X-Necrosha

X-Necrosha 1

X-Necrosha: The Gathering 1

X-Force 21-25

X-Men: Legacy 231-234

New Mutants 6-8

New X-Men 32

Woof, this is a hefty volume.  Selene’s plot to reach god-level power bleeds over from X-Force to X-Men and New Mutants.  Frankly, it would have been much stronger without the crossover - None of the other titles add anything to the main story - The New Mutants deal with the resurrection of Doug Ramsey and the X-Men fly off to Muir Island to fight Proteus.  The trade is rounded out with some vignettes detailing how Selene gathered her minions. (Boring.)

The main X-Force arc is perfectly fine.  Selene heads to the ruins of Genosha, where her crony Eli Bard resurrects the millions who died there.  She then absorbs all of their energies, thus assuring her ascension to glory. X-Force fights their way through trash mobs and mini-bosses before taking her down, your typical video game level.  

Clayton Crain continues to drown his painted panels in blacks, greys, and blues.  The dark palette, combined with some muddled storytelling, often makes it hard to tell what’s going on.  But as with his previous issues, he’s capable to generating some spectacular images.

It helps to mix in some hot colors.

Why in the world is this Wolfsbane arc still going on?  It has been a complete waste of space for over twenty issues now.  

While the New Mutants section drags out far too long, I do like how writer Zeb Wells handles Cypher’s internal narration.

The mix of words and binary is neat.  As is his dispassionate use of sarcasm.

Cypher’s ability to understand all languages also means that he can read body language and actions, which translates to a huge power upgrade.  It’s a slick interpretation of his powers by Zeb Wells.

Clay Mann draws the X-Men issues.  It’s impressive how much better he’s gotten since then.

Amazing growth from this...

...to this.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes for X-Force and X-Necrosha.  No for the rest.

Rating: Fine for X-Force and X-Necrosha.  A mix of Stupid and Didn’t suck for the rest.