X-Men Gold, Vol. 2: Evil Empires

X-Men Gold (Collected Editions)

by Marc Guggenheim, Ken Lashley (Artist), Lan Medina (Artist)

What does the Secret Empire event have in store for the X-Men? Find out what the new landscape of the Marvel Universe looks like for Kitty, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Rachel Grey and Old Man Logan. Will they be able to survive in a world dominated by Hydra?

COLLECTING: X-MEN: GOLD 7-12

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

136 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2017

About the author

Marc Guggenheim grew up on Long Island, New York, and earned his law degree from Boston University. After over four years in practice, he left law to pursue a career in television.

Today, Guggenheim is an Emmy Award–winning writer who writes for multiple mediums including television, film, video games, comic books, and new media. His work includes projects for such popular franchises as Percy Jackson, Star Wars, Call of Duty, Star Trek, and Planet of the Apes.

His next book, In Any Lifetime, coming from Lake Union Publishing on August 1st.

Guggenheim currently lives in Encino, California, with his wife, two daughters, and a handful of pets.

Keep up to date on his latest projects with LegalDispatch, a weekly newsletter where he shares news and notes about writing, comics, and the entertainment industry.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

During the Secret Empire event the X-Men have a mutant serial killer problem. Kitty has to go to Washington to speak out against a reprehensible anti-mutant Bill. The team has to go to Russia with rumours of Omega Red's return. And they writers manage to squeeze not one, but two team romances. Just middling stuff... good work, but nothing special. 7 out of 12, Three Star read.

2019 read

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really digging this book's retro vibe. It's the first book to scratch my old school X-Men itch for quite some time. (Very minor spoilers below; you have been warned!)

There are some amazing character moments in this volume, particularly between Kitty and Pete and Kurt and Rachel, but the absolute highlight for me was Kitty going full ninja to take down the serial killer in issue eight. Hell, she even referred to herself as Shadowcat for the first time in too damned long! That one had me grinning like loon.

A couple of minor irritants in this volume though:

1. Why did Nightcrawler have his movie scars in a couple of issues? I hope they're not trying to suggest his severe beating at the hands of the mob during the Secret Empire crossover issues just happened to give him facial scars exactly like the self-inflicted ones from the 'X2' movie. That just seems like a really odd decision... especially so long after said movie.

2. I'm not liking that Colossus seems to have lost his horizontal banding in his metal form. It makes him look like the Ultimate universe version of the character which, again, seems like a really odd decision to make at this stage. Pete's 'stripes' never made much sense, admittedly, but they're part of iconic character design! Bring 'em back, please!

Other than those small nit-picky complaints, I really enjoyed this volume.

#KittyandColossusForever!

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the kind of Secret Empire crossover I like to see. The X-Men just look up in the sky and find out they are trapped in the Darkforce dimension and then go back to their regularly scheduled programming. Here they are dealing with a new, more militant looking version of the X-cutioner. We don't find out anything about him other than he blames mutants for killing his wife and kid. A little lazy really. Then we go to Russia and face the Bratva and Omega Red in a story Guggenhein already wrote for Arrow. Finally, we get the history of the lizard man the X-Men picked up when they fought the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. It was a story I didn't give a crap about.

None of the art in the book was anything special. Ken Lashley has changed to a less detailed, squiglier, murkier style and coloring that I didn't care for. Lan Medina and Luke Ross both provide "House" style art, solid but nothing that stands out.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed about 80% of this volume. It manages to escape the crossover event unscathed, unlike X-Men Blue, and tells stories that aren't dependent on whatever the Secret Empire event is doing. The Omega Red story is my personal favourite as Colossus is a real stand out for me so far in this series, and it's nice to see a storyline where he is in the spotlight. Now, where this completely fails is the final story which centres around the lizard character. It's an absolute waste of time and doesn't deserve to be alongside the others. It drags what has the potential for being an extremely solid volume to one that falls flat on its arse right at the end. Aside from the lizard man's story, it's a lot of fun and has me excited to read the next one.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]
Okay, I know I said in my review of volume 1 that I'd be happy with just solid X-Men stories for a while, but I've changed my mind; we can be a bit more adventurous than this.

