Review by Frank Plowright

Don’t think of X-Men Red as a team, but as a collection of mutants on Arakko, formerly Mars, the red planet. That way it all makes sense. This second volume opens with Al Ewing’s plots being interrupted by the company crossover of the Celestials objecting to the mutants on Krakoa being able to resurrect their dead comrades. They’ve attacked Krakoa as seen in other X-Men related volumes, and are also attacking the different mutant society on Arakko.

Ewing placed Magneto’s views at the heart of Vol. 1, and the reason is clarified as we witness a terrible sacrifice made in beating back a single Celestial and its forces. Ewing uses the attack to reshape the political picture of Arakko, with changes to the ruling system, but his bigger picture is diplomatic events to avoid a galactic war toward which random events are pushing some great powers. It’s a clever allusion to the start of World War I.

There’s layer upon layer to be unpicked here. Readers have been let in on far more of Abigail Brand’s plans than her allies or enemies, but that all changes as Cable discovers who she’s allied with and what she’s after. He’s not happy.

For all the power available via the likes of Cable, Magneto, Storm and Vulcan, Brand is the most confident person seen here, and Stefano Caselli reflects that via the way she’s posed in the art. As ever, the art is perfectly composed without ever drawing attention to how good it is.

Ewing’s plots move forward in small increments, often via conversation, but always smartly, meaning X-Men Red is a series to admire as much as enjoy, and as complex as the plots are, the impression is they’re not intellectually challenging for Ewing. Why else would he introduce a character whose dialogue is entirely haikus? The threats keep escalating as a large cast is juggled in different locations, and there’s a massive reveal as the cliffhanger taking us into Vol. 3. This is the right stuff.