It’s space opera for the final section as a new character introduced early in the book comes to fruition. Several twists lead to a well-planned ending. It supplies a revitalised Hellfire Club, presents alternative versions of the X-Men, deals nicely with a plot that’s been brewing throughout, and returns an implacable foe of recent vintage. There’s a rapid upswing with ‘ Torn‘, the best sequence in the book. The X-Men face a foe aware of all their shortcomings and how to exploit them.

The minor narrative glitches expand into illogical plot elements within a very disappointing second arc ‘ Dangerous‘, all the more so for having a very interesting idea at its core. It has a divisive effect on the team, the wider mutant community, and the public at large. It has a couple of minor moments of narrative convenience, but is largely a thrilling and page-turning tale starting with the announcement that it’s been discovered that the mutant gene can be reversed, in effect ‘curing’ mutants. He takes the primary X-Men used by Morrison (Beast, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Wolverine) and returns Kitty Pryde, and, later, one further familiar, yet surprising face in the ‘ Gifted‘ arc. Artist John Cassaday could deliver the convincing space scenarios and superhero action no TV budget could match.Īlthough it’s not immediately apparent, Whedon conceived a single story that takes a couple of detours, originating with a prophecy made on a distant planet that a mutant from Earth would have devastating and galactic consequences. The attraction on his part seems obvious: the opportunity to handle some iconic characters with budget no consideration.

When Grant Morrison concluded his groundbreaking X-Men run in 2004 Marvel pulled off what was considered quite the coup in luring acclaimed TV writer Joss Whedon to write X-Men material.

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