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Astonishing X-Men (2017) (Collected Editions)
Astonishing X-Men, Vol. 2: A Man Called X
Charles Xavier has a plan. He's going to save the world...whether you want it or not. Act II of the ASTONISHING X-MEN saga is here, as a long-lost mutant returns to the world of the X-Men, Fantomex offers a kiss and Bishop discovers the Mindkiller.
COLLECTING: ASTONISHING X-MEN 7-12
COLLECTING: ASTONISHING X-MEN 7-12
136 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2018
2 people are currently reading
152 people want to read
About the author
Charles Soule
1,526 books1,691 followersCharles Soule is a #1 New York Times-bestselling novelist, comics author, screenwriter, musician, and lapsed attorney. He has written some of the most prominent stories of the last decade for Marvel, DC and Lucasfilm in addition to his own work, such as his comics Curse Words, Letter 44 and Undiscovered Country, and his original novels Light of the Jedi, The Endless Vessel, The Oracle Year and Anyone. He lives in New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
December 14, 2018
Started well, ended badly. That's just as true of the artwork as the story. Averages out just OK.
February 11, 2019
With every issue this gets increasingly worse, both in storytelling and the art. Charles Xavier is back, sort of. Now he's younger and an angsty, douchey, emo kid who wants to be called X. I know this because he says it at least 10 times. The latter issues feel like they were created by a EXTREME 12 year old on adderall. The art becomes all of these double page spreads with shit just scattered all over the page. Good luck trying to figure out the order to read those word balloons. It's just a big chaotic mess. Soule's storytelling ins't any better. It's hyper-frenetic jumping between 10 different X-Men with little direction. This was a real turkey. It has me really dreading this X character as I'm sure he'll pop up repeatedly for some more boring stories.
February 11, 2019
This is the end of Soule's very rocky Astonishing run. I didn't hate this, but I certainly didn't love it. There are more problems here than good things:
The plots were very slow with exhaustingly fast transitions in between. It's like: "Oh no, a bad guy!" *talking, talking, talking, fighting, talking, talking* "We got him guys...oh wait, another bad guy has jumped us!" *talking, talking, fighting talking* "Whew! We handled that...oh, no, yet ANOTHER bad guy has attacked us now!!!!" *talking, talking, fighting, talking*. Volume 1 and volume 2 take place during the same day, and there are no less than three world-ending events for the team to handle. I think you see the problem here.
After I finished this run, I turn to the next page of the book and there is an ad for Astonishing X-Men #13 that says: NEW CAST! NEW CREATIVE TEAM! Ok, so the X-team that I have been spending time getting to know suddenly doesn't matter at all. Gee, thanks for wasting my time, Marvel.
Xavier was kind of a let down as a character. Oops, we are supposed to just call him "X" now, because he is emo and badass...or something. Give me a break. The world is about to end and yet he can't stop correcting people when they call him anything other than "X". What is this, the 90s? Is everything all EXREME and gloomy once again? Nah, I'll just stick with calling you Xavier there, sport.
Also, is he supposed to be psychic Jesus now or something? "I have gifts for the world, and for all of you!" Yeah, right. It looks to me like you just keep spawning world-ending monsters out of your head there, buddy.
The plots were very slow with exhaustingly fast transitions in between. It's like: "Oh no, a bad guy!" *talking, talking, talking, fighting, talking, talking* "We got him guys...oh wait, another bad guy has jumped us!" *talking, talking, fighting talking* "Whew! We handled that...oh, no, yet ANOTHER bad guy has attacked us now!!!!" *talking, talking, fighting, talking*. Volume 1 and volume 2 take place during the same day, and there are no less than three world-ending events for the team to handle. I think you see the problem here.
After I finished this run, I turn to the next page of the book and there is an ad for Astonishing X-Men #13 that says: NEW CAST! NEW CREATIVE TEAM! Ok, so the X-team that I have been spending time getting to know suddenly doesn't matter at all. Gee, thanks for wasting my time, Marvel.
Xavier was kind of a let down as a character. Oops, we are supposed to just call him "X" now, because he is emo and badass...or something. Give me a break. The world is about to end and yet he can't stop correcting people when they call him anything other than "X". What is this, the 90s? Is everything all EXREME and gloomy once again? Nah, I'll just stick with calling you Xavier there, sport.
Also, is he supposed to be psychic Jesus now or something? "I have gifts for the world, and for all of you!" Yeah, right. It looks to me like you just keep spawning world-ending monsters out of your head there, buddy.
July 19, 2018
[Read as single issues]
Charles Soule’s Astonishing X-Men epic concludes with a bang as Charles Xavier finds himself back in the land of the living. But he’s not alone, and now the team must deal with old enemy Proteus before he can warp the entire world to his whim. And of course, the Shadow King still lurks just out of sight, waiting for his revenge…
Charles Soule knows how to amp up some action. In 12 issues he’s crafted a story that Marvel could easily have blown out of proportion into an X-Men event, or even a linewide event as Proteus infects the world with his specific brand of madness. It’s all very dramatic, and I love it, but at it’s heart, it’s still very much a story about humans (or mutants, as the case may be) and their relationships with each other. X and Psylocke are clearly the main players, but there are some stand-out moments for Bishop and Mystique, and no one escapes this story unchanged thanks to the effect that X has on all of their lives, both physically and emotionally.
