I've never been much of an X-Men fan, to be honest. No big surprise there for regular readers, I know. But I really want to like Uncanny X-Men. Marvel's trying some new approaches -- such as bringing manga and anime superstar Kia Asamiya on board -- and Austen's scripts boasts some strong, emotional subplots. But ultimately, the Uncanny X-Men of today offers up more of the same we've been seeing for the past decade.
A trio of regular humans is brutally slain by some kind of werewolf creature claiming to be the leader of a new Homo Superior movement, and the X-Men are summoned to help with the investigation. Unfortunately, the trail leads back to one of their own. Meanwhile, one of the newer X-Men makes a far-from-subtle pass at one of the team's veterans, and the Angel feels the weight of the death of a lost love. Oh, and Juggernaut plays catch.
Asamiya's work is definitely growing on me. There seems to be a greater degree of focus here than what we saw in the previous issue. The characters are rendered with crisper, sharper lines, and when the artwork is sketchy and gritty, it is to great effect. We also see more of Asamiya's design sense at play here. I love the look of the young mutant introduced in the opening scene, and Asamiya's combines the dynamics of an X-Men uniform with regular fashions nicely for several characters, notably Husk.
I'm surprised at how much I want to see how Juggernaut's relationship with some of the Xavier's students develops, and what kind of role he could end up filling at the school. Austen also pays particular attention to Husk's character and what motivates her now. Warren's pain seems quite palpable, and even after all of these years, it's still enjoyable to see the ever-pompous Northstar get taken down a peg by someone with a far more personable approach to life.
There are some strong character-driven subplots at play here, but other elements get in the way. Paige's history with Chamber is a key element in the direction Austen is taking with her here, but he explains nothing of her history with Generation X or even who Chamber is. Warren's emotional subplot is based entirely on events from a completely separate title (X-Treme X-Men), and while it's in keeping with her character's dysfunctional past, Stacy X's nudity comes off as gratuitous.
Sure, the team has a prostitute among its members now, and the nature of the Xavier school has changed drastically (thanks more to Grant Morrison's efforts in New X-Men), the property -- as it's presented in this title, anyway -- really hasn't changed all that much. The book seems dedicated to developing more and more subplots while resolving few of them, and on top of that, we're introduced to yet another feral, badass mutant baddie. Sure, it's a formula that's worked well for Marvel for 20 years, but it's not doing much for me.
