The Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 3: Murder Me, Mutina

The Uncanny X-Men (2024)

by Gail Simone, Luciano Vecchio (Artist), David Márquez (Artist)

Acclaimed scribe Gail Simone continues her uncanny take on the X-Men! When a brilliant but exploitative Hollywood director makes a surprise-hit horror film featuring a serial-killing mutant girl, there are protests at theaters around the country - and a rise in anti-mutant violence in those same communities. But is it "just a movie," or is something much more insidious going on? Things are looking up when, for the first time in New Orleans history, the city declares a Mutant Appreciation Day festival and street fair, with all the music, food and fun the city is famous for. If the Hellfire Gala is filet mignon, this is corn dogs and lemonade. But are all mutants okay with this attempt at bridging the gap, or are sinister forces lurking behind the Tilt-A-Whirl? Deadpool and Outlaw come to town, guns blazing! And the two baddest brawlers of the Louisiana X-Men - Wolverine and Ransom - buddy up to go undercover in faraway Argentina to chase and destroy a legendary X-villain…at a comic-book convention?! Collecting UNCANNY X-MEN (2024) #17-21.

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

120 pages, Paperback

Published December 16, 2025

About the author

Gail Simone is a comic book writer well-known for her work on Birds of Prey (DC), Wonder Woman (DC), and Deadpool (Marvel), among others, and has also written humorous and critical commentary on comics and the comics industry such as the original "Women in Refrigerators" website and a regular column called "You'll All Be Sorry".

Reviews

[Oscar]

2.6 🌟

[Khurram]

I have to say this book feels more like the New Mutants book. I understand using the X-MEN as mentors and rebuilding the mutants reputation but I want the X-MEN taking centre stage and fighting their super villains.

Mutants hate is at an all time high, mow a controversial horror movie about a mutant slasher. What is the truth about the lead actress?

Have the Uncanny X-MEN found a home? Are the appreciated again?

A story going back to Free Comic Book Day. Did they really need Deadpool in this story?

A voice message opens old family wounds for Ransom. However he now has the backup of his new family in the form of Wolverine.

I wanted this to be the X-MENs book again. There is enough going on with the X-MEN why does this book need the Outliers? The book finishes with a variant cover gallery.

[Robert]

Maybe more of a 3.5, but an enjoyable one at least.


Happy Logan got this moment...

[Frédéric]

It's sometimes a bit corny, it drags on a bit, and Vecchio's artwork holds the title back, as it's barely adequate, but Simone puts her heart into what she writes and her characters, and that alone makes it worth reading.

[Renata]

btw I have no idea if whatever's happening at the former mansion is like, being covered in another book I'm not reading? I don't really MIND having occasional confusing checkins over there but like. I don't know them.

Anywayyyy I really love Gail Simone's penchant for giving us lil domestic moments!! I love a FESTIVAL!! yayyyyy

[vixi ⋆˚࿔]

i think i’m definitely biased towards this because calico &rogue are my favourite characters in this run, &they’re definitely focused on in this, but this was so fun!! i also really enjoyed the emphasis placed on ransom, because it kind of felt like he was just there to compliment everyone else’s characters beforehand

[Rob Marney]

3.5 stars. I really like the overall direction the book is going. The art is a splendid example of the house style, the New Mutants are charming and cheesy, and the Claremont Excalibur vibe of "we're out here chilling and solving small scale personal issues" is delightful. Unfortunately, Simone just doesn't know how to write Wolverine, and he's front and center in this trade. It really pulls me out of the narrative flow, from when to pop his claws to the 2020s dialogue to generally being written like Canadian Gambit. It's also disappointing that the New Mutants have immediately paired up into romance and bromance, making sure they stay self-contained and don't get to have fun with the rest of the cast when they guest star on next year's crossover event.

[Raquel]

( I read the collected issues, so am considering this volume read.)

As usual, Gail Simone delivers a fantastic story with great characters. And the art by Luciano Vecchio and David Marquez is excellent.

I'm so happy that we get to read such a nice X-Men series. Can't wait to see what happens next.

[Matt Sautman]

As opposed to other volumes in Simone’s run, this volume feels less cohesive due to the minimal presence Mutina serves after the core storyline shifts towards a cult. The comics here are good quality but would be better served read back to back with other trade paperbacks to conceal the faults present here.