I do feel like this was supposed to be part of something bigger, however. The story of X is clearly not finished, and these 12 issues all took place over the space of a day, so I’m surprised Soule is finished with this team already. They never really had a chance as a team, just the one long storyline, which makes me wonder if it was more in order to move certain characters around the board and instill some of the changes that affect them so that they can impact other books. This story comes to a close, but there’s definitely a sense that there are things left unfinished, which is disappointing.
In terms of art, we continue the one-artist-per-issue round robin, although this time we’re definitely hitting some of the lesser big names. Not that any of Gerardo Sandoval, Phil Noto, Paolo Siqueria, Matteo Buffagni, Aco, and Ron Garney are poor artists by any means, but when you compare them to the powerhouses in volume 1, they’re a tier below at least. One-artist-per-issue is always a hard sell, even with great artists, and I do question the choice of having someone as stylized as Sandoval finishing off the series, but I’ve no complaints about any of the artists chosen here. They’re all very disparate and it’s not very visually cohesive, but neither was volume 1, so I’m not surprised.
Astonishing X-Men’s super-arc comes to a close, and it’s satisfying in almost every way. There’s a lingering sense that there’s more to this story to tell, but I’m not sure if it’s going to get told or not. A menagerie of artists throw out some gorgeous, if incongruent, pages, and there’s some good character work going on. All the ingredients come together to form a story worth devouring, but you’ll probably be a bit disappointed if you find yourself wanting dessert.
Charles Soule’s Astonishing X-Men epic concludes with a bang as Charles Xavier finds himself back in the land of the living. But he’s not alone, and now the team must deal with old enemy Proteus before he can warp the entire world to his whim. And of course, the Shadow King still lurks just out of sight, waiting for his revenge…
Charles Soule knows how to amp up some action. In 12 issues he’s crafted a story that Marvel could easily have blown out of proportion into an X-Men event, or even a linewide event as Proteus infects the world with his specific brand of madness. It’s all very dramatic, and I love it, but at it’s heart, it’s still very much a story about humans (or mutants, as the case may be) and their relationships with each other. X and Psylocke are clearly the main players, but there are some stand-out moments for Bishop and Mystique, and no one escapes this story unchanged thanks to the effect that X has on all of their lives, both physically and emotionally.
I do feel like this was supposed to be part of something bigger, however. The story of X is clearly not finished, and these 12 issues all took place over the space of a day, so I’m surprised Soule is finished with this team already. They never really had a chance as a team, just the one long storyline, which makes me wonder if it was more in order to move certain characters around the board and instill some of the changes that affect them so that they can impact other books. This story comes to a close, but there’s definitely a sense that there are things left unfinished, which is disappointing.
In terms of art, we continue the one-artist-per-issue round robin, although this time we’re definitely hitting some of the lesser big names. Not that any of Gerardo Sandoval, Phil Noto, Paolo Siqueria, Matteo Buffagni, Aco, and Ron Garney are poor artists by any means, but when you compare them to the powerhouses in volume 1, they’re a tier below at least. One-artist-per-issue is always a hard sell, even with great artists, and I do question the choice of having someone as stylized as Sandoval finishing off the series, but I’ve no complaints about any of the artists chosen here. They’re all very disparate and it’s not very visually cohesive, but neither was volume 1, so I’m not surprised.
Astonishing X-Men’s super-arc comes to a close, and it’s satisfying in almost every way. There’s a lingering sense that there’s more to this story to tell, but I’m not sure if it’s going to get told or not. A menagerie of artists throw out some gorgeous, if incongruent, pages, and there’s some good character work going on. All the ingredients come together to form a story worth devouring, but you’ll probably be a bit disappointed if you find yourself wanting dessert.
November 10, 2018
It dismays me to write yet another “the change in art styles from one issue to the next took me out of the story” review, but there it is.
January 18, 2019
After a really strong first volume, I was excited to get this one. Did it live up to the potential I saw? NO.
Well, let's start with how it begins. X is back. The X-Men are trying to accept this. I mean, after seeing their mentor killed it's hard to trust this new information. Especially since the Shadow King could still be behind it all. Then we have a new villain, which I never heard of, who is basically one strong ass psychic blob. But on top of that the X-Men have to work together to face off against him but what if there's something even darker coming?
Good: The art is still pretty good. The fights remain well done and epic. I thought X joining the team at the start of this volume was really well done. Actually, the first 2-3 issues are pretty good and even set up a somewhat interesting villain.
