X-Men: X-Corps

New Uncanny X-Men #1

by Joe Casey, Ian Churchill (Illustrator), Sean Phillips (Illustrator)

Collects Uncanny X-Men (1963) #394-409, Annual 2001.

Chamber graduates from Generation X just in time to enjoy the (ahem) celebrity status of being an X-Man - but when his whirlwind romance with a pop star hits the tabloids, is Chamber just the flavor of the month? Plus, the X-Men investigate a mutant brothel in Nevada and gain a troubled new member: the seductive Stacy X! But when the bigoted zealots from the Church of Humanity target all mutants for genocide, can the team's two newest members pull their weight? Then: distraught over his true love's death, Banshee forms a paramilitary mutant team to keep the peace in Europe. But something sinister lurks beneath his good intentions. Who's really pulling the strings?

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

452 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 23, 2013

About the author

Librarian note: there is more than one author with this name

Joe Casey is an American comic book writer. He has worked on titles such as Wildcats 3.0, Uncanny X-Men, The Intimates, Adventures of Superman, and G.I. Joe: America's Elite among others. As part of the comics creator group Man of Action Studios, Casey is one of the creators of the animated series Ben 10.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Casey

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the companion book to Morrison's X-Men, at the time Casey does quite well, introducing Stacy X, Mr Clean, Church of Humanity, X-Corps and more. His Uncanny is also the first time Chamber became an X-Man. The direction he was taken with the former / current prostitute Stacy X was pretty interesting, but the negativity from the mostly male readers was to be expected, and later creators ruined the character allowing her to be debased by the likes of Iceman and Angel!!!
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Still worth a read for the X-Corps story alone, a well deserved 7 out of 12 :)

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice to finally get all of these Casey stories in a handsome collection, and to see X-Men stories that are contemporary with the Morrison run!

Playing God (394). A fair start for Casey. It shows that he has a handle on the characters (though he won’t be using most of the ones in this issue long-term) and is willing to move in some innovative directions [7/10].

Poptopia (395-398). Overall, a pretty great comic for its focus on Chambers’ desire for acceptance and its willingness to hit hard on the bigotry-against-mutants theme that was just about to disappear (with M day). Casey’s take on the X-Men here also continues to be slightly off of the traditional fare: it’s edgier and more SF, which is all around a nice match to what Morrison was doing [7+/10].

The Church of Humanity (399-400). The idea of a mutant whore house is just the sort of weird intermixture of the real and the super that Casey loves, and it comes across well here [8/10]. Unfortunately, the 400th issue that finishes off the plotline is too decompressed and thus doesn’t hold up the storyline, in large part due to piles of fighting [6+/10].

Absolute Progeny (A2001). I'm not sure what I think of the art (which was artistic, but hard to follow) or the sideways story. However, the plotline really goes hand-in-hand with the scientific take on mutants than Morrison was writing at the time, so this feels like a good piece of the whole [7/10].

X-Corps (401-407). This arc is a little slow to start, but it turns out to be Casey’s best to date. It’s interesting to see him mixing WildCATS ideas of superheroic corporations with the X-Men mythos. Beyond that, he does a great job of bringing in antagonists and creating an exciting situation rapidly spiraling out of control [7+/10]. The coda with Kurt really doubting his place in the world is an excellent character piece [8/10].

The Finale (408-409). These last couple of issues, with Angel leading things as the head of his corporation, suggest a really nice continuing storyline for an X-Men spinoff, so it’s too bad things got cut off (and that feels *very* sudden). [7/10]

Overall, I was thrilled to finally get to read this entire run of Casey X-Men. It’s definitely a good addition to the mythology. Unfortunately, Casey never seemed to be given to get the opportunity to get his feet under him. There was a big change after 394, presumably when Morrison made it clear what characters he wanted, then 395-400 felt like Morrison's SF X-Men, and 401-409 offered Casey's own take on corporate X-Men ... but there was never a chance for it all to gel. A long Morrison-like run or (even better) a long corporate run without the back and forth of this volume, would easily have come in at 5 stars.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was surprisingly not bad. I wouldn't go so far as to call it good but it had some interesting ideas, when it wasn't rehashing Mutant Massacre and God Loves, Man Kills. Most importantly to me, it gave Banshee a major role, and it had some really good Warren Worthington III characterization.

I wish Casey had been given a chance to finish his storylines (the final issue says #5 of 8 on it) as I suspect they would have gone to some pretty unique places, but instead he was removed from the title and replaced with Chuck Austen, the most notorious X-Men writer of all time.

Oh and that cover is extremely misleading. Jean is only in one issue and while the kiss does occur it's under some elaborately constructed circumstances.

