The Xmen may not be as popular as the Avengers, but I dare say that they tend to have bigger plots with more characters involved. The Xmen can have up to 5 different comic series at a time and nobody bats an eye. We’re just used to all of the mutants forming different groups and joining up for events. Because of this, it can be one of the more confusing comics and this essential definitely kept to that. The comics were a lot of fun, but it can be easy to forget what’s happening in the dozens of subplots.

I read this volume a while ago and I just wasn’t able to get the review out sooner because of others that kept pre empting this one. It doesn’t help that so many things were happening at once either. Luckily, Comicvine is great for this since I can check out which issues were in the graphic novel to jog my memory. Naturally, that can only help so much so this review may not be exactly like the standard Essential reviews. Still, let’s give it a shot!

This volume brings annuals from Uncanny Xmen, X Factor, and New Mutants along with issues from X Factor and the Uncanny Xmen series. As I mentioned earlier, there are a bunch of plots, but let’s go with the ones that I remember the most to start things off. That would be the Skrull plot!

I never forgot that big twist because it’s what made some parts confusing. The Xmen have to deal with a lot of Super Skrulls. Basically, they can steal your form and they also learn how to use your abilities, which makes them formidable. So, originally, you believe that some of the Xmen are merely being mind controlled or tricked and then it’s found out that some of them are Skrulls. Naturally, a lot of the classic questions arise like, “How long have they been abducted” and “Who’s the genuine article.” The comic doesn’t really answer all of those questions and it’s hard to tell.

The whole situation mainly starts with Psylocke and Professor Xavier as they use their abilities to mind control most of the Xmen. After that, I guess some of them are switched out in place of skrulls while others are kept in mind control. Gambit and Jubilee are really the only ones left to fight this! It was also a little surreal to see Xavier in the comic because we don’t see him that often anymore.

There’s also a mini arc where Proteus returns and he’s still one of the Xmen’s biggest threats. I liked his portrayal in the show as a villain, but I don’t really care for the character. He’s still a threat in this comic, but there’s only so much that a writer can do to make him interesting.

Somewhere between these various story arcs is a subplot about Nick Fury, Magneto, Rogue, and Kazar. They are in the jungle and Magneto has lost his powers while Rogue’s are a shadow of what they used to be. Together, they will still need to free the inhabitants of the Savage Land and attempt to get their powers back. Nick Fury doesn’t trust Magneto as one may have expected so it results in a lot of threats within the group.

The Uncanny Xmen comics in this collection end with the Shadow King saga. It results in the iconic cover that is featured above. I don’t care for the Shadow King either, but his ability to possess people makes for an interesting plot device. He makes sure to go after Colossus among others and it’s a pretty emotional experience for the Xman. He knows that he’s being mind controlled, which makes it all the worse. This saga was pretty good and it may not have had a lot of fights that I can remember, but it was still solid.

Finally, the collection also brings the first three issues of the Xmen series that began after this. It brings Magneto back as the antagonist, but he’s not in it for world domination as he used to be. Magneto merely wants to live out the rest of his days in peace along with his fellow mutants. Unfortunately, that’s not to be since some of the mutants that he brings along only want trouble and the Xmen are forced to get involve. Magneto’s only option is to retaliate and we get the inevitable clash of wits between them.

The art in the volume is pretty chaotic and being in black and white doesn’t help. I never really cared for the fact that they switched the colors to black and white for the essentials. What’s the purpose? It is all right though. It just makes it a little hard to follow the fight scenes since it can be harder to distinguish between the characters and many scenes are bustling with action. The actual art is pretty good though and it has that exaggerated 90’s feel. Everyone is typically out of proportion and everyone including Magneto and Cyclops have six packs. In the 90’s, everyone worked out!

This was a pretty rough breakdown of events compared to the usual review because of how long it’s been since I read it. I have three more older reviews coming up, but they aren’t quite as old and they’re less convoluted so the reviews should look to be back to normal for the most part. Most of the characters in this volume were pretty true to character except there was a bit of romance hinted between Rogue and Magneto, which was pretty sad. No matter how desperate the Savage Land can make you when your super powers are gone, it still felt forced. Cyclops unfortunately didn’t get much of a role until the Magneto saga, but he was still around for the other battles. The comics may have been confusing, but it was still fun to see such a large cast being forced to team up. It’s also why I love the Skrull plots since we get to see Xmen fighting other Xmen.

Overall, This was a solid Xmen collection. It would be a whole lot easier to read and comprehend everything if it was in color though. One positive is that black and white acts as a natural censor, which can help depending on the comic and the 90’s were an interesting time for the Xmen so this may have been for the best. These collections are always a great buy since they bring so many comics. This one likely had at least 400-500 pages of content inside of it, which never ceases to impress me. Any Marvel fan should enjoy this one, but you should not go into it expecting a simple plot with lots of action. The action is definitely there, but it is also pretty plot heavy. I would say that this is a good thing though and the writing is pretty solid. There is some fanservice for Psylocke unfortunately and some others as well, but the black and white (slightly) helps to reduce how sad this is. It’s still unnecessary and hopefully future volumes are better with that. There isn’t too much romance aside from the one plot and the cast of characters are likable for the most part. Apparently they never came out with Volume 12 so this may be the end of the road. It’s a good place to stop though since it brings the big climax for Uncanny Xmen as well as the first issues of the next Xmen series.

Overall 7/10