X-Men #17
Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm get called to help find the Shi'Ar Empress in X-Men #17, by writer Jonathan Hickman, artist Brett Booth, inker Adelso Corona, and colorist Sunny Gho. This issue is good, but it's also pretty aimless and feels a little bit like filler.
With the galaxy in an unprecedented time of chaos, Deathbird calls for the help of the X-Men to find Xandra, who has been kidnapped. Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm arrive at the Royal Court and get work immediately. Jean scans the mind of those in the throne room and quickly discovers who knows something, a member of a race the Shi'Ar used as miners. Under the city, another member of the race monologues when Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and Smasher attack. The battle gets pretty pitched, but they're able to save the Empress, with Storm being especially clutch. Later, the Empress thanks the X-Men and promises Storm a favor.
X-Men has a problem- it's one of the least interesting X books being published right now. It's not bad- it's still written by Jonathan Hickman and the man doesn't write bad comics, but it sometimes feels like it's not the flagship mutant book at all, and this book is a prime example of that. Besides starring three of the most important team members, there's nothing about this particular issue that screams X-Men, and that has been a problem this book has had for a while. It's treading water while most of the other X books are actually doing something. Of course, each of those books has an actual purpose in their mandate. X-Men does not. It's supposed to be the main book, but it never feels like it. That's a really big problem, and this issue does nothing to fix it.
For example, while this issue is good, why is Hickman pulling the focus away from Krakoa right after a major storyline to do a one-off issue set in the Shi'Ar Empire? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. There are some definite fun moments and some great action, but it also feels like an excuse for Hickman to get to write Cannonball and Sunspot again and do some sci-fi stuff. The story is good but also endemic of a problem the book has been having for a very long time.
Brett Booth's art is outstanding, but it is also just so '90s. That makes a lot of sense since Booth was a Wildstorm guy back in the '90s, and it looks good, but it's just kind of weird to see something so '90s in the 2020s. Booth hasn't lost a step, though, as the pages are highly detailed, the action is fluid, and his character acting is excellent. It just feels like 1992.
X-Men #17 is fine. There's nothing wrong with the writing; the story is exciting, there're some fun moments. Cannonball and Sunspot are very entertaining. However, it just feels like it's there as filler. Sure, the Shi'Ar Empress owes Storm a favor, and that will play into things later, but does any of it really matter? Is this a story that demanded to be told, especially right now? Hickman is a creator who rarely missteps, but it feels like he's just spinning his wheels. Booth's art is very good, but there's something that is kind of anachronistic about it. X-Men is like a ship without a rudder- it gets somewhere, and the trip isn't always unpleasant, but it is aimless.
