Brief History:

Alright, so I am basically new to reading “X-Men” comics and lately, I have been reading these X-Men comics out of order lately. The first X-Men comic I have actually read was Joss Whedon’s run on “Astonishing X-Men” and then I read the classic X-Men storyline that put the X-Men on the map “The Dark Phoenix Saga.” Now, I am reading “Divided We Stand,” which is a stand-alone story that comes after the “Messiah Complex,” which I have not read yet, but will probably read soon.

What is the story?

After the events of the “Messiah Complex,” the X-Men have gone separate ways and basically, this event focuses on Emma Frost, Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine and Nightcrawler. On one side of the story, Emma Frost and Cyclops are enjoying a quiet time in the Savage Lands until they get a distressed call from San Francisco and realize that the city has somehow reverted back to the 1960s! Meanwhile, Colossus, Wolverine and Nightcrawler all journey to Russia and they found out that weird things are happening there!

What I loved about this comic:

Ed Brubaker’s writing: Ed Brubaker has done a great job at writing this stand-alone story about the five X-Men characters, Emma Frost, Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler. I loved the way that Ed Brubaker crafted the character interactions between the characters, especially through Emma and Cyclops. I loved seeing their loving relationship with each other and I loved how Emma tried to comfort Cyclops in his insecurities about being a good team leader while they were in the Savage Lands. I also enjoyed the scene where San Francisco was mysteriously changed back into the 1960s era since it provided a surreal quality to the story. But probably my favorite part in Ed Brubaker’s writing was how he had written the friendship between Colossus, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler as they were shown being very close to each other and communicating with each other in a friendly and humorous manner. I also loved their fight with Omega Red, one of my favorite villains as the scene and the dialogue that took place was quite intense.

Michael Choi’s illustrations: Oh my goodness! Michael Choi’s illustrations are simply dazzling in this stand-alone story! I loved the way Michael Choi illustrated the background scenery for the Savage Lands as there are exotic trees surrounding Emma and Cyclops and I loved the images of the animals such as the dinosaurs being drawn in the Savage Lands, which gave the Savage Lands a very exotic feel. I also loved the way that Michael Choi drew the characters in this story as they all look extremely realistic and gorgeous. My favorite images were of the core characters, Emma, Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus, and Nightcrawler as they all look gorgeous and I loved the fact that Nightcrawler is wearing a suit at the beginning of the story. I also loved the way that the fight scenes with Omega Red were illustrated as it was epic and it was interesting seeing Omega Red without a suit on and he really looked like a real human being with tentacles.

The characters: I have to admit that all the characters in this story were done extremely well! Probably the best characters in this story were Nightcrawler, Wolverine and Colossus since their friendship has been strong for years. I loved how Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and Colossus always joke with each other about the recent events and how they tried to comfort each other after the aftermath of the events in “Messiah Complex,” especially when Colossus was morning the lost of his sister and Kitty. I also loved the relationship between Emma and Cyclops as they are truly likeable characters in this story.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

The only problem I had with this book is that it was a little bit too slow in many places. I really liked Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler’s side of the story better since it was more action-packed than Emma and Cyclops’ story and I loved seeing the relationship between Colossus, Wolverine and Nightcrawler as that was my favorite part of the older X-Men comics. Even though it was interesting seeing the interactions between the characters, the plot was a little slow in pacing and I find myself skimming over most of the scenes in this story.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Divided We Stand” might be a bit too slow in some parts of the story, but this was a really interesting read as a stand-alone story and for X-Men fans that enjoyed reading about the character development through these characters and enjoyed the character interactions will definitely enjoyed this story of the X-Men “Divided We Stand.”