X-Men: Red #9: Being a Parent is Hard Sometimes

Taylor’s run on X-Men: Red has been marked by a combination of lightness and relevant commentary on the state of social media at large. While the central story is the battle between Jean and Nova, the real heart of this issue lies in Trinary’s mission to combat the internet negativity and “fake news” outlets that threaten to divide an already broken populace.

The budding relationship between Gentle and Trinary seems doomed, sadly, to be buried by editorial oversight given the impending return of Uncanny X-Men. As we watch the slow attrition of X-books over the coming months, which will include Red, its hard to not see the seeds planted by Taylor and company in this series as potential casualties. There is a sense of hurry as we wind this chapter in X-lore– the knowledge that the end is near but far nearer than initially anticipated, and as such plot threads are being wrapped up at a furious pace.

The art by Roge Antonio was placed at an unfair disadvantage, directly following the spectacular work of Carmen Carnero, but still is beautiful in its own right. There even appears to be some continuity between the previous and current artists in terms of page layouts and pacing, which did not go unappreciated here.