There's something about this comic that leaves me confused, and I'm not sure what.There are lots of things to like about the Uncanny X-Men. They've streamlined the continuity and reduced the number of characters featured, so it's a bit easier to keep track of everyone. The art is very slick and professionally done. The story features plenty of twists and turns and the ending made me happy.
But I still didn't like the issue.
It is (basically) devoted to two storylines: Magneto is up to something mysterious; and a strike force of X-Men are investigating the mysterious team behind a recent attack on their headquarters.
Of the two, only the Magneto story is interesting, and it consists of him sitting on a mountaintop meditating. The other story features lots of character doing impossible (or improbable) things, lots of fighting where no one gets hurt, and for every impossible menace one character pulls out of thin air, another character has an equally-impossible solution. To put it simply, writer Matt Fraction is playing Calvinball*.
That brings up to the art. I really like Greg Land's artwork - it's lush, detailed and he has a great realistic approach. Each page is a virtual poster. However, when it comes to storytelling or just putting together a coherent fight scene, he falls short. There are lots of panels with heroes grimacing, blood flying, punches being thrown - but I have no idea what's really happening. Who's winning the fight? Is anyone being hurt? It reminds me of the films where the director brings the camera in so close during the fight scenes that you can't tell what's happening.
It feels like this comic is right at the edge of being special again, but it's just not there yet. Your mileage may vary.
Grade: C+
(* Calvinball is the game played by the title characters in the "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip where they make up the rules as they go along.)
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