X-Men: Red by Al Ewing vol. 1
Not to be confused with the previous “X-Men: Red” series, which was an 11-issue run written by Tom Taylor from the team’s color-coded era a few years back. This “X-Men: Red” series is about Planet Arakko, or The Planet Formerly Known as Mars in the Marvel Universe and the difficulty its new regent, Storm, faces in governing it. It’s also about a lot of other things, including Ewing’s efforts to continue on story threads from his “S.W.O.R.D.” series and other business from the Krakoa Era. It’s a lot to take in, but this first volume comes off as good as you’d expect based on the writer’s previous work.
After being terraformed during the first Hellfire Gala, Planet Arakko now serves as the home to all of the mutants from Arakko and the seat of power for mutants in the Sol system. Sitting at the head of its ruling council, the Great Ring, is Storm and it’s her job to manage planetary affairs alongside council members who either don’t care for her or would rather see her dead. At least she knows where she stands with characters like Isca the Unbeaten and Tarn the Uncaring. In the case of S.W.O.R.D. head Abigail Brand, things are a lot less clear.
That’s because we found out in vol. 2 of “S.W.O.R.D.” that Brand has actually been working for Orchis, the evil science organization made up of humans but actually run by robots from the future determined to wipe out mutants. Curiously, she has yet to come off like a genuine villain in the context of the story itself or in my own mind. That’s likely because Ewing has continued to write her as someone who believes she’s doing what’s best for everyone in the solar system. Orchis and Krakoa may want each other dead, but you can bet Brand is going to find some way to use that conflict to further her end goal of securing the Sol System against intergalactic threats.
That and Storm’s regency are the biggest carryovers from the writer’s previous series. In addition to that he’s also decided to deal with Magneto’s life after departing from the Quiet Council, Vulcan’s deteriorating mental state, and the general status of the Arakii people now that they’re living on Mars. It’s a lot to take in at first, especially for anyone who hasn’t been keeping up with most of the other X-titles.
Speaking as someone who has been reading most of them, I’m happy to see them addressed here. Ewing’s take on Magneto’s depressed state rings true, particularly after the way things went down in “Inferno.” He’s still a fighter, though, and the nihilistic edge his actions take on here also make a certain amount of sense. The same goes for Vulcan, even as it involves a bit of retconning regarding the presence of his former comrades Petra and Sway. Though it was nice to see a more reasonable version of the character in Hickman’s run, the writer made it clear that wasn’t going to last. Now Vulcan is starting to fall apart and the hope is that he’s not going to take the planet with him.
Amidst all this, Ewing is also setting up even more subplots. You’ve got Cable, Manifold, and John “Warpath” Proudstar, trying to figure out what Brand’s real game is late in the volume which seems like it has potential. Better, though, is the simple fact that the writer is taking on Roberto “Sunspot” DaCosta again. Fun as Hickman’s dudebro interpretation of the character could be, Ewing’s vision of him as the man who can see all the angles and treats life as one big “Mission: Impossible” episode has been the definitive take for me. That remains true here even when the story logic gets a bit dodgy, in the case of his manipulation of Isca, the man’s charisma still has you rooting for him to succeed.
As for the stories in this volume, they’re mostly centered around Storm consolidating power around the planet. Realizing that the role of a solitary ruler is unsuited for the job, she teams up with Magneto, Sunspot, and a regular Arakii citizen known as the Fisher King. They do their best here to bring order to the planet even as Brand seeks to do the same with her own group of mutants. Both have their struggles here and seeing them play out over the course of this volume makes for compelling reading. Even when the plot looks like it’s going to be derailed by the “Judgment Day” crossover at the end, it’s revealed to be part of the overall plan.
It also looks good since most of this volume is illustrated by Stefano Caselli. He’s someone who has done consistently good work at Marvel whether it’s been on “Avengers,” “West Coast Avengers,” “Inferno” and now this. That’s down to the level of detail he brings to his rendering of Arakko and his ability to bring emotion to action as well as conversation scenes. The opening conversation between Magneto and Fisher King could’ve come off as needlessly wordy, but you feel the Master of Magnetism’s bone-deep depression as this regular guy decides to hear him out. Also, while I mentioned the dodgy story logic involved in Sunspot’s interaction with Isca, it was still great to see the surprise on this normally smug and unflappable character’s face when she realized that he’d “lost without losing.”
All of this is enough to make me hope that this version of “X-Men: Red” runs for as long as its writer sees fit. Which may not be that much longer. The indication is that the X-books are heading for a shake-up after the “Sins of Sinister” with one title, “Legion of X,” already confirmed for the chop. It’s my hope that “Red” will continue on into and past the “Fall of X,” but that won’t stop me from enjoying what we’ve got and what I hope we’ll get from the next volume.