Amazing X-Men, Vol. 3: Once and Future Juggernaut

Amazing X-Men (2013) (Collected Editions)

by Christopher Yost (Writer), James Tynion IV (Writer), Jorge Jiménez (Illustrator)

We've all heard the phrase "those are big shoes to fill." That's especially true when those are the massive boots of the unstoppable Juggernaut! When the Gem of Cyttorak reappears, seeking to create a new avatar, none hear its call more than those who have previously housed Cyttorak's power, Cain Marko and Colossus. But they aren't the only ones hunting for the Gem. Can the X-Men find it before it's too late? And can Colossus resist the temptation of Cyttorak's power? "Unstoppable" takes on a whole new meaning as Cyttorak's gem is finally located. The Juggernaut rises...and the X-Men fall! Plus, a death in Storm's family sends the X-Men to Africa! Anole's deepest fears are unleashed on the streets of New York City! And Nightcrawler and Mystique's relationship reaches a boiling point!

Collecting: Amazing X-Men 13-19, Annual

Genres: Comics, X Men, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

184 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2015

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very well written final arc with a lot of great deadpan humour alongside the overt humour of Rockslide and Iceman. Cyttoraks' calling, and it wants to create a new Juggernaut; and boy do people come calling. A study of Cyttorak, Cain Marko and Piotr Rasputin in the latest quest for the Juggernaut! A strong 7 out of 12, Three Star read.

2018 read

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of these X-Men titles have just become filler material and that's what this is. No character advancement, no plot developments, just stand alone meaningless stories.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately the only thing 'amazing' about Volume 3 was that it was mostly an amazing let-down. That's a shame, too, because I really enjoyed the majority of the prior installments.

Once and Future Juggernaut opens with two unrelated short stories, the effective 'Charm School' (Nightcrawler has words of wisdom for a gay, green-skinned student having second thoughts about a blind date of sorts) and the meh 'The Worst of Us' (again w/ Nightcrawler, and also Mystique).

The 'A'-plot - a true team adventure over in Southeast Asia - starts promisingly enough, and then has an unexpected and amusing break in the action (opening with "I'm . . . going to sit down over here." by Storm) when the X-Men stop and chat around a campfire. It actually works for a few pages, but when things pick up again I really lost interest. Ditto for the third (!) unrelated short story that closes the volume. Maybe it was for the best that Marvel discontinued the series at this point.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume was... OK. It's a shame it's only OK as it was desperately trying to be epic.

It had most of the ingredients to be epic but it just didn't seem to come together. Maybe the lacklustre artwork was partly responsible. I could imagine liking this more with better, more dramatic, illustrations.

The X-Men have undeniably been around the block a few times but their attitudes towards the events of this story are so laid back and world weary that it destroyed any sense of drama. I half expected one of them to utter 'I just can't be bothered with this'.

The entire point of this story seemed to be to subvert Colossus' 'heroic self-sacrifice' character trait and to make Cain Marko the Juggernaut again. If this is the case, mission accomplished. Why the creative team wanted to make these changes just before Secret Wars came along with the almighty reboot key is beyond me, though.

As I say, nothing special but OK.

