Written by Gerry Duggan

Art by Pepe Larraz

Colors by Marte Gracia

Letters by Clayton Cowles

Since Hickman’s HOX/POX X-men relaunch, the mutants have gathered on the island nation of Krakoa, their new home. Humans are not allowed in Krakoa but were recently invited to the mutant nation to partake in the Hellfire Gala. At the gala, the mutants displayed their ability to terraform Mars as well as they voted for and announced the new X-men team. This new X-men team has moved back into New York, thanks to Emma Frost’s major real estate deal. They now operate in a large instantly grown treehouse in central park. All are welcome as their new base doubles as a memorial to all the mutants who did not live to see Krakoa. The X-men have returned to New York to once again fight for those that hate and fear them. Will they survive the experience?

This is what I want from the X-men and Gerry Duggan has indeed returned them to form. In the mix, hailed as heroes by the Avengers and Fantastic Four alike, this is the X-men I grew to love. Gerry Duggan has knocked it out of the park with the new direction and return to form. Hickman’s X-men had me frustrated with slivers of story lines and mutant threesomes, but Duggan knows what makes the X-men tick and it shows. The new team is the perfect blend of young and old mutants. Duggan does a masterful job of telling a light story with dark under tones that makes us just a little worried as we enjoy this new X-men team. Duggan did a great job of getting me excited about the new, while also respecting the old. Not only because of the team make up, but because of the story he is telling. We get the pleasure of seeing the X-men deal with a giant monster and be heroes of New York, while also being introduced to an ominous

threat. It was just a perfect blend of old and new school and felt like an X-men comic which has been sorely missing.

The artwork is simply spectacular! Larraz and Gracia have just killed it. All the images are super detailed and easy to understand. The color is done in a way that has great contrast; this makes the images pop off the page. This is just cool to look at no matter what panel is currently showing. The shadowing, the lines and the colors are just super clean and perfect. I am truly going to enjoy the artwork of this series. The X-men have a lot of cool visuals, and this art team is going hard so we can all enjoy, so I suggest you do just that.

Overall, I am giving this comic 10 capes out of 10. The art and the story are perfection! I may be biased as an X-men fan. I am also an X-men fan that has been looking for them to make this pivot, so keep all that in mind. Truth be told, X-men fan or not, this comic is great and if you took the X-men out of your pull list, it is time to put it back in.