Kevin Yells About X-Men: Kieron Gillen Edition

The gongs have sounded. I have been woken from my slumber. That can only mean one thing: I have to yell at you about the X-Men for a while. That should really be the name of this publication. This is not my desire, but I duty. I took a solemn pledge, a sacred oath, and the Unbreakable Vow. And the time has come again where I must step in and tell you about one of my favorite runs in X.

In the Utopia era, at the end of the book-redefining Matt Fraction run, Kieron Gillen stepped in as the writer of Uncanny X-Men. He was given an unenviable slate to work with. In the course of just over thirty issues, he would have to take over the reigns of a book that had been turned on its head, steer the X-Men through Schism & Fear Itself (at the same time), emerge with an entirely new concept for an X-Men book, and spearhead the flagship X-title through AvX. I wouldn’t wish a slate like that on my arch-nemesis. And Gillen pulls through it with an enviable run and one of my personal favorites in the X-Canon.

Everything you love from Gillen’s work on The Wicked + The Divine or Die is here in this volume. Interlaced characters with conflicting (and compelling) motivations. Incredible spectacle. POV issues with a dazzling interlacing of narration and visuals. And, most importantly, a tremendous helping of creativity and joy.

A murderer’s row of great artists lent their talents to this book. Steven Sanders, Greg Land… All elevating great material to heights that make me giddy.

The first of two can’t miss complete collections is here now. It begins with a criminally overlooked S.W.O.R.D. miniseries and ends with the incredible three issue story, “Everything is Sinister.” You might have heard of that one. Because it rules.