A mysterious turn of events brings the New Mutants to the Uncanny X-Men, and the Outliers are nowhere to be found. All this plus the secret of Graymalkin Prison’s Inmate X revealed at last. Who is this incredibly lethal mutant powerhouse, and what does it mean for mutantkind? Uncanny X-Men #28 is written by Gail Simone, drawn by Luciano Vecchio, colored by Matt Wilson and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Adam Reck: Goddammit, Austin. You know those signs on worksites that are like “this many days since last accident”? And the second something bad happens you have to reset it to zero?
Austin Gorton: Sure, of course. Heck, there’s one in the opening of every Simpsons episode.
Adam: Yeah, well, I just set our Uncanny X-Men “this many issues since some nonsense” sign back to zero. Wasn’t I just saying how much I was enjoying this arc?
Austin: Ha! Yeah, I had a similar thought. “Some nonsense” indeed.
Adam: We might as well get right into why I’m pulling my hair out.
Oscar the Grouch
Adam: Folks who have been reading this book since the start of this era have repeatedly been taunted with a single question: “Who is Inmate X?” Before today, you and I had guessed Proteus, Legion, X-Man, Moira, even Sauron! But no, after almost two years of buildup, it turns out Inmate X is (drumroll please) Oscar!
Oh, of course it was Oscar this whole time! That makes so much sense.
Wait.
Austin, who the hell is Oscar?
Austin: Well Adam, he sure as heck isn’t Agatha Harkness, I can tell you that!
Oscar is, of course, Podcaster Ellis’ evil, reality-altering brother, who previously appeared nowhere but was mentioned in Uncanny X-Men #20, where it was revealed that Monet had been talking to him and he told her that Podcaster Ellis secretly worshiped mutants and wanted to be like them (the stylish ones, at least). Hilariously, that conversation left such an impression on me that in our review of that issue, I referred to him as “Oliver.”
At any rate, nothing in that exchange suggested Oscar was A. a mutant, B. in Graymalkin Prison or C. Inmate X, but here we are (retroactively. I guess the fact that we go from a panel showing the Inmate X cell directly to the panel where Oscar is first mentioned is a hint-by-panel-layout).
Adam: To say this is not exactly the kind of reveal anyone was expecting is an understatement. It was a WILD choice to continue to reference this mysterious prisoner for this long only for him to be someone only referenced in a single panel eight issues ago in a conversation between Monet and Ellis that didn’t make much sense either.
Austin: Exactly. And this reveal doesn’t really add much to that earlier cryptic conversation; it remains unclear how Monet even knows him, made contact, etc. Unless the idea is just supposed to be they became friends in prison (but it sure seems like Inmate X has been in serious isolation until very recently).
Adam: Anyway, Oscar, aka the fifth Avian, aka “Perimeter,” possesses Scurvy’s corpse and makes it do things Scurvy’s body couldn’t, including grow sharp teeth, get real stretchy, eat some nurses and try to choke his sister to death. Luckily, Monet, who is still a prisoner in Graymalkin despite having removed her power-dampening restraint eight issues ago, proving she could leave at any time, shows up promising a fight with “reinforcements,” a group I assume will include Siryn, Blob, Fawn and Sarah Gaunt. Because why leave a federally funded mutant prison when you could stick around to fight an ill-defined threat?
Austin: He’s basically Jamie Braddock, is what I’m gathering (but also, he’s an Avian and they’re all meant to be telepaths so I guess his reality altering is kind of like when Mastermind was projecting illusions directly into Phoenix’s brain?). There’s talk of him having tortured Podcaster Ellis when they were kids by subjecting her to twisted realities. And I like the way Vecchio — the undeniable MVP of this story — renders him as almost an unfinished sketch compared to the rest of the characters.
I think the idea we’re supposed to be getting regarding Monet is that she’s been sticking around of her own volition specifically for this moment, to be on hand to stop Oscar when he inevitably escapes. How she knew she would be needed (or even who Oscar was) remains (hopefully) to be seen. But it also begs the question of whether that’s going to be the “twist” in the story of the “Trustees”: that they too could have escaped earlier but stuck around because of the threat of Inmate X. Maybe that’s why none of the X-Men seem too concerned that former colleagues and teammates are being imprisoned in their old home; because it’s essentially all been part of some kind of undercover mission.
