X-Men, Vol. 2: Muertas

X-Men (2013) (Collected Editions)

by Brian Wood

The return of Lady Deathstrike! Can a new Sisterhood be far behind? Meanwhile, the X-Men regroup following the Battle of the Atom - and a new member joins the team!

Collecting: X-Men 7-12

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

136 pages, Paperback

First published April 29, 2014

About the author

Brian Wood's history of published work includes over fifty volumes of genre-spanning original material.

From the 1500-page future war epic DMZ, the ecological disaster series The Massive, the American crime drama Briggs Land, and the groundbreaking lo-fi dystopia Channel Zero he has a 20-year track record of marrying thoughtful world-building and political commentary with compelling and diverse characters.

His YA novels - Demo, Local, The New York Four, and Mara - have made YALSA and New York Public Library best-of lists. His historical fiction - the viking series Northlanders, the American Revolution-centered Rebels, and the norse-samurai mashup Sword Daughter - are benchmarks in the comic book industry.

He's written some of the biggest franchises in pop culture, including Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, Conan The Barbarian, Robotech, and Planet Of The Apes. He’s written number-one-selling series for Marvel Comics. And he’s created and written multiple canonical stories for the Aliens universe, including the Zula Hendricks character.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

The gimmicky all-women X-Men gets worse in this second volume as they dig up more female X-men and literally dig-up female villains as Lady Deathstrike returns seeking out the secrets of... Arkea!!! Some one said let's do a book on the female X-Men! Boss says that's great, go and do it. They forgot about you know, plotting and characterisation! 5 out of 12, Two Stars for the New Sisterhood.

2018 read

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dude, this is freaking comic book. Get over it already.

Lady Deathstrike, dead? Not so much anymore.

The Sisterhood of Evil is doing it for themselves. Lady Deathstrike is inhabiting some drug cartel king pin’s daughter and she won’t take “no” for an answer in her search for Akrea, some piece of alien super tech that will help her become a super-duper-cyber-villain.



This is a comic, so “no” means “yes”, as in “yes”, let’s kick some X-Men tush.

We have a heavy dose of estrogen on the hero side as well.

Where are all the X-Menfolk? I haven’t a clue. Beast is around a little doing lab work and some of the X-kids are on campus and where the hell did Jubilee get a baby?

Since Rogue’s not here either Monet St. Croix gets to play the role of bruiser.



Who’s Monet? In World War Hulk, she got drop kicked to New Jersey by the Hulk.

Bottom line: Wood comes up with an average tale that could have done with some editing. For example, I know Quentin Quire is a telepath, but as far as I know he can’t appear in two sub-plots at the same time. I’ll always welcome Typhoid Mary in a Marvel book, because in my experience fishnets and crazy are a perfect combo.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

MUERTAS!
Nice spooky title...
Ok, I liked this one a little better than the 1st volume.
It's not mind-blowing, but at least Rachael and Storm are going at each other anymore.
The plot was pretty action-packed, but (at times) over the top when it came to world-ending stuff.
Don't these guys live in a world with the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., the Fantastic Four, Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova Corps, and the Runaways?
Hell, there are even a shitload of X-teams that these guys could call in for backup.
So why are they going to try to take down 3 like Arkea, the Black Queen, and Selene on their own? Not to mention that Arkea has Enchantress, Lady Deathstrike, and Typhoid Mary riding shotgun with her.
Now, I think Storm and Rachael are pretty badass chicks, but I don't think they'd walk away from a fight with those ladies.
Especially when it took the entire X-Force just to take out Selene in Necrosha.
I like it when teams go up against Supah-Doopah-Villians, but you can't pile them on like that, and then expect readers to swallow down that heaping load of crap.
One? Maybe two of those baddies, I could believe.
But five ?
Get outta here.

But.
I liked the fast pace, I loved the art, and I liked all of the characters. Also, I'm sort of easygoing when it comes to plot holes, so it's not like I was all pissed off when I was reading it.
Like Sesana said in her review, I want to support this team.
But damn, Wood...you gotta give us something a bit better than this, or we're going to end up jumping ship.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

It just felt kind of... thin to me. Thin plot, thin characters. Wood never really explored Ana Cortez or her motivation for turning herself into a host for Lady Deathstrike. At the start of the book, she says something about vengeance, but never says what for. And at the end, she suddenly just wanted to meet famous heroes? I don't think Wood ever really decided what he wanted to do with Ana, or ever really made her feel like she was sharing a body with Lady Deathstrike. And the resolution felt awfully neat and convenient to me. It was actually a big letdown, when I was hoping for something far more interesting and dangerous. I want to support an all-female team of heroes, but the writing needs to be better than this.

[Gavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is actually less than a 2-star book.

It should be called X-(wo)Men; how many ovaries can we throw into one book?

This was supposed to be a great idea, a team we could enjoy, by a great writer (Wood). Instead, it feels like a gimmick-y, quota-filler.

So from last time, and then the events of Battle of the Atom; Kitty is no longer in the picture, nor is Rogue (still not sure why on her). Instead we've got that chick who was in the coma and then became possessed by John Sublime's "sister", and is now back better than ever. Oh and some other girl. She seems pretty strong.

Apparently all they needed was a world-crisis, and Storm and Rach are besties again. (Maybe Kitty just pissed them both off?)

Anyhow, Lady Deathstrike returns (this time as an entity/spirit, who is unleashed by a rich Latino hottie teenager...who likes to paint herself like Day of the Dead...right.

Apparently all you need to do is bring back the "spirit/soul/aura" of anyone, shoot them into a new body, and boom. Wood seems to use this for everyone.

Last volume; here, with more baddie ladies: Maddy Pryor, Selene (both of the Hellfire Club) and the Enchantress, who was on Earth cast out by Thor? Apparently everyone wants to team up to get more power? IDK...really.



Honestly, I just gave up. I didn't try to understand, I didn't try to let it make sense, I just said OK, sure, whatever you say.

Storm decides to let Pryor and Selene go? Enchantress walks away? Lady Deathstrike doesn't want to be her anymore? Seriously? WTF? I'm just so not interested. I swear, Wood just gave up and didn't care anymore? Who knows.

I read this yesterday, and I'm already straining to remember more than good girls(and randoms) versus baddies(and randoms). There's also more of the X-(wo)Men leaving to join some other dudettes I've never heard of either. WOW bust out the obscure shit...I like obscure, but not this much out of nowhere.

Really, a big swing and a miss for me.

Please don't sit on this grenade.

Get this review and more at:

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dramatic step down from the first volume.

Basically the story revolves around Lady Deathstrike and her new band of killers and evil pieces of shit. So now it's all about the new group of all women X-Men taking them down. We also get a little bit of a look at the younger generation dealing with their own issues.

Good: I really liked Jublie in here. She's both funny and great.

Bad: The rest is just standard plotting and boring character interactions.

Overall just okay across the board. Nothing horrible but nothing worth mentioning. A 2 out of 5.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*

Lots of characters are coming back in this volume, some of them from the dead pile, too.
I really didn't get why Ana Cortés wanted to be Lady Deathstrike. I think she says somehting about wanting to do sth but it was never quite explained... Also it took me a re-read to know what happened to her after she... takes matters onto her own hands [I want to keep this spoiler free].

Even though I don't like Jubilee specially, I am finding her parts more likeable,m with the young XMen being sidekicks to the "ladies x men team"

[Aaron · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a deeply terrible book on essentially every level. Plot, character, basic story structure, the need to communicate what in the hell is going on clearly. All of these are a solid F. It's kind of unbelievable that this was written by a celebrated comics author.

First of all, the plot itself makes absolutely no sense. Arkea, the super A.I./computer goddess or whatever she is who we literally just watched the X-Men defeat in volume 1, is already back. In volume 1 we learned that if she were to replicate into any technology whatsoever, she would take over the earth in a matter of seconds due to her ability to transmit over electricity and Wi-Fi and whatever else. Luckily, the X-Men defeated her in the last volume, so I guess now it's time for a new story. Just kidding!

Arkea comes back in this volume and is instantly outside of any of the X-Men's protections. Based on what we've just been told, this should mean the world's done for. But, for reasons that are never explained and not even remotely addressed, Arkea chooses not to do this, and just kind of hangs around recruiting other villains to help her do... something? It's never explained what she's trying to do. It seems like she's just trying to put together a super team to take over the world, but we already know she could take over the world all on her own, and we're given no reason to believe this new team she's put together is doing anything to help her.

