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Uncanny X-Men by Chuck Austen
Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 5: She Lies With Angels
In this special tribute to Shakespeare's most beloved work, Romeo & Juliet, this story is a poignant but riveting tale about a young human and a young mutant falling in love, and what terrible consequences it will have not only for them, but for their family and friends. Ages 13+
176 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Chuck Austen
437 books16 followersChuck Austen (born Chuck Beckum) is an American humor novelist, comic book writer and artist, TV writer and animator. In comics, he is known for his work on X-Men, War Machine, Elektra, and Action Comics, and in television, he is known for co-creating the animated TV series Tripping the Rift.
In his most recent prose novels, Chuck Austen has been going by the name Charles Austen.
In his most recent prose novels, Chuck Austen has been going by the name Charles Austen.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
September 23, 2018
Hardcore old-school X-Men story... as a family feud between the racist and anti-mutant Cabots and the X-Man family Guthries escalates enough for the X-Men to be called up. A harsh hitting, no punches pulling look at bigotry and ongoing family feuds and the carnage they bring! More Austen multi-faceted characterisations sees him really get into Angel and Husk. A strong 8 out of 12 from me.
June 17, 2023
Arc is most well known for 30 year old Angel and 19 year old Paige, doing business in the air, in front of her mom and the X-team. For that this volume deserves some sort of historical mention
Other than that , the art is fine in an early 2000s way and the chessy Romeo and Juliet mutant story is adequate
Other than that , the art is fine in an early 2000s way and the chessy Romeo and Juliet mutant story is adequate
October 6, 2021
Wow, who knew someone doing it in front of their mom while flying up through the air would be considered romantic huh?
...well actually, that's cause its not. I think Chuck Austen was going for a definite Romeo and Juliet kind of vibe to not only the small town characters, but also a bit with Angel and Husk as well. He aimed for intense, illogical, and primal love, but instead ends up hitting heavy handed and kinda creepy instead. The book tries way too hard to make this a love story and it really just didn't come off right in my opinion. At least he addresses the age thing between Husk and Angel, and states she is 19.... which I know is legal, but still creepy as hell cause Angel is a grown dude. Anyways, that's just my opinion, and others may not feel the same way.
The only reason why I gave the book an extra star is because, it also deals with themes of racism and persecution, which is something the X-Men books frequently address head on. I did appreciate that angle to the story, where the team is pitted against a bunch of bigots, which serves as a microcosm of how most of the world reacts to them in general.
Overall, this volume is better than the one before this, but still doesn't really warrant a recommendation. Unless you are a chronology reader, I would skip this one.
...well actually, that's cause its not. I think Chuck Austen was going for a definite Romeo and Juliet kind of vibe to not only the small town characters, but also a bit with Angel and Husk as well. He aimed for intense, illogical, and primal love, but instead ends up hitting heavy handed and kinda creepy instead. The book tries way too hard to make this a love story and it really just didn't come off right in my opinion. At least he addresses the age thing between Husk and Angel, and states she is 19.... which I know is legal, but still creepy as hell cause Angel is a grown dude. Anyways, that's just my opinion, and others may not feel the same way.
The only reason why I gave the book an extra star is because, it also deals with themes of racism and persecution, which is something the X-Men books frequently address head on. I did appreciate that angle to the story, where the team is pitted against a bunch of bigots, which serves as a microcosm of how most of the world reacts to them in general.
Overall, this volume is better than the one before this, but still doesn't really warrant a recommendation. Unless you are a chronology reader, I would skip this one.
September 28, 2022
So I feel really weird about this, but I actually liked this volume.
The Guthries, a family of mutants with two X-Men among them (Cannonball and Husk), have been engaged in a long-lasting feud with the Cabots, a family of humans that hates mutants.
As this feud reaches its boiling point, young Josh Guthrie falls in love with young Julia Cabot. Yes, it's Romeo and Juliet retold with mutants. But it's enjoyable enough and only has one or two scenes that make you cringe.
The Guthries, a family of mutants with two X-Men among them (Cannonball and Husk), have been engaged in a long-lasting feud with the Cabots, a family of humans that hates mutants.