[Sud666 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay lets be clear...I didn't think much of this one. Why? Because the really good part-the one about the Juggernaut is actually only about 25% of the story (but it is good enough to mitigate the pedestrian nature of the rest). The story starts with two gays kids going to coffee and a rant about teenage angst. I didn't care, not because of the homosexual aspect-I'm not a homophobe, I have plenty of gay friends..I didn't care because I don't buy comics to read about the whiney rantings of teenage love stories. I could go watch some brainless MTV show for that. Then after reading that mindless drivel-I was subjected to a homocidal Kurt Wagner trying to kill a priest and being stopped by Mystique. Um...why is Kurt a killer and mystique acting like she's Ghandi? I don't know. I also realized it's too annoying to care. THEN we almost get into the meat of the story-but first we are treated to Cyclops and Storm bitching at each other-more angst. Cool. Great. Let's move along, please? Annnnnd we get to it!! Yayy-
The demon Cytorrak is back and wants an avatar and a bunch of people descend to claim the gem. In a weird twist of storyline-it seems Cytorrak just wants to be loved (um really?) but that never happened..so he got mad and destroyed a lot of things. Finally Cain marko claims the gem and some honest to goodness good x-men writing. Oh did I mention the Living Monolith was also Juggernaut for awhile? But, since solving that problem was more complex than this writer was capable of he comes up with the deus ex machina of "Cytorrak just wants to be loved" and it goes into Cain Marko. Still this part of the story would have gotten a 4/5...but the rest of the dreck wasted my time..ohh and I read some annual with Storm and some d-list villian fighting in africa to settle an old blood debt. Uh..yeah...and there was Logan..um so is he dead or not dead? I think sometimes good comics can be ruined by poor writers. This is one of those time..other than an inspired flash of competence with the Juggernaut bit- the rest is mediocre garbage. So in keeping with that theme I've written a rushed and crappy review for a rushed and crappy comic. Somehow apropos.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

If there was ever an X-Men title that didn't have any reason for existing, it was Amazing X-Men, as witnessed by its meandering, unfocused storytelling over the course of its run. I guess it focused on the resurrected Nightcrawler, and for some reason Firestar ... but I never knew what to make of this title.

This final volume is about the Juggernaut, and how Cyttorak is seeking a new host. Unfortunately, that results in a bunch of poorly defined villains fighting a long-running fight with the X-Men. Even the winner gets very little character development. Overall, this is OK, but nothing of note, and too much of a return to status quo.

The other stories is this volume are all one-offs that are pretty forgettable focuses on individual characters. There's a pretty awful post-Inversion issue about Mystique chasing Nightcrawler, but ones about Storm and (especially) Anole a better.

Generally, though, the entirety of Amazing X-Men can be skipped other than the premiere volume.

[Judah Radd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t expect to love this.

Reason #1: this title has sucked

Reason #2: the characters on the cover of this volume don’t really interest me.

I was wrong. It just goes to show; don’t judge a... well, you know.

This was awesome. The first issue was a feel good story about Northstar and Fuzzyelf mentoring Anole. After that, we were treated to an AMAZINGLY BADASS Cytorrak/Juggernaut story by Kyle/Yost. Dark, violent and awesome. It’s what I expect when Kyle/Yost take over a title. The last issue was a decent annual with some fun little shorts.

I definitely recommend this. In fact, I’d say skip the previous collections of this X-Men run and start here. This is where it’s at.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering the reputation I'd seen for this storyline, I wasn't expecting much from this trade, and yet I was pleasantly surprised.

The opening issue is (I think) James Tynion IV's first Marvel work, and it's a great little story about acceptance featuring Anole, Northstar, and Nightcrawler. Then there's a single Axis tie-in issue that pits Nightcrawler against Mystique by Chris Yost, which is again pretty great, if a little confusing out of context, and the fact that the Inversion is corrected off-panel and not explained between issues might make people confused as to why Nightcrawler's okay again in the next story.

The Once and Future Juggernaut storyline is probably an issue or two too long when read in single issues, but in trade it's not that bad. The idea is sound, and it's a good exploration of where Colossus is in his current character arc, as well as re-examining Cain Marko's life choices too. The issue where the X-Men basically sit down and let the Juggernaut wander around for a bit while they have a chat is hilarious, and the overall conclusion to the story feels satisfying for all involved. The artwork is also something I'd seen derided, but I actually thought it was alright. Jorge Fornes isn't an artist I'd be able to pick out of a crowd, but it's serviceable enough.

The annual that's thrown in the back is probably the weakest link - firstly it should be at the front, because Wolverine's alive again, and its lead story is just not really that strong. It's a nice Storm story, but it'd probably be more at home in a single issue of Storm rather than a double sized annual issue which means it takes up too much space and spends a lot of time doing nothing. The back-up for the annual is pretty good though, an 8 or 10 page story by Margueritte Bennett and Juan Doe about Firestar's role in the X-Men at the moment.

