Uncanny X-Men #19

By Matthew Rosenberg, Carlos Villa, Carlos Gomez, Bob Quinn, and Guru e-Fx

One of the burning questions since Uncanny X-Men re-launched was the whereabouts of Emma Frost. In this week’s Uncanny X-Men #19, we get our answer. Emma has been a polarizing character for some fans since the events of Inhumans vs. X-Men, but Matthew Rosenberg is doing his best to sway you to her side, or at least see where she’s coming from.

First things first, this issue takes place through a series of flashbacks, which Rosenberg uses effectively. Rosenberg ties events together from his time on the disassembled storyline, like Anole stealing the cure serum. This is a big issue for Emma because we get to see her side of the story and why she absent for so long, and more importantly, why she removed herself from Scott and Logan’s memories. Rosenberg handles both of the scenes involving the wiping very well. The scene with Scott in the diner has a lot of meaning behind it. Rosenberg shows us how much she loves and believes in Scott as she talks to him and the reader. For readers who see Emma as cold, this is a page to prove them wrong. The panels with Logan work well to and show that Emma is very responsible for where we are right now in Rosenberg’s X-Men run. This was a well planned and executed issue by Rosenberg. If you’re an Emma fan, it’s a must read.

The pencils this issue were handled by Carlos Villa, Carlos Gomez and Bob Quinn, with colors by Guru e-Fx. The hard thing about complimenting the pencils for this issue, is that all three artists pencils resemble one another and it’s hard to tell them apart. As Emma goes shopping with Marrow, who looks like she has a new design, the pencils are on point. Things look clean and crisp, which is due to the many inkers who worked on this issue as well. There are also some well drawn action panels in the early pages of the issue as Emma is attacked at a dinner party. We see her get into diamond form and clobber Strong Guy, and it’s drawn nicely and it has great perspective. Possibly the most talked about page in the book will be the diner scene with Scott. This needed be to one of the best drawn pages, and it was. The expression and pain on Emma’s face as she has the conversation is really perfect, we can feel the pain. The colors this issue by Guru e-Fx are wonderful as usual. The contrast of dark and light colors work well, and we get disastrous moments in the day. A character gets turned to a glob, and Guru e-FX colors the panel amazingly.

This run on Uncanny X-Men has been very good. Matthew Rosenberg is a huge fan of the characters and writes them with respect. The pencils and colors work well with the story and bring you more into the book. This is the best X-Men book on the shelf