[Scarred Wizard]

While the artwork is good (i prefer David Marquez's), this volume feels a bit wordy & more dialogue than action. And the build up for Mutina is so intense & the stakes are high.. But it ended only in two issue? That is quite short.

The issue with the team being superheroic saving citizens inside the burning hospital is really good.

I need more action.

Overall rating : 6.5/10

[Paul]

4.3 stars

[Dakota Morgan]

A big drop in quality from the first two Uncanny X-Men volumes. Instead of any sort of overarching storyline, we get a series of character pieces that rehash old news ("Mutants are hated and feared and it's hard!"), introduce boring backstory (sorry Argentine punching guy), or are just plain weird (a movie comes out where a mutant is the villain... and the actress playing the character really is a mutant hating serial killer?).

The art's consistently good and I mostly like these new additions to the X-verse, I just wish they got a more interesting story to take part in. Instead, they're shunted around these boring one-shots without much to do. If this is street-level X-Men, I'll take the cosmic stuff any day.

[Jourdy]

Kept up with this in single issues! I really like this run, Deathdream is my favorite. Once everything…calms down I’ll be excited to get back to them all :3

[Joey Nardinelli]

I think I almost just cried TWICE during one TPB, what the heck. I’ve really been enjoyed these two generations of teams. There’s ample heart and silliness in this run, and while I’m sure some of it feels juvenile or too reliant on knowingly winking at the audience, I find it generally pretty charming and a nice tonal swing away from all the post-Krakoa doom and gloom. All five of the core X-Men characters have things to do and yet the cast of new heroes isn’t undercut terribly — each has a moment to shine in this run. The Mutina plot just sort of peters out, but given the ongoing presence of Waffles and The Vig, I feel like we’ll get a dose of her again sooner or later.

I’d have to review my reviews, but this might be my favorite mainline Marvel line currently…

[Nate Deprey]

You shouldn't judge a book by its cover but boy oh boy should the cover of this collection be the cover of Uncanny X-Men 17. That is probably my favorite cover of any comic in the last two years or so and feels like a real missed opportunity here. All that said, Gail Simone is doing great stuff with this series. The new kids, especially Deathdream, are pretty fun and the established characters on the team she really has a handle on.

[PebbleInTheBrook1794]

2.5 stars. How do the X-Men earn money to live in their comfortable accomodation, live their lives and can afford to be so generous with all their superheroing? Xavier's used to be a school, which had funding presumably, and brought in cash, and Krakoa had its own economy and trade. So, what now post-Krakoa? (just sayin', it's not obvious to me).

Rogue's crew don't need money to travel, because Gambit's got a teleportation device (saves precious panel space). I suppose setting up base in New Orleans near or at Gambit"s old stomping ground might save some cash (and maybe Cyclops just happens to have an abandoned factory in Alaska on the books). And if some citizens in New Orleans are celebrating the heroic deeds of Nightcrawler and other mutants, as neighbours worth having... how do the X-Men contribute economically to the community, and earn their cash?

This question just occured to me with what to write about this third volume of Simone's. As it is, by ignoring such questions, the story loses some impact for me, and it's not hard edged. Instead, the X-Men are superheroes and do good-citizen type things to show that positive mutant-human integration can work. OK, that's what we've got here, that's what we're being shown with a very X-Men '92 roster of X-Men. It's not very dramatic or bigger in picture than that.

I think the best X-Men stories play strongly with perspective and Weird sci-fi, societal concepts, mixed with soap (or, space) opera. Some of this is missing from the status quo Simone has established in this book.

What we get is development of the Outlier new mutants. Valentin - a mutant kid with powers similar to Sebastian Shaw's kinetic energy absorption power - teleports (via Gambit's Eye of Agomotto) back home to Buenos Aires, with Logan, to sort out some family drama.

