Uncanny X-Men #38: Looks Stunning, Reads Boring

Issue #38 of Uncanny X-Men is a story that follows a decent set of protagonists that is riddled with recycled material.

One plotline follows Sarah Gaunt as she builds her own warped version of the X-Men. Gaunt acts as a twisted version of Professor X, acquiring her own version of the X-Mansion and flaunting her wealth. The other plotline continues Dazzler’s story from the previous issue, pairing her up with Rogue and Monet. Gaunt actively pushes her story forward; she acquires her house, she assembles her team, and she tracks down her target. Meanwhile, the X-Men act as reactionaries to the plot; events will occur, and they respond accordingly. This lack of inertia from the titular mutants ultimately makes the X-Men’s side of the plot feel a bit underwhelming.

Unfortunately, the Scavenged are an incredibly unoriginal concept: rebellious teenage mutants who were experimented on by an organization related to Wolverine. Generation X-23 employed this same concept with the Generated; only now, these experiments have Wolverine claws. Their recycled nature makes them inherently uninteresting. Outside of their exposition dump, none of the characters express any personality throughout the comic. Furthermore, the designs of the four members lack any distinctive traits. Each member of the Scavenged wears a generic superhero jumpsuit, only distinguishable by the colors. It’s superhero “costume slop.”

However, Luciano Vecchio’s artwork and Matthew Wilson’s colorwork are absolutely stellar. Dazzler’s rendering looks as if it takes inspiration from 1990s pop stars. She’s drawn with sharp angles and colored in a way that jumps off the page.  Wilson’s color work really stands out as the highlight here, though. His shading and highlighting match the scene’s light source perfectly; Dazzler’s light energy moves up her body, with light from her hands casting a subtle brightness across the page. The Scavenged, despite looking incredibly stale, have these beautiful renditions that stand out against the backdrop. The combat scenes are dynamic and full of motion: characters bleed across panels to convey the momentum; leading lines draw the eye to each slash; Wilson’s deep reds make the blood splatters pop just as much as his bright yellows illuminate the light.