The two baddest brawlers of the Louisiana X-Men buddy up to go undercover in faraway Argentina to chase and destroy a legendary X-villain! Behold two-fisted fury as only Wolverine and Ransom can bring it in Uncanny X-Men #20, written by Gail Simone, drawn by Luciano Vecchio, colored by Matt Wilson and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Adam Reck: Could it be? Was that a full month between issues of Uncanny? Austin, I feel like we finally got a break after the relentless push of recent issues. Are you prepared to dive back into the bayou?
Austin Gorton: Seriously, I get this is an 18 issues-a-year book, but it feels like there’s got to be a better way to modulate the schedule. Anyways, yes, the break was nice, and it helps that this is a pretty solid issue overall. I’ve got some gripes, but for the most part, it works well enough, and it looks fantastic. It’s almost criminal that Uncanny gets both David Marquez and Luciano Vecchio as its co-pencillers.
Adam: I agree. Solid art continues, as does the more consistent story-flow of the book since “Dark Artery.” This issue focuses on Ransom, giving him the outlines of a backstory and strengthening his bond to Wolverine. Let’s get into it.
Nonsense Jail
Adam: We’re 20 issues in with no clear impression of what Graymalkin Prison is, who gave the mandate to open it, how it’s controlled by the feds, what Podcaster Ellis’ larger mission is, who Inmate X is, etc., etc. The only reason I was happy to see it pop back up in this issue was the hope that maybe — just maybe! — we might be headed to the end of this ill-timed and wrong-headed idea altogether.
Austin: Gail Simone has said we were more or less in the middle act of the Graymalkin Prison arc; hopefully its return here marks the beginning of the final act, and with it, maybe some dang answers finally.
For now, we’re back with Podcaster Ellis and Monet, who was shown to be among the inmates back in issue #9 (which is somehow just 11 issues ago but also feels like forever ago). Here, Monet channels us a bit as she basically calls Ellis on her BS. We also find out Monet has been talking to Ellis’ brother, Oliver. Having Ellis’ whole deal finally called out textually sure feels like a shift in the narrative. What did you make of it (and of Captain Ezra getting turned into a butler)?
Adam: It brings up more questions than it answers. Ellis has vacillated in her roles as enemy and ally to the X-Men, all the while imprisoning mutants in a nondescript facility whose purpose and crimes are operating almost primarily off page. Monet calls out Ellis as a mutant lover, says she was talking to Ellis’ brother (a character we don’t know and didn’t know existed), and proves she can walk out the door whenever she wants by ripping off some kind of prison collar. It all begs the question: Why don’t the mutants walk out? If some of them can break their restraints, that means they can break everyone’s restraints. If you can break everyone’s restraints, what would stop the mutants from rioting and escaping? Instead, Monet delivers a sick burn and walks … into a wall? Back into submission? Why?
Austin: I’m pretty sure we’ve seen some of the other trustees operating with some degree of autonomy — certainly, Siryn was at the Hellfire Vigil moving about freely and wasn’t all “please, get this inhibitor collar off me, set me free,” so it’s not clear what leverage, if any, Ellis has on at least some of these inmates who seem to be free to come and go to some extent. And even if Monet is there undercover or something, why? And why not break the others out? Heck, we still haven’t gotten a real clear explanation as to why the X-Men (any or all of the three existing teams) aren’t just burning this whole place to the ground.
I trust this is all going somewhere. But it might be nice if it got there a little faster.
Back at the Ranch
Adam: As much as Graymalkin Prison gets on my nerves, the New Orleans setting has grown on me. And much like the X-Men enjoyed a delicious cookout in Uncanny X-Men #12, it’s heartwarming to see everyone around the table sharing a meal here. Of course we have to ruin the good vibes with a callback to *SIGH* Rogue’s speech therapy.
Austin: You know, it doesn’t really make sense, but I kind of love how everyone is geared up in their superhero duds for breakfast. Like, realistically, they should just be wearing normal clothes, and certainly, there’s been plenty of … casual dressing in this series already, but I kind of like the notion that it’s a workday and everyone has put on their work clothes.
Anyway, Rogue’s speech therapy. Ugh. Also, the way she brings it up to Jitter is borderline rude? Like, just flagging it as an awkward conversation doesn’t make it any less awkward, and it reads very much like Rogue trying to solve a problem that is more a problem to her than to Jitter.
Also, I guess I just assumed that her stutter was a byproduct of her power.
Adam: I think if I wanted to talk to a young person about a potential speech impediment, I might not announce to the room to “stay after class.” I remain confused as to why Rogue would have sought a speech therapist as not a single counterpart has ever said a negative thing about Rogue’s dialect/accent. Surely if someone were to target one of Chris Claremont’s audacious voices, they’d make fun of whatever version of Cajun Gambit is often taking on? And like you noted, I assumed Jitter’s voice was a byproduct of her power, so it seems odd to want to give her resources to “fix” her stutter, as it may be core to who she is.
