• • Comic Book Reviews
• June 22, 2022

X-Men #12 Review

Written by: Gerry Duggan

Art by: Pepe Larraz

Coloring by: Marte Gracia

Lettering by: VC’s Clayton Cowles

Editing by: Tom Muller, Jay Bowen

X-Men #12 feels like the end of a run before a relaunch. It culminates at the end of this X-Men roster and the biggest upset to the status quo since House of X. It’s accomplished a lot and yet not much at the same time. What this series has done to further Synch’s character is praiseworthy. What it has done with Cyclops is even more so. At the same time, a lot of characters are leaving this roster soon. As the story explained why I could only feel one thing to be true…

A lot of characters are on this team for no reason. Jean Grey, Sunfire, Wolverine, Rogue, and Polaris have had next to no character development. They’ve had a few action set-pieces but that’s about it. The closest thing to a Jean Grey moment happened in this issue, and it doesn’t feel earned. The worst thing is that almost half of the characters I just named are not returning. That’s disappointing, and it distracts from the several big reveals of the book.

The way X-Men #12 makes its big reveals and then walks past them shows how this series may have gotten away from itself. Dr. Stasis’s identity is a reveal that has little lead-up and doesn’t feel as important as it is. The reveal of mutant resurrection to the rest of the world should feel earth-shattering. Instead, it barely makes a dent in my mind.

This issue almost feels surface-level with its conflicts. If this is how this roster ends already, I’m kind of disappointed. It’s a fun series, and this issue is definitely fun, but if it’s just going to be fun, it shouldn’t affect all other X-line comics. It doesn’t treat its biggest plot points seriously enough when it should and treats the wrong plot points too seriously when it doesn’t need to.

X-Men #12 is still a good read with jaw-dropping art, I’ll never say it’s not. But this important point in the run has made me realize that not a lot has happened. That’s a disappointing way to think about a good book.