Uncanny X-Men are having a rough time. The art has been the best part of the book. Fraction’s scripts have been ok at best. The set up for this issue does not promise anything different, but let us see.
Creative Team
Writer: Matt Fraction
Pencils: Greg Land and Terry Dodson
Inks: Jay Leisten and Rachel Dodson
Story Rating: 4 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: The Red Queen and the Sisterhood have escaped the X-Men with their prize: a lock of Jean Grey’s hair.
Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus, and Northstar are flying to Westchester to stop the Red Queen. Wolverine and Cyclops are not speaking because of the lock of hair that Logan kept.
The Sisterhood materialize in downtown San Francisco. The Red Queen tells the others that she needs their powers to finish the job.
Back at Graymalkin Industries, Emma Frost detects the psychic disturbance caused by the Sisterhood’s teleporting. She telepathically notifies Cyclops that she has located the Sisterhood. She assembles Dazzler, Karma and Storm to help her.
The Red Queen and some of the Sisterhood teleport to Westchester to find the remains of Jean Grey. The remaining Sisterhood members are left behind to delay Emma’s team. Storm arrives first and blows out the windows. Emma breaks in the door. The Sisterhood attacks.
Westchester…the Red Queen finds Jean’s grave. Domino has beaten her to it and dug up the coffin. The Sisterhood attacks Domino. After a short skirmish, Lady Deathstrike grabs her. Lady Deathstrike is ready to cut Domino when Cyclops’ team shows up.
Back in California, Dazzler appeals to Psylocke to remember their friendship. Psylocke says she is not Dazzler’s friend. Psylocke tries to slice Dazzler open. Dazzler fights her off. The window to the building gets broken. Dazzler amplifies the sounds of the city to energize a blast and fire it at Psylocke. It blows off part of Psylocke’s face.
Psylocke says that she was brainwashed. Psylocke says that she is sorry. Psylocke takes her psychic blade and puts it through her head. We cut to the psychic plane, Betsy takes on her evil self.
Westchester…the team squares off against the Sisterhood. Cyclops tries to stop the Red Queen from reanimating Jean’s body and putting herself in it. As the process proceeds, she screams that something is wrong.
California…Betsy wins the battle in the psychic realm.
Westchester…the reason the Red Queen is in pain is because the body she reanimated is not Jean’s. Domino switched bodies before the Sisterhood arrived. Anything less than Jean’s body cannot hold the power of the Red Queen. With their leader dead, Spiral retreats with the Sisterhood. Meanwhile, Betsy’s soul returns to her body. Psylocke is back.
Later that night Beast goes to Scott and Emma’s room. He is taking the group of scientists he has assembled back in time to find a way to restore mutantkind.
The Good: The art looked better than usual. Land and Leisten turned in their best artwork this time. It seemed more fluid and less static.
The Sisterhood storyline is over (for now). This will allow us to move on to the more interesting X-Club of scientists that Beast has assembled. At least this storyline looks more original and interesting than the last few months.
The Bad: Once again Fraction lapses into his usual lazy writing on this title. Let’s see some examples…
1. One of the female X-Men is called a skank. Again.
2. Scott’s manhood is called into question by an ex-wife.
3. Scott shoots the spirit of an ex-wife in the crotch with his optic blasts. Really?
4. Domino “just happens” to be driving in the area where Jean is buried when the Sisterhood is looking for Jean’s body.
5. Domino also has the time to dig up the coffin, dig up another coffin, switch bodies, re-bury the second coffin before Spiral can teleport the Sisterhood there. Is there now a time lapse when Spiral teleports someone?
6. Wolverine and Scott are not talking because Wolverine kept a lock of hair from Scott’s dead wife.
7. Scott and Emma are not getting along, but they are still living together.
8. The sounds coming through a broken window are enough to super charge Dazzler? Really?
The list could go on but I will not. This was enough complaints about the writing on this title. I don’t know why Marvel does not replace him with a better writer.
Overall: Uncanny X-Men #511 was a poorly written issue with good art. Next month’s storyline looks more promising.
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Jim
3 thoughts on “Uncanny X-Men #511 Review”
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Domino's power is to be extraordinarily lucky, right? So yeah, her 'just happening' to be anywhere is very much in character.
yeah, I was dropping in to say what adam said. but otherwise, yeah.
"The art has been the best part of the book."
"…the more interesting X-Club of scientists that Beast has assembled."
I don't think I can put into words how much I disagree with those two statements. And judging from other reviews (as in every other review except this one) I have read, I am far from alone regarding my opinion of Land's art.
Each scene with the scientists seems tacked on and makes me want to cringe. I'm sure the scientist storyline is going somewhere. Hopefully it gets there fast and reaches its conclusion before the crossover later this summer. The last thing I want is for this waste of time to drag on into the fall.
And one more thing: X-Club. Easily one of the lamest names where an X has been shoehorned into the name of an X-Men group.
"Scott's manhood is called into question by an ex-wife."
"Scott and Emma are not getting along, but they are still living together."
Scott and Emma's relationship has been on the rocks for a while so I am surprised to see these two complaints. I don't expect any revelations until the Dark Avengers crossover.
My guess is that there are any number of households where a couple is not getting along but they are still living together. Before they could even move into separate rooms, they would first have to admit to each other what their problems are. The closest we have seen to that happening was a few issues ago when Emma confronted Scott about being secretive right before she decided to join the cabal.
"Scott shoots the spirit of an ex-wife in the crotch with his optic blasts."
Coincidence. And nitpicking on behalf of the reviewer. I would chalk this up to more poor art from Land.
"Next month's storyline looks more promising."
I thought 100% the opposite when I saw the preview for next month's cover. HeavyInk lets you cancel individual issues from your monthly pull list. I am still seriously considering not buying issue #512 at least until I can read some reviews. At best, maybe #512 will not entirely be about the science team and we will see some movement on some of the other ongoing plot threads.
I will admit that the Sisterhood story arc overall was a bit of disappointment. What was the point? In the end, we are right back where we started except that now Psylocke is back.