That's it, the new status quo: superheroing around the globe because of teleportation, while based in a large house/grounds in New Orleans, and mutant/human relations and do the integration are foremost at mind. I ask, where's the Weird, or the honest notions of mutant superiority that we saw in Cyclops utopia era, or Krakoa, that were so interesting and refreshing. The post-Krakoa status quo I find to be OK at best. *Sigh

Now I'll go reread Kieron Gillen's comic The Power Fantasy - what a good comic with a telepath is like (Marvel really ought to employ Gillen again in any way they are able to

[Adam Fisher]

Last book before the Age of Revelation! (Though I think my order should have put X-Men V3 at the end with the Vigil and way it ended....) Taking a brief X-Men break for a bit...
Highlights:
- Probably one of the coolest ideas I've read in a while involves that of Mutina, a movie slasher villain who isn't specifically targeting mutants in the movie, but is actually a slasher outside the movies who does! Frightening mostly Calico, Mutina backs off when confronted by Wolverine. She'll definitely be back!
- New Orleans is hosting the first ever "Friendship Fest", a celebration of all things mutant. Though it is a nice gesture and wonderful to see, some terrorists try to burn down a children's hospital and blame it on mutants, but the team is able to save everyone.
- Jubliee had previously embarrassed a rich boy when he decided to flaunt his mutant hating. He's come back, with a bunch of mercs to take her down. Zebra skinned diner waitress Uva gets caught in the middle, but is saved when the team puts down the spoiled brat. (LOL sent him to the Savage Land to learn some respect!)
- Ransom and Logan head off to Venezuela to save Valentin's brother from a mutant hating cult. Ransom reminds me of a young Synch.

Another great Uncanny Volume. Definitely looking forward to seeing how AoR ends up!
Recommend.

[Chris Lemmerman]

After some big heavy-hitting storylines like Raid on Graymalkin, Dark Artery, and X-Manhunt, this volume of Uncanny X-Men focuses in on some character-driven stories.

The opening Mutina arc is an interesting commentary on the state of mutants in the Marvel Universe atm, and the effect she has on the various characters is surprising, as is the truth of her. The focus zeroes in even further for the latter half, with an issue all about Jubilee, and a two-parter that gives us some back story for Ransom as he and Wolverine team-up.

There's a quote on the back of this trade that I think really sums up why I like this book so much - every scene does something, whether it's make you laugh, give you some insight into the characters' minds, or smash a big hole in something expensive. Gail Simone leaves no page unplumbed for story potential.

My only gripe I think is that David Marquez only drew one issue of the five, which felt kinda rushed. Luciano Vecchio's other four issues were great though, so I guess it's less of a gripe than I thought.

[Chris Aylott]

Simone continues to develop her themes of the X-Men living a more public life as part of their local communities -- interesting stuff that is hard to develop while keeping a healthy balance of wacky superpowered throwdowns.

Where the book suffers a little is that we see the inciting action and the initial reactions, but not the reflection. It's not clear what the X-folk think about the mayor of New Orleans' ideas to Disney-fy them as part of reclaiming a lost community -- it's a complex idea that doesn't get more than a few pages in this volume. Then there's Wolverine and Ransome's trip to Argentina, a two-issue road trip that provides a lot of character exploration but fizzles out at the climax. (Apparently they had to cut the storyline short for the next big crossover event, and boy do the seams show.)

So the book as a whole is a little awkward. It's always great to hang out with the X-Men, I just wish the volume stood up a little better on its own.

[Ross]

Taking the LONG road to rebuilding what it means to be a 'New Mutant' in the modern age...

If you could promise me this book would come out consistently, advance the plot regularly, and stay independent of other books (unless relevant), you'd have me on this book forever. Can you imagine this book with a looooooooong term storyline like 'Y: The Last Man' or 'Saga'?

I hold out hope that there's a great story in one of these, when I know in my heart that they're just going to cancel this and move on.

All that, and we know the series is on the back burner for 'Age of Revelation' garbage. Boo!
======
Bonus: Still don't know what that horse is/was made of and we're 2 years into the series...
Bonus Bonus: Deathdream is someone's 'little brother'? Aww. (Wait. What?)
Bonus ^3: Deadpool REALLY hates New Mutants (callback to his first appearance)

[Orb]

I enjoy Gail Simone's writing quite a bit. I liked that this book pulls back on the flagship characters to push the Outliers forward, while giving some character development to the veteran X-Men through their relationships with their students. Simone also creates a strong sense of setting (place and era) without cramming Marvel events or shoe-horning current events into the story. Escapism with light commentary was nice. The title was a bit of a misnomer, though. "Murder Me, Mutina" is the title of the first issue in this collection, and while the story emerges in the consciousness of the characters here and there throughout this tpb, it is not a story arc. Mutina is a compelling character, and one wonders if her sattitude towards her fellow mutants comes from the array of powers at her disposal or from some other experience. I want to learn more about her. Anyway, not a terrible read.