Bad: The last 3 issues become a slog to get through. Dialogue that was once interesting became crappy. The villains, both, are dull as can be and beat just as easy. I also couldn't stand the very ending, felt like a cop-out.
Overall, it's a disappointment. It's not horrible but it became extremely dull by the end. A 2.5 out of 5. I'll bump it to a 3 for the art but yeah...not nearly as good as I hoped.
Well, let's start with how it begins. X is back. The X-Men are trying to accept this. I mean, after seeing their mentor killed it's hard to trust this new information. Especially since the Shadow King could still be behind it all. Then we have a new villain, which I never heard of, who is basically one strong ass psychic blob. But on top of that the X-Men have to work together to face off against him but what if there's something even darker coming?
Good: The art is still pretty good. The fights remain well done and epic. I thought X joining the team at the start of this volume was really well done. Actually, the first 2-3 issues are pretty good and even set up a somewhat interesting villain.
Bad: The last 3 issues become a slog to get through. Dialogue that was once interesting became crappy. The villains, both, are dull as can be and beat just as easy. I also couldn't stand the very ending, felt like a cop-out.
Overall, it's a disappointment. It's not horrible but it became extremely dull by the end. A 2.5 out of 5. I'll bump it to a 3 for the art but yeah...not nearly as good as I hoped.
September 30, 2018
It turns out that Charles Soule's short 12-issue run on Astonishing X-Men was really "X Resurrection: The Return of Charles Xavier". And, it worked better than all of the death and resurrection miniseries of late because of that swerve. By allowing the Xavier's rebirth to organically develop out of a series, it felt much less like a staged event.
Now, about Xavier. He was one of Marvel's three pointless X-Men resurrections of 2017, which have together threatened to set the whole line back by a decade or more. In many ways, he was the most pointless, because the X-Men have moved so far past this old man's teacher/student relationship that returning to it would infantilize the whole line at this point. Fortunately, Soule does his best to avoid that, by bringing back a darker Xavier who refuses to accept his name and has no interest in teaching. Although this return was vastly unnecessary, and although this wasn't such a great story that it paid out that resurrection, at least Soule is trying to prevent the harm that Xavier's return could bring ... though it'll really be a question of what later authors do with it.
As for the story? After fighting Farouk last time, the X-Men now fight Proteus ... and then they fight Farouk again. The whole story is long and drawn out. There's some nice insight into who Proteus is, and some nice pathos as a result. Soule also does a good job of making Proteus uncomfortably disgusting. But none of that really saves an otherwise overly long story.
And there's some nice characterization here, particularly for X, but it's too little.
So though I said that this volume was better than some of the recent death and resurrection money grabs, it was still just OK.
Now, about Xavier. He was one of Marvel's three pointless X-Men resurrections of 2017, which have together threatened to set the whole line back by a decade or more. In many ways, he was the most pointless, because the X-Men have moved so far past this old man's teacher/student relationship that returning to it would infantilize the whole line at this point. Fortunately, Soule does his best to avoid that, by bringing back a darker Xavier who refuses to accept his name and has no interest in teaching. Although this return was vastly unnecessary, and although this wasn't such a great story that it paid out that resurrection, at least Soule is trying to prevent the harm that Xavier's return could bring ... though it'll really be a question of what later authors do with it.
As for the story? After fighting Farouk last time, the X-Men now fight Proteus ... and then they fight Farouk again. The whole story is long and drawn out. There's some nice insight into who Proteus is, and some nice pathos as a result. Soule also does a good job of making Proteus uncomfortably disgusting. But none of that really saves an otherwise overly long story.
And there's some nice characterization here, particularly for X, but it's too little.
So though I said that this volume was better than some of the recent death and resurrection money grabs, it was still just OK.
September 4, 2018
Charles Soule's run on the Astonishing X-men was interesting that it departed from a lot of the floundering of the X-men: Blue and X-men: Gold line as well as post-Cyclops main continuity problems, but never completely found it's own voice. While it flirted with 90s nostalgia, it did not embrace it nor feel like it was stuck trending the same relationship soap operas of the other books, but also never convincingly found itself. Furthermore, the levels of psychic worlds and twists in this book make it seemed a bit overplotted and yet also rushed and a tad chaotic. Soule amped this plot up in way that resembles a bloated crossover, but didn't entirely stick the landing. There is some solid character development here though, and some actual character progression despite the mess of a plot in the end.
January 1, 2020
Well, at least this series started out strong... this volume, and the final chapter in Charles Soule’s run, isn’t nearly as satisfying as the opening salvo, and X never really rang true for me. I kept waiting for the big reveal in this bait and switch, but the final denouement left a fair bit to be desired. Mostly, the plotting just felt a bit sloppy. Bummer.