Amazing X-Men was at its best when it launched, and meandered a little during the Wendigo arc, but it definitely finishes strong here.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Similar to volume two, it has that "family" feel to it, at least in the multi-part Juggernaut story, which was the best one. It has an excellent premise with a bunch of bad guys all vying to hold the gem and be the new Juggy. There's at least one surprise in there, plus the X-Men react in a way that was truly original. The art on the Juggernaut story started out ok then switched for the worse.

There are two other single issue stories that deal with Mystique and Nightcrawler, but were confusing because there is no explanation of why either of them is acting the way they are, which is out of character. I'm not sure if they tied into other books or what but neither connected to Vol 2 or the rest of this volume.

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pues las cosas son como son, y una vez que Secret War comenzaba a asomar en el horizonte (el gran proyecto que con Jonathan Hickman a la cabeza iba a cambiar la cara de todo el Universo Marvel), era evidente que las cosas iban a cambiar para los mutantes, y esta colección era una de las que iba a sufrir las consecuencias. A ver, viendo como evolucionó la cosa, Disney debió ser el gran impulsor de un plan que pretendía acercar a los cómics a los seguidores del universo cinematográfico de Marvel (a costa de lo que fuera, porque supuso la caída de muchos de sus viejos seguidores, entre ellos yo), y con un objetivo evidente también: no dar carnaza a aquellas series que no estaban en sus manos. O sea, las franquicias que estaban en manos de Fox: Cuatro Fantásticos y el mundo mutante (de hecho, aunque en La Era de Ultrón habían matado a Mercurio para no tener problemas con Fox, ya que este personaje ya estaba en X-Men, en los cómics se habían encargado de aclarar que la Bruja Escarlata y Mercurio no eran realmente mutantes ni hijos de Magneto (ya hablaremos de Axis). La colección de Cuatro Fantásticos se cancelaba, y aunque no tuvieron el valor de hacer lo mismo con la Patrulla-X, se limitaron sus colecciones y bueno... la verdad es que se cuidó muy poco su contenido.

Y con este panorama a futuro, quedaba todavía un arco para terminar Increíble Patrulla-X, y con Craig Kyle en otros proyectos, sería Cristopher Yost el encargado de completarlo, llevando la colección a su final. Y lo hizo acudiendo a otro enemigo clásico de la Patrulla-X, Juggernaut... o más bien, Cyttorak, el patrón de Juggernaut. Y es que en los últimos años el tema de Juggernaut había estado bastante movidito, con Caín Marko perdiendo el favor de su patrón y luego recuperándolo para luego convertirse en uno de los Dignos en Miedo Encarnado y perder su poder en favor de Coloso, que se había convertido en una especie de Juggernaut Fénix durante Vengadores vs X-Men para luego perder la parte de Fénix luchando con su propia hermana... en fin, que la historia había sido complicada, y en este arco vamos a ver a Cyttorak buscar un nuevo avatar al que convertir en Juggernaut. Con la Patrulla-X dispuestos a impedirlo, varios contendientes acudirán al templo perdido de Cyttorak, entre ellos Calavera, Asesina de Hombres, el propio Caín Marko, Coloso, o en otro guiño de Yost a la historia de la Patrulla... el propio Ahmet Abdol, el Monolito Viviente, un personaje que se remontaba a los primeros tiempos de la Patrulla-X y que creo que llevaba sin aparecer desde La(s) Era(s) de Apocalipsis, ya que era uno de los Doce.

En fin, la historia, sin ser una cosa loca, cumple con su función, es entretenida y está bien llevada, y además, como he dicho arriba, tiene ese toque especial de Yost que le permite escribir sus historias hacia el futuro asentándose bien en el pasado. Algo que otros muchos podrían aprender, por cierto.

