Cain Marko has been a bully, a criminal, a terrorist and a supervillain. Now he’s an X-man. But on a team of X-Men who have all, at one point, been villains, how does the Juggernaut stay a hero? X-Men #34 is written by Jed MacKay, drawn by Greg Land, inked by Jay Leisten, colored by Fer Sifuentes-Sujo and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
There was a time — let’s call it the 20th century — when a comic like X-Men (2024) #34 would have been hailed as an underappreciated gem. A standalone tale set between two multipart arcs in which we delve into the heart and soul of one of our heroes as they wrestle with their current status quo, planting a seed for where they might go next.
But this isn’t 1994. This is 2026, well into the age of decompression, of writing for the trade, of 18-issue annual shipping schedules, and of rotating artists.
And if you play enough artist roulette, eventually Greg Land ends up in the chamber.
By now, criticism of Land is well-worn territory — the accusations of tracing, his reliance on photo reference, sometimes from porn. None of these on their face is necessarily grounds for public flogging, but when an artist doesn’t appear to take the next step and use these as tools in service of the craft, that’s when fans start calling BS.
Now, imagine Land being brought in to meet a deadline when your books’ regular artists are behind or unavailable.
While you ponder this non-diverse Greek chorus of O-faces, understand that even by Land standards, the art in this issue appears rushed. Faces repeat. Characters like Cyclops and O*N*E Agent Lundqvist look off model, and Land has a little bit too much of a field day with the already belly-, boob window- and thigh-bearing Magik. The character keeps coming back to that Chris Bachalo-designed look for a reason — the people want their buster-sword anime princess — but the key thing to remember about Cain’s relationships with young women is that they are nearly exclusively platonic. Illyana is his work wife and sandwich buddy, nothing more.
There’s also a panel where anti-mutant bigot Angie Harmon, who looks like Val Cooper took hotness lessons from Quistis from Final Fantasy VIII, hugs herself while explaining how she’s applied the phrase “Magneto was right” to her grievance peddling. Maybe it got chilly. Maybe big guys failing to smash statues turns her on. Either way, WTF?
Also, for a comic centered on a protest, there is not a single clever protest sign. The closest we get is “More like No-livar Trask.” Marvel has a proud history of picket signs in comics, dating to the various protest movements of the 1960s that Stan Lee would occasionally make himself aware of but not fully understand. I can’t say who gets the credit for these signs — MacKay, Land, letterer Clayton Cowles, some combination of the three — but someone should have put their whole ass into it. It shows a lack of attention to detail that further drags the comic down.
Also, who uses the Impact font anymore? Are we making our first PowerPoint slide in 1997?
The basic plot: The Juggernaut journeys to Juniper, Pennsylvania, where dueling sets of protesters and counterprotesters rally around a statue of Sentinel creator Bolivar Trask that has mysteriously appeared in town. Cain spends the entire issue attempting to destroy the statue, which he quickly learns is protected by a force field. As he continues to unstoppable-force the statue, he gets into philosophical debates with Agent Lundqvist, who has been demoted by his new O*N*E boss; a liberal-but-not-liberal-enough voice opposed to the statue; and a conservative voice who loves the statue, says Magneto is her inspiration for human supremacy and that Cain is nothing more than the X-Men’s pet human. Neither of the latter two is more than a strawman/straw-woman for their arguments.
The unstoppable Juggernaut is eventually worn down by his defeat at the hands of force-field wrapped marble (which may or may not have started talking to him), and is removed from the scene by Cyclops and Magik, who tell Cain it’s fine he didn’t destroy the statue, he did a good job, and they’ll figure out another way.
Even Scott takes the L on the statue. One ZARK, and he’s like, “Welp, guess it’s the most unbeatable foe we’ve ever faced.” Heck, they could teleport it. With their teleporter. Who is there. Awkwardly caressing the Juggernaut.
If you told me this was a Marvel tryout issue for another writer, I’d have believed you; that’s how much the art drags down the story. Even if it had been one of the regulars (Tony Daniel, Netho Diaz, etc.), I do think it infantilizes Cain a bit toward the end. He’s mentally stronger than that. All he had to do was rip up the land under the statue and toss it into Lake Erie or something. He and fellow big boy Blob both have been defeated by simpler switches in strategy.
The shame is, this used to be the kind of story X-Men comics excelled at, the between-arc or pre- or post-event cooldown story. Imagine Fabian Nicieza writing this because he had an issue of X-Force to fill right before “The Age of Apocalypse.” It would be some middle-aged comics fan’s favorite issue. And guess what, it likely would have been drawn by Daniel, his art partner at the time.
Daniel, however, is not long for this book. He’ll be back for issue #35, but he just got announced as launching new team book Maximum X-Men in December. Which means other artists may be called in to fill the void on Adjectiveless X-Men. Hopefully, Land is an aberration, and whoever’s waiting in the wings, be it Diaz or someone else, can keep the art on track.
Buy X-Men #34 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
Dan Grote is the editor and publisher of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Paul Winston Wisdom. Follow him @danielpgrote.bsky.social.