September 17, 2018
Soule only wrote 2 volumes, that was fast. I think he set up a nice story line in volume 1 with the shadow king and Xavier. I also like the team with Psylocke, Rogue, and crew. So I was pumped to read volume 2 and it started off ok but slowed down a bit and sort of fizzled. So when Xavier or X as he likes to be called comes back from the astral plane he sort of makes a deal with Fantomex which was fishy. With his return he also brings back Proteus who i guess was also trapped by the shadow king OOPS. so the x-men are stucking fighting Proteus which was an OK fight. There was a small twist with X at the end with the shadow king but it felt a little wimpy. The art is mixed some good some not so great.
June 20, 2018
This is even worse that the first volume.
July 22, 2019
Eu tinha achado até legal o primeiro volume desse Surpreendentes X-Men pelo Charles Soule. Em primeiro lugar pelos integrantes da equipe e em segundo lugar por ter um time rotativo de artista de propósito. Mas, contudo, todavia, porém, este segundo arco foi mais do mesmo. Pegaram um personagem interessantíssimo e que devia ser melhor cuidado como o Proteus e deixaram ele plano que nem uma folha de papel. Uma bobagem megalomaníaca atrás da outra acabou sendo esse volume e, se olhar em retrospecto, o primeiro também, pois tem a mesma estrutura. Só que este segundo é muito mais viajandão na maionese que o outro e, no final, não serve para nada. Espero sinceramente que Jonathan Hickman explore melhor esse fato de Charles Xavier agora estar com a mente no corpo de Fantomex. Que tristeza. Essa série ainda vai ter mais um arco, dessa vez por Matthew Rosemberg, que as críticas dizem ser ainda mais fraco que estes dois arcos. Será mesmo? Eu sinceramente espero que não. Foi-se o tempo em que Surpreendentes X-Men era sinônimo para boas histórias. Talvez tenha acabado onde exatamente começou: com as histórias de Joss Whedon...
April 22, 2021
The Wonderful Wizard of X
OVERALL RATING: 1.75 stars
Art: 3.25 stars
Prose: 2 stars
Plot: 0.75 stars
Pacing: 2.5 stars
Character Development: 2.5 stars
World Building: 2 stars
This arc was a massive decline on the last. Feels like Soule just finished a reread of Oz. X or Professor X being the Wizard of Oz This was all just a mirror image of the last arc too. Definitely understand why Hickman was brought in now. Just too ludicrous without any real consequences...
OVERALL RATING: 1.75 stars
Art: 3.25 stars
Prose: 2 stars
Plot: 0.75 stars
Pacing: 2.5 stars
Character Development: 2.5 stars
World Building: 2 stars
This arc was a massive decline on the last. Feels like Soule just finished a reread of Oz. X or Professor X being the Wizard of Oz This was all just a mirror image of the last arc too. Definitely understand why Hickman was brought in now. Just too ludicrous without any real consequences...
April 27, 2025
⚡️Сюжетно ми йдемо одразу після подій першого тому. Наш любий Професор повернувся в трохи іншій подобі (і називає себе тепер Іксом) і почав роздавати своїм мутантам диво-подарунки (що виглядає, як якийсь чит-код). Таких персонажів, як урядовці (які мене бісили ще в минулому тому) й Фантомекса більше тут не буде. Їм приділили кілька сторінок на пояснення їх відлучення, але все одно. Мене зацікавив "анонс" особистих переживань Фантомекса ще в минулому томі, які могли витікти в непогану сюжетку, але цього вже не буде, і взагалі я багато хочу. Одним з "подарунків" також є те, що Ангел тепер ладнає зі своїм другим "Я". А на фоні цього всього нависла нова загроза у вигляді Протеуса.
Далі зав'язка наступної частини сюжету полягає в тому, що Бішоп зробив дуже тупий мув і фактично сильно допоміг антагоністу. Також Ікс потім зробив щось справді дивне в голові Протеуса. Надалі по сюжету особливо нічого прям цікавого не відбувається. Протеус захоплює ціле місто, а команда намагається зупинити цю загрозу, яка має розростися до глобальних масштабів. Жахливим я цей сюжет називати не хочу, але й хорошим він мені не видався, просто хай буде і все на цьому (в одному з випусків взагалі було мінімум сюжету, але малюнок там справді виділявся). Ну, в кінці ще з'являється Тіновий Король, але не надовго (хоча я не розумію, навіщо він в останньому випуску, можна було просто докрутити сюжетку з Протеусом та й все на цьому).
👥По персонажам тут все так собі. Особливого нічого немає. Як було зазначено вище, Ангел хоч і отримав подарунок, та розкриття якоїсь взаємодії з ним я навіть не згадаю. Лінію Ґамбіта з Роуґ далі не розкривають. Антагоніст у кінці першого й на початку другого випуску виглядає по-різному, чому? Але йому дали деяке непогане розкриття, і на тому дякую. Якщо чесно, весь час думав, що Ікс - не Ксав'єр, бо відчувається, що характер взагалі не його (але це хоча б якось пояснили в кінці).