[Alex E · Rating 2 out of 5]

The demon Cytorrak needs a new Juggernaut avatar, and many people around the world hear the call. But who will be the new Juggernaut?

So I think Christopher Yost starts off with a strong premise here. I mean, the Juggernaut has always been a prominent X-Men figure and choosing the next person to be this nearly indestructible force is definitely an interesting premise. Also its very interesting to see the people who come out of the woodwork to claim or reclaim the Cytorrak crystal. Most notably, Cain Marko and Peter Rasputin. Not knowing which way the ball would drop was fascinating, but also, you know there was gonna be some big fighting coming up.

The problem with the book is that this is stretched out way too long. I mean, its a good premise, but it could've been solved in maybe 3 or 4 issues. Instead we get 6 or 7 and it becomes kind of tedious to read. I think making this a quick story instead of a mini epic that Yost was going for, would've done wonders to make it more engrossing.

But there's some good X-Men action in here, and definitely some good interpersonal play between the members. I would still recommend this if you're an X-Men fan.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The opening story is wonderful. One of the best one-off gay stories Marvel has done. Sadly the rest is bunk. Not worth the time to describe.

[Emilie]

One of the issues had nice moments of Northstar and Nightcrawler supporting Anole. Another had Nightcrawler becoming evil and Mystique becoming good. I think this was related to the "Onslaught" event of the 21st century? I started reading that, and found it both disturbing and depressing, especially when it started with grave-robbing. Well, at least that was confined to one issue of this collection.

Storm was mean to a bunch of people in this collection. She did not used to snap at people so much, but here she metaphorically verbally eviscerates several. I guess she'd been through a lot of stress and disappointment at this point. I missed a number of Colossus' deaths and rebirths, I suppose. I remember several of the X-Men dying and then moving to Australia, and I remember Colossus testing the cure to the Legacy virus on himself after Illyana died. She's come back a few times, too, but I think I read more of those times.

Everybody seemed to hate Rockslide, although he seemed to be a full member of an X-Men team of fairly heavy hitters. I'm not sure why all the hate.

idk. I missed X-Men runs both before and after this Amazing X-Men series. I like that Northstar had mellowed out some. Kyle Jinadu does say in the first Marvel Voices: Pride issue that he tells Northstar not to be a jerk every morning before Jean-Paul flies off. So, credit goes to Kyle for being a big part of improving Northstar's attitude.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two one-shots, the main 5-issue arc of the title, and another one-shot are wrapped up in this collection, which represents the last of the Amazing X-Men title.

The first couple of one-shots are pretty strong, first focusing on Anole's insecurities ahead of a date who hasn't seen his mutation, followed by Nightcrawler and Mystique dealing with a hangover from the AXIS event, which flips their personalities, making Kurt the antagonist and Raven the protagonist. It's an interesting flip, taking Kurt back to his roots, but then it just stops and is not dealt with again. The next issue, Kurt is fine, and it's like this story never happened. Perhaps it's deal with elsewhere in the AXIS event or one of the tie-ins? Either way, this volume will not help you figure it out.

Then it's on to the main event, so to speak. Cyttorak wants back into the world, and puts out a call that multiple folks try to answer. Plenty of people want to be Juggy, it seems. What follows is an action-packed adventure with some good character moments and some nice twists and turns - it's enjoyable if you don't think about it too much.

Then it finishes with a one-shot that I literally just read and am already forgetting - basically, Storm kicks some monster's butt whilst bellowing about how she is STORM! A weak finish to a title that was decent enough but ultimately not particularly special.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zacznijmy od tego, że ostatni tom tej serii jest bardzo nierówny. Ma przestoje, które mu nie służą, ale pojawiają się te tzw. "momenty", które potrafią dać sporą frajdę.

I tak początek to średnio udana randka jednego z wychowanków, który na domiar złego potrzebuje pomocy, ale może liczyć na wsparcie dwóch profesorów swojej akademii, w tym Nightcrawler. Z nim będzie tu też dołączony jeden zeszyt powiązany z wydarzeniem pt. Axis, ale pomimo udziału Mistique nie było tu nic ciekawego.

