X-Men #22: That Wasn’t a Revelation…

It’s the end of the From The Ashes era for the X-Men, and Jed MacKay ends his run on X-Men, as the Age of Revelations is about to begin! He’s joined with his Black Cat/Avengers co-partner C.F. Villa on art duties here, and the team didn’t miss a beat! So with that said and done, let’s get on with the show!

Jed MacKay has been one of the most popular writers that Marvel has pushed him into superstardom over the last few years, with putting him in charge of the Avengers line after Jason Aaron left. From there they gave him last years big event with Blood Hunt, with their hottest artist Pepe Larraz, and putting him on the flagship book X-Men, with Ryan Stegman, as part of the From The Ashes era (or is it initiative?), which draws its last breath with this issue. To say this era has been rocky is an understatement. Each of the “core” X-Men titles came with a killer creative team, as well as a bunch of new mutants to coincide with the new era. Some good, some…not so.

After 5 years of the age of Krakoa, something that was totally revolutionary for the X-Men, editor Jordan White was replaced by longtime senior editor Tom Brevoort, the line was revamped into the newest version of the line, with big names, like Gail Simone, as well as up-and-comers like Eve L. Ewing, it seemed like Marvel was trying to jump into this new era with grand new ideas, that unfortunately felt more like a return to some tried and true story beats that we’ve become far too accustomed to with regards to the merry Mutants. Not that returning to a time that’s familiar. After the Crossing, that led to the debacle that was Heroes Reborn. Marvel brought Kurt Busiek and George Perez in to save the day. The editor that helped usher in that era was none other than..Tom Brevoort.

Marvel thought they Tom could strike lightning twice with this back to basics approach, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. What we got was a mish mash of titles with random themes, using concepts from different eras of the X-Men, and a barebones roadmap that would lead to the Assault on Graymalkin crossover, and the Manhunt storyline that put Xavier back on the map. Which brings us to the recently ended Mackay’s 22 issue run. Like Uncanny and Extraordinary, MacKay’s X-Men came with its own new mutants, but unlike the mutants introduced in the other two sister titles, Mackay’s mutants were full grown adults when their powers manifested, and the team was based out of a town in Alaska.The core cast had some of the bigger names from Krakoa, lead by Cyclops, with Magik, Juggernaut, Psylocke, and a time-displaced backup for Beast, that came from an era where Beast was a part of the Avengers. An interesting premise, with some interesting established characters, as well as some new ones introduced. Unfortunately the stories didn’t quite hit the mark.

MacKay’s run focused on these older mutants, as well as this new clandestine crew of evil mutants called 3K. 3K is made up of Cassandra Nova, Astra and Joseph, Magneto’s clone, and Wyre, a D-list Alpha Flight character, plus the unmasked Chairman, who bears a striking resemblance to Xavier from the Krakoan era. Other characters seen were the Sugar Man, a refugee from the original Age of Apocalypse, and Trevor Fitzroy, with his new Upstarts. As a fan who got his start in the 90’s, seeing these characters getting dusted off made me take note, unfortunately the payoffs didn’t make the mark. Not every story was a dud. The strongest chapter being the issues that had Alpha Flight. Mackay’s Canadian, and his love for those characters really shined. If Jed comes back after this next event is over, I hope his next run brings the Jed I’ve come to know and love.