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Uncanny X-Men by Chuck Austen
Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 2: Dominant Species
As they adjust to having Xavier's stepbrother and their former enemy, Juggernaut, at the Xavier Institute, a group of X-Men investigates a murder committed by a lycanthropic mutant, bringing them into contact with Maximus Lobo.
128 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Chuck Austen
431 books16 followersChuck Austen (born Chuck Beckum) is an American humor novelist, comic book writer and artist, TV writer and animator. In comics, he is known for his work on X-Men, War Machine, Elektra, and Action Comics, and in television, he is known for co-creating the animated TV series Tripping the Rift.
In his most recent prose novels, Chuck Austen has been going by the name Charles Austen.
In his most recent prose novels, Chuck Austen has been going by the name Charles Austen.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 22, 2021
The second volume is a bit of a glitch in the Chuck Austen run, as it is where another species appears out of nowhere to challenge mutant supremacy.! Austen's great 'character' writing is still there in the background though, with the return of a few old faces and the settling of the new ones like Stacy X, Sammy and... Juggernaut! A rather sombre 6 out of 12 from me :)
July 4, 2025
Update From 2025 Readthrough:
I stand by this review. Austen gets a lot of flack for this X-Men run. I think it's ok but not very good. The art, however is lazy and ugly to look at, making this a difficult volume to recommend, even though the Juggernaut/Sammy The Fish Boy storyline is a wholesome part of this era of the X-Men.
***
I enjoy it when a mainstream superhero comic experiments with a new style. And the X-Men drawn by a manga artist is an intriguing concept. Sadly, it ended up as a massive failure.
I'm not familiar enough with ASAMIYA KIA's work to know if they just had a really, really, really difficult time meeting deadlines, or if this is considered an accurate representation of their work. But it's ugly. It's not just a different style from previous books. It looks unfinished and hastily drawn. The noses are hideous on every character, when the artist bothers to include facial features at all, the perspectives often make no sense. It looks like a subpar issue of Gold Digger Gold Brick Volume 1, which is probably the most insulting thing I can say about comic book art.
The story is just forgettable. There are some decent moments of Juggernaut trying to come to terms with his relationship with his stepbrother, and Sammy worshipping him. But the villainous wolves are silly, and the soap opera drama from volume one doesn't go anywhere interesting.
I don't recommend it for anyone except people looking for prime examples of how Not to write or draw superhero comics.
I stand by this review. Austen gets a lot of flack for this X-Men run. I think it's ok but not very good. The art, however is lazy and ugly to look at, making this a difficult volume to recommend, even though the Juggernaut/Sammy The Fish Boy storyline is a wholesome part of this era of the X-Men.
***
I enjoy it when a mainstream superhero comic experiments with a new style. And the X-Men drawn by a manga artist is an intriguing concept. Sadly, it ended up as a massive failure.
I'm not familiar enough with ASAMIYA KIA's work to know if they just had a really, really, really difficult time meeting deadlines, or if this is considered an accurate representation of their work. But it's ugly. It's not just a different style from previous books. It looks unfinished and hastily drawn. The noses are hideous on every character, when the artist bothers to include facial features at all, the perspectives often make no sense. It looks like a subpar issue of Gold Digger Gold Brick Volume 1, which is probably the most insulting thing I can say about comic book art.
The story is just forgettable. There are some decent moments of Juggernaut trying to come to terms with his relationship with his stepbrother, and Sammy worshipping him. But the villainous wolves are silly, and the soap opera drama from volume one doesn't go anywhere interesting.
I don't recommend it for anyone except people looking for prime examples of how Not to write or draw superhero comics.
September 2, 2022
Angel and Husk encounter and are nearly defeated by a group of werewolf-like mutants led by Maximus Lobo (which I believe roughly translates to "big bad wolf"). Meanwhile, the weird sex-obsessed Nurse Annie's son somehow enters the comatose Havok's brain, causing Annie to start attacking Havok and demanding he release him. Just then Polaris comes in, sees Annie assaulting her comatose ex-boyfriend and attacks her. Fortunately, then the X-Men arrive, Havok awakes from his coma, and Professor X somehow guides Annie's son out of Havok's mind. Yeah, I don't get it either.