Naprawdę interesującą zaczyna być, gdy do gry wchodzi siła, która nadała kiedy bratu Xavier, Cainowi moce Juggernauta. I ta siła ponownie szuka swojego czempiona. Fajnie, że autorzy dali tutaj trochę miejsca na małą rehabilitację Piotra, czyli Colossusa, bo w końcu ta postać na to zasłużyła. Nie jest to wprawdzie nic odkrywczego, ale zdecydowanie daje rade.

Jezeli miałbym na coś ponarzekać to na pewno kreska. Jest jeszcze bardziej nierówna niż fabuła tego zbiorku. Początek jest świetny, ale potem kraska traci mocno ze swojego uroku. Mimo wszystko całkiem zgrabnie zarysowany akcyjniak.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Part 1 - Waste of time teenage love angst fill-in story. Not why I read comics. Not good art.

Part 2 - Middle of a story... seriously. Mystique is trying to stop Nightcrawler from killing people. Nightcrawler is trying to kill people. Nightcrawler gets away, Mystique chases, story over. WTF?

Part 3 - Main story, not good art. Who are these people pretending to be x-men? Where did the misplaced attitudes come from? Terrible mess. Bad guy is on the lose, so the x-man sit around a campfire and chat. Total crap.

Part 4 - Amazing X-Men annual where Storm returns to Africa to stop a tribal menace. Better story, but still lacking. Much better art. Only part of book worth reading, but not enough to earn another star.

I really liked the first two books of the Amazing X-Men, but the third book was so bad I am glad the series was canceled. This is one of the worst books I ever read.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing the great x-read of 2017/18...

This one gains a star for the opening issue. It features Anole! As the main character! (oh yeah, I love the New X-Men characters, btw, and I miss them so much...) And he is on a date! My heart is melted.

And then it kicks into some other plotlines. It isn't clear why Nightcrawler is suddenly evil for one issue and then isn't again...? (I see another reviewer mentioned something called Inversion but that isn't on my chronology at all.) Colossus is back at the x-mansion (I think I must have missed that along the way as well...)

The juggernaut story has some great humor - I love when they all decide to sit around rather than fight - but is fairly dull otherwise.

The Storm story to finish up the volume is not bad but I have a been-there-done-that feeling with it. The problem with reading the x-books for so many years is that so many of these plotlines have been done before.

But still... Anole. That made me happy.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm tempted to one-star this because I'm so sick of collections editors including things out of sequence. For most of this book the other X-Men are talking to Storm about how she's dealing with Wolverine's death. Then, in the annual issue at the end, there's Wolverine. The annual should have been at the beginning or, better yet, in a previous collection. Stuff like this is the reason comics appeal only to regular readers. A random, curious reader could never pick this up and enjoy it.

Anyway ... this opens with a good issue about Anole dealing with his looks affecting his dating life. Then a one-issue Axis crossover with Mystique trying to stop Nightcrawler from doing something he'll regret. Then the big arc. The gem of Cyttorak returns and calls out to a bunch of potential hosts. Who gets it? Well, not to spoil it, but what does the title say? And then the out-of-sequence annual.

It's mostly okay.

