REVIEW: ‘X-Men,’ Issue #9

X-Men #9,  written by Jonathan Hickman, drawn by Leinil Francis Yu, colored by Sunny Gho, lettered by VC’s Clayton Cowles, and designed by Tom Muller, is published by Marvel Comics. Following the discovery of a King Egg by the New Mutants during the previous issue, Cyclops and his team of X-Men took the Egg into space.

Hickman starts X-Men #9 by providing a background story on the Kree Empire (from 8,000 years ago) and how the creatures are known as Broods. They were discovered to be an aggressive and parasitic hive-mind community, consuming the knowledge of anything they ate. The way that Hickman writes the scientific background of the Broods is easy and digestible. Yu’s designs for the Broods gnaws at my comfort level and gets under my skin. Having never read a storyline with them featured, their tall, angular faces and spider-like legs are terrifying. Gho colors them an olive-green and uses a bright white shade to show off their menacing biters.

Transitioning into the present, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Havok, and Broo crash onto the planet riddled with Broods. While this is occurring, the Kree Accuser is still keeping Sunspot and Cannonball hostage until he possesses the King Egg they found. In this story beat, Hickman features a separate X-Men team consisting of Corsair, Gladiator, Kid Gladiator and more. The switch between these storylines never feels confusing or jarring and is easy to keep up with. Gho does a wonderful job of differentiating the two with separate color schemes. Cyclops and the gang are in a darkly lit cave teeming with slime-green blood of the Broods they are fighting. Gladiator and his crew have a brighter colored story filled with blues, reds, and purples. This all culminates in their eventually getting together for one rapid fight scene.

Jean Grey narrates their fight with the Broods. Cowles executes her dialogue by putting it into a singular text box per one vertical panel. This created a great sense of tension and urgency amidst the battle. Spanning over four pages, it made X-Men #9 a page-turner. Yu approaches the art for the fight with stillness. The movements of the characters are not illustrated, instead, we see their facial expressions as they hold up against the hostile Broods. For example, Jean Grey, in her lime-green dress and her warm red hair, displays a look of anguish as she tries to warn her husband, Cyclops, about an impending blow.  Through art, coloring, and lettering, the story is elevated from a stereotypical action-scene to one tuned into the characters.

There are two pages that showcase Muller’s graphic design skills in X-Men #9. Without divulging too much information, Muller breaks down data Hickman created in a manner that is both appealing to the eye and straightforward. The most important information for readers to digest is in bold and properly put into parentheses. The designs for the two topics that are covered are minimalistic and add a layer of refinement to the writing.

Hickman’s balance of scientific exposition and fun fight dialogue is an improvement on the last issue’s bland exchanges between characters. Yu and Gho tag team and create a captivating backdrop for two very detailed fight sequences. Cowles’ lettering enhanced Hickman’s script and provided an extra layer of atmosphere and tone. Muller’s graphic design work continues to make reading X-Books a fresh and refined experience. The cohesiveness of this creative team makes X-Men #9 a fun and bombastic read.

X-Men #9 is available now, wherever comic books are sold.