Ruthless killers. Relentless villains. X-Men?! Uncanny X-Men #1 is the latest “X” ongoing series from writer Cullen Bunn and artist Greg Land. Eight months have passed since the end of Secret Wars, and the X-Men find themselves in a world that hates and fears them more than ever. Refusing to accept one more mutant death, Magneto has gathered together the deadliest team of mutants ever assembled for one goal – to proactively eliminate any and all threats to their species. They’re not afraid to get blood on their hands. And if you see them coming, you should run the other way. But with a team full of villains, killers and all-around baddies – can they stop from killing each other long enough to take out their enemies?

With a lineup consisting of Magneto, Psylocke, Monet, Sabretooth, and Archangel, Uncanny X-Men was the most intriguing to me of the All-New, All-Different Marvel lineup of X titles. The characters were intriguing and all had their rather complicated issues, so I was excited to see what was up.

The first issue is pretty decent. Though the comic has much more of a tone that I’d associate with X-Force, this group of X-Men already have a great back and forth down, and Bunn in the first issue shows he’s got a good handle on this group of characters and where they’re at in their lives. For new readers though, this comic might be a bit tougher as it lacks a good explanation of the Terrigen Mist issue, or Archangel’s current status and Psylocke’s involvement. I’d hope that’s coming down the road, but it’d be helpful to be caught up if you’re going in to this cold. For those not, these aren’t an issue.

Overall, the first issue is a solid set of ideas and concepts, some of which are new and interesting, especially how Archangel is used (one I hope is really explored a lot). Also present is a solid mix of philosophies of the characters in how to handle the current mutant extinction issue, and what to do with those mutants doing what they can to survive. As we see in this comic, not all of those decisions are a good one, again a solid concept we don’t see often.

Land’s art is what I expect. His art isn’t terrible, but there’s issues with consistency of character design, plus a lot of individuals looking very similar. You can see that in some panels where both Psylocke and Monet are close and their face and features are similar, with only their hair really differentiating them. This is par for Land though, so I expected this going in.

The first issue is really promising though feels very short and quick. I read through it immediately wanting more, and so far, this is my favorite take, though rather dark. The comic’s ending has something for long time X fans with a reveal of a villainous group that’s about 25 years old and we haven’t seen in a decade or so. The fact Bunn is mining that history is really cool.

For new readers, I can’t say how they’re enjoy this first issue, but as an X fan, I appreciated it a bunch, especially with the current line-up of X comics that are very much hits and misses. The first issue entertains and shows promise, and most importantly gets me to want to come back for the second issue.

Story: Cullen Bunn Art: Greg Land
Story: 8.1 Art: 7 Overall: 7.9 Recommendation: Read