🎨Спочатку малюнок і кольори були на рівні з попереднім томом. В одному з наступних мені вони здавались схожими на стиль Соррентіно (але думаю, це через кольори Марчело Майоло). Далі десь на половині прочитаного малюнок мені здавався то прикольним, то дивним, то капець простим, але у випуску, де сюжету було мінімум, малюнок справді витягував. Не можу не відмітити сцени з поєднанням Псайлок та Ікса, вони справді вийшли хорошими.
😡Тепер ще трохи про те, що мені не сподобалось. Не пояснили, як Ікс переформатував тіло Фантомекса. Чому Ікс воскрес і це ніяк не пояснено? Чому він уміє роздавати якісь здібності й це ніяк не пояснено? Яким чином Містік повернула руки? Чому Псайлок говорить, що це спільна перемога, коли щось змогли зробити лише вона з Ксав'єром. Яка роль Бішопа в цих 2 томах (серйозно, я от взагалі хз, нащо він тут)? В одному з випусків є просто сцени з діалогами, які живуть своє життя і є дії, які не можна назвати сильно логічними. Ну, і навіщо було в кінці стирати всім пам'ять? :/
✍️Загалом: Купу напихнутого, але до кінця майже нічого не довели, по суті, ще й сюжетних дір понапихали. Не те, що можна було краще. Треба було інакше. Не напихати все й по-всьому, а із самого початку писати без придумування від балди.
Сюжет: 3
Персонажі: 3
Малюнок: 7
Кольори: 9
Загальний бал: 55%
Далі зав'язка наступної частини сюжету полягає в тому, що Бішоп зробив дуже тупий мув і фактично сильно допоміг антагоністу. Також Ікс потім зробив щось справді дивне в голові Протеуса. Надалі по сюжету особливо нічого прям цікавого не відбувається. Протеус захоплює ціле місто, а команда намагається зупинити цю загрозу, яка має розростися до глобальних масштабів. Жахливим я цей сюжет називати не хочу, але й хорошим він мені не видався, просто хай буде і все на цьому (в одному з випусків взагалі було мінімум сюжету, але малюнок там справді виділявся). Ну, в кінці ще з'являється Тіновий Король, але не надовго (хоча я не розумію, навіщо він в останньому випуску, можна було просто докрутити сюжетку з Протеусом та й все на цьому).
👥По персонажам тут все так собі. Особливого нічого немає. Як було зазначено вище, Ангел хоч і отримав подарунок, та розкриття якоїсь взаємодії з ним я навіть не згадаю. Лінію Ґамбіта з Роуґ далі не розкривають. Антагоніст у кінці першого й на початку другого випуску виглядає по-різному, чому? Але йому дали деяке непогане розкриття, і на тому дякую. Якщо чесно, весь час думав, що Ікс - не Ксав'єр, бо відчувається, що характер взагалі не його (але це хоча б якось пояснили в кінці).
🎨Спочатку малюнок і кольори були на рівні з попереднім томом. В одному з наступних мені вони здавались схожими на стиль Соррентіно (але думаю, це через кольори Марчело Майоло). Далі десь на половині прочитаного малюнок мені здавався то прикольним, то дивним, то капець простим, але у випуску, де сюжету було мінімум, малюнок справді витягував. Не можу не відмітити сцени з поєднанням Псайлок та Ікса, вони справді вийшли хорошими.
😡Тепер ще трохи про те, що мені не сподобалось. Не пояснили, як Ікс переформатував тіло Фантомекса. Чому Ікс воскрес і це ніяк не пояснено? Чому він уміє роздавати якісь здібності й це ніяк не пояснено? Яким чином Містік повернула руки? Чому Псайлок говорить, що це спільна перемога, коли щось змогли зробити лише вона з Ксав'єром. Яка роль Бішопа в цих 2 томах (серйозно, я от взагалі хз, нащо він тут)? В одному з випусків є просто сцени з діалогами, які живуть своє життя і є дії, які не можна назвати сильно логічними. Ну, і навіщо було в кінці стирати всім пам'ять? :/
✍️Загалом: Купу напихнутого, але до кінця майже нічого не довели, по суті, ще й сюжетних дір понапихали. Не те, що можна було краще. Треба було інакше. Не напихати все й по-всьому, а із самого початку писати без придумування від балди.
Сюжет: 3
Персонажі: 3
Малюнок: 7
Кольори: 9
Загальний бал: 55%
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 9, 2019
While this volume mostly finishes the story, it doesn't do a very good job of it. Without giving too much away, there are two villains and one of them, the X-Men don't fully utilize their capability to take them down, and when they do, it isn't very clear what happened. It's almost as if the story forgot about it and moved onto the primary villain. The primary villain was a decent surprise, but dispensed with after a bunch of handwaving, "psychic" stuff. You feel cheated, as if the story was rushed. In addition, the big reveal from volume one is left open, which of course is the point, in order to keep you reading. The art is all over the place as well, with the multiple styles being jarring. I really wanted to like this but after thinking about it the conclusion fell short. These first 12 issues of the title had one purpose and it did that, in a somewhat unexpected way, but it also feels shallow and unfulfilling.
