X-Men Red #8
Abigail Brand’s plans come to fruition as Cable goes on a hunt to undermine her in X-Men Red #8, by writer Al Ewing, artist Madibek Musabekov, colorist Federico Blee, and letterer Ariana Maher. This is yet another banger of an issue, although it’s not as great as the Arakko-centric issues.
Cable recruits Weaponless Zsen, an Arakki traveling the galaxy as a mercenary, for a mission. On Arakko, a Shi’Ar and Kree/Skrull Empire delegation is meeting to discuss the massacre of Shapeless Ridge, with Brand looking on and ready to deploy her ace in the hole. Cable, Thunderbird, Zsen, Wiz-Kid, Manifold, and Khora of the Burning Heart make their way to a Progenitor facility under the control of Orbis Stellaris, where they learn about what happened to Vulcan in the Fault. Back on Arakko, as tempers between the Shi’Ar and Kree/Skrull Empire are at their boiling point, Vulcan shows up, ready to take the Shi’Ar throne again, and Brand finally plays her hand.
Back when this book was SWORD, the weakest parts of it had to do with SWORD and Marvel galactic politics. Ewing does an amazing job of it - he’s the publisher’s best sci-fi writer by a far margin - but for fans who want something more mutant-centric, it wasn’t the best. This issue plays into several plot threads from the book, and for long-time readers, it’s a cool callback, especially since those issues of SWORD were the worst of a series that was so-so in quality anyway. It’s also great that it all played into Brand’s master plan, especially the Vulcan part.
The key to this chapter is that it’s basically a series of really intriguing lore dumps anchored by wonderful characterization. Ewing writes every character so well. The thing is that while it’s great, reader enjoyment is going to depend on how much they like the SWORD stuff. For readers who are more into the Arakko drama, it is still enjoyable but not fantastic. For people who really liked SWORD and Ewing-style Marvel sci-fi, this is an amazing issue.
Musabekov and Blee knock it out of the park on art. Musabekov’s style isn’t flashy, but then again, neither is regular artist Stefano Caselli. Musabekov has all the tools to be a big shot in comic art. His figure work is wonderful, his detail is on point, the character acting is excellent, and everything looks so good. This is a drama-heavy chapter, so there’s not much action, but Musabekov still impresses with every page. Blee’s palette does a nice job of making the pencils pop.
X-Men Red #8 is yet another solid issue of a top-tier X-book. It’s still between this and Immortal X-Men on what’s the best X-Men series out right now. Ewing does his Marvel sci-fi politics thing that’s so much fun, pays off a lot of dangling plotlines, and gives an exciting story. Musabekov and Blee are a top-notch art team. If there’s any drawback to this comic, it’s that it takes readers away from the Arakko stuff, which is the best part.