Beyond this phenomenally flawed plot, there's also no attempt to set these characters apart and show their struggles as X-Men/people/friends/romantic interests/whatever. There are a couple of times characters talk about things that happened to them off-panel in what I guess is an attempt to humanize them, but we never actually see anything happen to anyone. It's a lot of talking, and these characters don't even have distinct voices. It's like reading 19 of the same character, only some of them are good and some are evil.

Even the art is inconsistent and strange in this. One B-plot involving a Sentinel battle is drawn by a completely different artist. Couple that with the fact that I have no idea why that B-plot is even happening or how it factors into the larger story (beyond one character saying "Arkea did this!" or something equally lazy), and it makes for some pretty jarring shifts in the narrative.

Basically, avoid this entire series. Volume 1 was weak, volume 2 is terrible, and I can only assume volume 3 doesn't magically fix all this.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have yet to read a Brian Wood book I liked. This female team of X-Men could be...should be...awesome. But it's just kinda there. Wasted opportunity. Keep the idea, but reboot with a new creative team.

[Anna Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Underwhelmed to Hell and back. What the heck is my problem lately with duds???



Thank god for Rocket Raccoon #1, which I'm really looking forward too. Hopefully that doesn't disappoint me too...



But then again, I'm used to it.

[ariane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid, satisfying read in the traditional comic book...tradition or whatever. I'm happy that the Arkea arc did not end with the first book, and I'm curious to see what will happen in the next. And how charming to see Psylocke make some kind of sense.

[Judah Radd · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wasn’t feeling this.

Kris Anka and the Dodson’s did a great job with the art, but Brian Wood totally missed the mark.

How were these X-Men so easily able to defeat Arkea, Lady Deathstrike, as well as fucking Selene and Maddy Pryor?!?? That’s an all-star super villain teamup. Wood did not sell the W.

This whole plot was half baked. The characters were pretty thin. Why was Ana Cortez even willing to go through this shit? And how do you bring in Selene and Madilyn and basically make them doing NOTHING?? Why???

Anyway, this is skippable. It’s not good. Big waste of time.

[Brent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty, flashy, and empty: as X-Men comics go, this just twists the villains and adds a new cop/mutant character to the mix. Your mileage may vary.

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

My subscription to MU ended and #9 sat in my offline collection for half a decade.

I’ve returned to it, and I figured I’d pick this run up again.

It is good so far, as good as it was. It is hard to keep track of all of the characters, some of which look similar. The author juggles A LOT of characters here, and I know I’m supposed to know some from previous runs, so fan service. I feel a bit lost at times, but as a poor, rural kid who had to dive into comics mid-run and then never see another issue again, being a little (or a lot) disoriented is sort if my modus operandi.

[Jaye Berry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't even know what to say about this one besides, huh? There was fighting on like three different fronts and SO many characters. So at least this was very actiony but also wat. Then pretty much all of the bad guys (ladies) had another personality / name in there with the host or something and they were bringing more random bad ladies back to fight with them? They didn't seem to even have any sort of interesting powers or anything and they dressed so similar?? Ofc a man drew them so they were all super sexy but I don't expect anything more.

I really have no idea who any of these people are and why they are even necessary lol like if you count the multiple personalities in the three villain women we already had we already have a full team why did we need even more THAT ALSO HAD DIFFERENT NAMES PLSSS. The alien tech bacteria woman was back from the first volume and they go through all of this and for what?

It really felt like they were all brunette and looked like the same damn woman so words cannot express how confused I was. It felt like most of the X-Men were freaking brunette women too and I'm??? It was so many I'm screaming and they don't get any intro and we don't see much of their personality anyway. I was very sad to see that Rogue and Kitty were not in this either as they were my fave from the last volume. Pixie was cool but I may just be latching onto one of the few memorable characters because she had pink hair and wings.

I don't know if I want to read anymore of this unfortunately which sucks because I love the idea.