The Secret Empire three parter feels very bland, from the choice of villain to the predictable Kitty/Colossus storyline. I'll give it props for tackling Secret Empire from a different angle than most other books, at least. The Russian storyline however is pretty unforgivable - I feel like Marc Guggenheim knows one type of story set in Russia and regurgitates character names and decisions literally word for word from Arrow, which just screams lazy storytelling.

The art is pretty solid though; Ken Lashley takes the Secret Empire issues, although his linework is more scribbly than I'd like for a straight-forward story like this, while Lan Medina handles the Russian story; it's been a while since he was at Marvel I think, but I look back on his Venom run quite fondly, so I'm glad to see him again.

This is...okay. And I'm happy with okay, but I feel like a little more effort would work wonders with this book.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, reading this makes me realize how much X-Men needed Hickman.

This is not horrible but run of the mill same storylines we always expect. Bringing back Omegared for the millionth time only to die in another issue. Relationship problems with the same characters over and over again. New found powers but then they get beat by some new baddie. Nothing is horrible, it's just the same old. I do enjoy Kitty as leader, and the art is solid enough, and there's cute moments with the relationships. I even like seeing Rachel get to shine some. But I can't help feel it's same old same old.

A 2.5 out of 5.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The impressive thing about Gugenheim's X-Men Gold isn't that it's well characterized and that it manages to capture just a bit of the lightness of Claremont's classic X-Men. It isn't that his stories are interesting enough, and manage to touch upon many classic enemies.

It's that he manages to be almost totally unoriginal. I mean the characters note how Peter's inability to become Colossus is just like when he used to be unable to turn human. Kitty notes how hooking up with Peter again would just be retreading old ground. But that doesn't stop them. And then we have stories about a mutant hater assassinating students, about troubles in Russia involving Omega Red, about a Mutant Registration, no ... Deportation Bill. We've pretty much seen all this before.

The writing's not bad, but the plots aren't interesting either. Or at least not innovative in the least.

The only exception to this is the backstory of the Demon in the last issue (#12), which at least feels like new ground.

But generally, the gross mediocrity of the X-Men team books since Secret Wars continues. (In a recent interview, Jeff Lemire probably revealed why: overreaching editorial control. Sadly, these writers are apparently not being allowed to write, which explains why we have good creators turning out sophomoric work.)

[Michael Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A serial killer stalking the Xavier Institute and the return of Omega Red! Good stuff here, and the rotating team of artists are all pretty strong. I’m really digging Marc Guggenheim’s scripts, and so far this relaunch has been pretty damn good.

[Frédéric · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a not so extraordinary but readable first volume Guggenheim went on auto-pilot for this one and guess what? It sucks.

The two Secret Empire issues are so loosely tied to the event that I can't remember anything but that it takes place in Manhattan.
Ah, yes, it also rekindles the Kitty/Piotr love story. Yaaawn...

The 4 next issues bring back yet another bad guy from the grave, none other than Omega Red. Re-yaaawn...

What else? Cheesy dialogues, corny twists, awkward transitions and mediocre art-I've seen Lashley do better and Medina is as bland as can be.

Guggenheim tries to emulate Claremont and in a way he succeeds: there's definitely an 80's vibe to it. Question is: do you feel like going back in time?

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume is like a poorly made cake. It looks really yummy, and it seems like it has all of the right ingredients, but when you start to cut into it, it kind of crumbles. But, hey, it's still cake!

It starts out really exciting and frantic: There is a serial killer loose in the mansion, there are also time bombs in the mansion, there are demons running around outside, and an angry mob is attacking Nightcrawler. All of this gets resolved a little too quickly, however. We don't learn much about the killer and the demon problem just goes away by ignoring it I guess.

Next up, Kitty goes to Washington because mutants are likely going to be deported. Whiplash shows up for no other reason than writers throwing darts at villain names taped to a dartboard, and we move on to the Next story.

Next, one of my favorite X-Men villains is back, Omega Red (I literally shouted "Yes!" when I saw him, to the aggravation of my dog). There are also evil wizards running around, so bonus points for that. The ending here is the same as the other stories in this volume, though: a really fast fight and we are done.

Finally, we learn the origin of the demonic alien from the first volume. This is a flashback story and really doesn't involve the X-Men (except by showing us flashbacks to previous issues).

Mixed in with all of this is a Kitty/Colossus romance rekindle and a Nightcrawler/Rachel romance (wait, isn't he a priest?).