[Odo · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5.0

[Lillian Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, as an overall collection that was a mess.
The art: Of the 17 issues that made up the collection there must have been at least half a dozen artists. Some whose art style was abysmal (Yes, the annual. Did they accidentally submit the storyboard? Anyway it was impossible to follow. I've seen others praise the art style, so maybe Ashley Wood's art is just not for me.) And some art I really enjoyed; Churchill, Raney, Garney.
The story: overall I liked where this was going. Some interesting ideas all coming out of Charles' announcement about mutants. Both as worship and hatred. Themes that are also explored in the current X runs 20 years later. Worried about Nightcrawler after his run in with the boss of the Church of Humanity. #410 had a change of writer so I wonder if this will ever be addressed. Again I don't want to dump on the annual but I don't understand where it comes in the run. It seems to contradict events in the other books. Is it an alternate reality? Another take on how things could have gone down. I've no idea.
The team: Iceman, Archangel, Nightcrawler, Chamber, and new to me, Stacy X. With occasional appearances by Wolverine. Really liked this team. Bobby and Warren are two of my favourites any way. And Kurt is always interesting. Thankfully there isn't too much Wolverine. And I like Chamber. It's the first time I've seen him without the cover on his face for most of his appearances, here he's exposed constantly.
Overall certain issues were 4 stars while others were most definitely 2.

[TR Naus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Casey joins the franchise with the unenviable position of keeping up with Grant Morrison. While the New X-Men focuses on the school, Joe Casey takes the Uncanny X-Men on assignments around the world. He starts with a young mutant punk ready to make his mark by following Magneto's footsteps and comes out as a mutant threat by attacking Cape Citadel. This run ends with the X-Men learning about young mutant women who use their powers to please at a brothel in Nevada. Between those two bookend stories is a hard lesson about the fickleness of fame -- especially for those groups of people who stand apart from the norm. The team's lineup includes Archangel, Iceman, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine as they attempt to bring Chamber back into the fold while still helping the less fortunate mutants.

Running through the entire run is the Church of Humanity, a religious order that reasons the best way to protect humans by purging mutants. While I think that it leans a bit too heavy on Catholic imagery (their leader is the "Supreme Pontiff", for example), I completely appreciate the use of zealotry to create a singular purpose in which those that aren't the same as us are hunted in the name of God.

He concludes with an even better storyline from the opposite angle. Banshee's pain at Moria's death leads him to take Xavier's Dream in a new direction. Recruiting mutants such as his students from Generation X, he forms a well-funded, international police force to find and protect mutants in ways that he was unable to do in any of his other roles. He adds known criminals into the ranks (such as the Blob) and that draws the attention of the X-Men. Things begin to unravel as the team learns that Banshee's focused mission hides a dangerously exploitable blindspot.

How does Joe Casey do? Not bad at all. They are memorable stories that deal more directly with some of the core issues long associated with the X-Men -- discrimination and how it impacts those who don't wear the "X" uniform. Yes, there are some noticeable similarities to past plots (particularly the sewer-dwelling mutant outcasts), but he does a good job of introducing some unexpected twists such as prostitute turned new member, Stacy X. It's a fun, new direction that keeps you guessing.

There is a lot to unpack during Joe Casey's run. He pushes a few boundaries that force us to relook at the X-Men struggles as a minority group through a new lens.

[Nate Deprey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Casey's run on X-Men isn't always well thought of but I really liked this collection! Stacy X is an interesting character who would probably be a lot more prominent if Marvel weren't owned by Disney so it's frustrating that she only appears in these and a few more issues. I think it's a real loss and she would have been fascinating during the Krakoan era of X-Men.
Interestingly the weakest issue in this collection is the silent issue. The G.I. Joe silent issue is probably the best and most famous attempt at this and it works as well as it does by focusing on one character. It also helped that that character, Snake Eyes, had a very distinctive look and manner. In a team book with multiple story lines and a cast as wide as the X-Men that story telling style is much more challenging and I don't think they pulled it off here. All that said, the script for the silent issue is included in this collection and reading through it after the fact was insightful.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm using this as a catch-all to keep track of the single issues that I've read. In this case, I didn't quite make it to the end of Casey's run, stopping at 404 which unfortunately is right in the middle of the X-Corps story arc.

Overall, there's not really anything wrong with Casey's arc. He's using the "B" team in the wake of Morrison's big status quo change, hence the black leather outfits with piping. He developed a few new threats, and continued to stoke the flames of anti-mutant hatred. The problem is it feels very similar to what's gone before. He's retreading old X-Men ideas, even a version of Morlocks in a different country. The X-Corps idea features one of their own as the "bad guy" and I don't know how that turned out. For the most part the art is decent, so other than a lack of originality there's nothing inherently bad about this run.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would have been a four star book, but there's a lot of issues included, and the art is incredibly inconsistent. Still, this is a huge step up from what the book had been doing. Both Claremont and Lobdell had been writing plodding, stiff stories, and these seem new and exciting. It flows much better and seems so much more modern.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Casey keeps circling around the idea of corporate power. it seems like he did it best in Wildcasts. Here, the whole Banshee sorry seemed as surprising and confusing to the reader as it does to the characters.

