Disclaimer: Also out this week was All-New Wolverine #29. I do not read All-New Wolverine in single issues, hence its absence from this list.
This was a week full of surprises, both in the actual stories and in terms of quality. None of this weeks books had particularly strong starts to their series, but each of them is in the running for the best issue of their book so far.
3. Weapon X #13
Here is a book that has been utterly saved by the Legacy initiative. Previously the series had been too focused on setting up uninteresting stories, such as the 'Weapons of Mutant Destruction' crossover or the Weapon H solo series, but now we are finally getting into Weapon X's first real story arc. It's good. Real good, way better than I was expecting in fact. Weapon X had become one of the titles I loathed picking up, but this was a startlingly strong issue. It's still plagued by some of its longstanding issues, some of the team members still just feel wrong (Old Man Logan, who is the exact same character as original Logan just with an off-putting visual, and Lady Deathstrike, who just isn't given the time to justify the logic behind her staying with this team), but a lot has also been fixed up. Disagree though I do about the handling of Sabretooth in this book, particularly as a follow-up to Cullen Bunn's Uncanny X-Men run, he gets a good focus here. The upcoming Old Man Logan/Sabretooth conflict now truly feels inevitable, so Pak does well with this element.
Another success of the book is Warpath, who previously never felt important to the book. This was disappointing to me, as he was one of my most missed characters of those in disuse and one of my most anticipated for the book when the cast was announced. What we ended up with was, however, very little character, minimal story impact and no progression for him throughout the story. This, finally, changes here.
In a great interaction between Weapon X, with regards to how they solve the conflict long term, Warpath commits to effectively, revolutionarily taking action against the cyclical, structural issues that allow for such conflicts to manifest. It's a brave statement that I wouldn't expect from a hero in an X-Book and would be surprised at its inclusion if it wasn't immediately undercut by Old Man Logan. He plays the traditional role of scabbing X-Man and returns the story to its more conventional, superhero-genre conflict. This brief moment though gives Weapon X, and Warpath, a sense of gravitas and moral conflict that had previously been missing from the series.
This was the best issue of the book so far, but it was still deeply flawed. Most characters are still horribly two-dimensional or feel out of place and stories have yet to feel truly relevant to X-Canon. However, this issue does mean that, finally, I am no longer dreading picking up future issues of the series.
'To Be Nuketinued', however, is the single worst thing to have ever been written in a comic book and I'll burn any book that dares to repeat that horrible, horrible phrase.
2. X-Men Gold #20
As each (bi)week goes by this book gets less and less popular, but I found this issue to be quite pleasing. It may not be the best issue of Gold so far, but it has a nice done in one narrative that wraps up the Negative Zone War arc and moves forwards particular personal plot points. It does feel like it should have been referred to as a Negative Zone War epilogue, as it is a strong single issue, but a weak final chapter. The key conflict has been resolved, so there is less weight and purpose here than an arc finale. The arc on the whole has felt like a classic X-Tale, but the caveat is that it has felt largely inconsequential. The two things that mattered in the arc (Rachel's injury and the other discussed below) could have been covered in a three issue arc, rather than the six issues we have had devoted to this story.
I've mentioned before that Gold really hasn't done right by Storm, with the Annual back-up story being the first to curb that trend. This issue takes another stab at making Storm in this book meaningful, but, if this is Guggenheim's idea of Storm-focus, you have to wonder if he actually has the writing chops for an X-Men flagship. This is by no means a bad issue. This is also by no means a Storm issue. Storm gets perhaps a fraction more panel time than you'd expect from a book that balanced its cast fairly, she doesn't get anything special in this issue. Rather, as has been noted in forum discussions, Storm has her powers 'mansplained' to her by Logan to resolve the issue's conflict. Likewise on Logan, he is her first thought when she defeats the beast attacking her. It is clear that Guggenheim has no clear, long-term (or even immediate) plans for Storm's character. It seems that she was only included as part of his tribute to Claremont, which is a huge shame considering the inner turmoil she should have been grappling with in the face of her loss of leadership to Kitty. Guggenheim's unsatisfactory approach to his female characters really lets the book down.
The personal progression is not entirely done to the best of its potential in Gold, but it remains what is the most compelling about the book. It certainly feels that Rachel has been out of use in this book for too long, as she is one of few characters who gets this kind of treatment. Storm and Old Man Logan are, even at their best, just underdeveloped retreads of the Claremontian versions of the characters, but Rachel, Kurt, Kitty and Piotr all feel like they have a reason and destination in Gold. Ink has far too much of a presence in this arc, considering his obscurity and lack of explanation or introduction for his presence in this arc.
