Review: X-Men #18

Having recently looked at the “back in the day’ X-Men Legends, I thought I might be a good idea to catch up with the current run featuring Marvel’s merry mutants. Say what you will say when comparing the two era’s, one thing remains consistent; there is very rarely a good jumping on issue.

Case in point; way back in X-Men #5 Darwin, Synch and Wolverine (Laura) entered the Vault. Thirteen issues later and we finally get to look behind the wizard’s curtain, so to speak.

It has been said before that Jonathan Hickman is writing for the long haul, imbuing the best of Claremont’s ability of elongating a storyline through the use of not concluding anything. Throw in these issues that effectively act as a filler and we are getting somewhere or nowhere depending on your point of view. The idea of a central AI and its puppet may be standard fare at times, having being used any number of times, be it Star Trek or Doctor Who. The kicker for this issue is the supposedly non-killable elements of this team and given that time in the Vault runs different than that outside, those skills will come in handy. Hopefully the ramifications of Synch and Darwin’s abilities in this place, coupled with a possible time jump will add a level of gravitas to this mini arc. However, I assume that in the Vault, two weeks will be like a day in our world which is the easier way of dealing with this quirk. Dialogue is kind of terse with most coming from the inhabitants of the vault.

The art is provided by Mahmud Asrar whose style fits the dark world in which the X-Men seem to exist. Strong pencil lines, full bodies at times all contribute to a claustrophobic book, ironic considering the vastness of the Vault. I particularly like the way he draws Laura. Overall though, I feel a little disappointed given how good Asrar’s art was in the recent Eternals #1, which managed to encapsulate a world of grandeur. Asrar art, whilst heavy in places has to compete with the dark colors from Sunny Gho’s scheme which seems to draw light out of the book. Finally, Mister X-Font himself, Clayton Cowles supplies the letters. The font is certainly unique in the plethora of Marvel books, but I do find it hard on the old eyes at times.

With this book reading so differently to last issue, I can’t shake that this is a filler issue, with the second part to follow before we get back to main thrust. Of course, my intermittent reading of this series may be colouring my perceptions slightly.

Writing – 3 Stars
Art – 3.5 Stars
Colors – 3 Stars

Overall – 3 Stars

Written by; Jonathan Hickman
Art by; Mahmud Asrar
Colors by; Sunny Gho
Letters by; VC’s Clayton Cowles
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network