[Shannon Appelcline]

I've come to realize that this isn't _Uncanny X-Men_, it's _Cozy X-Men_. This is tales of people who love each other to be read by the fireplace on a cold winter night. It's about family. It's an active rebellion against the darker, more mature X-Men of recent years.

Is it memorable? Not necessarily. Is it tune with where the X-Men should be headed post-Krakoa? Definitely not, and that's it's main problem. (Heck, I find it hard to believe it's even taking place in the same universe as the hard-hitting mutant-hating Jed MacKay X-Men comic.)

But are the characters awesome, including the new characters who are really the heart of the book? Definitely. (Though I still find this version of Wolverine hard to believe.)

[Memphis Evans]

Update: Now I see that the next volume has that main title villain on the cover, so maybe these story arcs are going to carry on. Never mind! I should have trusted Simone and the team. 5 stars!

Pending vol. 4 being awesome, consider the following review to be incomplete information:

This was great except that each of the story arcs felt incomplete.

The main title villain of this collection is still threatening the team and then she just disappears from the book.

Someone sets a fire targeting wounded children and the X-Men vow to find him and then they seem to forget all about it and start fresh one page later.

The only story that seemed complete was the final story, probably the best of them if only for the fact that there was some resolution to it.

[Craig]

Kind of an unfocused mess, the stories are all over the place with little to connect them. First up, there's a new movie with a mutant serial killer, Mutina, and everyone's worried how this will affect the community. Then, it's Mutant Appreciation Day in New Orleans and the mayor has some crazy ideas about how to market the mutants in their own entertainment corridor. And then Wolverine and one of the young guys (Ransom, I guess? shows you how memorable they are) are off to...Argentina? I wish there was a more unified through-line here, but I guess you take what you can get. Some of the art looks kind of rushed, but for the most part it's decent.

[Natalia]

While the interactions between characters and bonding time are cute, I can't say I feel engaged by the plot. It's like random short stories smashed together. We have this big thing with Mutina, and it's left unresolved. There is this short episode with Warden of Graymalkin and Monet, but it's completely out of nowhere (I don't follow any other X-men series, so I have no clue if it's was explained somewhere else), and doesn't lead anywhere. The Proctor is stopped and what exactly happans next? Is he arrested? Does he go back home with a slap on the wrist? So many questions, not enough answers.

[C Johnson]

Bit of a letdown

I usually enjoy Simone’s work but there is way too much emphasis on the young mutants called the Outliers that the X-men have taken in. They are just not very interesting. When you have powerhouse characters like Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Rogue on the team I’m not sure why anyone would feature these boring younger characters. I get that Simone is going for a New Mutants vibe but it just doesn’t work here.

On the bright side, Wolverine does have a few great moments and the artwork is excellent.

[Richard Pulfer]

This is a 4.5 for me. It's Gail Simone hitting her stride, and it has everything.

Deadpool.

A mutant slasher movie.

And a Joe Hill cameo?!?!

Not sure what more you could want from a comic, but I think Gail Simone delivers on showcasing the X-Men training a new group of mutants in an increasingly chaotic world. Overall, this felt more like a building arc more than anything else - but it was still a wildly enjoyable one.

[Hisham]

The stories in this collection get very meta. You see the reaction of the regular characters reacting to a a horror film that relies on the fear of mutants. You also see some characters experience a comic book convention in the course of their adventures. Then they also experience a mutant pride celebration.

All very thoughtful stories aided by consistent artwork.

[Papa Jimbo]

I'm enjoying this more and more - I think using Uncanny as the platform for half classic X Men and half New Mutants is a great balance and is lets us see some traditionally "young" X-men/women taking on the roles of their functional predecessors (plus Wolverine up to his old surrogate-father tricks)

[Chad]

A bunch of OK one and done stories while we wait for this X Years from Now event to start. The best you can say about this is that it's fine. I remember the days when X-Men comics were at the top of the pile every week. I wish we could get back to those days.