Era #11, Part 07: Heroes and Villains (X-Men)

Grade: D+

What a hot mess! I regularly read reviews bashing Chuck Austen and wonder if people are just afraid of somebody challenging the status quo. I prefer to look at his run as a bold experiment, but I am just not sure that I can give him a pass after reading this run. 

Exodus forms a new Brotherhood of Mutants (Avalanche, Black Tom Cassidy, Mammomax, Nocture, and Sabretooth), but this new t eam realizes that the X-Men are always one step ahead of them. Their ingenious plan is to attack the X-Men at their home and decide to rely on their secret weapon (and spy inside) -- the Juggernaut. The assault is the final straw for Annie who leaves Havok and the Institute to keep her son, Carter, safe.

Motivations (and even character names) seem much more fluid than normal and not so grounded on the stable characterizations that we've come to expect from X-Men books. The story is incredibly thin. It utilizes common tropes with no real imagination (another Brotherhood inspired by a dead Magneto decides to assault the X-Men at home?).

The Juggernaut subplot was an interesting bright spot. He must face the consequences of his actions even if those actions are for the better good. The conclusion of his arc with Squidboy is completely heartbreaking. It is an unflinching reminder that we are always being watched. 

[4-Stars] X-Men (1991) #161

[5-Stars] X-Men (1991) #162

[4-Stars] X-Men (1991) #163

[4-Stars] X-Men (1991) #164

[4-Stars] X-Men (1991) #165

Collected in X-Men: Day of the Atom