As this feud reaches its boiling point, young Josh Guthrie falls in love with young Julia Cabot. Yes, it's Romeo and Juliet retold with mutants. But it's enjoyable enough and only has one or two scenes that make you cringe.
October 3, 2024
Luv the art
July 13, 2017
Sad sweet and oh so fluffy!!
Okay I am a huge X-Men fan. I I am a fan of random characters most people probably forget or don't even know existed. Icarus is one of my favorites and this book is well about him. The X-Men of course do show up to handle a situation but the story is mostly about Icarus and his first love. I love the art and I love the story.
Okay I am a huge X-Men fan. I I am a fan of random characters most people probably forget or don't even know existed. Icarus is one of my favorites and this book is well about him. The X-Men of course do show up to handle a situation but the story is mostly about Icarus and his first love. I love the art and I love the story.
October 29, 2009
an interesting x-men-style retelling of Romeo and Juliet with my new favorite mutant: Jay Guthrie AKA Icarus!
Read
August 19, 2010Shakespearean take on the X-Men with excellent results. Nightcrawler puts in an appearance, and Angel has a romance, what could be better?
March 6, 2011
Nicre Romeo and Juliet bit, which also sorts out other characters issues.
July 21, 2017
Continuing the great x-read of 2017…
So Chuck Austen… Each volume of his run on Uncanny X-men has gotten, in my opinion, progressively worse to the point where I have grown to cringe whenever I see another Austen book coming up next in the chronology.
This one, though? This really wasn’t that bad. It is basically a retelling of Romeo and Juliet in the x-verse with a little bit of the Hatfields and the McCoys. The plot itself has been done, but is handled pretty well. The dialogue is particularly over the top and melodramatic but in a retelling of Shakespeare, I assume that was intentional.
There are still issues. Paige (while a bit better in this volume, to be fair) is still vapid and completely unlike her earlier characterization and her relationship with Warren continues to be odd and a little creepy (particularly when they are having sex in the sky while her whole family is looking up. Ummmm?). Polaris, also, is very out of character (I am assuming that this will eventually be part of the plot, though as she is so obviously acting strange…). Most of the X-men in this book are tangential and unnecessary to the story.
But I am going to give credit where credit is due. I think that this volume is okay. It’s far better than the earlier volumes and doesn’t completely make me think that Austen is not suited at all for this kind of writing. I think it would have even managed three stars from me if I wasn’t still angry that Austen basically ruined the personalities of some of my favorite characters. Ha. Maybe that’s just being petty at this point, but so be it.
So Chuck Austen… Each volume of his run on Uncanny X-men has gotten, in my opinion, progressively worse to the point where I have grown to cringe whenever I see another Austen book coming up next in the chronology.
This one, though? This really wasn’t that bad. It is basically a retelling of Romeo and Juliet in the x-verse with a little bit of the Hatfields and the McCoys. The plot itself has been done, but is handled pretty well. The dialogue is particularly over the top and melodramatic but in a retelling of Shakespeare, I assume that was intentional.
There are still issues. Paige (while a bit better in this volume, to be fair) is still vapid and completely unlike her earlier characterization and her relationship with Warren continues to be odd and a little creepy (particularly when they are having sex in the sky while her whole family is looking up. Ummmm?). Polaris, also, is very out of character (I am assuming that this will eventually be part of the plot, though as she is so obviously acting strange…). Most of the X-men in this book are tangential and unnecessary to the story.
But I am going to give credit where credit is due. I think that this volume is okay. It’s far better than the earlier volumes and doesn’t completely make me think that Austen is not suited at all for this kind of writing. I think it would have even managed three stars from me if I wasn’t still angry that Austen basically ruined the personalities of some of my favorite characters. Ha. Maybe that’s just being petty at this point, but so be it.
December 19, 2024
For an often dismissed X-arc this one had me thinking long enough to write a review.
