X-Men by Jonathan Hickman vol. 3

Well, that was quick.

Not only is this Hickman’s third proper volume of “X-Men,” but it’s also his last.  The writer had a big three-act plan for the franchise and he decided to walk away after the majority of the creators on the other X-titles decided to stay in the first act.  There doesn’t appear to be any actual animosity or bitterness on the lead writer’s part as his departure as Head of X appears to have been quite amicable.  Hickman read the room, saw that he was no longer needed, and decided to make a graceful exit after wrapping up his outstanding plot threads in the upcoming “Inferno.”  Before that happens, we have these five issues which involve more payoff than setup for his run.

The first issue has a mix of both as it lays out the new status quo for Krakoa and Arakko post-”X of Swords.”  “Sworded Out” initially has us expecting the two islands to reconcile, only for that not to be the case.  After a fun round of discussions between the members of the Quiet Council, Xavier and Magneto decide to pay the mutants of Arakko a visit to find out what they’re up to.  The end result doesn’t see the two islands at war again, but it does leave their status quo in a very uneasy status that leaves me curious to see where it goes.  Phil Noto handles the art on this issue, and it’s quite capable even if it’s more a showcase for his storytelling skills than a demonstration of flashy art.

The opposite of this is true of the art for the next issue, “Empty Nest,” from artist Brett Booth who goes all in on his 90’s AF style.  It’s charmingly anachronistic to see someone channeling the look of Image from that era today, and if the impression was to make this issue feel like an “X-Men” comic from that era, then Mission Accomplished.  I’ll say that it reads better than most issues from that time as it involves a relatively straightforward premise where Princess Xandra of the Shi’Ar Imperium has been captured and Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and Storm, with some help from Smasher, Sunspot and Cannonball, are here to help get her back.  

The resulting action is more of a showcase for Booth than anything else, and I’ll admit that what’s here is slick enough to make me wish he was going to illustrate a comic that I was actually interested in reading in the future (he’s the main artist on “Gunslinger Spawn” now).  There’s also a nice bit at the end in which one of the X-Men earns a favor from the Princess, which sets up something we might be hearing about at the Hellfire Gala.

Next up is a two-part story “Inside the Vault,” and “Out of the Vault,” which finally pick up on the story from vol. 1 where Wolverine (Laura Kinney), Synch, and Darwin invaded the Children of the Vault’s home turf.  Time flows faster inside the Vault.  The last page of that issue indicated that the three of them had been in there for over five hundred years.  So the question becomes a question of what happened to those three mutants inside the Vault?

The first issue makes it look like it’s going to be nothing but fighting as it just covers the mutants’ first day inside.  It’s a good setup for that, even though its real purpose is to establish Synch as our point-of-view character for this story.  That’s important for the second part as Hickman, and his charts, tell us the story of what happened to Synch, Wolverine, and Darwin over the next 500 years.

One of Hickman’s strengths as a writer is that he’s very good at making big ideas like that not just accessible, but feel suitably epic.  Synch’s narration drives this home as he recalls what kept him going when things got bleak, and even manages to sell his relationship with Wolverine during this time as well.  Hickman’s charts may have their critics, though I think they’re used well here as they convey a lot of information in a minimum of space.  This leaves Mahmud Asrar to deliver the story’s more intimate parts with appropriate style.  The story may not be a complete win for the X-Men, but it’s definitely one of the better parts of the writer’s run.

Then we come to the final issue in this volume, “Lost Love.”  The writer revisits a lot of things that he’s touched upon before in previous volumes:  Xavier and Magneto’s manipulation of Mystique, Orchis, Nimrod, and more.  The story sees Mystique on a mission to destroy the Orchis satellite base.  Success will not only see one of the key threats to mutantkind eliminated, but also Mystique’s wife Destiny moved to the front of the resurrection queue.  Which will be something of a problem for Xavier and Magneto after Moira McTaggart told them that the success of her plan hinged on there being no living mutant precogs.

I’ll only say that the outcome of this mission still doesn’t make me think that Xavier and Magneto made the right call by not throwing Mystique in the pit along with Sabretooth.  She’s too driven by self-interest to truly be able to help mutantkind and denying her Destiny’s resurrection was only going to cause her to betray them sooner rather than later.  Still, there’s something impressive about seeing things fall into place here as it underlines that Hickman’s plan is working.  Helping matters along is some solid art from Francesco Mobili, who gives everything a nice detailed look while telling the story quite well.

The worst thing I can say about this volume is that it’s not good enough for me to tell people who haven’t started reading Hickman’s “X-Men” to get onboard right now.  It’s great to see that the writer’s plan is working, even if it doesn’t have the same epic frisson that drove his “Avengers” run.  That said, his big ideas are still impressive to behold, there are plenty of great character moments to behold, and the art is pretty good.  All these things make me glad that I’ve followed his “X-Men” run up to this point, though I’m left feeling like a lot is riding on “Inferno” to make this live up to its potential as one for the ages.