Uncanny X-Men: The New Age, Vol. 3: On Ice

Uncanny X-Men: The New Age

by Chris Claremont, Alan Davis (Artist)

High adventure in the Savage Land! The X-Men discover a wondrous and advanced new civilization when they return to the isolated, Antarctic jungle - but it's none-too-friendly toward humans... or mutants! And could the X-Men have unintentionally helped them take their first steps toward world domination? The team gains a highly unexpected new member! Collects Uncanny X-Men #455-461.

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

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Chris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.

Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.

Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this re-read quite a bit. I'm a sucker for an old-school Chris Claremont X-Men story and when you have the annoyingly talented Alan Davis on art duties (for five of the seven issues collected here anyway) and you throw in dinosaurs and the X-Babies... well, there's just nothing about this I don't love!

'Why not five stars, then?' I hear absolutely nobody cry! Well, it's because issue six of the seven collected here was a bit... underwhelming. Not much happened other than a recap of what had been going on in the other X-books while this team had been off in the Savage Land. Also, the whole falling out between Rachel and Kitty felt more than a little forced. It didn't feel in character for either of them.

Overall, though, a cracking good X-read!

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume was weird af.

First we follow the X-Men to Spain to meet with Action force and resolve problems there and then they go to Savage land and encounter these beings called Hauk'ka basically intelligent dinosaurs and well they have plans for world domination, they capture X-Men, knock them down, something weird with Rachel like her becoming a dinosaur being and the usual face off, quests and battles and overcoming it when the world is threatened, someone steps up and the surprise return of Psylocke and X-23! Its a fun story while silly at times does offer you some insight into the savage land and various creatures residing there and also has Vertigo and Brainchild cameos which are not utilized that well.

While in other story, they face off against Mojo and Spiral and the return of X-Babies and how they handle it plus the redemption of Juggernaut in a way. Its a fun volume with predictable twists at times but overstretched story but in the end manages to give some characters redemption arcs and meta comments about the living-dying nature of X-Men and other things. The art is meh and nothing much of significance happens, maybe skip this one.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars. 7 issues in this book and the first 5 is the main story arc. A character has came back from the dead and the X-Men are cautious making sure that they are in fact themselves. The X-men find themselves in the Savage Land battling these dinosaur people who want to use Storm as a weapon to wipe out humanity so they can rule the world. Solid story. The last two issue deal with everyone coming back home and a Mojoverse story. Overall a decent book.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume was classic Claremont. High adventure in the savage land, interpersonal relationships clashing with each other, and even a character revival (or two) marks this volume with a "Claremontian" vibe that is inescapable.

I had fun reading the savage land story as it evoked a lot of feelings of those early adventures. The addition of X-23 was a welcome one, but it wasn't really enough to make a huge difference on the standard formula that is used when telling this story. But like I said, it was fun none the less. There is also a story at the end with Mojo, which is another Claremont staple, and that was... not as good. The X-babies make a reappearance and it just didn't feel like anything that contributed to the overall story of the X-Men.

Alan Davis, while not my cup of tea, does some great work on this volume. I'm not a huge fan of his style, but I can still appreciate that a lot of work went into this volume and it looks pretty good. If you're a fan of Davis, this one is probably gonna be a really fun volume for you to read.

I would recommend this if you are looking to get away from the more modern vibe of that time of the X-Men's life. There is definitely not much in the way of Morrison or Whedon, but plenty of Claremont to enjoy.

[TR Naus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chris Claremont continues his run with two more stories. In "World's End", the X-Men encounter a new threat as the Hauk’ka prepare their invasion to reclaim Earth. These Saurians are direct descendants of dinosaurs and have their own mutant super team. They quickly claim their first victory by possessing Rachel who slowly becomes one of them in both body and mind. In the second tale, the Exiles return from their dimensional travels, but Mojo and Spiral are hot on their trail.

I am already on the record proclaiming that I do not particularly enjoy Christ Claremont's collaborations with Alan Davis. Normally, they delve deeply into English mythology and lore, but this time, they decide to return to another easy stand-by: a new race in the Savage Land looking for world domination. He followed that with another run-of-the-mill Mojo story (this time artist Tom Raney). I was bored.

There were some highlights. It is clear that Chris is dedicated to keeping his XSE arc from the pages of X-Men X-Treme going now that he is back on Uncanny X-Men. Psylocke returns in the exact same place where she was murdered way back in X-Treme X-Men #2 (with plenty of exposition to remind us). It was bound to happen after 3.5 years (who stays dead forever in comics?), but this felt like a good mystery. I also really enjoyed the return of the X-Babies in the second story.

[Trevor · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bad sequel to a bad comic.

The two redeeming features are Alan Davis's art and the friendship between Psylocke and X-23.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like Nightcrawler. The dinopeople are a bit one-sided. Constructive interference.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Working in comic book stores for the last *mumbles number quietly* years, I've discovered that there are many comnic fans who just want to read the same familiar and unchallenging stories that feature the same familiar characters having the same adventures in the same places they did thirty, fourty, fifty years ago. If there weren't fans like this, DC would have gone out of business in the early to mid nineties, and the comics landscape would be a less misogynist and racist place.

But if you're a Marvel X-Men fan, and you want the same tired stories from the late seventies and early eighties, then this "New Age" Uncanny X-Men run is tailor made for you.

For other fans, this is a boring rehash of old stories where the slight changes are that Jean Grey has been switched out for Rachel Summers, and Bishop is there, as sort of a stand-in for Captain Britain on Claremont/Davis's Excalibur run from the 1980s. The Edgar Rice Burroughsesque Savage Land is uninteresting to most fans who were under sixty when this book came out. And Mojo and the X-Babies are an idea that most writers will throw in for one issue to break up dire and monumental storylines, but wouldn't dream of extending into an even two-issues-story. It's like writing a Max Headroom story, or making a joke about New Coke, its shelf life long ago expired.

