Uncanny X-Men #12 Review

When I first heard that Battle of the Atom was going to go through four different X-Men books (twice), I gave Marvel the benefit of the doubt that this was vital to the story and not a cash grab. Now I’m not so sure. This issue of Uncanny X-Men spends half its time recapping a story that’s been recapped a few times already, and then it continues the increasingly grating conversation about whether the X-Men from the past ought to be sent back or not. Not until the last three pages do we actually get some new material, and that is far, far too late.

While Chris Bachalo is certainly a talented artist, his style does not gel with the first three chapters of this event. He does a fine job using his cartoony sensibilities to convey dazzling powers and sincere emotions, but it clashes with the tone and feel of the previous, more conventional looking chapters. The other artist on Uncanny X-Men, Frazer Irving, has an even more different style, but even though Marvel went with the more traditional of the two, I can’t say Battle of the Atom will read seamlessly once collected in a graphic novel.

Being a 10-part event, it was seemingly inevitable for there to be some time spent treading water, and this is it. Yes, we get to see Cyclops and his X-Men weigh in on the issue, but we don’t hear much worth hearing.

Writer Brian Michael Bendis also used 10 chapters to tell his Age of Ultron story, and seeing how that event turned sour halfway through, it’s worth asking why these types of stories need to be this long if there’s not enough substantial material to fill each chapter. I’ve genuinely enjoyed this X-Men event up until this issue, but if this story wants to survive its next six chapters, it will need to quickly pull up to avoid a crash and burn.

Joshua writes for IGN. If Pokemon, Game of Thrones, or Green Lantern are frequently used words in your vocabulary, then you’ll want to follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com