Uncanny X-Men #9

By Matthew Rosenberg, Kelly Thompson, Ed Brisson, Yildiray Cinar and Rachelle Rosenberg

We’re at issue 9 of the 10 part weekly Uncanny X-Men arc. There are so many mutants and so many story lines going on that it’s hard to not enjoy something this series has had to offer so far. As the X-Men face off against the most powerful foe they’ve ever faced, Beast finds out who stole his mutant vaccine and confronts them and the X-kids take an opportunity to show they’re valuable. This is the penultimate issue of the series and nearly everything comes to a head here folks!

Matthew Rosenberg, Kelly Thompson and Ed Brisson have done a pretty good job of utilizing a large chunk of the X-Men for this series. Characters like Armor and Madrox get spotlight in an event like this, which is nice to see. Much of the character work by the writing trio is reliable. No one seems to be acting out of character, and everyone is written well. Armor tries to prove her worth to the senior X-Men, successfully. Jamie Madrox proves that he’s not a moron and makes a choice that may have saved lives. The confrontation between Beast and the culprits who stole his vaccine is handled well. Both sides make sense, and Beast understands more than most why the vaccine was stolen. There is also a scene between Apocalypse and Senator Allen that shows us why Kitty Pryde is one of the most moral X-Men alive. At some point in the issue, the writers give us some good fan service as we see glimpses of mutants that have been missing in action for a while, including Sunfire and Maggot. The writers give us a last page that sets up the events of Age of X. While fans may be excited for what’s to come in the next X-event, they should also be excited to see what happens next week.

The pencils this issue are handled by Yildiray Cinar with colors by Rachelle Rosenberg. The pencils by Cinar this issue are very good. His lines are smooth and his inks work well with his style. There is an amazing page in this issue where Jean sends out an S.O.S. to every mutant she can possibly reach. Cinar draws her in the center of a two page spread, and we see mutants from all over in bubbles as they make their way to help out the X-Men. It’s a credit to Cinar to see how well he can draw seldom used mutants like Sunfire and Husk. Cinar really got all his characters down in this issue as we see mutants assemble. The colors by Rachelle Rosenberg are great, as usual. What we see from her this issue is in a few panels with Apocalypse, she uses almost like a gradient red background, which looks like it has a little texture to it too. Another cool panel from Rosenberg involves Multiple Man being pounded in the face by X-Man. The yellow energy in the background is great, and the contrast between the yellow and the skin tone works flawlessly. The art in this issue doesn’t disappoint. Good pencils, inks and colors, make this an easy read on the eyes.

Uncanny X-Men has reached it’s boiling point and every mutant is in trouble. Rosenberg, Thompson and Brisson deliver a well thought out issue that contains a ton of action. The art is very complimentary and very good overall. Uncanny X-Men is the relaunch X-fans have been waiting for.