It’s been a long time since I’ve picked up an X-Men title, but ‘Avengers Vs. X-Men’ has motivated me to revisit Professor Xavier’s little darlings once again. My first reaction after I finished reading this book was what the hell happened to Colossus?! He’s gotten a good deal scarier than the fun loving Russian I remember. I’ve clearly missed a few things since I last flipped through the pages of an X-Men title.
This issue takes place in between ‘Avengers Vs. X-Men’ #1 and #2 and basically stays in the heads of Cyclops, Namor, Hope, and Colossus. Writer Kieron Gillen gives glimpses of what each one is thinking and reveals their motivations behind their actions. In particular, I enjoyed Namor’s section. I was curious as to why he was fighting alongside Cyclops and the X-Men, and when he tells you why, you can’t help but grin and say, “That’s my Namor!”
The art by Greg Land and Jay Leisten stand out to me in this book. They add details to Cylops like a bit of stubble to show that his mind has been elsewhere. Scott is usually clean-shaven and well put together, but by including that detail, they show that he’s not himself lately, which is exactly the sort of characterization that I’ve associated him with since the crossover event started. I also liked what they did with Wolverine attacking Hope and Colossus vs. Red Hulk.
Then, the final page of the book was super surprising. I try to keep my reviews as spoiler free as possible, so I won’t give it away, but when I read the last two pages, I was shocked, yet I wanted to chuckle. Cyclops’ head clearly isn’t in the same mindset that it usually is.
Overall, this book was a nice reintroduction to the X-titles for me. I look forward to seeing them go deeper into Scott Summers’ and Storm’s psyches while all this stuff is going on
Verdict: Buy
UNCANNY X-MEN #11
Written by KIERON GILLEN
Art by GREG LAND, JAY LEISTEN, AND GURU EFX
