X-Men, Vol. 3

X-Men (2021)

by Gerry Duggan (Writer), C.F. Villa (Illustrator), Joshua Cassara (Illustrator)

The mutants are the next stage of evolution. Evolution depends on a mutation of genes — the genes of the offspring deviating from their progenitors. Some would call the X-gene excess deviation — namely, the Eternals. Those people are gonna need to be taken down a few pegs. As the seismic events of A.X.E. rock the Marvel Universe, the Day of Judgment is here, for good or ill…and the newest team of X-Men must face the truth about themselves and what they have done! Plus, fear the Children of the Vault! They are hyper-evolved humans from a society whose time moves much faster than our own. Each time the X-Men defeat them, they retreat to their home, evolving further to a new, more advanced generation. This time, they will not be stopped so easily.

COLLECTING: X-Men (2021) 13-18

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

208 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2023

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first third of this volume covers the X-Men taking on the Eternals in Judgment Day crossovers, which are okay, although the entire event felt a bit rushed. The latter issues sees the team return to the Vault to try and extract a loss team member only to find a lot more than they bargained for. Better than the previous seasons, but for all the good in this volume, it's kid of tarred by Summers' brothers arguing over nothing and that as much as the Children of the Vault are talked up, they just don't come across as that superior after 1,000 of years of evolution. Still, Duggan's team are a pretty good read and deserve the 7.5 out of 12, strong Three Stars I bestowed them.

2025 read

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread: 31/08/2024

I loved this one, this one was wild and it had so many fun stories and probably the best volume so far and you get to see the team on so many wild adventures from fighting the forces of eternals t being judged, a fun iceman story, and a Firstar story vs Whirlwind and her becoming a hero again and accepting the role of a X-MEN, Forge dealing with the vault and yeah like I said last time it reads better on rereads and the reunion of Synch and Talon Laura, and its one of those relationships which was central to this run and if you're invested in this run you will love it. I liked that last issue where its the two Laura's fighting vamps, it makes for a weird moment but hey thats X-MEN for you! Loved this one overall!
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This was so fun to read omg!

So the first arc ties into Judgement day and we see them being judged but Duggan just has fun with the series and then seeing awesome moments for both Scott and Bobby was awesome and made me love those two issues even more!

Then the big story with return to the vault and whats been happening there and big moment for Forge and revelations and omg older Laura stuff from like Hickman era addressed and that was a big twist and I didn't see it coming but it will be interesting to see how they reconcile it in the future or how they play this status quo or undo it but that was an awesome moment for long time readers of this dawn of x era so yeah that stuff with COTV was cool and does set up some interesting stuff as we move towards "Fall of x" (as of writing of this review) and like I said it will be fun whats more to come!

Also I loved the annual and it had some great moments for Firestar and her finally coming to the X-Men proper and great references to past continuity to tell an awesome story!!

Definitely check this one out, it was amazing to read this!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it damning with faint praise that the first words to mind are, "serviceable"? or "adequate"?

Points deducted for Summers Brothers bickering like schoolchildren and unleashing a potentially existential threat. Boo, boys. Boo.

[Sean Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I dug(gan) this volume. HEY-OH!

I'm especially enjoying Forge's prominent role.

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book more than I thought I would. Part of that could be down to nostalgia as Spider-man and his Amazing Friend was the first superhero cartoon I remember, and it was great to finally have Firestar in the X-MEN Also great to see Iceman there, but do they still have to take shots at Peter? That is just low.

Half of this book is set during the Judgement Day Arc with Firestar in the X-MEN. The other half is the conclusion to the Children of the Vault, with a great return in this story.

There are lots of interesting things to come for the X-MEN. New members, new teams. The book finishes with a variant covers gallery, including the top trumps style card covers.

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los primeros dos números son del evento AXE en una de ellas Magik y Cyclops van a detener una tormenta solar contra la tierra. Las ocurrencias de Magik están como siempre aquí y en los demás números, gracias a Duggan. Termina con el juicio a Cyclops por el Celestial que a muchos no gustó.
Luego se explcia cómo Forge junto con Xavier acordaron someter a la Bóvedax, ese sitio de posthumanos criados en campo de aceleración temporal. Forge los encerró en un gran domo y una realidad creada para ellos en las cuales creen haber vencido. Pero Darwin uno de los mutantes quedó atrapado y el equipo de los X-Men van a ver la situación. Pero por una infantilada de los hermanos Summers que alteran el domo todo se sale de control.
Un volumen regular. Aunque Duggan sabe manejar a los miembros del equipo las acciones no fueron tan interesantes. Se da un hallazgo increíble que tiene que ver con Laura.

[johnny ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

illyana and jean on the same team? yes yes yes.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another adequate X-Men. This main series has been the most consistently average of the Hickman era. Whether that's good or bad depends on how you feel about the current state of the X-verse.

The first issue here ties in to Judgment Day, then we get an Iceman-focused adventure followed by a Firestar-focused adventure. This continues the proud X-Men tradition of each issue feeling like a one-shot.

Of course, then we turn a corner and get three issues about the Children of the Vault. Throwback to Hickman's run! If I knew or cared more about these "children," I think I would have loved these issues. As it stands, they're quite exciting (and offer an interesting new element in an aged-up Laura/Wolverine to go along with the recently resurrected Gabby/Wolverine) and intriguing, but will probably be forgotten in the grand scheme of the X-verse.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you put aside the two opening issues infected by the plague of another so-called "event" this volume isn’t too bad.
The main course is Forge going back to the Vault to find Darwin with a spoiler of a surprise that’s worth it.

Don’t get me wrong. I still think Duggan is not a very good writer. But he has some good ideas at times and this one is luckily decently done.

Art is good+

[Benji Glaab · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was probably my favourite X-men title Duggan has turned out yet. Things are dialed down and have more of an episodic feel. Rather than an over the top event jammed into 6 short issues Duggan gets to continue to weave a great story and build layers.

Visually this book looks great. Joshua Cassara works on a few interior issues and really elevates things for a fill in artist.

Just keep the ball rolling and things should be just fine. Although I'm sure someone in the marvel office will want things to get turned upside down soon.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one. The A.X.E. issues were fun, but the team stuff was what I enjoyed the most here. Revisiting and discovering what happened with the Children of the Vault was excellent and I’m looking forward to seeing where some of the repercussions of that adventure will lead to.

[Aisling · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

BIG. Bold.

Reminds me of The Authority (Ellis and Hitch, not the pale shadows that followed). No shit you’re reading an Epic Story. The characters are all secondary-sex-characteristics-forward (metaphorically speaking) - no one’s hesitating. There’s no room to twitch let alone mull.

Love to see Scott back in the command position.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't give this a three and half so four will do. The two AXE tie ins are largely unessesary, but the four issues dealing with the Vault are a good followup to what Hickman was setting up, even if they don't fully utilize it. I want to believe we really got the happy ending it's showing up, but I never fully trust it, call it experience. Still a solid read, better than other arcs from this run

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the lineup for this most recent X-Men team. Even though it’s already almost time for the next Hellfire Gala and this team spent most of their time with the confusing ass Children of the Vault nonsense. At least this time I was able to understand it better.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Duggan’s Xmen continues to be fun, mostly self-contained stories. The first few stories deal with the newly elected team dealing with the Judgement Day crossover, and they are just okay. The second half focuses on Synch and Wolverine and their time in The Vault from Hickman's X-Men run, and those are a step up.

[Vaughn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this as individual issues.

There are essentially 2 stories in this volume. The first story (#13 and 14) introduce the new X-Men lineup, but unfortunately they are immediately thrown into the Judgement Day crossover event. As many fans know, a problem with modern day comics are that event crossovers constantly interrupt the main storytelling in a title, and you really feel it here. It would have been nice to have these issues focus on this new lineup, but instead we have 2 forgettable issues that really don't make complete sense unless you read Judgement Day.

The second story is much better. It continues and mostly resolves the Children of the Vault plot that was introduced during Hickman's run. I enjoyed this story, and I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say that thought Gerry Duggan ended this in a really great way. One issue I had with this story though, is that only Synch and Forge are important. The rest of the X-Men could have been replaced by anyone. They're really just there so that we remember that they exist. This may be a bit nitpicky since character focused stories are often welcome, however with 6 issues in, this new team is not fleshed out at all. If Marvel carries on with doing the Hellfire Gala every 12 issues, that means we're halfway through this teams run already (I hope I'm wrong about this though, and that we get more that 12 issues with this team. It's really needed).

The X-Terminators make an appearance in #18 as well, which I appreciate. That team is awesome.

Overall, I would say #13 and 14 are a very generous 2 stars, while #15-18 are 4 stars. So I'm averaging this to 3 stars.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the fact that Larraz didn't draw any of this, it was still really good. I love that this team is simply there to be heroes, and Duggan portrays them as a coordinated, sophisticated group of mutants that know how to work together (as they should be.)

Issue 13 - is unfortunately an AXE event tie-in but it pretty much delivers what this series usually does: a major threat that the X-Men tackle. Some excellent art by Villa.

Issue 14 - Continues from issue 13. The Annual is included also and highlights Firestar, giving a short backstory while also filling in just where she is now as a character. Nice callbacks to Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends too.

Issue 15-17 - The current resolution to the Children of the Vault threat. A brilliant idea of Forge's to contain them is put to the test. Unfortunately there is a small and stupid act by an X-Men that gets the plot rolling. At times I feel like Forge's abilities are a little bit too good, but I love the extreme ideas that he comes up with. This also gives you a peek at where his morals are and what lengths he will go to in order to solve a problem. It's a little bit like Tony Stark during the Bendis years which obviously has been done and don't want to go down that path again. Not sure how I felt about the art by Cassara.

Issue 18 - sort of an epilogue to the previous arc. Not sure I care for the ramifications and what we're left with. Art wasn't great either. Nice cliffhanger to get you to come back for the next issue.

[Alex Sarll]

As ever, it's big and it's bright, with just enough ingenious use and combination of mutant powers not to feel dumb. The script is prone to over-reliance on quotes from other, more notable - and crucially, really obvious - stuff; the character work is telegraphed, going on sketched-in, especially when it comes to trying to make Firestar happen. A long way off the best Krakoan books, but not one of the disasters either, just a solid mid-tier lynchpin for a line that's much better when it goes weirder.

[Bertazzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite having two terrible things in this volume - Firestar and Steve Foxe, Duggan was able to incarnate his inner Hickman and deliver a great story about the Vault. It's nice to see the X-Men as a sci-fi epic, and not a shonen.

[Joselyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Estoy entre 3 y 4 estrellas. Me gustó pero no paso nada muy interesante, excepto lo relacionado al proyecto Caja Negra, que fue la razón por la que leí este volumen.

El tema de los Niños de la Bóveda no deja de fascinarme. Toda la narrativa que se ha construido alrededor de ello me gusta mucho y no me ha decepcionado para nada. Espero seguir encontrándome con más números que le den continuidad a esa historia.

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devorando

[Andres Pasten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dificil evaluar este volumen dado que se compone de 3 partes: tie-in con AXE, historia de 4 numeros con Children of the Vault y annual #1. De esto solo rescato la historia central, la primera de la nueva alineacion.

[Sid · Rating 3 out of 5]

mpreg in my xmen comic?! chances are low but never zero

[Rory Wilding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twelve issues in, and Gerry Duggan has proven himself to be a worthy successor to take over the X-Men comic book after Jonathan Hickman, the man who launched the Krakoan Era for the Marvel mutants. Showcasing the X-Men as a superhero team residing in New York with the purpose of saving humanity, their public image comes into conflict when the Daily Bugle get information about Krakoa’s method of mutant resurrection. When the news is revealed to the world, no doubt this is going to attract attention for better or worse, such as the Eternals.

As the first two issues of this volume serve as a tie-in to the crossover event A.X.E.: Judgment Day by Kieron Gillen and Valerio Schiti – involving the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Eternals – this may be disorienting for readers who find this their first introduction to the crossover. If anything, issue #13 perfectly sets up the new roster as although Cyclops, Jean Grey and Synch remain, the newbies include Forge, Magik, Iceman, Havok and Firestar. Duggan captures the voices of these characters, from their individual action to their banter through teamwork, with the standout being Illyana Rasputina AKA Magik, who brings a lot of the humour in this book.

As before, each of the issues function as a sole focus on a member of the X-Men. As issue #14 has to move a lot of gears from being a tie-in to Judgment Day, to a superhero narrative of the X-Men preventing a Flare Generator that shot into the Sun and will bathe the Earth in its flames, the heart of the issue comes Iceman. As the story is framed from the beginning, in which the editor-in-chief of a newspaper tells a reporter to lose the "gay mutant hero" story that depicted Iceman helping to disable the Eternals' armoury, we later see Iceman getting interviewed, leading to a wonderful monologue in which he is proud to be gay and a mutant. By the way, this monologue is delivering one of the all-text pages that Hickman established from the start of this era, and yet it works here.

One of the themes that have driven the entire X-Men franchise is that sense of belonging, no matter how much of an outcast you are. In the Annual issue written by Steve Foxe, Firestar is the focus as she and Cyclops investigate the disappearance of Krakoan drugs in a Floridan hospital, while the rest of the X-Men face multiple threats at once elsewhere. My only knowledge towards Firestar was that she, along with Iceman, is the titular friend from the ‘80s cartoon Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. Having been an Avenger and now an X-Man, this Annual does a great job of establishing Firestar as a hero of two worlds and is in conflict over embracing both her heritage as a mutant and a superhero.

The remaining issues of this volume where Duggan goes heavy on the sci-fi ideas, with the focus of Forge and his mysterious Project Blackbox taking centre stage as the team gaze towards the future in how to defeat the Children of the Vault, a threat that popped up during Hickman’s X-Men run. Issue #16 takes you by surprise seeing the Children, having greatly evolved and extremely powerful, make their way of eradicating everyone in the Marvel Universe, only to soon be revealed that all this was actually a simulated reality that contained not only the Children of the Vault but the entire Vault itself inside of a bio-dome. While most of this storyline is predominately Forge entering inside the bio-dome in order to rescue Darwin from the Vault, you still get great character moments, such as a typical brotherly argument between Cyclops and Havok, as well as wrapping up the romantic tension between Synch and X-23.

With Pepe Larraz no longer involved in the book, this volume features the work of three artists, who don’t come close to the quality of Larraz, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. While there are pages where the art by C.F. Villa (#13-14, #18) and Andrea Di Vito (Annual) looks unfinished, there are still some dazzling pages that showcase the X-Men showing off their powers against a variety of villains from an unidentified alien race to some of the Eternals themselves. Joshua Cassara makes the biggest impression from an artistic standpoint with a great attention to detail with an element of grit, no matter how fantastical the characters and the sci-fi settings looks.

From tie-in issues to a crossover event, to a storyline in which the writer goes heavy on the sci-fi, Gerry Duggan is certainly more ambitious than what he did previously with his run but maintains that sense of fun when it comes the new roster he establishes here.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of an intermediary Volume, but with all the chaos that has happened that happened in the Marvel crossovers as of late, they needed something that was focused on them... (especially with 'Sins of Sinister' coming!)

Highlights:
- The first two issues are heavily involved with the A.X.E. storyline. We do get to see a few judgments individually, though the best was Cyclops (in my opinion). It was almost like he dared the Celestial to judge him...
- Since joining the official X-Men team, Firestar has been struggling with her identity as a mutant versus her long time status as an Avenger. The mission she goes on to solve why a hospital isn't receiving their Krakoan medicines helps her see that she must just accept herself, wherever she is helping.
- A large portion of the story deals with the very unique "Children of the Vault". (This is complicated storyline that spans back many years. The "Children" are from the future and are a species that is post-human and post-mutant.) Forge discovered that the Vault was about to open, so he created a habitat for them that allows them to experience a world where they have won and conquered. Searching for Darwin, who didn't come out of the Vault when Synch did, Forge enters the area disguised. Not only is he able to communicate with Darwin, who wants to stay and do more research, but he finds a NOT DEAD Wolverine (Laura), who he rescues. She rekindles her relationship with Synch and joins the X-Men. (Definitely not the first time there has been an older and younger version of the same person on a team.)
- We end with a Brood tease, but I also know we are heading into the Dark Web crossover as well. Looking forward to both.

Still loving the X-Titles. Moving onto the others...
Strong recommend. The mutant books are dominating Marvel right now.

[Michael Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s nice to get back to a comic book now and then. I’m still really enjoying what Gerry Duggan is doing with these characters for the most part. Unfortunately, the X-Line in general is a bit too event heavy for me right now. Shortly after this volume, it jumps into Sins of Sinister with a bunch of new titles, then back to a Hellfire Gala, then into Fall of X, again with new titles.

But focusing on this book, it’s pretty OK. It focuses a lot on Firestar, especially in the Steve Foxe annual, which is really just OK. I’ve heard there’s a spotlight issue for her that people loved, and I hope that wasn’t it. If so, it really left a lot to be desired. It was fine, it just didn’t do anything to really sell me on this character beyond “yes, she’s a typical superhero who will do good heroic things.” It could’ve been almost anyone in that story with the same outcome (just adapted to their powers).

We also get a couple of AXE tie ins to start with. Just mostly a bunch of fighting and a couple of judgements. They were fine, too.

The really special part is the Children of the Vault story getting picked back up. It was a nice Forge story that highlighted his moral ambiguity and even drew some (probably unwelcome) comparisons to Beast in my mind. It also managed to have an issue that ties into X-Terminators that only made me MORE excited to finally dig into that miniseries.

The art was honestly a little underwhelming. None of it was bad, but it all felt just a smidge more cartoonish than I wanted. I think the lettering actually skewed that direction a bit, too, but I might just be out of practice with reading comics.

Overall, it was fine, but I doubt this would be a volume to suddenly make someone an X-Men fan.

[▫️Ron S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Duggan knows how to write stories for the X-Men, but there seems to be a block in place (throughout the Krakoa years?) that prevents writing characters in ways that are distinguishing or that advance the characters in any way. Are we really looking at Scott and Alex in competition? Srsly? In 2024? After everything they've been through? Is Illyanna transporting everyone through hell every other panel, without the characters being impacted in any way?
Everything is pithy, and it's cute for a couple of beats - and the illustration is frequently top-notch, but where's the heart? Does anyone ever sit down? Is conversation only ever in aid of strategy or joking about having just lost a limb or seeing the end of the world as a likely outcome to the next 15 minutes of threats and danger?
I would like every X-Writer to take a quiet Sunday afternoon and read two or three Claremont issues in a row.
I'm building to the dissolution of the Age of X - with everyone referring to the vulnerability of their whole world every so often (without effort to guard against it?). I think the timeline for this places it at the Hellfire Gala (bewilderingly embracing maximum confusion by naming the event after one that occurs toward the beginning of the Age of X) - which falls after Volume 4 and before Volume 5. Then it's resetville, the miserable purgatory we're supposed to accept every few years.
I want character arcs that mean something.
I may have gotten too old for those (exception being the Immortal X-Men series... which I find TOO ponderous ).

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gerry Duggan's X-Men continues apace, with two issues of AXE tie-ins to various effect and a Vault story that checks in with the set-up from back in Hickman's run to throw Synch and Wolverine through a loop.

The AXE stories are neither here nor there. You can usually tell when Duggan is invested in a larger event, because he gets involved in the tie-ins to greater degrees, but here he's happy to just do some character work and let the bigger beats play out in the main AXE book.

The Vault story is the meat of the volume at four issues, two of the actual Vault story and then two aftermath-y type issues too. It's stories like this that remind us that while Duggan has inherited the X-Men title and all of its set-up from Hickman, he's still able to tell his own stories just as well from that.

The art's an almost even split between CF Villa and Joshua Cassara, taking four and two issues respectively. I was wondering where Cassara was going to end up with Robert Gill ousting him from X-Force, but I didn't expect him to be here, actually.

X-Men's still solid, as expected, even if AXE isn't quite as impactful here as it is in other X-titles.

[JCRD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tie-in con 'Judgment Day' y avanzando la trama de los Hijos de la Cámara.

El nuevo equipo no me gusta tanto como el anterior (Magik es el único reemplazo que me encanta), pero Duggan es un guionista muy capaz y sabe aprovechar esta alineación de forma que siga manteniendo el interés. Y a quién quiero engañar: mientras estén por aquí Scott y Jean yo también lo estaré, sí o sí. Además, Duggan ha recuperado una cosa que no esperaba para nada de cuando Hickman estaba al frente de la serie, y por cómo lo está desarrollando se avecinan cosas interesantes.

Hemos perdido a Pepe Larraz como dibujante titular, pero C. F. Villa y Joshua Cassara son buenísimos en lo suyo también, así que ni tan mal.

Ahora que sabemos que habrá otra edición del #XMenVote no sé yo hasta qué punto ir cambiando cada año la alineación es buena idea, pero al mismo tiempo lo mismo me ofrecen un grupo más interesante que el que hay ahora, así que...

Pd: echando chispitas por los ojos con el juicio de Cíclope en 'Judgment Day'. FUA.