Uncanny X-Men #20: Family Ties

In this issue, Gail Simone balanced several precariously stacked story platters, and she managed to serve up the fixings with style and aplomb. Sweet, quiet character moments (such as Rogue offering Jitter the chance to express agency over her own body) contrasted delightfully with the tale of Ransom’s bloody family history.

The X-Men have always been a found family, and a large portion of Simone’s strength emerges from her recognition of that fact. This is a much more generationally integrated book than most X-Men stories. Usually, the found family aspect exists in two layers: the relationships between the older X-Men and the emerging connections that grow between the younger generations as the books progress. This story is different: the kids were already a cohesive unit when the story began, so the emotional arc follows the growing closeness between these new-to-it parental figures (especially Gambit and Rogue) and the teenagers who are learning that not every adult will necessarily abandon them. It’s an interesting (and very satisfying) progression to watch.

The B-story (Ransom’s homecoming to the genetic family which rejected him) is equally interesting to watch. Pairing him with Wolverine and Gambit, symbolically initiating him into the ‘older brother’ role he has adopted with his fellow students, was a clever move. Though I can’t help but notice that Logan’s canonical best friend has been sidelined again — left sitting on his fuzzy blue tuchus.

Vecchio’s art remains a bit too twee and saccharin for my tastes, but that’s emphatically a statement of preference and not talent. He is very good at what he does, it’s just that what he does is a bit too nice for me. He has excellent clarity of line and his panels contain a clear narrative flow. His style works very well with the softer emotional feelings of this story.