X-Men Red, Vol. 2

X-Men Red (2022) (Collected Editions)

by Al Ewing (Writer), Stefano Caselli (Illustrator), Madibek Musabekov (Illustrator)

Battle for the broken land! Planet Arakko chose peace over war. Now war has chosen them. The monstrous arsenal of the Eternals is on the march. The Arakkii must defend their realm according to the ancient laws…but against an enemy even older than they are, can the old ways win? Then, the Great Ring declares that Isca the Unbeaten is no longer fit for the Seat of Victory. But if she won't step down, is there anyone who can make her? And when Cable springs his trap for Abigail Brand, could her plans be too big for even the Askani'son to handle alone? To foil a scheme stretching from the Sol System to the Shi'ar Empire and beyond, the Soldier of Tomorrow needs all the help he can get--from his very own X-Men Red!

COLLECTING: X-Men Red (2022) 6-10

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

144 pages, Paperback

Published March 14, 2023

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al Ewing's epic-attempt at a grandiose 'secondary' X-Men title looks like an attempt to do what Grant Morrison did hen he propelled New X-Men to the fore; so, does Ewing come anywhere close? There's an overly dramatic but very well conceived two comic book issue arc telling what might be Magneto's last story on Judgement Day! There's a huge x-lore moment with the re-emergence of a huge character from the past. Throughout this volume there is the delightfully dark political scheming of Abigail Brand and the counter measures led by Cable; these three significant stories helped towards me giving this volume Four Stars, an 8 out of 12 rating, rare for a 21st century X-book for me.

2025 read

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS WAS SO EPIC OMG!

Al ewing continues to make this comic epic in every sense of the word like he takes all the continuity from different regions and all and makes such a great cohesive story keeping in mind the larger picture and whats to come and its glorious like the way he ties it together is rewarding for the reader!

So the first is the tie-in to the Judgement day event with the Progenitor judging them and what a last stand for Magneto he gives it his all and my god it will make you emotional and a fantastic ending for him and for real some of the best X-moments and a good status quo for the great ring of Arakko and what it means and Ororo's new position and saying it again, those moments are GLORIOUS in every sense of the word.

I like the way he sets up these situations and it plays like a epic-scale drama with solid characterization but plot pay offs and then the big plot with Vulcan and how he returned and its genius how he ties that to another plot he has been running since another books and that was cool too, seeing how it happens and then Storm/Ororo vs Vulcan may have some of the best moments, one-liners in X-men history and again like I said awesome.

Its one of those books that reads awesome keeping in mind the larger picture for the X-Men and whats to come at this point and it sets up interesting dominoes and when they all come together, it will be awesome to read for sure!!

[Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

"He is a good man, Ororo. We must be wary of good men. For what will they not do to show how good they are?"

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading this book is a bit like watching someone juggle chainsaws. It’s impressive, but I have to wonder why the person chose to make things so hard for themselves. This book does too many things. It does them very well, shockingly well, but I still think it’s too much, and I’d be just as impressed if those chainsaws were something lighter and less scary, and I’d be less concerned.

Also, I’m rereading this just after the first Issue of Rise of the Powers of X has released, and there are many juicy secrets seeded throughout, and I think the answer to multiple of them are in the second half of this trade.

[johnny ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

hell yeah storm!

[Alex Sarll]

Intersecting with Judgment Day's bloodbath on the Red Planet, which means we get two issues of Magneto dying slower than an opera singer, though he does have some good lines along the way:
"Charles dreams of persuading the world that we have value. In the hope that the world will then make us safe. My dream was simpler. To assure our safety...whether the world values us or not."
It's a neat updating of the old argument between them, even after two years of their working so closely together in establishing the Krakoan dream.

Plus, more of Brand's ruthless manoeuvring for galactic political advantage, which also means more of the forces aligned against her. A group it would be easy to describe as 'ragtag' if they didn't include characters as formidable as Storm, not to mention Sunspot, a character where only Al seems able to plausibly reconcile the competing characterisations of him as a devious mastermind and a glorious himbo. Hell, there's even sufficiently inventive use of Vulcan's powers to stop me thinking of the character as an absolute excrescence. By the end of this, I was again enjoying it as much as SWORD, mainly because we were getting less of the Arakki characters. Hopefully, now there are fewer Arakki in general, this will continue.

