Uncanny X-Men #25: Lady Darkhold

The pacing of this issue went completely off the rails. There’s so much going on and so many characters on the page that it’s hard to see how this could all wrap up in just one issue. However, in traditional Marvel fashion, the entire storyline gets latched on to one big bad, Lady Darkhold.

Agatha Timly (whose last appearance was in the 70s) is resurrected from the Marvel archive as Lady Darkhold, the mastermind behind the attack on the Louisiana X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #23. Bringing her back as a new mystical villain was an interesting choice to say the least, as most fans (myself included) probably won’t remember her from her very few previous appearances.

Despite the issue’s problem with pacing, it still tells an effective story. Everyone has had their moment in the past two issues save for Gambit, who gets to shine here. The story ultimately gets tied back to the dragon Sadurang from the earliest issues of Gail Simone’s Uncanny X-Men run. It’s a smart move, storytelling-wise, but the dragon’s sudden appearance feels a bit like a deus ex machina for our mutant heroes. It also delays the Left Eye of Agamotto story somewhat, although that may not be the worst thing.

David Marquez and Matthew Wilson must’ve worked overtime on this issue. Each page is flooded with bits of detail from both the inks and the colors. Full single pages are covered in artwork with panels overlaid on top that build into the issue’s sense of chaos and action. Multiple characters fill most of the issue’s scenes at once, and all are given spacing and motion, which helps make the pages feel even more defined. Wilson’s colors have that dark shading to them that creates the eeriness this storyline has been thriving on since Uncanny X-Men #22.