Overall, This volume had a lot of great ideas that were just way too rushed.

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Luego de haber enfrentado otra amenaza tibia para los X-Men surge Omega Red, desde el mismo Rusia lo que llevará al equipo a enfrentarlo. El último número relativamente aburrido.
Lo que sí me gusta de esta serie es que aunque la acción es demasiado continua y parece bastante no creíble, se da tiempo para profundizar en las sensaciones de los personajes como Kitty o Rachel, cosa que muchos cómics no hacen y por eso tienden a ser demasiado monótonos.

[47Time · Rating 3 out of 5]

In between missions the X-Men slowly form romantic couples. This adds a human layer to the action, but still feels a bit like a soap opera. Kitty and Peter, Rachel and Nightcrawler. I wonder who Logan will hook up with. The volume ends with the episode that makes me rethink reading this whole series. Mojo, marriage and likely more short stories. I thought the standard was 5-6 issue story arcs. Also the roster may not be my cup of tea. It seems that the smart dialogue was the only thing that kept me reading.

The X-Men's mansion is infiltrated by an anti-mutant serial killer. He kills a handful of students before he is discovered. The guy is angry because the X-Men unknowingly killed his family. The X-Men have a tough time stopping him because of his military skills and powerful armor. They take their own being murdered with surprising ease. I thouth the Terrigen Mists were killing mutants a while ago. Do they now have mutants to spare?

The human agenda is influenced in part by the X-Men's actions and also by Lydia's words. Some members of Congress are pushing for a Mutant Deportation Act. Kitty is joined by Peter, though he sustained injuries that prevent him from armoring up. Of course, the hearing is interrupted by a guy named Whiplash, but he is easily handled. Even with Kitty's words in favor of mutants, the bill is very likely to pass.

Omega Red is back, resurrected by gangsters led by crime lord Komolov. Using magic, no less. Rasputin's long-lost tratorous uncle Anatoly reveals this to the X-Men. In this piss-poor story, by far crappiest so far, they must act quickly before Omega Red becomes stronger. Rasputin's sister Illyana proves incapable AF in a fight. She is captured just like Komolov planned and Omega Red absorbs her power. Then the good guys win, obviously. The magic in this arc was crap and so was everyone else.

[Robert Kirwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great volume!! Returning to what makes the X-Men great!! Really enjoying the artwork and the constant changes!! Sometimes you find that there’s an artist eventually that changes it and makes you dislike the comic for a bit, but every iteration was great.

It wasn’t quite as good as the first volume and there are 2 issues that are slow paced but they can be forgiven for this as they set up plot points that I no doubt will play a part in the next volume!!

On the up and up and would recommend for new or established X-Men fans

[Rolando Marono · Rating 2 out of 5]