[Arturo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Deathstrike forms a new Sisterhood to take on the X-Men.
I kind of want to say there's more direction then the previous book, but maybe it's just that its more of a fun read and there's nothing serious about it.
It could be called the Sisterhood of the traveling.. Ok not that, Sisterhood Recruiting: Trails and tribulations. Something like that.
This book is not filled with any of my fav xmen but as soon as they talk they become my favorite X-Men. I can't say that there's anything special about the dialogue, but like I said, it's a fun read. Monet is an addition to the team, she continues to be a badass, and is handled well after also being a bad in X-Factor. By the end the last two Sisterhood recruits are two X-Men baddies that really scare me, which is funny to say, of all the villains, they're the ones that scare me. Anyway I didn't know how the X-men we're going to defeat them, so It was interesting, and I liked how it ended. I mean my younger self would of hated it, but I now see the potential.

Overall, even with a thin plot, I recommend it, it can stand alone from its previous volume.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this volume slightly better than the first. For one thing, this volume had some Terry Dodson art. If you are going to do a book starring female X-men, Terry Dodson is a great choice for artist. Really sexy art. That was about the only saving grace though. The story wasn't terrible but just seemed so typical. It's a continuation of the first volume dealing with the sentient computer virus.

Visually nice, but overall still disappointing.

[David Farrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fine, but ultimately underwhelming. All female team up against all female villains. Plenty to enjoy from the artwork with multiple characters beautifully drawn and large on the page. I didn't like the quick fix ending, nor was I into the shoe horned Sentinel fight. Points for the visuals but not for the storyline.

[The Sapphic Nerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just look at the cover. That quality is basically what you get inside. Gorgeous interior art. The story is okay - if a little underwhelming - but it's amusing to read the ladies' interactions, even if I don't know what all their beef with each other is.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stało się. Fala feminizacji dopadła serię X-men. I prywatnie nie widzę nic w tym złego, choć chciałbym natomiast aby jakoś pozytywnie wpłynęło to na całość i dało w efekcie kawał dobrej lektury, bo myślę, iż się da to zrobić. Niestety nie w przypadku Muertas...

To niewątpliwie ładnie wyglądający tom. Dodson ma talent do obrysowywania kobiet. Postacie są świetnie narysowane, jednak fabularnie jest nieco za płytko. Wood nie silił się na oryginalność i ponownie postanowił wykorzystać postać Arkei. Pokonana przeciwniczka wraca raz jeszcze, tym razem zbierając własną ekipę, która tworzy wspólnie nowe Siostrzeństwo. W Muertas zatem rządzą kobiety, ze Storm, jako nieformalną przywódczynią na czele X-men.

I jest to nawet fajne. Mamy problemy dojrzewania, emocje. Uczucia jakie żywi jedna kobieta do drugiej, a co jest utrudnione poprzez wygląd, bo mutanci wyglądają naprawdę różnie. Miało to swój urok, zwłaszcza tych kilka kadrów z Jubilee w roli głównej. No i Shogo to słodki bobas. Niemniej szkoła ponownie jest zagrożona, bo na horyzoncie pojawia się odrodzona Lady Deathstrike.

Jestem w tej materii zielony jak natka pietruszki, więc konieczny był research co się działo wcześniej w serii. To właśnie problem Marvel NOW! Niby restartujemy uniwersum, by było przystępniejsze dal nowej fali młodych czytelników, ale tak nie jest do końca. W innych seriach jakoś nie miałem z tym problemu. Ba, czasami zdarzały się nawet plansze co było poprzednio... Tutaj trochę tego brakuje.

Lady Deathstrike stała się częścią świadomości niejakiej Any Cortez, spadkobierczyni narkotykowego imperium, a która to wspiera Arkeę w vendetcie. Dołóżmy do tego jeszcze Typhoid Mary czy Enchantress i mamy niemałe kłopoty, choć skład X-men naprzeciw nim stający do najsłabszych też nie należy. Mamy tutaj sporo walk, nawet bodajże z Sentinelami. Do walki z nimi wyznaczono inny zespół i choć ten wątek jest znacznie krótszy, to i tak wydał mi się bardziej interesujący...