January 22, 2019
A worthy follow up to the first one, and I like (like? is that the word, here?) the addition of the character "X" who might be Xavier's mind in Fantomex's body? We're not sure yet. I enjoyed the recall of old villains like the Shadow King (who of course is on Legion right now) and Proteus, who does that good villain thing where they make some excellent points. Could have done without the "artist of the month" plan on this, though. Soule writes good X-Men.
May 17, 2020
3.5 Stars
Not quite as strong as the first volume. We got the return of Proteus (sort of? the whole thing was a little weird) and then Shadow King pops up again as well. This series has had a throwback vibe to the glory days of Uncanny X-Men from the 1970s, but sort of went off the rails here. I liked it, but didn't quite live up to the start of the storyline.
Not quite as strong as the first volume. We got the return of Proteus (sort of? the whole thing was a little weird) and then Shadow King pops up again as well. This series has had a throwback vibe to the glory days of Uncanny X-Men from the 1970s, but sort of went off the rails here. I liked it, but didn't quite live up to the start of the storyline.
May 25, 2019
2.5 Not nearly as good as the first volume.
September 2, 2019
This volume wasn’t as good as the last. The whole Professor X/Fatomex situation was cool but the story got a little wonky towards the end of the battle with Proteus.
August 20, 2022
skończyłam nic nie zrozumiałam, ale fabuła była fajna wsumie nie wiem nadal kto to X-Men
August 19, 2023
Sometimes you have graphic novels and sometimes you have trade paperbacks. This is a simple compilation of comics from the 2018 version of the X-MEN. Or at least it was published in 2018.
It is a moderately interesting lineup. In the 90s, we were all fascinated by Gambit. At this point I'm not sure that he has any personality traits other than pining (lusting?) for Rogue. Rogue seems to be a much more complete character since the 90s, when her appeal was a yellow jumpsuit and big boobs (which is saying a lot for comics).
It looks like I missed a lot in 20 years. Apparently at some point, Cyclops killed Professor X and Wolverine killed all the other X-MEN. Gonna have to back track a bit to figure that out.
Update 8/23/23- this is better than I initially thought. The Shadow King seems to be a more complete villain than I initially credited him, and the return of Proteus is a nice counterbalance. The Shadow King makes the Astral Plane into what he wants and Proteus has the ability to shape reality at will. So the X-Men wind up having to fight on both a psychological and physical level. Still not four stars, but probably 3.5.
It is a moderately interesting lineup. In the 90s, we were all fascinated by Gambit. At this point I'm not sure that he has any personality traits other than pining (lusting?) for Rogue. Rogue seems to be a much more complete character since the 90s, when her appeal was a yellow jumpsuit and big boobs (which is saying a lot for comics).
It looks like I missed a lot in 20 years. Apparently at some point, Cyclops killed Professor X and Wolverine killed all the other X-MEN. Gonna have to back track a bit to figure that out.
Update 8/23/23- this is better than I initially thought. The Shadow King seems to be a more complete villain than I initially credited him, and the return of Proteus is a nice counterbalance. The Shadow King makes the Astral Plane into what he wants and Proteus has the ability to shape reality at will. So the X-Men wind up having to fight on both a psychological and physical level. Still not four stars, but probably 3.5.
April 11, 2021
The story continues straight from issue 6. Rogue, Gambit, Old Man Logan, and Mystique are back from the Astral Plane. But with them came out another mutant, someone whom everyone thinks is dead but who has been trapped in the Astral Plane, dueling with the Shadow King. He’s a changed person. Mystique doesn’t believe he is who he says he is. The new mutant who calls himself X, has taken over Fantomex while Fantomex’s spirit stays in the Astral Plane. Psylocke even visits the Astral Plane to make sure Fantomex chose it.
But together with X another mutant comes to London from the Astral Plane: Proteus who has reality altering powers. And Proteus wastes no time using his powers. The X-Men and X drive him away from London, but he goes to a small town in Scotland. He offers all the residents whatever they want. Of course, chaos ensues.
Characters rising from the dead aren’t unusual in comics, but I’m not sure if the return of this character was needed. But he seems to be a really changed man, doing things now that he wouldn’t have before. Also, Mystique especially is suspicious of him, which is refreshing and also really sensible. Soule’s run ends here, and the next writer takes up another cast of characters.
This was mostly an enjoyable read. Soule changes especially the balance between Warren and Archangel. Also, Fantomex’s mind remains in the Astral Plane. But in the end, X wipes the memories of him from all the other characters, except Betsy. I’m so used to comics where nothing changes that I was surprised, but I liked the changes. But who knows if the next writers will even notice them. Of course, that’s always the question with a universe as large as Marvel.
But together with X another mutant comes to London from the Astral Plane: Proteus who has reality altering powers. And Proteus wastes no time using his powers. The X-Men and X drive him away from London, but he goes to a small town in Scotland. He offers all the residents whatever they want. Of course, chaos ensues.