[Xander Toner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably my least favourite of these three Amazing X-Men volumes. The majority of this consisted of one overly long fight scene to get the ruby McGuffin, and your attention does start to wane after a bit. There's a nice scene where the X-Men sit around a campfire and simply just talk as friends before going out to fight once again. Issue #13, which is included at the start of this volume, but is unconnected to the larger story about Juggernaut is definitely the best part of this collection, and I must say that I've enjoyed the single issue one-shots in these, rather than the longer multi issue storylines.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is another serviceable story that just languishes in average. This could have been so much more. The main story involving Juggernaut has the makings of a very good tale but there were so many disjointed pieces, odd character actions, and below average. Its an unfortunate way to end a once promising series. The standout piece here is the AXIS related story. Seeing Nightcrawler and Mystique in a whole new light was very interesting. Overall, the book was a letdown.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading this series for the first time in so many years was such a joy. It brought back so many good memories and emotions while reading. The plots, character dynamics, and humor were all so well done. I was laughing so much and so hard I couldn't breathe sometimes. The Anole, Mystique, and Storm issues pulled at my heartstrings and made me cry. It's for sure up in my top 5 favorite X-Men runs of all time.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The annual is horrible, but the regular series is enjoyable. What really makes these stories is the character work and the dialogue. There's a lightness and fun to the dialogue that we don't see enough in modern superhero comics.

[ellis · Rating 2 out of 5]

once and future disappointment?
this volume started strong, with a little slice of life issue. then, Kurt is evil, and we're not going to resolve this here because it's actually part of another series/event.
and i didn't care for the juggernaut story. the art wasn't great, either, imo...

[Fatima · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that we're seeing a classic villain line-up in this series. Was not disappointed with this Juggernaut story. Especially the mid-battle campfire. Cytorrak's motivation was a little confusing, but I'll give it a pass.

[Frans Kempe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The X-Men confronts the next Juggernaut and a Axis tie-in

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stand alone stories in this TPB were much better than the main one.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

(For Vol 1-3)This whole run of amazing X-Men is just , well amazing. It's a fantastic storyline with a manageable ensemble, humor, heart, and some great classic feeling X-Men adventures.

[Andre · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first story if this volume is pretty disconnected from the Juggernaut storyline and I would say it is the best. The three protagonists Nightcrawler, Northstar and Anole seem in character in all ways, however canonwise, there are a few problems.
Northstar has a hint of a hissy fit when Kurt points out that Northstar doesn't quite comprehent how cruel people can be in regards to physical mutations. And this is totally in character, since he really doesn't seem to get how finding out you are gay is not the same as being targeted because of your looks. However, I know Anole has reptilian features but he mostly looks like a green version of movie Mystique, so there is no reason for people to panic around him. Also, did his date have to be some slim, pink, yellow haired guy? You couldn't have drawn someone more distinct?
It is well handled how writing and art portray Nightcrawler's and Anole's insecurities and fears, but with Nightcrawler we suddenly have him half-naked, people with pitchforks around him screaming to kill the monster before it kills them, and this is at once similar and different to the common Winzeldorf backstory of him. And this is uncreative. Plus since when was he unsure of his status as a man because of his father? I know the writers usually ignore his actual family, but he has spend how much time with Azazel? 3 hours total? Why would he care? Now, while I can make sense of Northstar's fears of his boyfriend and sister being sick of him and Iceman never liking him, based on what was presented before, him believing Nightcrawler to be homophobic feels pretty forced since there was no evidence for that whatsoever.
The whole story seems like a big mixed bag. While it is well presented how Anole is insecure because of his looks and angry at Northstar for thinking he understands the kid, it makes less sense considered that Anole must have seen several couples were the partners look way less human than him and why Northstar didn't see that coming is beyond me as he was one of the people complaining about Anole's new arm. The same thing with Nightcrawler's talk about how it will always be difficult for the likes of him and Anole and how he managed to get over his fears and get the first girl he liked. It sounds good, however according to canon, his first girlfriend was his sister, so this story about him being afraid how she would think of him makes no sense. That ending was kind of dumb, especially considered that if Noam knew Victor was a mutant he probably would have figured out already that Victor may not look human, only the main mutants are usually the "pretty ones", the run of the mill ones usually look all over the place.

Then there was the story during the "Axis" event and I read the issue with Nightcrawler and Mystique before and I think it is a waste of time.

