Uncanny X-Men: Kieron Gillen, Carlos Pacheco, Jorge Molina, Rodney Buchemi, Cam Smith, Roger Bonet, Walden Wong, Frank D’Armata, Rachelle Rosenberg, Jim Charalampidis, VC’s Joe Caramagna

Wow, look at the ARMY of credits on this issue! This one was a team effort, for sure. You know what, though? I never noticed reading through the issue. There were a couple places where I was confused in this issue, but I did still enjoy it. It’s building into something really tense. Not only do the X-Men now have to deal with Mr. Sinister’s over-complicated plan…but the other Celestials are on their way to Earth, where they’ll find one of their own grotesquely disfigured and they’ll no doubt wreak they’re revenge on Earth and everyone there. I’m excited to see this showdown…and to see what the X-Men do to try to either fight the Celestials off or try convince them that it was all Sinister’s fault. In this issue, first we see Rachel Grey sniping some Sinisters and saving some poor human saps who have no powers of their own with which to defend themselves. I suddenly like Rachel Grey. I know practically nothing about her, other than her powers and a very slim summary of where she comes from. I’ve not ever read one issue with her in it (see? I never did read any Marvel for a long time…). The X-Men are battling the Sinisters in an effort to get to the main man himself, and that’s when we’re treated to more of that Victorian-style Mr. Sinister that I love so much. It really fits…and makes him just so over-the-top, but so foreboding to me. Nothing is scarier than a villain who is somewhat out of touch with the world around him - or, even worse, someone who knows he’s out of touch…and is so confident in his sheer evil that he doesn’t care. The X-Men walk into a trap, where Mr. Sinister does the villain thing of explaining what he’s up to, and we learn that he’s cloned himself and made himself into the nearest-perfect being of all time. We get to see a very well-drawn flashback where we get a glimpse of little Nathaniel Essex in London, and lots of nude Sinister. After that, Sinister calls Storm Scott’s “colonial pet,” which made me chortle…and then gasp and wonder how they got away with that joke. We then get a really complicated escape plan that has to do with post-hypnotic commands and teleportation and all. Mr. Sinister talks about the king of vegetables, seriously enjoyable, and is shot. But, just as he stated, he’s a near-perfect being and is somehow able to jump into any of the other Sinister bodies surrounding the X-Men. We’re left with a less-than-understandable explanation that we can only hope is more fleshed out in #3. 

Uncanny X-Men #2, the verdict: I like this series, still, though I’m hoping for more team involvement next issue. We get some cool highlights in this one, like with Emma, Scott, and Rachel. When the other Celestials arrive, it’s going to get really interesting…and I’m wondering if all these Sinister clones will just be completely wiped out by their slaughter. I like the candor between the team members, and I’m wondering if anything is going to happen between any of those that regularly disagree with each other. I loved the art in this issue even better than the first, and I think it really looks great for an “X-Men” book. It makes it looks somewhat adult, really, instead of a kid’s book. I did have some confusion at a couple moments in this issue, and there were a couple in the first one too, so I’m wondering if this is going to become somewhat regular. They say that “incorrect” grammar is correct as long as the recipient understands your meaning. It’s actually incorrect when you don’t understand.