X-Men: Red vol. 3

After finally putting Abigail Brand and Orbis Stellaris’ plans for Arakko to rest in the previous volume, you’d think that the cast of this series would be entitled to a little downtime.  “A little” is exactly what they get as Storm is summoned away from a date to discuss Magneto’s last moments with Professor X while Sunspot and Nova investigate a new arrival from the Otherworld gate.  While the conversation between the former student and teacher is quite good, exposing the cracks in their relationship that are also within the foundation of Krakoa itself, it’s that latter arrival which drives the action in this volume.  Jon Ironfire has come bearing the White Sword’s blade Purity to keep it away from the one seeking to claim it.  Which would be Genesis who is finally coming to see what has become of her people.

It took a few years, but we’re finally getting some follow-up on what happened to Apocalypse and his wife Genesis after they departed for Amenth at the end of “X of Swords.”  Writer Al Ewing may not have had a hand in that crossover, but he’s been fleshing out the character of the Arakki mutants in this series which helps gild his credentials.  The work he does with Apocalypse and Genesis’ backstory is the strongest part of the setup he does here, which suffers from being too predictable.  

This is one of those instances where Genesis (and her staff) have to be established as Genuine Threat and so everyone else has to lose in order to sell that idea.  I do like the basic idea behind the conflict here:  Genesis feels that the Arakki have become weak during their time in our dimension and now wants to re-establish their warlike nature.  The catch being that she’s under the influence of Annihilation, so the upcoming war may boil down to dealing with that than addressing this central idea.

I’ve read enough comics from Ewing to have faith that he’s going to find a way to make this upcoming conflict interesting even if this lead-in storyline feels more depressing than exciting.  This volume does have its moments and the art, from Jacopo Camagni in the main series and Luca Pizzari, Stefano Landini, and Rafael Pimentel in the “Heralds of Apocalypse” one-shot, is solid all around.  Yet those moments feel like they’re built off of previous storylines and not so much about building excitement for this coming one.