Uncanny X-Men #7: An Exercise in Futility…

Part two of the big X-Men crossover, “Raid on Graymalkin,” the big story that’s taking place between the two flagship X-Men titles by Gail Simone, Jed MacKay, David Marquez, and Ryan Stegman. This chapter focuses on Rogue’s Louisiana team, and the new kids, the Outliers, who are busy trying to take down the organization that transformed Charles Xavier’s ancestral home into a penitentiary that’s used to house mutants. Which Beast, Jubilee, and new mutant Calico, are all there. So let’s get on with this review!

In part two of “Raid on Graymalkin,” we see the new anti-mutant administration has captured Beast, Jubilee, and Calico. Calico is getting released from captivity due to her family’s wealth, and as she’s leaving the prison, she summons her horse, Ember, to come to her. Meanwhile Rogue’s band of X-Men are transported to the prison by what looks like the Eye of Agamotto, which didn’t make a lot of sense to me, but I haven’t been following Gail’s run, so I’m not sure what the story behind that is. Also, at the end of X-Men #8, Cyclops had come face to face with Rogue and her team, yet this issue Rogue and her team are still in Louisiana, and Rogue spoke with Cyclops over the phone.

I haven’t been particularly wowed with the X-Men books since the From the Ashes era began, and of the three core X-Men books, Gail’s Uncanny X-Men has been the least entertaining for me. Gail’s one of those writers who I have a complicated relationship with over the quality of her work. Huge fan of her Birds of Prey, All-New Atom featuring Ryan Choi, and Secret (of which I’m currently reading for the first time), but for some reason have not connected with her Marvel work, and that trend hasn’t changed here. I haven’t been able to form a personal connection with the main cast, and haven’t been overly wowed with her new batch of kids yet. Unfortunately this hasn’t been just a Gail problem, as most of the new mutants who have been introduced in this new era are pleasant enough yet forgettable.

The art by David Marquez has been the highlight of this book so far. He and Ryan Stegman have been giving us some really terrific stuff here, and Carmen Carnero’s Exceptional has been the pinnacle of perfection. Sometimes an artist can give us some of that beyond stellar work that will make up for a story’s shortcomings. Unfortunately the art here isn’t enough to salvage this rather mundane and uninspired storyline. I’m not sure what this team has planned, but it’s going to have to be better than this.