Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 2

Uncanny X-Men (2013) (Collected Editions) #4-6

by Brian Michael Bendis, Chris Bachalo (Artist), Kris Anka (Artist)

Brian Michael Bendis concludes his Uncanny X-Men era! After relentless persecution and a near-fatal attack, Cyclops and his revolutionaries are targeting SHIELD! But is the spy organization really responsible for the return of the mutant-killing Sentinels? Sins and secrets will be revealed as warring X-Men gather to hear the reading of Charles Xavier's last will and testament - but its contents may lead to the team's ultimate undoing! With the end fast approaching, Scott Summers finds himself driven ever closer to the precipice of disaster. Will Cyclops save himself from ruin or leap off the edge?

COLLECTING: UNCANNY X-MEN 19-35, 600, ANNUAL, ALL-NEW X-MEN ANNUAL

Genres: Comics, X Men, Marvel, Graphic Novels

496 pages, Hardcover

First published December 20, 2016

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Judah Radd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Am I looking at Emma Frost, Magik, Allison Blaire or one of the Stepford Cuckoos?

This is the question that Chris Bachalo’s art made me keep asking myself.

Besides that, this was mostly pretty damn good. It seemed to have a deep respect for the history and lore, and it also resolved some emotional threads that started back around Morrison New X-Men and House of M.

I love Bendis’ writing. He did such a great job fleshing out Eva Bell. Cyclops went through some outstanding trials and tribulations. Magik, Colossus, Kitty, yesterday’s X-Men... everyone’s arc was resolved.

This whole run was a pleasure, and it was well complimented by the simultaneous All-New X-Men run, also by BMB.

Definitely one of the more essential series’ from this pre- Secret Wars leadup era.

[Rob Marney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Structurally, this book is a huge letdown, but some of its components are so darn fun that I can't hate it. The issues that focus on just one cast member are so much better than the main story: Eva Bell's double annual journey through time is twice as good as Battle of the Atom at saying the same thing, the Goldballs meme issue is delightful, and even Cyclops' nervous breakdown as everyone realizes he's been living a lie is told well. Magik gets to shine here as the core of the team too; powering her up is the smartest decision Bendis made. Even Mystique's subplot is pretty cool, although that's mostly because it takes place off screen and you can just imagine her motivations.

On the downside, the two main story arcs here are terrible. The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier is an extremely dumb and heavy-handed retread of every "Beyond Omega Level!" tale from Proteus on down. Then the Mutant Revolution, in the big UXM #600, closes with a whimper. There was no mutant revolution and Cyclops does a worse job at pretending to want one than Quentin Quire. Beast gets a stern talking-to about messing with time, which undercuts the theme Bendis has repeatedly hammered home about the ethics of time travel. Eva Bell can do whatever she wants at a cost of 1 inch of skirt length per evil deed, but since she's not here, we'll yell at Hank by proxy. Even the whole SHIELD and Dazzler subplot goes nowhere; Maria Hill is just there for gags the whole time.

[Jirka Navrátil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poslední volumko Uncanny X-Men od Bendise. Co na to říct? Bavil jsem se a to docela hodně,mladí a starší X-Meni super, cestování v čase zmáknuto brilantně a až se budu znovu ženit tak si vezmu Magic nebo Emmu. Klidně bych dal 5*, ale je tu jedna věc, vlastně jeden člověk, teda mutant a to je FAKIN Scott Summers AKA Cyclops. musím říct, že tragičtější, ufňukanější postavu jsem dlouho neviděl. v tuto chvíli má u mě titul dickhead of the universe.

[Ernest · Rating 3 out of 5]

A generally enjoyable read that utilised some ideas and threads from previous arcs in this pre-Secret Wars story. Not all of the volume is of the same strength – for example, I tired of Goldballs very quickly – and while I’m not sure I’ll be racing back to reread it, I don’t regret the time I spent here.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's more like 3,5 stars, but I believe 3 stars would be more fair than 4.

It's okay. There are some great ideas there, but messy art and lazy writing bring it all down. Now I've read almost 80 issues of Bendis' X-men and the whole thing was more or less... pointless.

But it had it's moments.

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the naysayers conclude but doesn't really make into the good Bendis territory...

[Matti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sterke tekenaars en grotendeels straffe verhaallijnen maken van deze bundeling verplichte kost voor X-Men-fans. Een mooie combinatie van oud en nieuw.

[Ming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some excellent storylines and payoffs in this.

[Adam Spanos · Rating 3 out of 5]

About this concluding volume of Uncanny X-Men specifically, you're going to get an Xavier story you'll either love or hate, that leads into a story about the world's most powerful mutant that you will either love or hate, an Eva Bell annual that you will love, and a conclusion that renders the entire thing inconsequential, but does give you some warm fuzzies.

And yes, Goldballs.

P.S For the love of God, can we please ban X-writers from using the "To me, my X-Men!" line?

[Tolga · Rating 3 out of 5]

dört adet eklemek yerine sadece bunu ekliyorum ne kadar müthiş biriyim

[Derek Newman-Stille · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume asks critical questions of Professor X's dream, bringing attention to the many times that the Professor has occupied an uncertain role, acting against the principles he imposed on his X-Men. The dream of mutant co-existence with humanity is uncertain as the X-Men discover how frequently Professor X has neglected his own principles.

Although a small element of this overall narrative, I was impressed that Bobby finally came out in this narrative, particularly since the younger Bobby came out first and then asked the older version of himself why he was closeted. Younger Bobby gets older Bobby to confront the fact that although he has been open about being a mutant, he has been suppressing his Queer identity. This is a fascinating intersectional moment as older Bobby explains that he was so focussed on being a mutant and fighting for mutant rights that he let his Queer identity be suppressed and ignored.