[Benji Glaab · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

The whole Judgment day scenario really muddy's the water for me. This is a great looking book with some amazing characters. Hope Ewing can deliver a better volume next time around

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I feel like I finished an X-men volume and get the sensation that I have no idea what I just read. Like I get who Nathaniel Essex and Brand and Vulcan are, but I feel like I’m constantly missing context as their characters are revised or altered to meet a narrative need. Overall, this was a pretty fun issue, though it seems to do that weird 2-1-2 thing of swing from a rushed ending to a previous crossover to a quick prelude before another mini-arc leading to a cliffhanger ending. I’m not sure there’s one thing pulling me here, save the dance and how long Charles can keep tapping it out before he misses several beats leading into a record scratch of epic proportions.

[Christian Zamora-Dahmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful art. The story lost me at times, plus the never pleasing crossover interruption and misdirection.
I read the first volume a while back, and I did feel a bit lost. There was a lot of context that I couldn’t grasp, and this definitely took away a lot of enjoyment.
For a book like this one you just needed to know too much background on the characters for everything else to fall into place.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that I would enjoy this title more if I was really a bigger X-Men fan and knew a lot more about the X-Men relationships and world. Unfortunately, I’m just not a huge fan of the space stuff, including Arakko. I did like the A.X.E. issues and the Storm issues in this, as well. I really wanted to give this title a fair shot and really wanted to like it, but I think I may drop this title after this volume.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still one of the best parts of this ongoing X-Men story with some of the coolest characters. But this essentially has become S.W.O.R.D. 2 on top of telling a story about the mutants of Mars. And that story doesn’t interest me because it includes one of the handful of mutant traitors secretly working to take down the nation or jeopardize it for some stupid reason.

[Andrew Shaffer]

Incomplete without additional issues. The main battle where they defeat the bad guy happens between issues in another series (apparently? there’s no mention at all of where this occurred).

[Robert]

Sigh.

I had high hopes given how much I have enjoyed Ewing's writing elsewhere but these issues really aren't doing it for me in the slightest. DNF, will not continue.

[Bertazzo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ewing's writing is still sharp, but it's impossible to make a good story with Vulcan.

[JCRD · Rating 5 out of 5]

No solo son unos tie-in buenísimos con 'Judgment Day' si no que Ewing aprovecha para dar unos arcos buenísimos a Magneto y Tormenta, pero es que luego da una conclusión con una épica que se sale por las nubes a este primer gran arco (más grande aún si contamos también S.W.O.R.D.).

Es ciencia ficción chulísima, politiqueo, alianzas y giros que me han dejado loco, una épica que ya digo se sale de las escalas, una Abigail Brand despreciable (yo la quiero igual) y con Tormenta y Mancha Solar que están mejor que nunca desde que empezó esta etapa en Krakoa, y todo con un dibujo y color que le sienta como un guante y que gracias a Dios se ha mantenido muy estable.

Ahora toca 'Sins of Sinister' y seguro que me encanta sabiendo quiénes están involucrados, pero estoy loco por ver qué más tiene preparado Al Ewing en la recámara.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does he do it, how does he keep getting better? All hail the Brotherhood, and long live Arrako!

With these tense and dramatic Judgment Day tie ins with very important fallout for the council, as well as Cable's mission to take down Brand, I was on the edge of my seat. And it lands on a great breakpoint while setting the stage for Sins of Sinister, as Storm and Vulcan get their big rematch. Ewing is firing on cylinders, and I hope Red continues for a long time after it returns

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gems include Storm & Magneto get intimate, Isca the Unbeaten learns the nature of loss from the Fisher King, Brand moves her king, Havok is not analyzing Cyke’s & Emma’s resurrection fetish, & Sunspot plays the MI theme

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish this book was as interesting as it thinks it is.

