by Rockman » Wed Apr 13, 2011 6:30 pm
Uncanny X-men 535
Let me start by saying that I really loathed Fraction's run on this book, I thought he was just another in a long line of writers who just couldn't handle writing this franchise. It is for this reason that I had some hope for a writer change, even if Gillen wasn't that good on this book it should still be better than the tripe we got from the previous creator.
That said I think Gillen does not only do a much better job at writing these characters than Fraction, he actually does a pretty good job in general. The very first thing I noticed is that he chose to have a clear focus on this book (at least for this arc) We get some insight into what Peter and Kitty are up to, which is long overdue since Kitty was largely unused when Fraction brought her back. It also seems that Fraction will be focusing a bit on Magneto as well which is always welcome. In addition to the new "leads" we see that Scott and Emma are given sort of a back seat role in this comic, which is excellent, these two characters have seen too much page time in recent years and it is good to give them a break.
The story is not one I would expect from a flagship X-title, their is almost no mutant related drama in this book. This I think works to the benefit of a title that has struggled so long to be "THE" X-book but missed the mark of just being good. The story is interesting, and the cliffhanger really leaves you wanting more.
So since Gillen nails all these characters voices, cuts down on the useless wallpaper characters, and gives us an actual interesting and non-preachy story I give this book an
8
and the art is pretty nice as well.