Despite the many negative things I have to say about this issue, it really is just fine. Many of its problems are tied up in the failings of previous issues, the core of #20 is a surprisingly enjoyable superhero story. It doesn't give Storm her dues, but puts the book on a path to treating her with some more respect. I cannot say that I regretted my experience reading this. In fact, as single issues go, it just might be one of Gold's best.
Spoilers follow.
Though not a massive surprise, as it had been all but confirmed by editorial and was spoiled in last week's Gold annual, Kitty Pryde and Colossus are now engaged. I'm, more or less, ambivalent to this. We all saw it coming. But this is the moment #20 hinges on. Your opinion on this engagement will greatly affect how much you enjoy this issue and, really, X-Men Gold in general. I may write about this in longer form at some point, but the key point of discussion for me is whether or not this is actually earned. It feels far too much like Guggenheim desperately trying to leave his mark on mutable continuity, without first rebuilding a relationship that went so terribly wrong, so terribly recently. It was not too long ago that Kitty Pryde was engaged to someone completely different (although, still called Peter). This was not without reason, her and Colossus had a seriously bad break-up. Guggenheim has, however, shown that he isn't concerned in organically rebuilding that relationship, instead relying on our preconceived notions of the couple to guide an audience through his story. This means that, like much of gold in general, this will be a book well recieved by the casual comic book reader, but derided by the fans.
1. Generation X #86
This was always going to take the number one spot. Generation X had a terribly rocky start, so rocky in fact that I'm still trepidatious about picking up the first trade, but since issue 6 this series has really realised its true potential. The creative team must have had a eureka moment (or, rather, the problems that plague the series opening are unique to stories at the start of a series and, as such, later issues don't have the same things holding them back) and this issue is just yet another success for Christina Strain's lovable-loser-themed X-Book.
This should not be the penultimate issue. This series deserved to make it to 16 issues at least. The cancellation of this series is a modern X-Book tragedy and editorial will be foolish to not find a way to bring Strain onto future books.
My cancellation bitterness aside, this is a great chapter in the wider story and likely the most important issue of the series (more on that below). The pacing here is fantastic, we get a lot of character for everyone who matters (I'm still not sold on Eye-Boy and Nature Girl, regrettably), and the OG-Gen Xers get some fun moments to do as well. Strain does well by grounding the story in Quentin's perspective. A character that felt quite out of place on the team (he is a battle-ready, future X-Man who has been one of the few consistently published X-Kids of recent years), Quentin finally brings a different kind of broken to the cast. His journey to find faith in people, to get over his issues with trust, bookends the issue, giving an added layer of depth to a pretty action-packed story.
Hindsight continues to be a fantastic achievement of a character, easily my favourite new creation of ResurreXion and possibly the best new character since Bendis' run. He and Ben Deeds get a great moment in their compelling ongoing romance and he gets another chance to show off his powers. Pinna knows how to show-off the cool visual of Hindsight's powers. There is a great moment that shows off the backstory of both Hindsight and Monet, which is a wonderful use of his powers, rendered stunningly. My issue with some boring, uninspired backgrounds remains, but the art is in a far better place now than it was at the start of the series. Part of it has been giving Pinna more interesting characters and moments to work with, but I think you can also track his growth into the book, its cast and the creative team. Chamber and Husk, particularly, look amazing in their action shots.
There really is just an incredible amount of good in this issue and very little to criticise. There's also so much going on that it feels very difficult to write up all my thoughts about this single issue in a concise, compelling way, without leaving out many of the smaller details that have made this story so enjoyable. Safe to say, this is easily the best X-Book of the week.
Spoilers follow.
Quentin cured Jubilee of her vampirism and gave her her powers back, by sacrificing his Phoenix shard. It is very difficult to take about this issue without discussing this spoiler. That last panel is, without a doubt, the most significant contribution to X-Canon this series has had. Her powers have been missing since 2006 and she's been a vampire since 2010, so it is cool enough in and of itself that Jubilee is back to a recognisable point. Beyond this though, it makes the Generation X series more meaningful in the context of the title itself. I'm sure it's no coincidence that this re-powering took place during the renumbered Legacy arc as, while previously the series had felt more like a spiritual successor to the original Generation X, this one panel retroactively makes the series feel like a true continuation and readdressing of the series' most significant, surviving characters.
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