Characters rising from the dead aren’t unusual in comics, but I’m not sure if the return of this character was needed. But he seems to be a really changed man, doing things now that he wouldn’t have before. Also, Mystique especially is suspicious of him, which is refreshing and also really sensible. Soule’s run ends here, and the next writer takes up another cast of characters.
This was mostly an enjoyable read. Soule changes especially the balance between Warren and Archangel. Also, Fantomex’s mind remains in the Astral Plane. But in the end, X wipes the memories of him from all the other characters, except Betsy. I’m so used to comics where nothing changes that I was surprised, but I liked the changes. But who knows if the next writers will even notice them. Of course, that’s always the question with a universe as large as Marvel.
September 18, 2018
Well this was a bit of a disappointment. I really loved the first volume, but this was not a very good conclusion. We trade in the rotating cast of all-star artists for many of their budget alternatives. The story is off the rocks, well into reality manipulation territory, and while Soule handles htis better than many before him, it does not make for a compelling story. Also, we barely resolve the "X" character introduction, then the book just ends? Now we have weird handsome Fantomex Chuck running around in some other book? I don't know, feels like a big waste without any meaningful payoff.
There's some good exploratory character stuff in here, and Proteus and Shadow King are both well employed in this books flavor. It feels like Soule goes for a Morrison vibe, but in doing so misses the essential, mutant elements of the franchise. I didn't hate it, and even had fun reading it, but maybe just leave it at the first volume. Volume two doesn't leave you in a better place, or even a different place at all as volume one. They just have to re-defeat the same enemy after a proper conclusion and come to terms with X as a character... which no one really does.
I don't know, maybe this is a two-star book and my third star is X-Men bias.
There's some good exploratory character stuff in here, and Proteus and Shadow King are both well employed in this books flavor. It feels like Soule goes for a Morrison vibe, but in doing so misses the essential, mutant elements of the franchise. I didn't hate it, and even had fun reading it, but maybe just leave it at the first volume. Volume two doesn't leave you in a better place, or even a different place at all as volume one. They just have to re-defeat the same enemy after a proper conclusion and come to terms with X as a character... which no one really does.
I don't know, maybe this is a two-star book and my third star is X-Men bias.
November 25, 2024
Drugi tom okazuje się niezłą rozrywką, jeżeli człowiek nie zaczyna za mocno analizować to, co właśnie czyta. Pod tym względem akcja wali tu do przodu ze sporą prędkością i się nie zatrzymuje, serwując coraz to mocniejsze sceny. I tak, ON powrócił...
Tytułowy człowiek X to tak naprawdę... Stary znajomy, który powraca z zaświatów, ale robi to w nieco dziwny sposób. Ja wiem, że pewne rzeczy nie mogą się odbyć bez ofiar, ale czy to było warte? To się okaże, zwłaszcza że raczej to komplikuje to pewne rzeczy. Zwłaszcza, że w finale tej opowieści postać ta tak naprawdę porzuca swoje wcześniejsze modus operandi.
Człowiek X wspomaga naszą grupę, ale wraz z jego "powrotem" do naszego świata ze sfery spektralnej przechodzi niejaki Proteus. Starcie z nim będzie clue tych sześciu zeszytów, choć na pewnym etapie pojawi się jeszcze inne, skądinąd spodziewane zagrożenie. Tu Soule się nie popisał...
Całość wygląda nieźle, powiedziałbym nawet, że nawet nieco powyżej aktualnego standardu. Podsumowując to całkiem niezły tytuł, nawet pomimo nieco niższej średniej. No i mamy tutaj niezłe przetasowanie sił psychicznych w świecie Marvela.
Tytułowy człowiek X to tak naprawdę... Stary znajomy, który powraca z zaświatów, ale robi to w nieco dziwny sposób. Ja wiem, że pewne rzeczy nie mogą się odbyć bez ofiar, ale czy to było warte? To się okaże, zwłaszcza że raczej to komplikuje to pewne rzeczy. Zwłaszcza, że w finale tej opowieści postać ta tak naprawdę porzuca swoje wcześniejsze modus operandi.
Człowiek X wspomaga naszą grupę, ale wraz z jego "powrotem" do naszego świata ze sfery spektralnej przechodzi niejaki Proteus. Starcie z nim będzie clue tych sześciu zeszytów, choć na pewnym etapie pojawi się jeszcze inne, skądinąd spodziewane zagrożenie. Tu Soule się nie popisał...
Całość wygląda nieźle, powiedziałbym nawet, że nawet nieco powyżej aktualnego standardu. Podsumowując to całkiem niezły tytuł, nawet pomimo nieco niższej średniej. No i mamy tutaj niezłe przetasowanie sił psychicznych w świecie Marvela.
December 12, 2018
Continuing the great x-read of 2017/18...