I to główny problem nowej serii X-men. Za mało tu zabawy mocami, za to mamy całą masę dialogów, które do najwyższych lotów nie należą. Z kolei jak mamy akcję, to też nie jest ona jakoś bardzo spektakularna (no może poza tą w Dubaju). X-men jest jak dla mnie kwintesencją określenia przeciętny. Są tu "momenty" przeplatane z nudą, ale w sumie i tak raczej bym ten tytuł. Dziewczynom. Bo w tej serii girl power jest niezwykle potężna. 3/5

[Blythe Penland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was another wonderful read about the women of the X-Men. I appreciate the girl power showcased in this novel more than I thought I would. Especially since all the villains were girls, too. That is, if you can classify Arkea as a woman. It was super freaky to have her back when she was just defeated the issue before this. It was good to see Karima back on her feet. The budding friendship she had with Monet made me happy. And now she off to find Ana Cortes with Sabra and Gabriel. Can I have her life? Also, I hope that Ana is okay. She's the young daughter of a mob boss in Colombia, and I don't think becoming Lady Deathstrike was ever supposed to go as far as submitting completely to Arkea as she took over the world. Comitting a kind of seppeku was big of her, and I admire her for it. I still don't like Typhoid Mary or Amora the Enchantress. And I definitely feel like we should all watch out for the recently ressurected and free Selene Galio and Maddie Pryor. Jumping back to the events going on at the Jean Grey school, I'm glad Roxy and Mercury are going out. It was unecessarily complicated, so now maybe things will be better. Hellion's bathing suit was hilarious and I am all in favor of making that the new X-Men suit. I'm not sure what's been going on between John Sublime and Rachel, but it was amazing that he was able to create a device that would permanently kill Arkea without killing her host. And as always, Psylocke is my favorite person ever because she is inarguably awesome. I recommend this book to those who've never seen a sisterhood of villains. It's surprising.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read few stories that feature Monet. I only know she is seen as a bit of a bitch, though her power level is impressive. I can see why she would be arrogant and she has become one of my favourite X-Men after this story. The artwork is sexy AF, even after the artist change, so everybody looks amazing no matter their mental state or personality.

Ana Cortes, a billionaire heiress, buys Yuriko Oyama's consciousness and inserts it beside her own. She brings Lady Deathstrike back, but needs time for her body to adjust. She builds a team of mutants to stand by her against the X-Men, initially just for fun. Arkea's involvement makes the experience less enjoyable that she would have hoped.

Ana recruits Typhoid Mary and Amora the Enchantress to resurrect Arkea into a host body. Arkea assumes control of the sisterhood to Ana's dismay who wants to add Madelyne Pryor and Selene Galio the Black Queen to their team. Ana's distress at losing the lead position in the group pushes her to stab herself with a sword. Internal disagreements lead to Arkea facing the X-Men alone when the rest of the sisterhood are either defeated or make a deal and walk away. The X-Men then use an antivirus that targets Arkea specifically, leaving her host intact.

[Alex E · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picking up right where the last volume left off, the team is dealing with the remnants of Arkea and the desire of others to unleash her.

Brian Wood's first volume of X-Men felt fresh and interesting. I think the Arkea character was very threatening and a good villain for the team. But once she was defeated, I think it would've been cool to not use her for a while and then bring her back. Instead, Wood opts for the continuation of the story, and decides to dip into the well again. So we have this team of female villains who bring Arkea back to life. And what's more, is that that Arkea then wants to bring back two major villains, Selene and Madelyne Pryor! Unfortunately this all kind of goes nowhere as Storm pretty much tells them to walk away and fight another day or be defeated... which they promptly do.

I think that's what is the problem with this volume, its a big and interesting build up... and then it just ends. Arkea is handled pretty quickly, the team handles Sentinels pretty quickly, its just kind of a waste of time. I really think Wood should've saved Arkea for later on to bring her back in a bigger way, as she now feels wasted and not that big of a threat overall anymore.

Hopefully the next volume gets us back to the highs of vol 1.

[Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time following the villains plan, or caring about it. There were also times I couldn’t tell the X-Men apart. There were too many similar looking characters with not enough detail and too many outfit changes.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the X-Ladies kicking butt.
The story is all over the place.
Still I am happy to see the fun is still here.

[Frans Kempe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Deathstrike activates Arkea again and the X-Men has to stop her and her minions.

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hago reseña un poco más adelante de toda la etapa.

[Sleepseeker · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 rating

It was an ok read. I didn't care for the villain. I still love the X-Women and the team.

[Cassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad I read this so I could figure out who Mercury and Bling are.

[Michael Holland · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was good. The art and character development were even better.