X-Men #32: Do you believe in Magik?

Here we are! 32 chapters of Gerry Duggan’s run on the flagship X-Men title, and just one more month as we race to the end of the Fall of X, and the Krakoan era for Marvel’s merry mutants. Joining Duggan is long-time collaborator, and the only artist to do every issue on a title in this era, Phil Noto, who is a long time X-Men veteran. So let’s get down to things, shall we? 

In this issue we catch up with Magik, who after having nanites injected into her bloodstream, blocking her from accessing her mutant ability of teleportation, so she’s forced to kill a bunch of these ORCHIS goons with her soulsword.  She eventually succumbs to it, but is saved by her soulsister/breast friend Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowkat. The gals have loads of fun, then are joined by Polaris, who sucks the nanites out of Magik, who then takes out a Sentinel, and then the mutants around the globe are gathering their resources and mounting their final assault on ORCHIS. 

Duggan’s one of the few writers who are a part of the old guard that helped shape the fledgling Krakoan era. With his run on Marauders, and later baby Cable (with series artist Phil Noto), gave us a new status quo for Kitty Pryde, as well as the fun adventures of seeing a teen Nathan Summers, who was able to spend time with his father, stepmom, and even her older sister, Rachel, as they helped build the mutant nation. As the nation grew, so did Duggan’s influence, taking over the flagship X-Men book from outgoing Head of X writer, Jonathan Hickman, with artists Pepe Larraz and Javier Pina, to varying degrees of success. 

His second year was rockier than his first, getting bogged down in event after event, losing cast members before getting a solid footing. He also lost Larraz, and gained two of the latest additions to the Stormbreakers program. Marvel’s latest initiative to promote the up and coming artists, and while Joshua Cassara and C.F. Villa are incredibly talented, their styles just don’t pack the same punch as Larraz does. Then came the third Hellfire Gala, and the Fall of X. FoX seems to have invigorated the X-office, and launched a whole cavalcade of new titles, and put Kitty on her darkest journey yet. Unfortunately the run has been beset with loads of filler along the way, but it looks like things are reaching the ending. How it ends is anyone’s game at this point.