Alan Davis's and Tom Raney's art are both great but not enough to elevate this uninspired and uninspiring set of stories.

While I'm glad Psylocke came back, her return was just as boring and out of left field as her death was in X-Treme X-Men. Best to pretend this whole era of Claremont books never happened.

[Lillian Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a mess!

The Savage Lane issues are weird af.
#460 has a weird 2 week jump in which loads happens but there's no editorial comment to point you in the direction to read these events.
#461 is a Mojo issue. I hate Mojo with a vengeance normally reserved for Jarjar Binks. X-babies. And a bizarre version of the Exiles team. The only good thing about this issue is baby Storm's conversation with baby Cain about Sammy's death.
Oh and I no idea what is going on with Betsy and Jamie Braddock.

[Petalbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Savage Land part of this book was pretty good. The rest? Fluff.

[Jdetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm through with Uncanny X-Men for quite awhile, and I couldn't be happier. It feels somehow appropriate to end my look at fifty years of this title with a Chris Claremont written story that uses so many of the elements he so enjoys, like the Savage Land and Mojo, which felt new when they were created, but now feel so tired and worn out. I think that's been the problem with this book....it became too successful, and once that happened, it stopped striving for something new and just kept replaying the same old hits.

[Roman Colombo · Rating 3 out of 5]

As weird and silly as the Savage Land story was, I really liked it and would give that story 4 stars, but the Mojo story was annoying. I kind of hate that character, and this certainly didn't sell me on him.

But the art throughout was really fun, so that helped a lot. Actually, best art of this series so far.

[Omni Theus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Getting Worse
OVERALL RATING: 1.75 stars
Art: 4 stars
Prose: 2 stars
Plot: 1.5 stars
Pacing: 2 stars
Character Development: 2 stars
World Building: 2.25 stars
Wordy and illogical stepping stone prose stink. Claremont seems to have reverted back to his 1990 self again. Cardinal sins for me. I'm out. I just don't care for any of it. Everything feels very dry.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Continuing the great x-read of 2017...

Not particularly memorable. a bit of a rehash, Claremont's greatest hits coming back...

Nice to see Psylocke return I suppose but the resurrections get a bit old after awhile.

[Judith Groen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because I wanted to see how X-23 integrated in the X-team. For that reason I liked to story, everybody got to know her, and trust her a little. The story itself was, weird... I don't really care for the savage land and their weird dino-like creatures. But all in all not a terrible read

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The whole thing with the dinosaur people and Rachel becoming a dinosaur person were cool.

Very little else seemed to matter or payoff. Wolverine got hijacked into another story. X-23 didn't really develop. Same for Brainchild and whoever else was here.

[Mitchell Juers · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one is rough. Chris Claremont seems to have lost the voices of the characters he created and defined, and it’s sad to see. Imagine Storm needing to take hand to hand combat lessons from Bishop?? Chris what happened?

[Russel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great adventure in the Savage Lands, a few returning heroes and a comedic epilogue makes this an unmissable volume.

[Kirin · Rating 3 out of 5]

things started to go downhill in this volume tbh not a huge fan of the art and the pacing, not to mention logan is on the cover but basically just disappears for 90% of the story?? 💀

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this about 10 years ago, back then that was one of the few x-men books i could put my hands on and i remember enjoying reading it alot.

[Trieu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm usually not a fan of Claremont's work, but this surprised me. I thought this was a good follow-up to the X-Treme X-Men Savage Land story. And hey, Psylocke is back, can't complain about that. Even though no explanation whatsoever is given about her "resurrection." At least it's something I can look forward to in the coming issues. Oh and I very much liked her interactions with X-23, who is quickly growing on me. Overall, a fun and exciting read for me (something I've never said about Claremont's work on X-Men).

[C. · Rating 1 out of 5]

The best part of this book is that, whenever I see it, I want to start singing the Modest Mouse song - "Its all right / its all righ / its all right on ice on ice." But that's just me. 1)It involves the Savage Land, and ever since the late 60's the Savage Land has blown. 2)It involves aliens, and ever since the first Brood plot back in the early 70's, aliens and the X-Men have blown. Ergo, this volume blows HARD.

[Lord · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Visiting the Savage land is never dull" says Storm in this book but I beg to differ. Savage land was never one of the more interesting assets of the X-Men universe and Claremont clearly belongs to 20th century Marvel. Nothing more to add.

[Jase · Rating 2 out of 5]

Second read has a new review with a lower rating. This is hokey as shit. The team ends up in Savage Land w/ Rachel being possessed and dino-changes whilst Psylocke, Wolvering, Bishop & others free the Savage Land again w/ Kazar n team.

[LunaSanguine · Rating 1 out of 5]

The whole Savage Land concept is kinda racist and some of the Natives wearing stereotypical Winnetou-movie style clothes adds to it.

The plotline with the X-Men being transformed into babys is also kinda silly

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's very bitty. A rehash of a savage land invasion story, Betsy is back from the dead. The only saving grace was the Mojo story at the end with the xbabies in it.

[Timo · Rating 1 out of 5]

No matter how much X-Men are the child of Claremont, this still was big piece of crap. Why did you come back Chris and destroyed what you helped to create.

[Stephan van Velzen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good start, ridiculous ending. A lot of loose threads.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rachel constantly in a T-Rex pose was weird. I did like the team dynamic.