[Riley Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, but I don’t know how I feel about all the X-Men verse, whatever Marvel is trying to promote, the Eternals are interesting, but I kinda like them in their own sphere

[Rory Wilding · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the crossover event A.X.E.: Judgment Day has been affecting the Marvel universe, including the Krakoan mutants, so has Planet Arakko, formerly known as Mars. As the monstrous arsenal of the Eternals is on the march, the Arakkii must defend their realm with the help of Earthbound mutants like Storm and Magneto, both of which serve as members of Arakko’s council, the Great Ring. Although the first issue is a tie-in to Judgment Day and is predominately about fighting a giant monster, there is a cool team-up between Storm and Magneto as both combine their Omega-level abilities that leads to a stunning splash page from artist Stefano Caselli.

At some point, I should read A.X.E.: Judgment Day as it does inform the narratives that are going through each of the X-titles. This is apparent as there is a big jump in between issues #6 and #7, with the latter showing that the Arakkii have survived the battle with the Eternals, but at what cost? With his request to not be resurrected, there is a touching scene where Magneto dies in Storm’s arms, with his last thought being of his late daughter Anya that he’ll be reunited with. With a few changes of who is seated within the Great Ring, including the departure of Isca the Unbeaten, the story shifts to the next stage that is Abigail Brand’s secret plan.

If I have any criticism towards X-Men Red, apart from its tie-in with crossover events, is that there is not enough attention towards the prominent alien cast, which is a shame considering that Al Ewing is focusing on what is going on with the cosmic politics of the Shi’ar Empire and the mutants’ interaction with it all. In the end, we are here for familiar characters, from Storm now serving at a new seat in the council, to Cable who eventually uncover that Brand was a traitor and member of Orchis.

No doubt there is a lot going on, with the number of characters that Ewing is juggling and placing them in separate adventures. But as the story progresses and we start to see Brand’s plan unfold with the numerous chess pieces she is playing, the main conflict becomes clearer. With Charlies Xavier left carry on the dream that he started with Moira (who betrayed him) and Magneto (who is remaining dead), Brand manipulates the professor in resurrecting Vulcan as a way of maintaining the ongoing peace in Arakko, only to secretly carry on Brand’s power play. As she states, she cares enough about everybody in the Sol System to be the bad guy.

Whilst Madibek Musabekov does really good work as a fill-in artist for issues #7 and #8, it is the main series artist Stefano Caselli who reigns supreme. With this great focus of cosmic settings, there is some striking imagery that can only be enhanced with the various superpowers that occur in every action sequence. The final issue, in particular, has an epic battle between Storm and Vulcan, and Cable enhances his Techno-Organic virus to create an over-the-top suit to fight another cosmic threat.

Al Ewing’s writing can be dense, but with a balance of strong characterisation and Stefano Caselli’s stunning art that revels cosmic superhero spectacle, X-Men Red continues a standout title in the Krakoan Era.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

X-Men Red is very different than the other X-Titles. With its focus being on Arakko and the connections there, as well as the connection to other non-Earth societies, it is refreshing and unique.
Highlights:
- The first two issues are the tie-ins to A.X.E. The Eternal Uranos has come to Arakko with forces and they meet with very strong resistance. Two main points here, both with long ramifications: 1) Isca the Unbeaten sides with the Eternals because she believes they will win and she has to win. For this, she is removed from the Great Circle. 2) Magneto, whose heart was ripped from his chest in A.X.E., finally succumbs to his wounds and dies, requesting that he not be resurrected.
- There is a major conflict that exists between Abigail Brand and the Shi'Ar Empire. As Cable prepares to get involved, two other threats take charge:
1) Orbis Stellaris, an ally of Brand, has woken up the Progenitors. It takes Cable using a fully powered version of the T-O virus to fight him (more on that later)
2) Vulcan is reawakened. Xavier believes he can be controlled, but he rebels and escapes easily, claiming his right as Emperor over the Shi'Ar empire. As he attempts to take the throne from Xandra, it is revealed that she is merely image induced over Sunspot. He and Vulcan fight and the Summer Palace is destroyed. Then, he must take on Storm, who is able to defeat him with the cooperation of a few Arakko warriors. This is the first time in their history that they worked together instead of focusing on the honor of solo combat.
3) At the very end, his sphere damaged, Orbis Stellaris reveals himself to be Nathanael Essex, or at least a clone of Sinister himself, this time with a space on his forehead. (This will definitely tie into 'Sins of Sinister')