Everyone says it’s awful, so I went in with pretty low expectations, which might have helped overall. Also, if you’re coming off of the Morrison run, the dialogue will hit a sour note - lots of teen angst, over the top emotions and horrible prose - but that’s kind of what being a teenager in love is about. And that’s the heart of this story. It’s an X-adaptation of Romeo and Juliet and it’s a pretty solid adaptation of the plot. If you were teaching a unit and needed to reach some students who were into Marvel but not Shakespeare, this might do the trick for you. It also hits some classic X-themes like racism and bigotry.
That being said, no one will mistake this as a soaring triumph - not even Sony would try to adapt this (right? Right!?!). Which brings me to the second thing I’ve been thinking about. This is not a great arc - and yet, not every arc can or should be. The thing that makes us so invested in these characters is all the small steps we take with them along the way, so that when something big happens it really hits. If every plot is earth shattering then that simply becomes your new landscape and there’s no where to really go. At least two character arcs take a step forward here (even if the Angel/Husk one remains problematic - and the consummation ridiculous).
Is it good? Not really
Is it skippable? Yes
Is it part of the fabric? Yes
Everyone says it’s awful, so I went in with pretty low expectations, which might have helped overall. Also, if you’re coming off of the Morrison run, the dialogue will hit a sour note - lots of teen angst, over the top emotions and horrible prose - but that’s kind of what being a teenager in love is about. And that’s the heart of this story. It’s an X-adaptation of Romeo and Juliet and it’s a pretty solid adaptation of the plot. If you were teaching a unit and needed to reach some students who were into Marvel but not Shakespeare, this might do the trick for you. It also hits some classic X-themes like racism and bigotry.
That being said, no one will mistake this as a soaring triumph - not even Sony would try to adapt this (right? Right!?!). Which brings me to the second thing I’ve been thinking about. This is not a great arc - and yet, not every arc can or should be. The thing that makes us so invested in these characters is all the small steps we take with them along the way, so that when something big happens it really hits. If every plot is earth shattering then that simply becomes your new landscape and there’s no where to really go. At least two character arcs take a step forward here (even if the Angel/Husk one remains problematic - and the consummation ridiculous).
Is it good? Not really
Is it skippable? Yes
Is it part of the fabric? Yes
May 22, 2022
Did we really need another take on Romeo & Juliet? Chuck Austen forces it in this tale that reflects the worst stereotypes of Kentucky. The Guthrie family (think Cannonball and Husk) has a long-standing feud with the richer Capulet -- sorry, Cabot -- family. Over the years, the Cabots launched several attempts to kill the Guthries, and their latest attempt utilizes abandoned anti-mutant technology. Meanwhile, Julia Cabot falls in love with Josh Guthrie. Apparently, neither of them knew the last name of the other despite their established family feud in a very small town.
This is not only a forced interpretation of Shakespeare, it is an incredulous X-Men story. It doesn't get any better by adding the melodrama (and public, areal sex scene) between 19-year-old Husk and a much older Angel or a bigotted town sheriff who pines for the woman he agreed to kill.
This is not only a forced interpretation of Shakespeare, it is an incredulous X-Men story. It doesn't get any better by adding the melodrama (and public, areal sex scene) between 19-year-old Husk and a much older Angel or a bigotted town sheriff who pines for the woman he agreed to kill.
August 10, 2020
Editorial Team: Hey Chuck this looks like you literally just copied Romeo And Juliet. Could you maybe write something better?
Chuck Austen: Say no more fam. Gonna write some gross sex between a teenager and an adult while they fly above the teenagers mom!
Chuck Austen: Say no more fam. Gonna write some gross sex between a teenager and an adult while they fly above the teenagers mom!
September 4, 2017
The problem here is that I believe someone thought this was deep or a touching homage to a classic work, and it's not. It's just painful.
October 19, 2018
This should have just been a separate story. Having Wolverine and Nightcrawler be "background" characters with no personality was lame. The story itself was pretty good. Not into this art either.
October 27, 2019
So much melodrama! And it already feels like a lot of this is being retread. The angel characters are the same?
It feels out of proportion.
It feels out of proportion.
December 20, 2020
Help me.
September 26, 2021
Meh. Romeo & Juliet, X-men style. Didn't like the art. And I always hated the R&J premise.
