REVIEW: ‘Uncanny X-Men’ Issue 28

Uncanny X-Men Issue 28 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Gail Simone, art by Luciano Vecchio, colors by Matthew Wilson, and letters by Clayton Cowles.

As the Outliers get swarmed by fake X-Men and Sentinels, the real X-Men have the New Mutants to deal with.

Uncanny X-Men Issue 28 continues three separate stories all at the same time. Along the way, the trio of tales has broken out into fights and intense battles. The Outliers are trying to survive against the nightmarish Sentinels, and this shuffled deck of X-Men.

Led by Sauron, the mutants that arrived at the end of the previous issue have an air of uncertainty, which this entire world is filled with. They are helping at first, but that can change in an instant. As a small moment of clarity starts to breach through all the falsehoods, a sudden, traumatic surprise shatters the period of hope, and a new challenge emerges. It’s fast-paced, enthralling, and unpredictable.

At Haven House, the New Mutants are fighting back against the residents. Gambit has to make more sacrifices to reach his wife and find the children. Despite the action and superpowers, Simone manages to infuse Uncanny X-Men Issue 28 with a significant amount of unnerving psychological horror. Many disturbing moments are impossible to escape or avoid.

And finally, the prison at Graymalkin is experiencing a crisis and outbreak. There has always been a hidden prisoner, one buried within the vaults and hallways. The rapid health decline and death of Scurvy, Ellis’ boyfriend, pave the way for the prisoner to get out. This part of Uncanny X-Men Issue 28 is a full-blown slasher horror story. It’s frightening, intense, and very new.

It exposes a raw, uncomfortable family history that reveals so much about Ellis and why she has dedicated so much time to attacking mutants. Because it’s very personal, each of the tales is separate, stopping help from arriving. Jumping back and forth between the scenarios makes the book unpredictable, captivating, and full of content from start to finish.

The characters also undergo extensive development in Uncanny X-Men Issue 28, driven by their isolation and immense pressure. The Outliers are learning who each other are again, but there are still things they don’t know about each other. Jitter’s love for her girlfriend and her newfound boyfriend is so strong that it’s breaking through whatever has built the environment around her. But then she suffers something severe that invokes an immense reaction from everyone else. It ramps up the pace of the book as Calico’s protectiveness and devotion kick into high gear. Many of the Outliers can unleash their powers at full capacity, revealing just how powerful they are when they don’t hold back.

Simone writes a fantastically tense showdown in Uncanny X-Men Issue 28 between the X-Men and the New Mutants. Rogue, Wolverine, and the others know there is something wrong, but can’t figure out who they really are. The attempts to de-escalate the situation only make things worse.

The most engrossing dialogue comes from the new character in Uncanny X-Men Issue 28 that speaks through Scurvy’s corpse. That alone is frightening enough, but the voice and what it says instill so much dread. It doesn’t have an alias yet, just a first name, and that makes them more terrifying because it’s a personal, familial connection.

Corina is going through absolute hell, and yet refuses to react or even emote, due to the trauma she has experienced. She has been so cold and heartless, and yet Simone inflicts the most harmful acts upon her. It’s a really fascinating mixture of personalities and dialogue. The truth about Scurvy is also disturbing and upsetting. He has always looked insidious because he’s old and decrepit, but he’s so much younger, cursed by his mutation.

The art is sensational. Vecchio has had an incredible impact on this series, and that’s so evident in Uncanny X-Men Issue 28. With the Outliers, there is just so much to look at. The X-Men have had their powers shuffled and aren’t quite right, and those designs are exceptional. Namor looks like Magik, Magik looks like Colossus, and Sauron is dressed like a lecturer. Many of the Outliers push their powers to extremes as well, and these displays are stunning.

Calico and Deathdream both highlight just how powerful they can be, with their abilities extending far beyond their bodies into massive explosions. Calico suddenly dons a suit of flaming armor with giant armor, whilst Deathdream stands on a mountain of skeletons. Gambit also exhibits new powers, aided by the Eye of Agamaotto, which he still possesses.

The new villain breaking out of Graymalkin is interesting because we don’t know if that’s really what they look like. They possess Scurvy’s body, which already looks unnerving. But it seems to have been extended. When it stands up, it looks like a skeletal ghoul, with a harrowing face and a sinister smile. The eyes are pinholes, and the face looks like a goblin. When it first emerges, it slashes its way through doctors in the bloodiest scene this series has had so far. It means the new villain is then covered in blood, dripping with it for the rest of Uncanny X-Men Issue 28, making it difficult to discern whose blood it is.

The colors remain vibrant and pivotal to the storytelling. Those bursts of power from Calico and Deathdream are so captivating because they are opposites. Calico’s flames burn bright yellow, whilst Deathdream is jet black. The X-Men outfits across the various scenes create a vibrancy, even if they don’t match the right characters. And in Graymalkin, the prison suddenly fills with a lot of red, which is distressing and alarming. The lettering is very clear and easy to read.

Uncanny X-Men Issue 28 features heaps of horror. It could be argued that each of these individual stories could carry the issue on its own. But actually, splitting them gives the whole cast a purpose and something to do. Simone’s run has featured so many characters, and this split structure allows so many to be developed at the same time.

If there were just one of these plot threads, someone would get sidelined or left out. But this way, everyone is forced to fight because the help isn’t coming. There are so many subgenres of horror in Uncanny X-Men Issue 28, yet they mesh so well with the superhero/mutant element.

Uncanny X-Men Issue 28 is available now wherever comics are sold.