X-Men by Gerry Duggan vol. 4

Duggan touches upon another story idea set up by Jonathan Hickman in this volume.  Specifically, what happened to the Brood after Broo ate the King Egg and became their leader?  He’s been having them feed upon bad people in the cosmos to sate their bloodlust, but that doesn’t exactly square with the sight of a battered and very pregnant Corsair we saw at the end of vol. 3.  The explanation we get isn’t quite as satisfying as what we saw when dealing with the Children of the Vault last time, but they’re clever enough and they also play upon something Duggan did in vol. 1 which seemed like a throwaway at the time.  

More interesting is the hardline approach Cyclops displays here which feels more in line with his characterization from the days of “Schism” but is actually understandable (to a certain extent) here because we’re dealing with the Brood.  It does help explain the rift which develops between him and Jean later in the volume, so it’s not like the writer doesn’t run with what he’s set up here.  Stefano Caselli provides the very solid art for this three-issue arc which allows him to go to town on all of the alien-busting action you could ask for here.

This arc is followed up with what is effectively three issues of setup for the events of the next Hellfire Gala.  Even if you haven’t been spoiled for the events of it, the fact that every “X-Men” related comic is being published under the “Fall of X” banner should let you know that we’re not in for a good time.  That’s the vibe of these three issues as we learn (among other things) that Orchis has hacked Krakoa’s drugs, they’ve been creating new Sentinels based on the adamantium skeletons they’ve recovered from dead Wolverines, they’ve created Sentinels based on Iron Man tech after Feilong bought Stark Industries, and the organization has also infiltrated one of the X-Men themselves.  Even if none of the storylines in the three issues here result in an outright loss for the team, the downbeat feeling is hard to ignore.

There are interesting beats to consider here.  That Wilson Fisk, of all people, is now considered a citizen of Krakoa is a fascinating bit of observed continuity from his marriage to Typhoid Mary and something that could benefit the mutant nation down the line.  We also see Doctor Stais have an encounter with his “ex-wife” which is fun in itself as well as being a welcome reminder of the “Four Sinisters” subplot being juggled among the main X-books.  The fight against Pog-Ur-Pogg is also cute, if nothing else.  All this is rendered with style courtesy of Joshua Cassara.

While the storylines here are executed well enough to keep me from calling this a bad volume, it still reads in a depressing way given what we know about what’s coming next.  It’s an unavoidable problem regarding the storyline that the line is set to tell.  I just wish Duggan had made things a little more interesting, and maybe even hinted at how the mutants are going to be able to fight back against Orchis here.  Which ultimately means that if you’ve read this far into the writer’s run you’re likely to get some enjoyment out of it.  Even if what’s here doesn’t exactly get me excited for what’s coming next.