As this is all going on, Juggernaut comes to terms with his childhood and starts more pro-actively helping the X-Men and Stacy X tries to seduce Nightcrawler, prompting him to have a crisis of faith.
Honestly, this was okay. It's clearly not great but the parts with Juggernaut are genuinely pretty good and nothing else made me actively want to hurt anyone. So it wins over the previous volume.
As this is all going on, Juggernaut comes to terms with his childhood and starts more pro-actively helping the X-Men and Stacy X tries to seduce Nightcrawler, prompting him to have a crisis of faith.
Honestly, this was okay. It's clearly not great but the parts with Juggernaut are genuinely pretty good and nothing else made me actively want to hurt anyone. So it wins over the previous volume.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2017
Continuing the x-read of 2017.
Oooof. That was bad. Nearly every character is left with little of their personalities... They are all pawns to be moved around the board for a plot that is lackluster at best, punishingly stupid at worst. Weird pedophilic relationship between paige and warren develops for no reason whatsoever, boring villains, retreaded man stuck in alternate dimension in coma plot, a nurse that dresses like she is cosplaying the Korean war, art where half-faces are just not drawn much of the time... Do I need to go on? Whole characters are just ruined (Iceman, Husk, Nightcrawler) at the whim of this writer who has apparently no interest in who they have been for ages. This is just awful.
I will say that I really enjoyed the Juggernaut/fish boy story early on. The book showed promise for a few pages before utterly falling apart.
Oooof. That was bad. Nearly every character is left with little of their personalities... They are all pawns to be moved around the board for a plot that is lackluster at best, punishingly stupid at worst. Weird pedophilic relationship between paige and warren develops for no reason whatsoever, boring villains, retreaded man stuck in alternate dimension in coma plot, a nurse that dresses like she is cosplaying the Korean war, art where half-faces are just not drawn much of the time... Do I need to go on? Whole characters are just ruined (Iceman, Husk, Nightcrawler) at the whim of this writer who has apparently no interest in who they have been for ages. This is just awful.
I will say that I really enjoyed the Juggernaut/fish boy story early on. The book showed promise for a few pages before utterly falling apart.
September 13, 2015
This was almost abysmal. The worst was the artist who couldn't be bothered to draw faces half the time. And apparently he'd not seen an American nurse since 1965. The writing went from okay to bad. I'm not sure why Wolverine was even in the book other than editorial mandate. The same goes for Stacey X. I have a feeling it's going to go downhill.
November 4, 2022
Those characters are not the X-Men.
January 4, 2022
I am a big fan of Chuck Austin's opening salvo in Uncanny X-Men: Hope, but the magic fades quickly in this collection.
I enjoyed his use of Nurse Annie Ghazikhanian as an outside (human) viewpoint into the lives of a mutant superhero team and new school. Established characters seem slightly off (mostly on the rude side), but I can see how that might be from the perspective of a brave yet scared mother (who is secretly in love with her now-awake comatose patient, Havok -- ok, that part is creepy).
We also see Juggernaut and Northstar grow as characters as they integrate into the team. Juggernaut bonds with Squidboy in a touching story. Northstar becomes a little more likable without losing his arrogant attitude.
In the midst of all this, however, the X-Men find yet another mutant evolutionary offshoot that are, um, werewolves? Really? It is an overused plot point that feels forced and especially uncreative.
Manga artist Kia Asamiya joins the title as the regular artist as Marvel continues their attempt to introduce more Japanese art. Kia's unique style adds to the "slightly off" feel of the characters which makes this run feel less like a different perspective and more like an entirely different and less interesting book.
I enjoyed his use of Nurse Annie Ghazikhanian as an outside (human) viewpoint into the lives of a mutant superhero team and new school. Established characters seem slightly off (mostly on the rude side), but I can see how that might be from the perspective of a brave yet scared mother (who is secretly in love with her now-awake comatose patient, Havok -- ok, that part is creepy).
We also see Juggernaut and Northstar grow as characters as they integrate into the team. Juggernaut bonds with Squidboy in a touching story. Northstar becomes a little more likable without losing his arrogant attitude.
