Review: Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen Vol. 2

Having survived an assault on San Francisco orchestrated by Sinister, Cyclops' Extinction Team is ready to face a new threat. Writer Kieron Gillen drops the X-Men into an unknown environment and tests their ability to work together. Even if they survive that, will they be able to stop an intergalactic jailbreak? You can be sure that Gillen cranks up the drama in this second collection of his run on Uncanny X-Men.

After the events of the previous volume, Emma Frost is out and Psylocke is in. The fan-favourite psychic ninja had been covorting around with the morally unsound X-Force squad and her sins are close to being aired out for all the X-Men to see. She was partly responsible for the making of a new environment on Earth and the X-Men have been sent to investigate. The threats seem very real at first and the team is split up into pairs. While Colossus and Magik seem predictable as a duo, Gillen gains traction when he teams Namor up with Hope and Magneto with Psylocke. Namor is a major standout in this arc and there are many humorous moments involving his character. He is a complex individual who keeps Hope on her toes. Of course, her obvious attraction to the Atlantean King makes things all the more complicated (and hilarious). Magneto's knowledge of Psylocke's activities with X-Force proves to be an interesting plot point and seemingly helps bridge the gap between the two characters. Though Magneto had been going through the motions with a rather dull relationship with Rogue, it's quite clear there's some interesting tension between he and Psylocke. Following this adventure, the X-Men plunge head first into a mission to retrieve escaped aliens after the space prison known as The Peak is destroyed. The action here is stronger and there's a greater sense of urgency as the reader witnesses the atrocities committed by Unit (the arc's villain). Character development is lighter than the previous arc but the tension is more intense.

Greg Land and Carlos Pacheco serve as the artists for this collection. As per usual with Land, the pencils are expressive yet gratuitous. The seemingly traced art appears at times beautiful and others overtly sensual. His penchant for drawing "porn faces" has been toned down and the panels are practically bursting with colour. Pacheco's lines, by comparison, seem hopelessly too simple and it lacks the character of Land's. Nevertheless, at least he doesn't draw the females as if they're wearing weaves.

With this second volume of stories from Gillen's Uncanny X-Men, the X-Men are shown to be powerful but fatally flawed. The interpersonal drama that has followed them around is escalating and interfering with their capability to protect the Earth. It's also quite clear that Earth is certainly not safe from threats. Gillen's writing has improved and the characters feel much more human (so to speak) this time around. He's particularly to be applauded for giving each of them an opportunity to shine. With a healthy heaping of Namor and Psylocke, this is one adventure X-fans should consider checking out.

Grade: B