Mutants and humans alike get a new enemy in X-Men #3, by writer Jonathan Hickman, artists Leinil Yu, inkers Leinil Yu and Gerry Alanguilan, colorists Sunny Gho and Rain Beredo, and letterer Clayton Cowles. Hickman introduces a whole new threat this issue, and it’s both clever and extremely dangerous to everyone.

Anole and Pixie guard the Krakoan gate to the Savage Land Krakoan flower fields when four armored figures come through and attack them. On Krakoa, the Quiet Council calls Cyclops in and lets him know that the Krakoan gate in the Savage Land has stopped responding, and Krakoa is going crazy. He takes Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw to Australia, where they get Gateway to teleport them to the Savage Land. The four armored figures have disabled the mutants in the Savage Land and remove their masks to reveal four elderly women. Cyclops and company confront them, who identify themselves as a group called Hordeculture, Shaw trying to negotiate with them, before they attack him, disabling his powers and beating him down. Cyclops springs into action, using his optic blasts to put them down, but he’s taken in by a ruse and disabled. Emma goes diamond, and the four women explain who they are- horticulturists tired of humanity poisoning the Earth. They enacted a plan to take control of humanity’s food supply before Krakoa. Its flowers entered the scene, learning to hack the biological travel network the mutants have, and now have come to take more samples so they can learn to control Krakoa. They escape, and the three return to Krakoa to report about the new problem mutants have.

This is a sellar issue overall, but one of the best parts is Jean and Emma politely throwing shade at each other in the Quiet Council meeting. Emma is much more self-deprecating than she’s ever been, not going on the attack at all, but taking Jean’s barbs and turning them aside with her comments about herself. It’s so very entertaining, and it’s definitely something that would be fun to see more of. Fingers crossed for an issue with the two of them together, letting loose with subtlety before really hitting each other.

Hordeculture is such an interesting choice of villains. Four old ladies who have worked for various companies and see how they’ve messed up the Earth, they have used their combined experience to take revenge for the planet. Their solution, to control the food supply of the planet, deciding the Earth’s population for themselves, is pragmatic and a danger to both humans and mutants. They have nothing against mutants, except that Krakoa has added a new factor in their plans that they have to prepare for. Their hacking of the Krakoan travel network is a huge deal. Hickman is already poking holes in the mutants’ superiority that he’s built up and did it ingeniously. Beyond being intriguing villains, Hordeculture as individuals are quite entertaining, and their interplay is very amusing.

Leinil Yu’s art is top-notch as usual. The armor design of Hordeculture is great. It has a very steampunk feel to it, with one of them even having a Plague doctor’s mask. His linework is strong, and his faces are quite detailed, which helps sell the dialogue and interplay of Hordeculture that much more. They wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining in the hands of a lesser artist.

X-Men #3 is another home fun for Hickman and company. Hickman introduces a significant new threat in Hordeculture, one that has nothing to do with humanity’s racism against mutants. They are an interesting bunch of characters, and their background in horticulture gives them a way to undermine Krakoa. Leinil Yu’s art makes the issue work so very well. His pencils are detailed and sell the action and dialogue on the page. X-Men #3 sets up some interesting stuff for the future and continues this book’s run of excellence.

Grade: A