Pretty disappointed in this one after the absolutely amazing first volume by Soule. It starts out strong with some really tense and interesting Proteus moments but by the end of the story all of that tension fizzles out and the series ends with a few fairly boring issues.
Where did all of the meta-commentary go from the earlier issues? Still, the characters had some good moments and there was just the right amount of drama. (I am also not sold on this new version of Xavier... It was an intriguing idea in the beginning that I just don't feel works by the end.)
Despite this being a bit of a disappointment after the first volume, I'm sad to learn that Soule's run has already come to an end. He was certainly writing far more interesting stories than the other main x-books and I was hoping that this series would continue. Modern Marvel really is cancellation happy aren't they? Seems to me like that would lead to losing readers...
Pretty disappointed in this one after the absolutely amazing first volume by Soule. It starts out strong with some really tense and interesting Proteus moments but by the end of the story all of that tension fizzles out and the series ends with a few fairly boring issues.
Where did all of the meta-commentary go from the earlier issues? Still, the characters had some good moments and there was just the right amount of drama. (I am also not sold on this new version of Xavier... It was an intriguing idea in the beginning that I just don't feel works by the end.)
Despite this being a bit of a disappointment after the first volume, I'm sad to learn that Soule's run has already come to an end. He was certainly writing far more interesting stories than the other main x-books and I was hoping that this series would continue. Modern Marvel really is cancellation happy aren't they? Seems to me like that would lead to losing readers...
November 30, 2018
Read this yesterday. It seems the whole purpose of the book was to reintroduce a new version of Charles Xavier, one who's built himself a new body out of the stuff that made up Fantomex's body and is now living on Earth again as a relatively young man (same ageless adulthood as every other grown up superhero).
Much mayhem ensues upon X's return to life as he and the team of X-Men who brought him back in volume one confront first Proteus and then a materially-present, incarnate version of the Shadow King. The ending was a bit unsatisfying for me, and the sheer out there implications/applications of the powers of the two villains meant the book become visually extremely difficult to follow as reality becomes mental putty. The implications of and possibilities of having the character back and his apparent power-level are fascinating. The story itself was all right.
Much mayhem ensues upon X's return to life as he and the team of X-Men who brought him back in volume one confront first Proteus and then a materially-present, incarnate version of the Shadow King. The ending was a bit unsatisfying for me, and the sheer out there implications/applications of the powers of the two villains meant the book become visually extremely difficult to follow as reality becomes mental putty. The implications of and possibilities of having the character back and his apparent power-level are fascinating. The story itself was all right.
April 10, 2019
This was kind of a letdown after the first collection. X is not the Xavier we used to know (as he says many times), and he’s quite aggressive about it. Proteus comes back and kills at least one Scottish town’s worth of people because this book does not care about a body count.
The ending is kind of ridiculous, especially X’s final decision, and the multiple artists thing also annoyed me more this time. We started with the clean lines of Phil Noto and ended with the very exaggerated art of Gerardo Sandoval, and that is a bridge too far.
Also, if this kind of superhero world-ending nonsense happened in the real world with the kind of frequency it happens in the Marvel Universe, we would all have gone mad long ago.
The ending is kind of ridiculous, especially X’s final decision, and the multiple artists thing also annoyed me more this time. We started with the clean lines of Phil Noto and ended with the very exaggerated art of Gerardo Sandoval, and that is a bridge too far.
Also, if this kind of superhero world-ending nonsense happened in the real world with the kind of frequency it happens in the Marvel Universe, we would all have gone mad long ago.
October 14, 2019
This was a mixed bag. I was interested in where the story was going. Most of the art was solid. It just wasn’t super interesting. It felt like an exercise in trying to get an idea on the page rather than tell a story. Despite everything, I just couldn’t get invested in the team or what was going on.
Also, the big twist was telegraphed a mile away, so it kind of lost its impact.
I think there’s another volume of this by another writer, so I’ll check that out, but like I have said about other recent X-books, I’m reading it more because it’s X-Men than because I’m enthralled in the story.
Also, the big twist was telegraphed a mile away, so it kind of lost its impact.
I think there’s another volume of this by another writer, so I’ll check that out, but like I have said about other recent X-books, I’m reading it more because it’s X-Men than because I’m enthralled in the story.
July 4, 2019
A great love letter to the X-Men. Felt like the classic wackiness one would come to expect from Marvel’s Mutants all within a self-contained story. Writing was full of all the dread, hope, hate, love and other extremes any good X-Men series should have. Charles Soule is a master of his craft. While I usually prefer one or two consistent artists for a series, all six of the artists for this book brought a different flavor of X-Men art to the table. Worthy of the title, “astonishing.”
June 12, 2021
I didn't know most of the artists here, but they were all good. "X" is a bit of a confusing character, and the ending didn't engender much more understanding. I overall liked the story, but it ended really abruptly and unsatisfactorily. With a big ol Deus ex machina that seemed to be setting up a future storyline more than wrapping this one up well. Oh well it was still a good book, but I really need to research what it leads to.
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