In the midst of all this, however, the X-Men find yet another mutant evolutionary offshoot that are, um, werewolves? Really? It is an overused plot point that feels forced and especially uncreative.
Manga artist Kia Asamiya joins the title as the regular artist as Marvel continues their attempt to introduce more Japanese art. Kia's unique style adds to the "slightly off" feel of the characters which makes this run feel less like a different perspective and more like an entirely different and less interesting book.
November 12, 2012
I love everything Marvel. The storylines are incredible! They have everything you could want: action, adventure, comedy, romance, political intrigue, allegories, metaphors, etc. Some stories drag, some end too soon.
March 4, 2011
Not as good as the previous volume. Angel finally comes to terms with his tragedy, and Kurt has a crisis of faith.
March 24, 2014
Preachy, and artist can't draw noses for shit.
May 11, 2016
Once again gone only thing I didn't like about this volume was the art. I thoroughly enjoyed the story line and am invested to see where things are going,
September 4, 2017
Ok, this is harder to defend. It's still not horrible, but the plotting is weaker and the characterizations feel a little off. Moreover, the artwork is not good, inconsistent from panel to panel.
September 14, 2019
In his second volume, Austen writes with more confidence and is more determined to push on his own plots. This starts to create some nice continuity, but also involves Austen delving into his own ideas about mutants, which don't always work.
Sammy & Cain (#416). One of the most interesting things about Austen's run was his attempt to humanize Cain. It was largely successful, because Austen didn't try and overlook Cain's anger or his sociopathy, but instead embraced them and gave them reason for change. It's a pity that this has been so largely ignored in the years since. In any case, these is another day-in-the-life stories with the biggest emphasis on Cain and his relationship with Sammy (because what's better to humanize a sociopath than a kid?). [4/5].
(Unfortunately this volume skips X-Men Unlimited #44, also by Austen, which is a pretty critical turning point for Cain. It's in the newer collection, X-Men: Unstoppable.)
Dominant Species (#417-420). This is Chuck Austen's arc where I sort of lose the ability to determine if it's good or bad. I mean, it's a pretty good horror story disguised as a X-Men comic, with the lobos being pretty scary. But that goes hand-in-hand with them being almost uncharacterized. And then we get the first inkling of Austen's idea that there might be whole tribes of mutant peoples that are all alike, something which is totally unsupported by the decades of previous work in the X-books (and by the more recent stuff too). We also get an intriguing subplot about Annie and her son and his mysterious father and Havoc coming back from the dead. And, we get great character development for Warren, moving away from his selfiish origins. But then we get the entirely icky plot of Warren finding true-love for the first time with a girl who's what? 16? 18? [3+/5].
Sammy & Cain (#416). One of the most interesting things about Austen's run was his attempt to humanize Cain. It was largely successful, because Austen didn't try and overlook Cain's anger or his sociopathy, but instead embraced them and gave them reason for change. It's a pity that this has been so largely ignored in the years since. In any case, these is another day-in-the-life stories with the biggest emphasis on Cain and his relationship with Sammy (because what's better to humanize a sociopath than a kid?). [4/5].
(Unfortunately this volume skips X-Men Unlimited #44, also by Austen, which is a pretty critical turning point for Cain. It's in the newer collection, X-Men: Unstoppable.)
Dominant Species (#417-420). This is Chuck Austen's arc where I sort of lose the ability to determine if it's good or bad. I mean, it's a pretty good horror story disguised as a X-Men comic, with the lobos being pretty scary. But that goes hand-in-hand with them being almost uncharacterized. And then we get the first inkling of Austen's idea that there might be whole tribes of mutant peoples that are all alike, something which is totally unsupported by the decades of previous work in the X-books (and by the more recent stuff too). We also get an intriguing subplot about Annie and her son and his mysterious father and Havoc coming back from the dead. And, we get great character development for Warren, moving away from his selfiish origins. But then we get the entirely icky plot of Warren finding true-love for the first time with a girl who's what? 16? 18? [3+/5].