Moving forward on the X-Titles, it seems like we will be getting all of the storylines resolved before all the focus on Sinister. I'm enjoying it a lot.
Strong recommend.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The previous X-Men Red volume focused heavily on Arakkan politics, which I recognize is appealing to just about no one - except for me. Give me all the weird maneuverings between the various tables! So I was a bit disappointed that this second volume mostly discarded the politics in favor of checking in on Abigail Brand.

Before getting to all that, Al Ewing wraps up the Judgment Day crossover, though the key moment where Magneto dies happens in the mini-series, which feels like a glaring absence in this volume. Then there's a brief issue in which the Arakkan survivors figure out what the do next - this all sailed right over my head, even though it was the political stuff I should be interested in.

Finally, the meat of the story: at some point, probably offscreen, Brand reminded the Skrulls of an ancient Shi'ar misdeed, so the Shi'ar and Skrull leaders meet on Arakko to hash it out. Meanwhile, Cable and some SWORD castoffs have figured out that Brand is working with Orchis, among other things, so they fly across the galaxy to have it out with one of her co-conspirators (who happens to be one of the many Sinister clones running around).

In the midst of all this, Vulcan returns and claims the Shi'ar throne (?), but he's thwarted by Roberto da Costa, who also claims the throne (??). Woof, I probably need to dip into Marvel history to understand all that. There are some neat battles (Storm vs. Vulcan is fun), but it's really difficult to imagine that all of Brand's scheming, across many X-books, has led to this: Vulcan resurrected and quickly dispatched. I don't even know that guy's deal! Talk about a missed opportunity for some earth-shattering.

[Michael Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

After enjoying the first volume so much, this was a pretty big letdown. I’m not sure if it’s just because it’s been a while since I read that volume or if it’s because I know some of what’s to come with the fall of Krakoa now, but this didn’t feel as exciting as I had hoped.

It was slightly bogged down in the AXE Judgment Day crossover, but kept most of that story focused on Magneto, which worked better than it could have. Then we go back to the Abigail Brand story, which falls a little flat. There are a lot of big leaps in logic. I didn’t really follow Brand’s own plan, so seeing someone else anticipate it and head it off made it even more unlikely.

Stefano Caselli was fantastic as the primary artist. I don’t love how everyone does this costume for Storm, but I think it’s a personal taste more than anything.

We also see some hints toward the Sins of Sinister event, which I still somehow haven’t had spoiled for me beyond some of the more obvious aspects. I’m not totally sold on it, so it didn’t excite me much.

Hopefully the next couple of books can pull me back in to appreciate the end of the Krakoan era when I get there.

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 2 out of 5]

The emancipation of Ororo continues. Finally, after three decades, she is being written as the force of nature she is—not just in power but in presence, personality, and effectiveness. She isn’t the only one. Sunspot is getting some shine, and Arakko is just everything. Ewing has humanized these people in a way Hickman never could. As great as he is, his work doesn’t have the humanity of Ewing’s. Despite the artwork by Stefano Caselli and Federico Blee's colors, the fight between Storm and Vulcan isn't that great. It doesn't help that previous issues have done the legwork to undercut Vulcan as a genuinely threatening villain and real challenge to Storm. As a result, there's no stakes or investment to this fight which has a foregone conclusion before it even starts. The story with Abigail Brand wraps up a little too quickly and her fate is left too uncertain, so hopefully another story will expand on what happens to her next.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hey, Abigail Brand...

Is that enough rope to hang yourself with?

