X-Men by Jonathan Hickman Vol. 2

I absolutely adore Hickman’s brand new version of the world of X. Yes, it is very different and there are lots of characters but finally we are back in Claremont era greatness.

It's ok, not as good as the first volume but seems to be building for future pay offs.

I'm really enjoying this fresh, new take on the X-Men.

Right, that’s it - I’m out! I’m totally done with this new Hickman X-Men run...Plus this doesn’t contain issue 12, which the Amazon description says it does.Don’t get me wrong, I adored the House of X/Powers of X book - probably the most consistently enjoyable, engrossing, and inspired graphic novel I’ve ever come across. Plus, unlike a significant amount of other comic-adventurers, I was totally taken with Hickman’s interstellar run on The Avengers ...at least I was, once I went back and read the incursion story-arc from the very start anyway!But let’s not beat around the bush here, this book is, yet again, a totally unfulfilling waste of money... and I just don’t care anymore.The idea of publishing each interconnected Hickman universe tie-in issue together in the Dawn of X series sounded amazing on paper - but by issue #9, I really couldn’t keep track of what the significance of *anything* that was happening (in Excalibur, Marauders, New Mutants, X-Force, etc) actually was, in relation to Hickman’s “Head of X” ongoing X-Men narrative?!So after paying £13.99 per volume for each Dawn of X book - that’s £125 in total btw(!!) - I bought this second X-Men book to just skip to the end. At the very least, I thought I could see where the central X-Men narrative was going to conclude and then decide if the remaining DoX volumes were worth buying. SPOILER: THEY’RE NOT!!What do you get for your money with this second X-Men volume, I hear you ask? What will Prof. X be doing by the end of the 12 issues? Well, this is a set of UNCONNECTED chapters which have absolutely nothing to do with the events occurring at the start of the DoX series - so there’s that. Then, you also don’t hear a peep from Prof. X for the whole volume?!? So there you go... it was all just a scam to get you to pay too much money for each unnecessary tie-in issue at every turn, with no clear, or cohesive, narrative direction bonding them together. You end up with a pile of very expensively acquired glossy paper you’ll never pick up again, and that’s your lot.Like I said, I’m out! Sorry Mr Hickman, let me know when you go back to doing your own singular project again.

“X-Men 2” collects issues #7-11 of the current (2019) series.This is excellently-illustrated Jonathan Hickman ‘big stuff’ storytelling. The first issue looks at a new cultural process on Krakatoa to help de-powered mutants on their way to recovery. Cyclops and Nightcrawler stand around musing on the philosophical and religious implications before agreeing to think about it a bit more deeply. I have noticed that the ‘familiar’ mutants – those who we have seen in the various X-books over the years appear to be fairly ‘normal’ people, but the mass of mutants making up the population of Krakoa are being shown as more of a faceless mass of people slowly being indoctrinated into a cult.Anyway, I’m sure that will be explored in depth in due course, when it all starts to go wrong…Next up is a big space adventure involving the Brood, the Starjammers, Whoever-it-is-at-the-moment the Accuser, the Imperial Guard, Kid Gladiator, Emperor Gladiator, and the secret origin of the Brood, the Summers family, and the all-new all-now Emperor of the Brood. This is Jonathan Hickman ding the stuff we expecting from him.Then, while everyone is away, the Cotati war arrives on Earth, and the Moon. Vulcan is sleeping off a hangover when the Coatai arrive, and we get to see his secret origin at the hands of, well, it look like the Kree again, just like with the brood. Down on Earth, Magneto puts on his red suit.So, all good, big, X-related stuff that keeps us distracted from whatever it is that Mr Hickman is really up to.Remember, this will all come to an end eventually, and Mr Hickman likes to plant clues.