The main storyline is about the Juggernaut and I think it is really dumb. Not only are they somewhere in Southeast Asia (maybe Thailand), the art style makes people look as if they are constantly bored or annoyed. I don't think I ever saw a story where so many people look so bored and annoyed. Also considered that in canon the X-Men had just been on the course of committing genocide and there is no mention here, I guess it's safe to say that the entire AXIS storyline was pointless.
And really the whole story and Cyttorak calling out for potentials for his stone (even those that previously rejected him) is just an excuse to get Cain Marco back as a bad guy and give him some more power, nothing more. In fact I am sure none of this story would have happened if Cytorrak wasn't so dumb to send his call out to people who would stop him.
What a boring story. Apparently this volume would have some more stories, but I really don't care. The artwork is bad, especially the eyes, the story is generic and in the end the whole "Colossus might die from the fall" is so dumb because the guy not only survived worse falls, but he cannot drown because he doesn't need oxygen in his steel form, so what was the point of all of this?

[Michael Church · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually mostly really liked this volume. Full disclosure, it automatically gained points when it opened up with a story about coming out and gay love. I really enjoyed what they did with Kurt, Vic, and Jean-Paul and how they managed to tie them all together. Anole really doesn't get enough attention lately. It was sweet and a nice little standalone.

The next one was a little rockier, but I still liked it. Mystique and Nightcrawler are a fascinating family, especially like this. It was also the first Axis tie-in that I read. I usually wait for an event but I've gotten sick of Marvel's schedule delaying all of that. There were some spoilers, but nothing ridiculous.

The bulk of the story dealt with Cyttorak wanting to create a new Juggernaut on earth. For those a little behind, Colossus stole the power of Juggernaut from Cain Marko, but then it was expelled when Colossus became a host for the Phoenix Force. Colossus used to be one of my favorite characters, but all of the events lately have made him kind of a jerk. Where I liked that with Cyclops in Uncanny X-Men and felt like it gave him a really nice arc, it feels more negative with Colossus. Cyke has always been a realist and a bit of a downer, but that wasn't supposed to be Colossus.

Anyway, it starts to turn around here, I think. There is enough history with some of these characters for a pretty interesting team dynamic. Plus the situation of a group of super villains racing to get the power of the Juggernaut is pretty fun. It's got enough depth with the cast to make it meaningful, but enough action and flash to keep your attention.

The annual is a waste. It is 90% of the reason I took a star off of this. The art sucks, the writing sucks, the story is stupid, it just sucks. I'm also getting annoyed with Mike Marts, the X-Men group editor, for not doing what I assume would be his job to track consistency with these titles. Hell, the annual doesn't even have consistency between panels.

The art is also pretty solid throughout, except in the annual. Fornés leaves a little to be desired, but it's still good. I just wish they would stop teasing fans with Kris Anka covers and a different artist inside.

So yeah, this is a good time and one of my favorite X-Titles on the shelves these days. Definitely keeping it on my pull list.

[Adam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Updated Review During 2025 X-Reread:

I appreciated this book much more this time around. I agree that James Tynion IV's Anole story falls a bit on the preachy side but, apart from the directionless Mastermind, every character has a purpose and a background that makes this a perfectly good C+ mutant story.

The main story, however, featuring Colossus and Cain Marko, and others being called to the Cyttorak gem, in order to become the next Juggernaut is actually very well-thought out and a fun read. Once we get past the pre-Cyttorak drama, there's a wonderful set of pages where there's a new Juggernaut and the X-Men just sort of sit around a camp fire and tell stories to each other because they can't figure out what to do about the new Juggernaut. I don't recall seeing any other author do that in the X-Men before.

The whole story is affecting and helps to move several underutilized X-Men in interesting directions.

***

Original 2019 Review:

There is some interesting art in this book, but the first two stories are very preachy and basically rehashes of previous X-stories. The Juggernaut story isn't much better. A one issue premise is dragged out to five issues, and it feels more like twenty.

If you've ever wanted to read a Cain Marko story that doesn't involve Professor X, I guess this would be interesting, or if you were invested in the mopey Colossus of X-Force (you know, the one who used to be The Juggernaut), but it's not a great read.