• Written by: Jed MacKay
• Art by: Netho Diaz, Sean Parsons
• Colors by: Marte Gracia
• Letters by: VC’s Clayton Cowles
• Cover art by: Ryan Stegman, J.P. Mayer, Marte Gracia (cover A)
• Cover price: $4.99
• Release date: September 18, 2024

X-Men #4, by Marvel Comics on 9/18/24, sends the team out to battle the Upstarts before adult-transitioning mutants are killed in the name of likes and views.

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Is X-Men #4 Good?

Bleh! X-Men #4 isn’t the worst comic in Tom Brevoort’s From the Ashes Era, but it’s a pretty big step down from the previous issue. Jed MacKay continues to foreshadow big things happening behind the scenes, but this issue does little to get you excited for the here and now.

When last we left the Alaska-based team in X-Men #3, Scott had a “Come to Jesus” meeting with Agent Lundqvist at the local diner to set expectations about what the X-Men will and won’t do, whether the government likes it or not. Meanwhile, a Shrike squad infiltrated the factory to steal (destroy?) the last remaining Cerebro. Their mission was not successful.

In X-Men #4, the world receives a broadcast from Trevor Fitzroy, leader of the Upstarts, that it’s time to start killing the latest crop of adult-transitioning mutants to set humanity’s minds at ease… or something. True to form, the Upstart’s killing spree will be live-streamed for the audience’s enjoyment.

Jed MacKay starts the issue on a hard-hitting, albeit wobbly, note. There’s no better way to get the heroes moving with stakes and urgency than the promise of death, but Fitzroy’s announcement comes out of nowhere. Is Fitzroy’s goal only to achieve notoriety through shock value? How did Fitzroy think he was going to livestream an execution? I’m pretty sure that goes against YouTube’s Terms of Service.

Scott assembles a team to head out and stop the Upstarts. They managed to find the Upstart’s location via landmarks in the video background, so the team, comprised of Magik as leader, Temper, Juggernaut and Beast, headed to Detroit. Beast isn’t happy about the assignment because he’s otherwise working on an unnamed and critical “project.”

MacKay’s preceding scene works, but not exactly. Scott organically lays out why he selected the team, and Beast’s special project foreshadows something dangerous, which piques interest. However, there’s a disconnect between the script and art because there’s nothing in Firtzroy’s video that could remotely be considered a landmark for triangulation. When the words don’t match the pictures, that’s a problem.

The X-men teleport to the streets of Detroit at the precise location where the Upstarts have cornered a mutant woman who we later learn is one of the recently transitioned adults. And then they fight.

During the battle, we learn the current Upstarts are mostly members of a team previously known as the O-Force – Orifice, Orbit, and Ocelot. Each X-Man squares off against an Upstart while Temper spirits the hunted mutant far enough away to safety, accompanied by a poorly worded diatribe about the world being different. Also, Juggernaut delivers a ham-fisted diatribe during his fight with Orifice to justify why he’s on the X-Men. The better-trained X-men eventually force the Upstarts to flee, especially when Magik defends against impossible threats (more on that in a second).

The fight is mostly fine. MacKay has a chronic weak spot in his writing concerning forgettable villains, and you see that weakness here, but the action is rousing enough to hold your attention. The major flaw in the fight, however, is Magik’s fight with Fitzroy.

The latter opens portals to different time periods to unleash a myriad of oversized threats at Magik that you never see her fight or defeat, some of which seem impossible to beat. How does Magik defeat a sudden tidal wave of lava from Mt. Etna as it’s dumped directly on her? How does Magik defeat the giant, grasping claw of a kaiju-sized monstrosity from the 23rd century? You see these attacks snatch her up, but you get no inkling about how she survived, much less defeated them.

The issue ends with the Upstarts teleporting back to their headquarters to plan a new strategy with their benefactor (no spoilers on this one, but you won’t guess who), Scott and Beast debriefing, and Magik playing remote chess with a familiar opponent.

Overall, X-Men #4 is the most uneven comic since issue #1. MacKay’s central premise is weak, the big fight is a mixed bag, and specific points of dialog or ham-fisted. I’ve read worse from MacKay, but I’ve read better.

How’s the Art? This issue marks the start of a new team after Ryan Stegman’s departure, and the results are perfectly good. Netho Diaz and Sean Parsons deliver a style that’s close enough to Stegman’s to be complementary, but Diaz and Parsons improve on Stegman’s first three issues by maintaining consistency in the character appearances, particularly the faces. Beast especially looks less odd/creepy through the eyes.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Final Thoughts

X-Men #4 delivers another one-and-done mission as the X-Men battle the Upstarts to stop a killing spree. Jed MacKay’s concept, sadly, starts shaky and gets shakier as the issue progresses. However, the new art team maintains and slightly improves the visual quality after Ryan Stegman’s departure.

5.8/10

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