Uncanny X-Men: The New Age, Vol. 4: End of Greys

Uncanny X-Men: The New Age

by Chris Claremont

In the wake of House of M, Marvel Girl's emotions are heating up Faced with a future she thought was destroyed, Marvel Girl will find out just what she's really made of Collects Uncanny X-Men #466-471.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, X Men, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

144 pages, Paperback

First published July 5, 2006

About the author

Chris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.

Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.

Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of this collection, dealing with Rachel's trip home to see her extended family, was excellent. Really well written with some beautiful artwork, it was easily worth five stars.

Unfortunately, the second half of this collection, dealing with the fallout of Rachel's trip and some of the consequences of 'M-Day' (see the House of M crossover for what that is; I'm not going into it here) was a little lackluster by comparison. It wasn't actually bad, it was just a bit of a comedown after how good the first half was. Three stars at best.

I guess that means this book averages out as a four star read on my semi-arbitrary scale. Could've been a lot worse...

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Claremont's writing is a pale shadow of his previous glorious one and I never been too much a fan of Bachalo's art (Rachel and Betsy, two of Marvel's femme fatales, seem two kids here... oh good grief), but the Jack Bauer's 24 style sequence was an intense, brutal and well made one.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was surprisingly good and emotional.

It starts post house of M, and ONE and sentinels guarding where the X-men live and Rachel is with her grandparents but when the Death Commandos come in and massacre her entire family, it's shocking like those 24 seconds of slaughter and so detailed wow. It's shocking and emotional and you see the plight of Rachel.

Elsewhere we have them being detained and it's a fight for the X-Men vs this Shi'aar assassins including Warshot, Warskrull and Black Cloak and more and we follow Rachel's and other X-Men adventures to take these assassins down and also we get to see life in this post house of M phase.

It's a shocking volume bit has great emotional moments and maybe a bit of character evolution and I love how Claremont channels it through Rachel's eyes seeing how tragic it can be yet she persists through it. And the art was meh for the most part but works where it needs to.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

As Rachel goes to meet her family, the Grey's in a beautiful home reunion, its tragically destroyed by Shi'ar imperial commandos, who designate the Grey family as a threat to the universe (you know, cause of the whole Phoenix thing). This leads to the near complete annihilation of the Grey family, which leaves Rachel in an understandably broken state.

This was... really tragic and very shocking when I first read it. Claremont decide to put Rachel through the ringer as he pretty much forces her to watch her newly found family die because of her mom and her's legacy. It was a brutal plot, and I'm a little shocked Claremont took it there. The second half of the book is fallout of the first half, which is understandable, but it does slow the book down considerably.

The art by Chris Bachalo was... a bit all over the place. His style in general is an acquired taste, and I consider myself a fan, but there were times where it was hard to make out what was going on. Also, this seems like some of his earlier work where the characters seem a bit too "blocky" compared to later days.

A brutal volume, but uneven in pacing - I would say check this out if you are a X-Men completionist.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shi’ar view the Phoenix as the thing that can end all. So they want to take out anybody who is connected to it. So that means Rachel Grey and all of her family. And the come in pretty hard and fast. Dammit man that was brutal and F’d up. So far this is the best book. Gripping story, high stakes, tragedy and some nice art by Bachalo and Tan.

[˙⋆✮ Anny ✮⋆˙ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because issue #466 is where the main storyline picks up after House of M. Never having read Uncanny X-Men before, I was a bit confused, but not too much so since this story is actually about Rachel Grey and her friends. The story itself was ok. Lots of action, some mentions of M-Day, but I didn't particularly care for any of it. The art was great though.

[Rituraj Kashyap · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty dark story, the events of which play a major role in later stories involving Rachel Summers.

[jorge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this story was pretty good and the action scenes were great. I'm not too caught up on Rachel Grey's history but it was easy to follow here. The first storyline takes place in the aftermath of House of M, in which Rachel Grey aka Marvel Girl sneaks out of the X-Mansion to go to a Grey family reunion. However, this merry visit is tragically cut short as the Shi'ar Death Commandos arrive and start murdering each and every one of Rachel's relatives. Sensing the Phoenix Force on Earth and still reeling from their encounters with the entity, the Shi'ar took preemptive action on Rachel Grey by attempting to entirely eradicate the Grey bloodline. Even with her immense power, Rachel is helpless to stop the massacre occurring around her. The X-Men arrive in time to see the Shi'ar brand Rachel with a tattoo that is essentially a tracking beacon. In a gut-wrenching sequence of events, the O*N*E* Sentinel squad arrives too late and only to stop the X-Men from ending the Shi'ar. The Sentinels are completely useless!!! The story ends with Rachel promising revenge on the Shi'ar. Read this if you want to know everything that happens after House of M!

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Claremont had been trying for nearly 20 years to tell a worthwhile Rachel Summers/Grey story and the first half of this trade I would say is the closest he comes. I personally like the character despite the failings of writers to tell a worthwhile story, so I enjoyed this. Also for reading a Claremont story that is enjoyable is a rarity nowadays, so that was also a plus. But again, the first half is good, second half is mediocre/bad. Claremont couldn't keep it up, but just that little stretch was worth it.

Bachalo is also the first half artist which probably helps my estimation. Though honestly it isn't his strongest work.