El mayor problema de este tomo es que pudo ser mucho más de lo que finalmente fue. Tenemos por una lado una historia con un villano que fueron construyendo desde el tomo pasado, se les atraviesa el evento de Secret Empire y concluyen con una historia sobre los hermanos Rasputin y sobre el alienígena que vimos en el tomo pasado.
De lo que acabo de mencionar, hay algunos aspectos interesantes que podrían ser retomados para hacer una buena historia, lamentablemente no lo hacen. El volumen pasado, algunos de los X-Men investigan algunos asesinatos violentos contra los mutantes, y vemos a una especie de Punisher de mutantes con un diseño de personaje muy bueno. Este personaje que nos pudo haber dado una historia dramática, larga y emotiva, y que además construiste desde el primer tomo. En este volumen es reducido a un villano uni dimensional del que no sabemos ni nombre de persona ni de villano. Sus motivaciones son genéricas y mencionadas sin impacto alguno y la explicación de por qué tiene tan sofisticado equipo nunca llega. Es una pena porque un personaje del tipo de Punisher que esté exterminando mutantes, pudo haber sido un vistazo fresco a esta historia.
Tenemos un número donde igualmente, sin explicación alguna o preámbulo, se está discutiendo una ley de deportación de mutantes y Kitty Pryde viaja testificar. La relación entre Kitty y Piotr evoluciona de la nada nuevamente. En el tomo pasado ella mencionó que no estaba interesada en regresar con Piotr y en este tomo, sin preámbulo, Piotr menciona una boda entre ellos. Así sin más, parece que Colossus es ese tipo de novio intenso que está en la primera cita y ya está pensando en casarse.
De ahí mencionan que están dentro de una esfera oscura llena de demonios, evento que sucede en Secret Empire, y aunque Nightcrawler es apaleado por eso, sin ninguna consecuencia posterior, y Wolverine enfrenta algunos demonios en la calle, eso es toda la mención al evento. Me gusta que las historias que no tengan que ver con el evento, no sean obligadas a mostrar el evento, pero mencionarlo y de ahí no hacer nada con eso es anti climático e inconsistente.
La siguiente historia es sobre Omega Red, y los Rasputin y viajan hasta Rusia en una especie de trampa que tampoco tiene mucho sentido. Necesitan la energía de Magik para revivir completamente a Red Omega pero aunque esa absorción sucede, Magik no pierde ni la vida ni sus poderes, lo que es extraño porque a todos los demás personajes que Omega Red les absorbía su vida, morían.
El último número es una historia que nos explica el origen del alienígena que fue parte de la hermandad de mutantes malvados en el tomo anterior. La historia pudo haber sido interesante si hubiera tenido el mínimo grado de originalidad, pero no lo tiene. Es un robo a la misma historia de Thanos ya que también es un alienígena que nace con una mutación y es una paria que termina asesinando a sus propios padres. Y Guggenheim también roba aspectos de la historia de Hitler sin duda. Concluyendo en que la historia de nuestro protagonista en este número, no tiene absolutamente nada de original.
El primer tomo me había gustado pero el segundo se sigue quedando en lo superficial. El desarrollo de personajes es entorpecido y las historias no son originales en lo más mínimo además que caen en muchos agujeros argumentales e inconsistencias. Es una pena pero parece ser que esa será la constante en X-Men Gold. Espero que pronto lancen los tomos de House of X/Powers of X para leer unos X-men profundos y bien construidos.

[Sarospice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super fast read. Some character notes for kitty peter kurt and rachel. Everyone else stands around. It's sad when a minor character KOLOGOTH is more interesting than all the X-Men. Hope we see that storyline again.

[Lucas Savio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma grata surpresa eu estar curtindo mais o gold que o blue (achava que ia ser o contrário), focando na família do colossus e nas tramas, não acho uma história perfeita mas me divertiu e curti e a arte está bonita também.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this volume! Seems the Gold Team mostly sidestepped the whole Secret Empire thing.

Probably for the best.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another strong entry in Guggenheim’s run, placing a strong emphasis on character relationships and smaller “human” moments amongst the action. So far, so good!

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look, I'm invested at least so far as the Kitty/Piotr wedding, but without that kinda of nostalgia-driven stunt, I might not have bothered buying after this trade. The writing is fine, but the plot beats are rushed. Twelve issues in, there is not a feeling that any of this matters. Piotr and Illyana have a secret uncle!...whom we will probably never hear from again, until Jay and Miles are in their 50s and X-Plaining this era of X-Books. I really don't mind the idea of Kitty and Piotr back together...if Guggenheim is able to make it feel like either character has really grown or progressed. That's an editorial issue, too - your book is coming out twice a month, you don't need it to be so hyper-compressed that the cast, its biggest draw, has no time to breathe. Far too much plot action happens off-panel. X-Men Gold feels that it's in a constant rush to catch up with...something. The next editorially mandated event, perhaps?

Yes, I appreciate the nods to history and tradition, but somebody please show me you understand *why* those elements worked in the first place. The X-Men don't just play baseball because it's what they do; they did it as a breather between action-heavy stories. The hyped "all-new X-Cutioner!" gets a few panels of generic backstory, a generic outfit, a generic motive - and a compelling twist ("The call is coming from INSIDE THE MANSION!") that ultimately does not affect the story at all. He's completely forgotten by the next issue. The book feels rushed and murky - and alas, so does a lot of the art. Ardian Syaf is mostly to blame, because a series moving at this pace isn't going to be able to catch up with only one penciller. I love Ken Lashley's Omega Red cover for issue 10, but his interior work is hard to follow. Lan Medina is fine on his two issues, but it's pretty standard "house style." Luke Ross does some cool sci-fi stuff in issue 12, though blue Nazi aliens are way too on-the-nose (don't know if that was Guggenheim or Ross).