Adam: That is a bunch of maybes to justify a lot of weird storytelling decisions. Let’s just say the foreshadowing leading to this moment leaves much to be desired, and the “payoff” does anything but.
It’s not an AU, it’s … AI?
Adam: In the midst of Oscar’s grandstanding, he also suggests he’s responsible for what’s going on with the X-Men and the Outliers, which is pretty impressive when you remember he’s in New York and they’re in Louisiana. Dude has range.
The Outliers quickly realize they’re not in their own reality, but not before Jitter has a seizure and Calico summons Ember to save her. Real Magik/Darkchylde vibes going on here. Vecchio’s art continues to sing. I continue to find Mutina annoying.
Austin: Honestly, this is the first time I kind of enjoyed Mutina. It’s an obvious archetype, but she works much better as the Wolverine/Marrow “loose cannon contrasting against the more traditionally heroic figures, rolling her eyes at love” type than as an out-and-out villain with confusing motivations and powers. The fact that she pegs Jitter as epileptic while also calling the Outliers “milk babies” is classic Jerk-Ass Wolverine material.
Adam: Maybe this is a me problem.
Austin: Jitter and Calico’s relationship continues to make my heart smile. Calico just straight up transforming into a pissed off fire viking cuz her girlfriend needs help is such a great “eff yeah” moment, and yeah, Vecchio continues to draw the hell out of everything (see also: the splash page of Deathdream attacking the Sentinels with death, which could probably be converted to a bomb blacklight poster.
Adam: If the book didn’t lose you with the Oscar reveal, it might with the second: Mutina figures out that the Outliers’ enemies are … AI? Huh? If this is all the work of Oscar, why would what the Outliers are fighting be AI? Unless Oscar is full of crap and something else entirely is happening here. I dunno.
Austin: It definitely seems like Oscar is responsible for all the alt-reality shenanigans, but I am also unclear on how, exactly, that makes it AI? Like, that doesn’t seem to be how his powers work at the prison, where it’s more of a Jamie Braddock/Proteus/telepathy thing.
But that confusion is fine, for now. Unlike the Graymalkin Prison stuff, the actual pacing and plot beats of the immediate Outliers/New Mutants swaparoo story is well-paced, doling out just enough additional details in each chapter on its way to a (presumed) full reveal/explanation.
Wind Beneath Gambit’s Wings
Adam: Meanwhile the Nawlins X-Men are stuck with the (AI?) New Mutants who drink beer and don’t like questions!
Austin: I’m totally digging these alt “Dark” New Mutants. Especially the way Sam is somehow both evil but also super polite? Wolfsbane is a party girl? Sunspot is … mostly the same. It’s a ton of fun. I’d read another story featuring them.
Adam: Also, Gambit has wings now. I guess he’s turning into a dragon? Not that it’s helping Rogue much as Cannonball blasts her across state lines and she can’t stop him because he’s “nigh invulnerable!”
Austin: Damn, that panel of of Cannonball blasting Rogue out of the house is just *chef’s kiss.* Even the reveal of Gambit’s wings looks cool. I can’t stress enough how much Vecchio is selling some of the more dubious plot turns.
Adam: Art aside, I am legit bummed about this one. I thought we were doing something fun and new with this arc, and instead this is the same old nonsense we were complaining about months ago. Who knows, maybe the next issue will redeem it, but I’m not sure how it could.
Austin: The Oscar reveal is hot nonsense, but I’m still up on this story overall, simply because it looks so damn good (also, the little character moments among the Outliers remain strong and the twist that the New Mutants are jerks is fun). Now that it’s clear the Inmate X stuff is directly connected to the Outliers/New Mutants plot, I just have to hope the former doesn’t drag down the latter too much in the conclusion.
X-traneous Thoughts
- Now we know why Podcaster Ellis is evil: Oscar killed her cat and she “never loved anything since that day.”
- Killing pets is a surefire way to establish a new villain’s evil credentials.
- Oh hey, the Vig is still here. He seems … reasonable, almost friendly here? Like, genuinely helpful? I guess he IS getting paid now.
- He also delivers this issue’s terrible Simone-ism, telling Gambit he looks like “drawn butter.”
- It just made me think of Tolkien’s superior line, “I feel thin, kind of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”
- It sure seems like the next-issue blurb applies to this issue.
Buy Uncanny X-Men #28 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.