[Stephen Lawrence · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stupid cover art

I specifically bought this because I saw the cover as JG kissing Wolverine, and yet that was never a part of the story or hinted at or anything? Why even use that cover? That's false advertising.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun rereading these as I didn’t remember any of them.

[TK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such good storytelling for a mediocre story!

I miss buff daddy Banshee from Gen X.

[Jase · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Poptopia but Banshee going rogue w/ a team for his own purposes was just ok.

[Jason Tanner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was overall a good run. I haven't loved the other Joe Casey stuff I've read, but honestly that was mostly his Superman run, and that was so long ago I've basically forgotten it. But this was some solid storytelling that I missed back in the day. And it was a nice complement to Morrison's New X-Men with some good ideas.

So why didn't I rate it higher? (Especially when I rated parts of the Austen run higher!)

I guess because it didn't resonate emotionally with me, and it didn't have a reputation to live up (or down) to like other X-runs I've read. The characterization was interesting, but I never felt like anyone got explored as deeply as they could have. Plots were decent. Art was generally pretty good.

Joe Casey wrote a solid X-Men run, and that's pretty much the long and short of it.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Updated Review from 2025 readthrough:

I stand by the original review, and would just add that, apart from the Poptopia storyline, which I owned in the original Poptopia trade, I didn't remember any of this storyline, even though I read it when it came out, and again in 2018. Nothing stuck with me. So it's not awful, it's just a very forgettably middlin' Xstory.

***

Original 2018 review:

While Morrison and Claremont were writing their X-Titles with incredible focus (but with wildly varying degrees of success), Casey chose to tell a series of shorter stories that seemed like they were going to result in a new status quo for Uncanny X-Men.

Sadly, his ideas never came to fruition, so we're left with a bunch of stories that never went anywhere interesting.

I enjoyed his choice of characters: Angel, Iceman, Nightcrawler, Chamber, sometimes Wolverine (as he was in all three of the major books at the time), and then the surviving Generation X characters (minus Emma Frost, who's running things in New X-Men by Grant Morrison: Ultimate Collection, Book 1). But the stories presented interesting ideas, quickly devolved into convolution, and then seemed abandoned as he moved on to the next storyline. Very disappointing.

The art is wildly varied, but often fantastic. I had completely forgotten that Sean Phillips had worked on X-Men...and without Ed Brubaker writing! The true tragedy of the storyline, though, is that Ashley Wood ended up drawing the landscaped annual as opposed to the silent issue which followed it.

I don't really recommend this for anyone who isn't already steeped in X-Men lore. It's not hard to follow at all, but it's nowhere near good enough for a casual comic reader to waste time on.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just barely 3 Stars...
What we have here is a graphic novel that takes some smaller stories that happen between big events and pools them together into a huge graphic novel. "Poptopia" and "X-Corps" were the two largest overarching stories here. Both featured Chamber, a mutant I haven't seen since I was reading Generation X (which was a great title), and it was very nice to see him in action again. "X-Corps" even brought in Banshee, Husk, M, all from Gen X as well. The rest of the team is rounded out by Archangel, Iceman, Nightcrawler and occasional appearances by Wolverine and newer pheromone-based powered Stacy-X (who is just okay...)
With both Mutant Messiah next on my list, I hope that my catching up in the X World goes better than this title. Not bad, but definitely didn't need to be that long.
Kind of recommend.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the sister book to Morrison's New X-Men, Millar's New X-Men and Claremont's Xtreme X-Men.

Unfortunately, that made it the "redheaded" stepchild when it was also the time of X-Statix, Cable/Soldier X, Weapon X, Muties, The Brotherhood, etc.

It's a solid run, but extremely inconsistent--with notions of the celebrity superhero, "Pop eating itself" and corporate power becoming a necessary discussion. It's kind got some interesting comments on mutant culture, code-switching, self-policing, etc.

I consider it a sort of sequel to Generation X, particularly Brian Wood's run since it follows Chamber.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gems include Logan & Jean make out, the Poptopia 4parter where Jono dates a pop star & the X-Men fight Mr. Clean, the debut of Stacy X, the secret history of the Church of Humanity aka the Marvel Mormon church, a silent issue, Sean introduces X-Corps, a Generation X reunion, Martinique traps Jono, X-Corps goes rogue, X-Men & Generation X v. Brotherhood, Kurt & Jono recuperate in the Alps, & the Rocktopia 2 parter

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank some higher being, X-Men straightened its course finally. Those collections and issues before this were horrible.
But this.... nice solid story telling and the characters finally ceased talking to each other endlesly.
Good Sean Phillips art also. I had totally forgotten he drew this one also. Nice.

[Timothy Villa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag. Some greatness and some mediocrity. The art was very hit and miss, with the annual being an incomprehensible mess.