We get the epic sendoff of Magneto in the first two issues of this collection. That's probably the most memorable thing from the whole 'Judgement Day' crossover. With that event, we also learn of the 'Night Seats' a ...X-Force of sorts for the Arakko people. It's all secret secret, hush hush. There's an epic power shift happening on Arakko AND Krakoa and it's going to be affecting all the X titles.

Abigail Brand has had something in the works for awhile now. Remember Orchis? Remember Gyrich? It looks like all the pieces are in place for a checkmate, of sorts. The last few issues give us glimpses of characters that have been sorely underused in the Krakoan era. (i.e. they finally had a bit for the original Thunderbird)

Love it...hate it...this is the type of political intrigue and machinations that made S.H.I.E.L.D stories engaging. The storytelling in both volumes has been top tier. Al Ewing hits another one out of the park!
---
Bonus: Orbis Stellaris holds all the cards! (well, maybe just one suit)
Bonus Bonus: I didn't know that Magneto could use lightning to get a...jump start?

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you like X-Men being BAMFs? Because that's what you're gonna get here. As Judgment Day descends on Arakko, it's up to Magneto, Storm, and the new Brotherhood to defend against the might of Uranos, who famously murdered...a lot of people.

I sing Al Ewing's praises a lot, but it's because the man deserves them. These five issues are packed with excellent character moments, as well as wrapping the Judgment Day crossover into the ongoing story that Ewing is telling without missing a beat, and ending with some truly heart-wrenching reveals. And there's this constant assurance that this is just the beginning, and Ewing is nowhere near done with these characters or this story, which is wonderful to feel, because it means there's more of this excellent stuff to come.

On art is Stefano Caselli, who has been making the X-Men rounds from Marauders to X-Men to hear, and he's still as fantastic as ever.

Ewing and Caselli are on top form, doing exactly what they do best on a grand stage. Truly impressive.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Consistently good art throughout, as cross-over events and cosmic story arcs converge into two major plotlines involving the new inhabitants of the recently-terraformed Mars. Most satisfying is the second half of the volume, where plots and intrigues building up in previous series (especially S.W.O.R.D.) come to light. I love when villainous plans and plots fail because the heroes are underestimated; there are many heroic moments here for the X-Men, particularly for Storm and Sunspot, who have formed the core of this series. My only issue is that these compilation volumes REALLY need intro or in-between-issue pages to fill in story gaps from other series -- in particular, what the heck was going on in the rest of the "Judgement Day" crossover event that so deeply impacted the first story arc.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book remains at the top of the X-Books. First up are some big changes on Arakko due to Judgement Day. It's followed up with the return of Emperor Vulcan and he's pissed. To get the full impact of all that craziness, you'll need to have read all the Marvel cosmic books from about 15 years ago. (They are really good. Emperor Vulcan was a nut job that killed planets full of his own people. It was a very bad time for the Shi'ar.) I really love what Al Ewing and Stefano Caselli are doing on this book. I'm presuming the last page of this leads into Sins of Sinister .

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ewing's work on X-Men Red continues to excel.

Other than the fact that this volume is somewhat sloppily split between an AXE crossover (that actually began in V1) and the finale to arcs dating back to SWORD v1, it's great. This is epic storytelling on a galactic scale, unlike anything else in X-Men and it's a continuation of major plotlines, not the fight of the month.

Ewing's characterization of Storm, Magneto, and Sunspot also continues to kill.

Overall, great (and I'm thrilled to see the book is back following Sins of Sinister), although it's all intricate enough that I need to go back to reread the previous three volumes to remind myself of what's what. No problem!

[Jos Trinidad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was by no means a bad run of this series, but it shot itself in the foot by not including the major fight that was built up in the previous volume. It felt very anticlimactic and easily could've had a much more full story if it were to include both the takedown of Uranos and Vulcan.

Vulcan story seemed very well wrapped, though I do wish it was a tad more fleshed out in terms of context. Once again it felt like I was coming in with too little knowledge and that really shot it down a star.

Overall, not a back two piece, but based off the way the story has been written and continued, I don't know if I will be continuing my reading. 3/5