Marauders vol. 2

Kate Pryde is dead.  This isn’t something that should be possible for mutants in the Krakoa Era, but Sebastian Shaw found a way to use the woman’s problems with the gates to his advantage.  He also managed to get away with it scot free.  Which leaves the Marauders — Emma Frost, Bishop, Storm, Pyro, and new member Callisto — scrambling to pick up the pieces.  The largest of which being Kate’s body which has been taken by Verendi, the anti-mutant organization being run by the Hellfire Brats.  Said Brats have also managed to sneak an operative of their own onto Krakoa as well.  If that wasn’t enough for them, the Russians have managed to refine their mutant power-disruptor tech to the point where it can now fit into a sidearm and they’re just looking for the right time to use it against Krakoa.  Whether or not they’ll get that chance is another story as the Marauders are looking to get some payback before they give Kate the funeral she deserves.

I’ve been reading “X-Men” comics long enough to remember when it took years for plot points to pay off, if they were even paid off at all.  So it’s honestly kind of refreshing to see much of what I talked about in the paragraph above addressed by the end of this volume.  Writer Gerry Duggan could’ve milked the drama a bit more, but it was nice to see the team be smart, capable, and a little angry (with that last bit coming from Iceman of all characters) in dealing with the threats arrayed against them.  Better still is that my biggest issue with the previous volume, its uneven art, has been addressed with the addition of Stefano Caselli who brings style and detail to a series that deserves it.  While Hickman’s “X-Men” may be providing all of the important setup to the current line, Duggan’s “Marauders” is the title that’s most purely enjoyable on its own terms.  Which is why I’m sure the “Kill Shaw” business that’s set up at the end of the volume is going to be a lot of fun to see in action when vol. 3 rolls around.