June 28, 2022
Seria Uncanny X-men w wykonaniu Austena zalicza wyraźną obniżkę, dodatkowo serwując nam rysunki, które kreską przypominają jakąś mangę. Tyle, że taki zabieg jest obosieczny, o czym za moment.
Havok nadal leży bez życia, zagubiony gdzieś w swoim umyśle. Juggernaut dołączył do mieszkańców posiadłości Xaviera i się asymiluje. Angel podczas misji zaczyna się zbliżać do Husk, a tam gdzieś w tle prezes złej korporacji medycznej, niejaki Maximus Lobo wytwarza cały legion wilkołaków, które polują na słabszych ludzi, chcą wprowadzić hegemonię mutantów. I jedynymi, którzy stają naprzeciwko nim są inni mutanci. Typical.
Denerwowało mnie to co autor zrobił z Wolverine'm. Relacja Nightclawera z pewną dziewoją rozwijała się bardzo dynamicznie i dziwię się, że księżulek nic nie zrobił z tą fraulein. Cieszy rozwój Caina, zresztą ten pierwszy zeszyt z nim był zarazem najlepszą częścią tego zbioru. Resztę gdzieś już widziałem, choć zagadka synka pewnej pielęgniarki wciąga. Cieszy też rozwój Warrena Worthingtona III, który chyba tutaj zyskał najwięcej. Niestety cała reszta jest już nudna.
Kia Asamiya jest dla mnie zagadką. Jego styl to manga prawie pełną gębą i jest to w sobie dobre dla bardziej dynamicznych sekwencji, jakie nam tutaj serwują. Szkopuł w tym, że pozostawia to obrzydliwe wrażenie po wyglądzie postaci, których rysy twarzy są prawie takie same. To jak NPC z gry, gdzie zmieniamy tylko kolor włosów i może dodamy wąsa (koszmar z Arcanii: A Gothic Tale powraca). NIE! Czemu? Tak narzekam na Romitę Jr., a jego pracę przy tym co tutaj widziałem - arcydzieło...
Być może, bo nie mam jeszcze tak dużego spektrum wiedzy na temat X-men, ale być może... to jest najgorsza seria o przygodach mutantów, z jaką miałem do czynienia. Tu jest źle, a będzie jeszcze gorzej...
Havok nadal leży bez życia, zagubiony gdzieś w swoim umyśle. Juggernaut dołączył do mieszkańców posiadłości Xaviera i się asymiluje. Angel podczas misji zaczyna się zbliżać do Husk, a tam gdzieś w tle prezes złej korporacji medycznej, niejaki Maximus Lobo wytwarza cały legion wilkołaków, które polują na słabszych ludzi, chcą wprowadzić hegemonię mutantów. I jedynymi, którzy stają naprzeciwko nim są inni mutanci. Typical.
Denerwowało mnie to co autor zrobił z Wolverine'm. Relacja Nightclawera z pewną dziewoją rozwijała się bardzo dynamicznie i dziwię się, że księżulek nic nie zrobił z tą fraulein. Cieszy rozwój Caina, zresztą ten pierwszy zeszyt z nim był zarazem najlepszą częścią tego zbioru. Resztę gdzieś już widziałem, choć zagadka synka pewnej pielęgniarki wciąga. Cieszy też rozwój Warrena Worthingtona III, który chyba tutaj zyskał najwięcej. Niestety cała reszta jest już nudna.
Kia Asamiya jest dla mnie zagadką. Jego styl to manga prawie pełną gębą i jest to w sobie dobre dla bardziej dynamicznych sekwencji, jakie nam tutaj serwują. Szkopuł w tym, że pozostawia to obrzydliwe wrażenie po wyglądzie postaci, których rysy twarzy są prawie takie same. To jak NPC z gry, gdzie zmieniamy tylko kolor włosów i może dodamy wąsa (koszmar z Arcanii: A Gothic Tale powraca). NIE! Czemu? Tak narzekam na Romitę Jr., a jego pracę przy tym co tutaj widziałem - arcydzieło...
Być może, bo nie mam jeszcze tak dużego spektrum wiedzy na temat X-men, ale być może... to jest najgorsza seria o przygodach mutantów, z jaką miałem do czynienia. Tu jest źle, a będzie jeszcze gorzej...
August 11, 2021
A new werewolf species reveal themselves and declare themselves to be the superior species of the planet. That and a whole lot of personality driven drama as per usual with the X-Men.
I stated in my review of the last volume, that I have heard a lot of negative things about Chuck Austen's run, but had never read it, so i was going to give it an honest shot. And to be fair, I thought the first volume wasn't that bad, and I even thought to myself "I don't know why this gets so much bad publicity". Well after this second volume, I get it.
The villains were not creative, and seemed to not really have a reason to attack other than "WE'RE THE BEST AND YOU GUYS SUCK", the characters all acted... well out of character, every woman is pining for a guy or straight up is throwing themselves at a guy, and the art... holy sweet jeebus.
I don't mean to come down on artists because I know everyone is trying their best to make good comics, but this was... Kia Asamiya must have been in a rush or something because I don't think Marvel would have looked at this style and said, yeah let's put this person on our biggest and most popular team book (at the time). And why does everyone have the nose of Triple H in the 90s??? I removed a star simply because of the art.
So, so far, one hit and one miss with the Austen run. Let's see what the next volume holds.
I stated in my review of the last volume, that I have heard a lot of negative things about Chuck Austen's run, but had never read it, so i was going to give it an honest shot. And to be fair, I thought the first volume wasn't that bad, and I even thought to myself "I don't know why this gets so much bad publicity". Well after this second volume, I get it.
The villains were not creative, and seemed to not really have a reason to attack other than "WE'RE THE BEST AND YOU GUYS SUCK", the characters all acted... well out of character, every woman is pining for a guy or straight up is throwing themselves at a guy, and the art... holy sweet jeebus.
I don't mean to come down on artists because I know everyone is trying their best to make good comics, but this was... Kia Asamiya must have been in a rush or something because I don't think Marvel would have looked at this style and said, yeah let's put this person on our biggest and most popular team book (at the time). And why does everyone have the nose of Triple H in the 90s??? I removed a star simply because of the art.
So, so far, one hit and one miss with the Austen run. Let's see what the next volume holds.
September 16, 2019
There are basically two things that happen in this book. 1. Some crazy wolves show up and threaten to eat everyone. 2. Angle learns he has
The crazy wolves are actually fun, but you can't think about them too hard because nothing they do makes any sense under any set of circumstances. Even their cool way of talking seems to be pointless and unjustified.
The crazy wolves are actually fun, but you can't think about them too hard because nothing they do makes any sense under any set of circumstances. Even their cool way of talking seems to be pointless and unjustified.
August 8, 2020
What in the holy hell was the Editorial Department doing?
Move over X-Men this is a soap opera about sex now!
Move over X-Men this is a soap opera about sex now!
December 20, 2020
This was just plain bad. Bad art. Bad story. Bad characterisations. Bad dialogue. It's a epic storm of badness.
September 8, 2021
I liked the first issue well enough but the lost interest in the wolf mutant storyline.
It didn't help that the art style was manga and no one looked right.
It didn't help that the art style was manga and no one looked right.
November 20, 2021
The Warren-Paige romance is disgusting, but there are many fun gems in this book: Cain & Squidboy bond, the badass return of Lorna, & mutant werewolves
January 4, 2024
2.5/5.0
January 8, 2024
I get why people hate Chuck Austen's run on X-Men and this story has aged worse since it originally came out. The pacing ranges from off to way off, every female character is overly, dizzyingly dramatic and giving Angel's blood healing properties at the tail end of the AIDs epidemic is just a bizarre choice. I can't defend this book and any mean thing you want to say about it I will nod right along with. At the same time, there are nuggets here and there I really responded to even if they are never fully realized and Austen seems as interested in Paige Guthrie as he is in Nightcrawler or Wolverine. Also, if anyone wants to write a series set in a mutant brothel for Marvel Max I would be delighted to add that series to my monthly pull list.
April 5, 2007
More crap from Larroca and Austin.
August 5, 2011
Hated the artwork. All the characters looked the same - was glad when Kia left.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews