Reviews

Uncanny X-Men #8 Review

  • Written by: Gail Simone
  • Art by: Javier Garrón
  • Colors by: Matthew Wilson
  • Letters by: VC’s Clayton Cowles
  • Cover art by: David Marquez, Matthew Wilson
  • Cover price: $4.99
  • Release date: January 8, 2025

Uncanny X-Men #8, by Marvel Comics on 1/8/25, ends the Raid on Graymalkin when Charles Xavier and Scurvy begin a battle of the minds for the fate of the X-Men.

Is Uncanny X-Men #8 Good?

Recap

When last we left Rogue and Her Amazing Mutants in Uncanny X-Men #7 and X-Men #9, the team battled against Cyclops’s band of Alaska-based X-Men inside Graymalkin Prison to free their friends. The “fight” was pushed by the emotional influence of Warden Ellis’s telepath, Scurvy. When the teams came to their senses, Scurvy entered the fray to unleash a backup weapon called the White Light Protocol. Meanwhile, Psylocke and Nightcrawler found and freed Charles Xavier, which may not be a good thing.

Plot Synopsis

In Uncanny X-Men #8, the Raid on Graymalkin crossover concludes. The adjectiveless and Uncanny X-Men find themselves wracked with pain and floating suspended in the room outside the secret prison cell. Charles Xavier and Scurvy make their introductions before beginning an unseen, telepathic battle.

As their silent posturing commences, we see a brief flashback showing Phillip, aka Scurvy, before he became a withered husk. Phillip and Warden Ellis were friends and lovers at one time, but the continual use of his mutant powers ate away at his body. Scurvy explains there are five mega-mutants like himself in a group called the Avians, all with extraordinary power and all dying as a result. Harvey X (the boy who died in Uncanny X-Men #1) was another member of the five, but his death brings the number to four.

Scurvy proclaims Charles is also dying, although he doesn’t know it or has hidden the truth from himself. In short, Charles is dying from the use of his power(???).

As Charles and Scurvy fight telepathically, Rogue is able to get free from Scurvy hold. She frees Scott, and the two work to free everyone else. Warden Ellis arrives with her Trustees (indentured mutants) and armed guards with an ultimatum to leave or risk the destruction of Haven, Louisiana and Merle, Alasksa via orbital satellite lasers she has trained on each town.

The issue and crossover ends with all mutants, including their captured teammates, leaving via Magik’s teleportation, Charles choosing to stay behind as penance for his misdeeds, and Rogue and Scott coming to blows before parting on bad terms.

First Impressions

Based on general feeling and satisfaction, Uncanny X-Men #8’s conclusion to the Raid on Graymalkin is a letdown. Technically, the conflict ended with the teams achieving their major objectives, but Gail Simone’s script left everyone in a bad way, and several open threads remained unresolved.

How’s the Art?

Javier Garrón steps back in on art duties, and the results are perfectly fine. Since there isn’t much action in this issue, the burden falls to Garrón to make tense conversations look interesting. On that point, Garrón keeps the dramatic tension as high as possible to make Simone’s script look good.

What’s great about Uncanny X-Men #8?

Yes. Technically, the raid was a success. The mutant teams got in, they found their captured allies, and they got it, albeit by Warden Ellis’s order than anything else. Further, Simone does a nice job of creating interpersonal tension between the characters. That tension promises to be the source of more drama in the future.

What’s not great about Uncanny X-Men #8?

Again, the finale for the first crossover of Tom Brevoort’s From the Ashes reboot of the X-Office feels like a letdown. The manufactured circumstances that put the X-Teams at odds with each other rings hollow. Leaving Graymalkin because Warden Ellis effectively dismissed the mutants feels like a hollow victory. Scott and Rogue’s last-minute tussle comes across as a childish spat. And ultimately, nothing is appreciably different for either team compared to where they started.

In effect, the Raid on Graymalkin was a superficially thin excuse for the X-Teams to fight. Something was ventured, but nothing was gained. Sure, you could say the revelation about the Avians is intriguing, but that tidbit certainly didn’t warrant a four-issue crossover to nowhere.

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

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Final Thoughts

Uncanny X-Men #8 ends the 4-part “Raid on Graymalkin” crossover with a tension-filled but ultimately unsatisfying conclusion. Gail Simone’s script does a fine job of keeping everyone angry with each other, and Javier Garrón’s artwork carries the weight of the issue by making angry conversations look interesting. However, the net result is a crossover whose main purpose is to create a flimsy excuse for the X-Teams to fight. If you skip it, you miss nothing.

5.5/10

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