Tan is the second half artist and he is not good at all. So again, this may have helped my estimation of the two halfs.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty solid. The basic premise of this volume is that the Shi'ar have finally decided to fix the Phoenix problem once and for all by wiping out the Grey family. The first half is crazy--death everywhere, Bachalo's bizarre art that I simultaneously love and hate, and a particularly interesting issue covering only 24 seconds, but in extremely slow motion. The second half isn't as good--the story gets a little stultified, some of the characterization seems off, and the whole thing just feels sillier. It also wraps up jarringly quickly. But much better than some of Claremont's other stuff from the same time period.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing the (sometimes) great x-read of 2017...

Since I am at the very tail end of 2017 and I haven't updated my reading in quite a while so I am "cheating" and just kind of writing one review for all of the volumes that I have read so that I can get them up by the end of the year.

The aftermath of M day has been mixed to say the least. There were a few high points (Cable and Deadpool, the 198, the beginning of the new X-factor series... and more than a fair share of low points (the new Excalibur, Colossus, Deadly Genesis...). It certainly has not come across as a well-orchestrated and planned out event at this point. (And the plot armor of the main characters primarily being the ones that retained their powers is a bit ridiculous, but that is to be expected.)

At any rate, my x-read of 2017 is going to extend into 2018 since I am still not close to catching up. It may have to slow down in velocity a bit so that I can do a bit more "real" reading but the slog shall continue...

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title makes clear, the big story is that the Shi'ar wipe out Jean Grey's entire family who happen to be gathered at a single house. This is a war crime that has been quickly forgotten.

I think there's also another story, but I'm not sure I remember it.

And the whole thing with O.N.E. is building up.

[Roman Colombo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Grey Family can't catch a break. This was a brutal story. Really well-told, and Chris Bachalo and Billy Tan provide excellent art. Just shocked at how dark it got.

[Mickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an exceptionally brutal chapter for the X-Men, and Claremont's ability to depict brutality with emotional depth charms here for sure. His, uhhh, pervishness...not so much.

[Miguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Los dos mejores arcos de esta etapa de Claremont con diferencia hasta ahora

[Odo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5.0

[Jeff Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a "meh" story combined with excellent artwork, but what else can you expect when treated to Chris Bachalo's pencils? I was glad to see a storyline that had Rachel Grey at the center of it, since she's not been all that well-developed in the past. This gave a lot of emotional weight to her character, and served to influence her actions quite a while afterwards. The mix of characters involved as the group of X-Men facing the alien threat menacing Rachel was a good one -- Psylocke, Cannonball, Bishop, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Wolverine represent a variety of eras in the X-Men's history, and they worked very well together. The level of violence and the way that (SPOILER!) every single Grey family member aside from Rachel (and Cable and X-Man who weren't even involved in this story of course) was systematically hunted and killed made this a little tough to read, though, and the villains, while suitably creepy, weren't the best new creations in recent X-history.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this volume, focusing on the Shi'ar attempt to wipe the Grey family off the map is probably the best 21st century Claremont story. While having Chris Bachalo on art is part of the reason, there's also the fact that Claremont's story is focused in a way that none of the rest of his modern stories are. By making this a Rachel Grey story in which other mutants appear, as opposed to a team of his favorite B-side X-Men, he has time to actually develop some of the characters. Not too much. There's still some of the trademark Claremont hair-trigger turns, the most blatant in this volume is Rachel's doting grandmother who turns into a mutant hating bigot so that we don't have to feel bad when she dies.

The second half of the book expands its focus, and suffers a bit for it. It's not terrible. In fact, I'd put it up with late 80s Claremont, whcih is a sizable improvement after X-Treme X-Men, and the rest of this Uncanny New Age run.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
This Volume primarily deals with Rachel Grey. From being targeted by a Shi'ar Death Trooper Squad, to the Grey family being slaughtered, to her stealthy missions to get away from the Sentinels guarding the Mansion, Rachel seems to be a magnet for trouble. Could it be because she will most likely be the next carrier of the Phoenix Force? YES!
This story takes place post M-Day, and although entertaining, was not essential to the overarching X story.
Just ok overall...

[Ruddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art of Chris Bachalo is just amazing. I only buy the x-men books whenever he is the artist....the storyline is also great focusing on how different galaxies are trying to take out Rachel summers because she is the daughter of the phoenix...they are scared that what hapenned to her mom will happen to her and she wont be able to control the phoenix force...deep.

[Earline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Chris Bachalo's artwork! Overall I'd say this trade was pretty good for just having randomly picked it up and not knowing anything about House of M or pretty much any backstory (thanks boyfriend for trying to catch me up on all of that business).

BTW.. Rachel Grey is a badass! :)

[Jase · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shiar Empire has sent their army to dispose of all the Grey family to ensure that the Phoenix does not come back somewhere along their lineage. Valerie Cooper and the O.N.E. program is dealing with the 198 still at the mansion.

[Aildiin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this in digital version forever ( because a long while there was a sale and half of the issues are penciled by Chris Bachalo and I am a huge fan of all his work).
Anyway I finally got around to read these 6 issues.
It's an average story with way above average art.

[Rosa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very heavy book although it does provide enough background so that if you have missed out on previous books you can still figure out what's going on.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really powerful story of loss and pain. The world does not look good for mutants.

[Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fuck you, Claremont.

[Carles Muñoz Miralles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una bastante buena historia sobre Rachel Grey y los efectos de la Fuerza Fénix. Lástima que Bachalo (aunque en horas bajas) dibuje sólo la mitad del volumen.

[Timo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice sexy art, story that sucked.

[Timothy Villa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best issues by far of any X-Men related issues Claremont wrote post Morrison.

[Leslie S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but I'm still unclear on why Storm is suddenly being drawn as a blue-eyed, white-passing Barbie doll...