic consistency with Larraz and that’s certainly appreciated.
Even if this first volume is more action-centric than I’ve seen from a flagship “X-Men” title in a while, what’s here is still quite well done. What’s more important is the fact that Duggan has set up some potentially interesting long-term plotlines with Feilong, Dr. Stasis, and the potential reveal of mutant resurrection to the world. It’s not the same kind of galaxy-brain level planning that Hickman showed off when he came to the X-Titles, but he had a level of carte blanche that this writer likely didn’t have. So it’s impressive that Duggan has found some interesting setups within the framework he was left with, and it makes for an encouraging start to the next era of “X-Men” stories.