January 29, 2024
2.5/5.0
July 6, 2025
Updated During 2025 Readthrough:
Whenever I start reading the Chuck Austen Uncanny X-Men run, I think of how unfair it is that he's labled one of the worst X-Men writers of all-time. His Juggernaut/Sammy story is wholesome and decent, he has some interesting soap opera ideas for the cast, it's really not bad. I even think Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 3: Holy War is okay in a cheap, soap-opera way. But then I get to Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 4: The Draco, and I imagine how blissful it would be to never read comics again, and then I get to this Romeo and Juliet YA, if it were written by a particularly untalented fourteen year old, garbage, and I imagine how blissful it would be to never have to read again.
He's not just one of the worst X-Men writers of all time, he's one of the worst comic book writers of all time.
Unless you're being paid, or it's on a dare, there's no reason to ever subject yourself to this garbage.
***
Original 2018 Review:
This derivative garbage is barely readable. Austen's dialog and understanding of characters has always been his weak point, so when he doesn't even bother crafting his own story, it's clear How Bad he is at writing comics.
This is still a massive improvement over The Draco, but it's hard to imagine him getting worse than that, or even managing to maintain that level of unreadability.
Whenever I start reading the Chuck Austen Uncanny X-Men run, I think of how unfair it is that he's labled one of the worst X-Men writers of all-time. His Juggernaut/Sammy story is wholesome and decent, he has some interesting soap opera ideas for the cast, it's really not bad. I even think Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 3: Holy War is okay in a cheap, soap-opera way. But then I get to Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 4: The Draco, and I imagine how blissful it would be to never read comics again, and then I get to this Romeo and Juliet YA, if it were written by a particularly untalented fourteen year old, garbage, and I imagine how blissful it would be to never have to read again.
He's not just one of the worst X-Men writers of all time, he's one of the worst comic book writers of all time.
Unless you're being paid, or it's on a dare, there's no reason to ever subject yourself to this garbage.
***
Original 2018 Review:
This derivative garbage is barely readable. Austen's dialog and understanding of characters has always been his weak point, so when he doesn't even bother crafting his own story, it's clear How Bad he is at writing comics.
This is still a massive improvement over The Draco, but it's hard to imagine him getting worse than that, or even managing to maintain that level of unreadability.
August 8, 2013
The 5th volume of the Uncanny X-Men is the best of Chuck Austen's tenure on the title - only because he had to rip off William Shakespeare to do it. Jay Guthrie is a member of the Kentucky Guthrie siblings, which have spawned X-Men members Cannonball and Husk. Julia Cabot is a waitress from the Cabot family, whose lineage has a mad-on for anything different from their Southern values. Their Romeo & Juliet relationship fans the flames for a showdown between the X-Men and the armored-up Cabots, leaving everyone marred by the conflict. As a Shakespeare tale, the story of Jay and Julia is a good riff; the ancillary portions just feel forced. Archangel finally apologizes to Wolverine about his dislike of the feral mutant, and Logan nonchalantly accepts it. Polaris is still being portrayed as a slightly unhinged X-Man with a desire for destruction. Husk actually gets busy with Archangel IN MID-AIR while the team and her family look on from below. While artist Salvador Larroca continues to pencil fantastic images, it is a shame to see it wasted on arcs like these. This book would be better off lying with the fishes than the angels.
April 5, 2007
I actually wish I HADN'T sold this on eBay, because its a retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story, and I could use it with my students. Other than getting a surly teen's interest, this is merely marginally more bearable than Austin's other fare.
June 22, 2011
Not as bad as Draco. It is actually an interesting Romeo & Juliet variant, althought those farmers in giant mecha robots were ridiculous. Chuck Austen tried but it was better to leave Uncanny X-Men in more skilled hands.
July 1, 2016
Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. This was crazy; an attempt at recreating Romeo and Juliet through non-X-men mutants in a weird backwoods side story. Oh my. I put two stars initially but I might downgrade to one after I have finished trying to get my head in order about this one.
December 21, 2010
An X-Men version of Romeo and Juliet? Well, actually that part was okay, but the dialog was kind of implausible, as were some of the plot contrivances.
May 18, 2024
Not a fan of Angel & Husk but we do get more Guthrie characters.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews