ComicsXF’s official ranking of the X-Men: From the Ashes comics (so far)

As of this writing, there are 13(!) monthly X-books on the shelves, two of which — X-Men and Uncanny X-Men — ship on an 18-issue-a-year schedule. That’s a lot, and there’s more coming, including Laura Kinney: Wolverine (who is already starring in NYX); a Timeslide one-shot co-starring Cable and Bishop; Magik (who is already starring in X-Men); Cable: Love and Chrome (who is already starring in Timeslide); Deadpool/Wolverine (each of whom has their own solo series); and Weapon X-Men (which stars, among others, Wolverine, Deadpool and Cable, all of whom were already mentioned in other books).

Some of these are miniseries and one-offs, true, but that’s still a lot of product on the shelves, taking bites out of your wallet $4 and $5 at a time. Which books are worth your hard-earned scratch? Wonder no longer.

BEHOLD, THE OFFICIAL RANKING OF THE X-MEN: FROM THE ASHES COMICS TO DATE. Thirteen comics, ranked from best to worst by our team. Enjoy.

Tier 1: Reading and enjoying

These are the books we’d go so far as to call good.

NYX

Adam Reck: If the general tone of From the Ashes is a Krakoan diaspora hangover where our mutants struggle to reintegrate with American society, NYX is succeeding in a way that few other books in the line are. Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Francesco Mortarino & co. grasp the characters, give them heart and are not only presenting a new normal, but challenging them with relatively grounded threats proportional to the protagonists. If the fifth issue felt too pat and easy (no, political peace will not be achieved with a speech), it was partly due to the election context around the week it was released. And frankly, this book’s optimism has been a nice break from our current reality. Is it empty wish fulfillment? Probably. But this is also the book that feels the most connected to and the least ashamed of the stories that came before it, making it my favorite of the bunch by far.

Anna Peppard: Writing in-continuity superhero comics is hard. Some creators treat continuity like a lodestone they’d rather be without. Others find a way to use continuity to their advantage, something that creates rich possibilities for new stories extending and commenting on what’s come before. Of all the current books, NYX is the only one that feels like a truly meaningful extension of X-Men continuity while still telling a tightly paced story with a clear individual identity and lots of heart. When there are things to criticize in this book, it’s a conversation I enjoy, because this book respects my intelligence.

Check out our most recent coverage of NYX.

Exceptional X-Men

Jake Murray: Exceptional is my personal No. 1 From the Ashes title. Everything just feels so effortless. Eve Ewing’s dialogue sings off the page, each character with a distinct voice that feels in keeping with their history while reflecting how their lives have changed after the dissolution of Krakoa. Carmen Carnero’s art immerses you in the city of Chicago and Kate Pryde’s new life instantly, and her facial expression and body language work give Ewing’s occasional fourth-wall breaking narrative choice real gravitas where it could easily feel gimmicky. It’s one of many interesting and effective characterization choices. 

Kate Pryde’s disastrous attempt at living a normie life away from the X-Men is so compelling, as is Emma Frost’s desperation for purpose barely contained beneath the veneer of sarcasm and elegance. The new mutant children, with the exception of Bronze, haven’t quite yet elevated themselves above the other new kids across the From the Ashes line, but they are unmistakably Gen-Z mutants, which brings Exceptional a more authentic, contemporary feel that the other titles don’t have. It’s a hit.

Anna: Ewing excels at writing believable character voices — especially for younger, diverse characters — and Exceptional X-Men is another showcase for her talent. Her insightful depiction of Kate Pryde, a character who too many men have written as their perfect imaginary girlfriend, is particularly welcome. Carnero’s graceful art, which pivots easily between compelling action and quiet emotional moments, is the perfect partner for Ewing’s nuanced character work. Compared to NYX, the pacing and plotting are a bit looser. But when the journey is this engrossing, I’m happy to slow down and enjoy it.

Check out our most recent coverage of Exceptional X-Men.

Tier 2: Strong starts

More story is needed before full and proper judgment, but so far there are more pros than cons.

Sentinels

Adam: It’s wild that after just two issues, I’m already more invested in these robot-human amalgams than I am in most of the main X-characters. The version of the X-Mansion we see bits of here is far more interesting than what’s been shown in Uncanny. Justin Mason’s art fits the story perfectly and gives the book the feel of an indie instead of relying on another Marvel house-style artist. And the premise is great: What if the PTSD victims of Marvel events got supercharged by tech and sent after the X-Men rogue’s gallery? In other hands, this could feel more akin to the M-Tech launch of the late ’90s, but I’m excited to see where Alex Paknadel takes this story and how he evolves his Frankenstein’ed team of scarred warriors. 

Jake: One of the benefits of having a cast of mostly new characters is that you can plummet them to the depths of despair without having to worry about preserving IP. This allows Paknadel to really dig into the trauma of these characters, exploring more mature themes like addiction, guilt and straight-up nihilism. It provides a welcome taste of bitterness on the palate that’s not offered elsewhere in the line (this is a compliment, I swear) because it’s unafraid to explore the darker aspects of the human condition.

Check out our most recent coverage of Sentinels.

Mystique

Adam: If the assignment was “let Declan Shalvey tell a spy story with Mystique and Nick Fury Jr.,” then Declan sure is getting an A. Two issues in, and Shalvey is nailing the action, the SHIELD bureaucracy and the intrigue necessary to keep me compelled. That said, fans of Krakoan Mystique and Destiny may find this departure a bridge too far. It was just earlier this year that we saw them enter wedded bliss, but Shalvey’s use of the extended X-family, both as actual characters or those Mystique shapeshifts into, shows he has a solid grasp of the X-world. I’m excited both for Raven’s continued scheming and Fury’s efforts to take her down, making this one of the stronger books of the current era. 

Jake: Alongside Exceptional, this is the slickest book in the line. The concept is pretty straightforward: In a nutshell, Mystique is back on her shit. She’s the ultimate thorn in the side of a master spy like Nick Fury, and it’s cool to see his methods and tactics being pushed against ethical boundaries. This series has a strong sense of its characters, its genre and its scope. Simple, but effective.

Check out our most recent coverage of Mystique.

Storm

Jude Jones: “A Black woman, held to impossible standards, trying to save a world that rejects her because of who she is, without the ability to use her true and honest voice? Probably not the  comic I wanted or needed to read after Nov. 5, but here we are. … I understand switching eras means some things will be lost in translation; that some things — some ideas, interesting and not — will, out of either necessity or convenience for the next writer, regress to some kind of norm. Still, it’s jarring to see a person for whom the idea of community was such a large part of their recent (and not so recent!) history, working through so much alone. … The brilliant art of Lucas Werneck does a yeoman’s job of translating her feelings on page — so much so, that maybe the point of narration is to allow Lucas to translate her emotion in a way words can’t. Still, Storm deserves to speak for herself, with the wherewithal to own her own voice and thoughts.”

Jake: Storm hasn’t gotten out of first gear yet. There are a few creative decisions that I’m not on board with yet, like the choice to have an omniscient third-person narrator. I think the intended effect is to mythologize Storm, to make her every decision feel momentous and historic, but the plot so far doesn’t possess the requisite gravitas to elevate it. It’s also simultaneously trying to ground Storm in earthly matters, which isn’t quite working because the reader is disconnected from her perspective. The montage of Storm feeding animals in her newly established sanctuary is a good example of the goddess/human duality that the book is trying to pull off. The symbolism is clear enough, but it doesn’t feel very Storm to me. The idea of Storm establishing a base of operations that people come to rather than Storm going out to the people feels more aligned to Ororo’s philosophy.

What’s clear to me is that Murewa Ayodele has an ambitious idea of the scope of this book, all the way up and beyond the cosmos to the entities themselves, so judging on the basis of two issues is tough. This series deserves the benefit of the doubt, even if just for Lucas Werneck’s art. The fluidity with which he expresses Storm’s body movements to mirror the swirling winds she commands, her trailing hair floating like a cloud, is stunning. As the relationship between writer and artist develops, I would not bet against everything harmonizing over the coming issues.

Check out our most recent coverage of Storm.

Tier 3: Fun at points, baffling at others

These are the books that, while not all the way bad, have made some choices that leave us scratching our heads.

X-Men

Jake: Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman are throwing everything and the kitchen sink at this one. Offshoot Orchis organizations, new mutants, the U.S. government, fakeout alien invasions, Trevor Fitzroy, psychic rescues, Cassandra Nova, Sentinels; that’s a lot of X-Men in your X-Men. Because of this, it’s taken a while to establish the central premise, which is that Nova is force-activating the mutant gene in adults. It feels to me like our focus is being diverted all over the place to distract from the fact that this series isn’t really doing or saying much. Every plot point is a reimagining of previous continuity, which has produced some decent plots but nothing inspiring.

The facet of X-Men garnering the most praise is the characterization, particularly Cyclops, which is fair. He has some great moments and some absolutely killer lines. For example, “Because you want them to be my X-Men, and not my Brotherhood” alludes to Scott’s revolutionary past in an elegant and satisfying way. It’s memorable, quotable and is exactly the kind of thing he would say when he’s being a smartass. Overall, though, I don’t find MacKay’s Scott to be particularly unique. 

For me, MacKay very skillfully distills and blends some of the best qualities from previous eras. You take a heap of revolutionary spirit from Brian Michael Bendis, a helping of competence and the stability of the Blue and Gold era, and a smattering of dad jokes from the Hickman era, and you’ve got yourselves a good Cyclops.

Dan Grote: Never mind the plot, Glob Herman made enough quiche for everyone!

Hi, it’s me, the X-Men appreciator. Were this simply a book about Cassandra Nova re-heeling after Marauders Vol. 2 and doing eeeevil things to the X-Men from the shadows, I would not find it nearly as interesting. But this is a book about Jed MacKay, noted superhero rehabber, figuring out what makes these X-Men tick against a series of self-contained stories with an overarching thread. And while not all original takes, we get some of the historically best versions of these characters. See Cyclops, badass X-Men leader with more than 26 plans (who now suffers post-Krakoan panic attacks). Beast, blue-furred and newly bouncing again, but lost in the shadow of the mutant Henry Kissinger his previous self had become. Juggernaut, the greatest mutant ally, willing not just to take but to BE a bullet for his teammates. Temper, who, let’s face it, y’all forgot about before she got thrown in The Pit, and so now we get this older, less idealistic version of the character who has fewer qualms about going up against her elders. And Glob, as ever the sweet boy shaped like a hug, thriving in his role as team chef. Quite frankly, I’m not looking forward to the mental gymnastics X-Men and Uncanny are about to go through to make the two flagship teams fight. I like the version of this book that’s about a team of co-workers having one-off adventures and then returning to base for shared meals and existential angst.

Austin Gorton: To Dan’s point, for all that this line was billed as back to basics and a repudiation of the Krakoa era, this is really the one book that feels like an old school X-Men book (the line seems much more committed to that latter part of its mission). You’ve got a dedicated team of X-Men, with a semi-traditional base of operations (it’s no X-Mansion, but it’s not the first time an X-team has operated out of an old Sentinel base), conducting missions to protect humans and mutants alike, all while dealing with their own personal issues as a handful of subplots and mysteries slowly percolate in the background. It’s hardly groundbreaking stuff, but strip away the immediate post-Krakoa-ness of it all, and this is a book that could exist at several points in the X-Men’s narrative history. It promised to “play the hits,” so to speak, and that’s what it’s doing. It doesn’t always work, but there’s merit in being the “X-Men just doing X-Men stuff” series sometimes. 

Adam: I continue to be amazed at how much this book is reminiscent of the Bendis era, complete with arctic base, broken Cyclops and Magneto, and riding the Magik taxi-cab to save young mutants. MacKay has both completely misunderstood Cyclops — remember that line about him fantasizing about hot girls with swords? — and nailed Scott’s anxiety brain — the line in this week’s #8 where he says “I was never fun” is a meme-worthy classic.

We haven’t been covering X-Men recently, so here, have these Cyclops redesigns.

Uncanny X-Men

Adam: I am continually struck by how many times in its first six issues I have said “why?” to myself. After half a year of content (or a third since this is coming out 18 issues a year), I still have very few answers to basic questions like why the characters are (geographically, emotionally) where they are, what their motivations are or why the book seems much more interested in its four new inventions than the actual headline team. Each issue seems more baffling than the previous, and “Conductor of X” Tom Brevoort’s letter col and newsletter only serve to amplify my confusion by suggesting that we shouldn’t pay attention to jarring details (Yes, I’m still hung up on that Nightcrawler priest line from issue #1) or that the previous era was somehow exclusionary? Further sending me into a tailspin is that there does seem to be a sizable audience who loves this book. And far from me to judge, but I don’t understand how if you’re an X-fan this book makes any sense to you. That said, David Marquez’s art is beautiful, so credit where it is due. Gail Simone’s (and to be clear, I have liked multiple Simone books before!) choices just continue to smack me upside the head every time. Sorry, Ground Bear, this one ain’t it. 

Anna: Marquez’s art has been gorgeous. And this series has its heart in a good place; it seems to be trying to offer universalized, feel-good versions of our faves. But I’m after more than a generic replay of some greatest hits divorced from practical points of continuity, which is also unmoored from any deeper relevance. It feels like Simone and Brevoort keep telling us to think less. And in general, but particularly on the heels of an era that specifically asked us to think, I prefer a comic that takes bigger swings.

Check out our most recent coverage of Uncanny X-Men.

Dazzler

Adam: I’ve been covering Jason Loo and Rafael Loureiro’s Dazzler mini, and it’s perfectly fine. It fits the same general tone as Loo’s Infinity Comics, it has a solid premise, and each issue seems honed in on the general FtA theme of broken human/mutant relations. If you are a Dazzler fan, there’s more than a few nods to her backstory and continuity, but for a mini with this cast and limited run, it would be great if the supporting cast had more to do than save Dazzler from the villain of the week. The book doesn’t feel essential to the larger story of FtA, but that’s also because I couldn’t tell you what that larger story really is. Ultimately you’re either reading this because you love Dazzler or likely skipping it because she’s not one of your faves.

Check out our most recent coverage of Dazzler.

Psylocke

Austin: As of this writing, we’re only one issue into this series, so there’s not a ton to go on. Psylocke #1 is an efficient and well-constructed debut, doing all the things a debut issue should: introducing its main character, establishing the premise of the series, giving her a supporting cast, a love interest, and conflicts both internal and external. It is by no means a bad issue, but it lacks any punch or panache, any twist or unique perspective to help it pop and be memorable. The best thing Psylocke has going for it in that regard is the art from Vincenzo Carratù, who is effective in both the quieter scenes and the big action set pieces, able to give characters different facial expressions and body language and depict a coherent action scene. It’s enough to keep me coming back, along with the hope that writer Alyssa Wong will start to cook as well now that the “business” of the series has been taken care of.

Check out our most recent coverage of Psylocke.

Tier 4: Books many of us have dropped

Yeah, these ones ain’t great.

Phoenix

Jake: It’s fair to say that Phoenix got off to an incredibly rocky start. Accusations of tracing, odd characterization choices (Corsair isn’t that creepy or that bad a father, is he?) and a brand new character narrating the bloody thing made it difficult for anyone outside of the most die-hard Jean Grey fans to buy into this book. The third-person narration only served to create distance between reader and main character, so it lacked any sort of emotional resonance. When you overlay that with the fact that it felt more like a Thor book at times (the series has featured three Thor-centric villains so far), Phoenix felt as far away from being about Jean Grey as it did when it eloped with Echo for a bit.

However … there are some green shoots to be observed. Issue #5, which featured incoming artist Marco Renna’s clean line work and layouts, was the best so far. His art gave the book a clearer focus, which helped Stephanie Phillips elevate the scope of the series and Jean herself into the cosmic sphere in a more believable manner, connecting what felt like quite disparate threads together a bit more. I’m hopeful this duo can steer the series back on track.

Anna: I want good things for this book, because I like Jean Grey and because Phillips’ passion for her project was very clear during the Marvel Next Big Thing panel at New York Comic Con. But so far, separating Jean from most of her human relationships and contexts has left me drifting in space without a fiery force of creation to guide me. At times, I can’t help but think Jean could be swapped for a handful of other cosmic characters without anyone really noticing. If the book can find more Jean amid its cosmic cacophony, I’ll definitely enjoy it more.

Check out our most recent coverage of Phoenix.

X-Factor

Dan: The thing about X-Factor is this book should be for me. I love the government team era. I love a book that’s funny. I love Havok as the Homer Simpson of the X-Men, getting progressively dumber with each passing year. I love Mark Russell. Seriously! Read Second Coming! Read Billionaire Island! Read Superman: Space Age! They’re great! But this … isn’t. Russell works best in self-contained stories. He hasn’t written an ongoing superhero book before, let alone one in a shared line. And he’s working with characters who just a few months before were part of a narrative that said that any mutant could have an important role to play in a mutant nation. Here, we’re back to treating certain mutants as jokes. Rusty and Feral die on the first mission. Cecilia Reyes and Frenzy are reduced to eye-rolling, perpetually exasperated side characters. Pyro has a running gag about when fire is and isn’t useful. He also had his skull face tattoo lasered off by his employers — one of the bigger symbols of Krakoan erasure wrought by the Brevoort administration and a general metaphor for the loss of edge among much of the X-line. I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed. No, wait, nevermind, I am mad.

Adam: This book is very, very bad. We do not need an X-Statix clone in 2024 (especially since Peter Milligan and Mike Allred recently did their own X-Statix stories), and certainly not one this tone-deaf. Russell seems to simultaneously misunderstand all of the book’s characters — especially Havok and Polaris — and the current post-Krakoan status quo. There could be room for a Suicide Squad-esque task force in this line, but this is a far cry from coming even close to success.

Anna: I’ve enjoyed Russell’s work in the past, enough that I was excited to see him take on this pitch. But with very few exceptions, the political commentary has been flat and out of touch, the humor has been mean-spirited, and the characterizations don’t ring true to where these mutants were just a few short months ago. When did Alex and Lorna get back together? Off-panel somewhere but don’t worry about it; this book sure didn’t.

Check out our most recent coverage of X-Factor.

Wolverine

Austin: For good and (mostly) bad, this series is, in its short life, the platonic ideal of a Wolverine series. Each issue is packed with tropes familiar to longtime fans of the ol’ Canucklehead: fighting his bestial urges, running through a snowy wilderness, reluctantly mentoring teens, Frank Miller-lite narrative captions. It’s packed with familiar foes, from Cyber to Wendigo to Lady Deathstrike. It doesn’t really DO anything with those elements, at least not yet, beyond restating them, but that’s likely all many (most?) Wolverine fans — and certainly Marvel editorial — want from a book like this. Its strongest selling point is the art from Martin Coccolo, who manages to elevate the by-the-numbers plotting with exciting action storytelling. Colorist Bryan Valenza deserves props as well, for making the art pop despite much of it taking place against a monotonous, snowy background.

Check out our most recent coverage of Wolverine.

X-Force

Austin: Of all the From the Ashes books, this has the most developed setup from the start: Forge builds a MacGuffin, then recruits a team to go where it sends them to stop world-threatening events. In theory, it’s a relatively straightforward hook that speaks to the title’s history as a “proactive” book while leaving ample room for fun character work. In theory, however, Geoffrey Thorne’s script is leaden, too focused on Forge and Sage at the expense of more interesting (and fun) characters, and his dialogue awkward (WHY does Forge keep calling Sage “Tessa” when she hasn’t used that name in decades and he just got done working with her as Sage during the Krakoa era?). Marcus To does what he can to salvage the book with some gorgeous art, in some cases imbuing characters with more visual characterization than anything they say or do (e.g. Captain Britain’s dapper suits). But it can only do so much. With the first arc seemingly wrapped up (on an unfortunate note), here’s hoping Thorne eases off the Sage angst and lets some of the other characters do a little more going forward.

Check out our most recent coverage of X-Force.