When the book is allowed to slow the plot a bit, the way it does in issue 12, the reader can enjoy the effectively reproduced Bronze Age charm. I wanted much more from this book, but I'd be willing at this point to settle for competent, comforting superhero adventures with characters I grew up reading.

(Oh, one thing I hate and I hope is dropped - the Kurt/Rachel romance angle. She was mightily queer-coded in her early days and her time in Excalibur; and it's uncomfortable to consider that she moves in on Kurt because she picks up his feelings for her telepathically, then just...obliges. A slower burn or deft characterization could tie this into Rachel's struggles with identity and agency, but right now it just feels like wish fulfillment for a male character.)

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing the great x-read of 2017/18...

Better than volume 1./end review

Nah, I will have to rant and rave for far too long as per type. But that really is my thought on this volume in a nutshell.

It seems to have found its feet a bit more now that we have gotten the reintroductions out of the way. There's slightly less of a both feet planted firmly in the past sort of feel to it. (Funny aside - I am always upset over the x-books' inability to move forward in time but my two favorite things about this book are both heavily stuck in the 90s x-books: Kitty and Peter getting back together and the return of c-level villain the X-cutioner. So, in other words, I am a bit of a contradiction and I love my nostalgia just as much as the next reader.) It is trying to move the story forward a little bit. There isn't anything new plotwise here that hasn't been done before at all, but Kitty is becoming a good leader of the team and I like seeing some of the "New X-Men" appear again. It was definitely fun to see Dust and Rockslide working together...

Overall, I can't point to anything that really does move the book forward in any meaningful way, but it simply *felt* less mired in the past to me for some reason.

Oh, and the crossover with whatever Secret Empire was... Kind of just led to absolutely nothing. I know that Marvel makes all of these books tie in to whatever the big event is but I wish that they would just let the authors tell their own stories. I bet they would find that if they would let the authors organically come to their own crossover stories, they would actually feel like an event again... (There's my nostalgia talking again... although I am thinking more along the lines of something like Messiah Complex which came out well after my nostalgic run, so I have a bit of a crutch to fall back on.)


Long story short, I am interested in the next volume though I am not excitedly looking forward to it the way that I am with the second volume of Astonishing.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read again!

So here we have the X-Men trapped in some darkforce dimension cuz secret empire and then some mutant hating guy has been freed and well he is targeting the X-Men inside their home and we see the team cobating that siituation and I love the way Kitty handled it and it just shows her growth and them them going to congressional hearings and all that to take care of some "Deportation bill act" and the focus on Kitty here is again amazing and a blossoming romance with Colossus and all that. Plus th enext story dealing with the return of Omega Red and how personal it is for colossus and tie-ing into his personal growth and a story with him in the middle was awesome and we get to see the origins of Kologoth, the threat they fought in the first volume which will tie heavily into the next arc I think.

Its a fun volume and continues the great work of focusing on characters and giving them their moments like with Colossus and Kitty and not everything has to be a big fight except when its Wolverine and Omega red and seeing the progression of Kitty and Colossus is awesome and I love the way Marc writes them like their awkward romance, gitters and all that plus the art gets good here again. Though a bit fumble from the last volume, its still okay for the most part.

[Arturo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Secret Empire event served only as a backdrop for the first 2 issues of this volume , the Darkforce Dimension has the team stuck in Manhattan, Logan and Storm come across one or two demons, but the focus is on a serial killer loose in the mansion. I guess he's not a WildDog rip off but an updated X-Cutioner. He actually posed a credible threat and a hateful one at that (Kitty is a bad ass here). The following 3 issues has Colossus and Magik dealing with Whiplash, then Omega Red. That ending lacked something.. originality? Our final issue has the origin of the lizard monster alien from that makeshift brotherhood from the first volume, we'll see more of that in the Negative Zone war arc. Overall it's really Ken Lashley's art that saves this volume, it's kinda crude but still cool.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weirdly unfocused.

[Renata · Rating 2 out of 5]

oops I read a Secret Empire book

it was fine? but also: I don't care, stop trying to make Hydra happen

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

While X-Men Gold is definitely superior to the tandemly running X-Men Blue, Vol. 2: Toil and Trouble, it's still a dreary, uninspiring era of X-Men comics. There are two main relationships explored repeatedly during the book: Nightcrawler and Prestige (formerly Phoenix, formerly Marvel Girl, formerly The Hound, consistently Rachel Grey-Summers), and for the fifty-billionth time, Colossus and Kitty Pryde. Neither relationship story is remotely interesting, despite the decades worth of shared stories between these four characters spread across a variety of X-Men books, as well as Excalibur Epic Collection, Vol. 8: The Battle for Britain.

Nothing in this book landed for me. The magic storyline intertwined with yet another traumatized parent of a dead mutant attacking the X-Men with tech that the X-Men have somehow never encountered but some rando parent happens to have at their disposal. No, thank you. The aforementioned romantic angles? Nah. Once again, Peter & Magik return to Russia to deal with their past? Nyet. It involves the fifty-seventh revival of the spectacularly boring Omega Red? Boooo. Origin story for a newish villain completely killing any momentum the series had going for an entire issue, even though history tells us that the villain isn't even remotely important to X-Men's vast canon? Ugh.

This was a bad story by a writer capable of much better. The art is solid. It's cinematic with, at times, perhaps too many panels on a page, but every panel is good. Ken Lashley , Lan Medina, and Luke Ross are all very talented and their styles are similar enough that you don't feel pulled out of the larger arc when the artists switch.

You're really best to skip the entire post-Secret Wars Blue/Gold era of the X-Men.

[C. Varn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marc Guggenhiem has the dubious distinction of capturing the spirit of Chris Claremont-lite. The characterization is better here than the first volume, but the plots just don't feel new or original. Part of the problem is the weight of all the cannon Guggenhiem appears to be respecting, which other X-titles have largely cleared out in from a new focus or a plot constraint (time displaced original X-men) which removes some of the four decades of plot baggage. This saddens me because of this mixture of my favorite characters from Claremont and Alan Davis era Excalibur and early 90s X-men should really speak to me, but the appeal does seem to be mostly nostalgia. Guggenhiem almost seems aware of the repetition: . Kitty how her with Peter again is old ground and not progressing, and this mirrored by the mutant decoration bill, Russian occultists resurrecting Omega Red, and Nightcrawler and Rachel Summers rekindling a possible old connection. All of these plots could be so much more than they are if they were allowed to have some space and develop into new and original ways. I feel like Guggenhiem is aware of this though and is almost commenting on the editorial control's limitations. This has a similar feel to the problems of the X-books around the time of Jim Lee took the mantel as Chris Claremont left out. This saddens me because the attempts to bring life back into X-men titles since it looked like Marvel was trying to have Inhumans replace them. It seems to take a name larger than even Jeff Lemire to breathe life into these books, and Marvel seems to cancel the ones with promise. There are some hints with the Demon plot line that could be VERY interesting if and only if it doesn't end up being an Inferno re-thread. While I didn't love all the Joss Whedon and Grant Morrison level arcs, but they did seem to attempt to do what late Claremont did, which is push the status quo ahead and breathe new life into the books. Guggenheim seems like he is not allowed to do that here.

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 2 out of 5]

Imperio Secreto también pasaría factura al equipo Oro de los X-Men, y es que como vimos, estos se iban a encontrar asentados en Central Park, es decir, dentro de Manhattan y por lo tanto, de la barrera mística de oscuridad que Zemo y Apagón levantaron alrededor de la ciudad para dejar aislados dentro a los héroes mientras Steve Rogers se hacía con el poder en Estados Unidos en nombre de Hydra. Así que, aislados del exterior como se encuentran, el Equipo Oro va a tener que hacer frente a un enemigo interior: una nueva versión del Ejecutor (en inglés tiene más sentido en esta serie, X-cutioner), que se ha infiltrado en la mansión y que comienza a atacar a los estudiantes y los X-Men uno a uno, en un proceso de venganza por la pérdida de su familia cuando el falso Magneto/Xorn atacó Nueva York y acabó con la vida de Jean Grey, al final de la etapa de Grant Morrison, muchos años atrás, y que está dispuesto a hacer volar la Escuela en pedazos, con todos sus habitantes dentro.

Superado Imperio Secreto, Guggenheim va a hacer que Kitty tenga un breve encontronazo con las políticas del gobierno, que a instancias de Lydia Nance están valorando una ley de deportación mutante, pera expulsar de Estados Unidos al "excedente" de mutantes existente. Y aunque su visita a Washington va a tener como invitado a Látigo (el enemigo clásico de Iron Man), el resto del arco va a ser la versión de Guggenheim de la historia que ya en su día nos contaron en su día Jim Lee y Fabian Nicieza (este con Andy Kubert) en X-Men sobre el viaje de los X-Men a Rusia para enfrentarse a Rojo Omega, con secuestro de Illyana a lo Bandera Roja 133 incluido. Es decir, una historia prácticamente recontada, y con poca originalidad, la verdad.

El segundo arco no remonta el primero, las cosas como son.

[Scott Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The collection left me debating what I wanted to give it. This is the X-book--of those I've read since the IVX story ended and the entire X-Men line relaunched--that feels most like classic era X-Men aimed at long term fans (25+years) like myself. I loved the first volume, but have to admit I was a bit...split on this one. If half stars were available it would definitely be a three-five.

Guggenheim knows these characters well, and the various character moments between Peter and Katya, Kurt and Rachel, Logan and Ororo, and several others were great. I thoroughly enjoyed them. They were, for me, at the forefront of the comic while the more bombastic plot-heavy stuff felt like it was just the circumstances in which the character stuff was taking place. Those character bits push the book in the right direction enough that, since I have to round it one way or the other it gets a four.

The plot? The actual events? Honestly, that part felt a bit stale. A Mutant Deportation Act? Not too far off so many other potential government mistakes from X-Books past. A resurrected Omega Red? He wasn't powerful enough to survive a single battle with the current X-Men. Meh. Then the last issue that gives the background on the weird demon-looking member of the newest incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants that was captured by the X-Men turns out to be an alien mutant that is plotting...stuff. Ummmm, we don't have enough reason to care about/be curious about this character yet, and suddenly an entire issue in his/its head? . Ah well. Hoping the third volume (Mojo anyone?) does more with what will apparently be continued nostalgia plotting.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collecting:
---X-Men Gold #7-12

This book continues from the inaugural X-Men Gold Vol. 1: Back to the Basics. The Central Park based team of X-Men treads some familiar ground in this book as writer Marc Guggenheim gives readers the "classic team with a twist" theme that Marvel aimed for when the X-teams got rebooted.

Classic romantic pair Kitty and Colossus furtively explore the possibilities of a romance or something more while explicitly suggesting that this time around the relationship has to be something "different". Another pair of teammates, former Excalibur members, also explore the possibility of a romantic spark. These apprehensive steps towards relationships are set against the familiar back drop of a world that hates and fears mutants. There is pending "mutant deportation" legislation that Kitty travels to Washington to argue against...however things never go according to plan! Meanwhile back at the X-Mansion the students and staff have a killer with a grudge stalking the hallways.

The strength of the book is the cast. I really enjoy these characters who have a rich backstory, and I felt that Guggenheim walked the the line between carrying that backstory and keeping it fresh rather well. The artwork in these issues wasn't especially noteworthy.

This book ends on a cliffhanger as the Gold team is scheduled for a crossover with the Blue team in X-Men Gold Vol. 3: Mojo Worldwide

[Adam Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love is in the air in Central Park as the Gold Team continue to heal from their Sentinel nanite attack. Colossus and Kitty seem to be rekindling an old romance, but will it stay this time? And Rachel and Nightcrawler seem to be starting something up, even though they had many years together back in Excalibur. Danger exists inside the mansion amidst the love when an assassin shows up to take revenge for collateral damage done in previous mutant events. Upon defeating the assassin and getting them taken into custody, Kitty receives a summons to testify before Congress to speak against new anti-mutant legislation. She takes Piotr with her and there may be a possible wedding soon...

Returning from DC, Piotr is called by his uncle, a family member that was unknown to them, who pleads for assistance. Omega Red has returned from the dead. The whole team goes to Russia, where a trap is sprung. Omega Red needs to siphon life force energy to make his resurrection permanent and has his sights set on Magik. A coordinated effort with the ferocity of Logan mixed with Piotr getting his metal skin powers back are able to take out the enemies.

... but why are we seeing Mojo with his eyes on our X-Men teams??? Not good news...

Really love both of the X-Men books right now. I'd recommend to any and all.