Austin: Should we talk about the Spider-Man of it all? Are Rogue and Spider-Man friends? Like, not professional colleagues, but “called in a special favor for one of her quasi-adopted kids” friends?
Adam: I am so glad you brought this up. Rogue and Spider-Man are absolutely not friends. We just recorded an episode about Marrow on Battle of the Atom, and I think Spidey has a better relationship with Sarah than he does with Rogue. They never served on the Avengers together, I can’t recall any times they teamed up, so I have a hard time buying that Spidey did a solid for an X-man who isn’t Wolverine.
Austin: Agreed. I buy they’re professional colleagues. I buy that they’ve interacted with each other through the years, even if we’ve never really gotten a ton of on-page interactions. But on the list of non-X-Men superheroes whom Rogue would refer to as “my friend,” Spider-Man isn’t anywhere near the top.
More importantly, we did not see what was in the box. Jitter seemed excited, so I’m hoping it’s the Christmas present of her dreams and not coupons for salad dressing.
Austin: Or the vocal version of an image inducer.
Adam: Of course, all of this is preamble to our main event as the Outliers go to school except for one Valentin Correa, aka Ransom.
Ransom’s Origin is … Ransom?
Adam: Hmm, so Ransom calls himself Ransom because he was once held for ransom and after his parents didn’t pay up he had to take matters into his own hands with his new mutant powers. As origin stories go, it ain’t bad. Though Vecchio’s art and Simone’s script leave things a little ambiguous. Was Ransom shot? Is this the “black hole” where his heart should be? I think it’s very understandable to avoid showing a child getting shot on panel, but the body horror fan in me wants to know more.
Austin: Superhero comics is one of those mediums where stuff like that — which elsewhere would clearly just be an attempt to not be graphic — legitimately begs the question of whether it’s just artistic license or an indication of deeper meaning. And Ransom’s origin is … rough. No wonder the kid has a chip on his shoulder, that’s some intense stuff he went through.
There’s also the Sunspot of it all — Vecchio seems to draw Ransom’s powered-up fists more like Sunspot’s — Ransom’s cousin — when he’s charged up than I remember seeing before. Which makes me wonder if we’re going to see an evolution of Ransom’s power to something more like Sunspot. I’m also curious about the family connection between Sunspot and Ransom’s families. We meet Ransom’s dad at the very end of this issue, and he seems cut from a similar cloth as “joined the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club” Emmanuel Da Costa, albeit a more anti-mutant one.
Adam: X-Men and bar fights go together just about as well as X-Men and shopping malls. So Wolvie and Ransom going up against a room full of powered-up young dudes who are asking to get their asses handed to them is an easy recipe for fun.
Austin: I’ll admit, while the idea of Wolverine and Ransom fighting their way through bars is fun on a conceptual level, the actual execution of it here is a little messy. Ransom has a half-brother who’s in, like, a Fight Club cult or something? And now next issue we’re going to a comic convention somehow? It’s all unnecessarily busy just to get to us a pretty straightforward and fun bit. Even the “we’re not men … we’re X-Men!” bit is cheesy fun. It just takes a lot more setup than I expected to get there.
Adam: There’s enough here to make me legitimately curious. The line “they call it ‘going Juggernaut’” plus the cult’s red logo made me wonder if this is related in some way to Cyttorak. I mean, these kids are taking bats and axes to the head without injury and getting up after being flogged by Wolverine. This is a mystery I’ll tune in again to get an answer to.
Austin: I am excited to see where this all goes. Ransom’s deeply tragic origin, his dad, possible Juggernaut cults, it may be a tad busy, but it’s intriguing!
X-traneous Thoughts
- Is Ellis’ comment about Monet gaining weight in prison when everyone else loses it a hint at something, or just snark?
- Also, love Monet hanging a lampshade on the fact that Ellis dresses like Emma.
- The panel of the kids waiting for the bus while Deathdream says goodbye to Waffles and Ember stands with Marcus St. Juniors captures the (good) vibes of this book in one image.
- But poor Deathdream gets left behind by his “brother.” Makes you wonder if he’ll hitch a ride on the Gambit express later.
- Austin: Gambit says he’s never teleported as far as New Orleans to Buenos Aires before. I’m bad at geography, is that really farther than, say, New Orleans to upstate New York?
- Adam: You should look it up on Google Maps! It’s far!
- Austin [Checks Google Maps ]: OK, yeah, it’s pretty far away! The world? Pretty big.
- Vecchio really makes Ransom’s mask look like Grifter in spots here. And as someone (Adam) who dressed up as Grifter for Halloween in middle school, I approve.
- It’s true, I’ve (Austin) seen the picture.
Buy Uncanny X-Men #20 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
Adam Reck is the cartoonist behind Bish & Jubez as well as the co-host of Battle Of The Atom. Follow him @adamreck.bsky.social.
Austin Gorton also reviews older issues of X-Men at the Real Gentlemen of Leisure website, co-hosts the A Very Special episode podcast, and likes Star Wars. He lives outside Minneapolis, where sometimes, it is not cold. Follow him @austingorton.bsky.social.
