X-Men #30: What coulda, woulda, shoulda…

“If you should return to me, we truly were meant to be…” The pieces of the puzzles continue falling into place, as ORCHIS continues their assault on the Mutants, Cyclops’ trial looms nigh, as Stasis continues to try to build his case, Firestar and Iron Man are making moves, and we get this side caper featuring Synch and Talon, as they head to Counter-Earth to seek aid from the High Evolutionary! All this, plus some gorgeous art by Phil Noto! 

The Fall of X is in its death throes, but we still have some months to fill out the publishing line, so here we are. At least that’s how this issue feels. Duggan’s finishing up his run on the main title, and is busy trying to tie-up some of the loose ends from it. More specifically from the issue that involved the High Evolutionary and Luminous, where they came to earth to give the mutants a bio-hacking device. Synch and Talon end up in a fight with Luminous, and then the High Evolutionary, with an ending that’s practically broadcasted from the first page. I’m not sure if this story is just too many bowls for Duggan to handle, but it’s clear that he needed a co-writer, or someone else to handle the other chapters of this “event”, because the tale told here is rather boring and unengaging.

Duggan’s run during the Krakoan era has had its ups and downs, but it was clear once he wasn’t up to the task after being given the unenviable task of leading the pack with the current volume of X-Men after Hickman left. The book has shuffled from being good to serviceable, with a clear lack of quality once the second year settled in, and the book lost Larraz and Pena left art duties, and was forced to tie into event after event, the team couldn’t seem to recover. Then came the Fall of X, and what appeared to be just what the doctor ordered. Kitty Pryde returned to the book, and she became a one-woman ass-kicking machine, hell bent on killing ORCHIS for taking her family from her. Unfortunately the uptick in quality didn’t continue, as the book devolved into a roughshod attempt of one-shots to fill the hole of the publishing schedule until we ready the end, and it’s painfully obvious here. 

Duggan’s writing these last couple of issues highlights that he might be in over his head, and is in need of a co-writer, because the stories have been a chore to get through. It’s a shame too, because there’s so much to be mined from the current state of things, but the teams are letting it go by the wayside. The more one looks at everything that we’ve received from the Krakoan era, the more one will see all of the wasted opportunities that we’ve missed out on.