Lost in time, Jean Grey and her team of X-Men must survive long enough to fix what is wrong with the timestream… which isn’t easy with the teens stranded in the not-too-far future. If only there were a similar group of mutant heroes to help them out. Oh, wait! There totally is, the X-Men of 2099!

I generally enjoyed the last issue, the first part of “Cross Time Capers,” but something is off with X-Men: Blue #17 in both story and dialogue. Writer Cullen Bunn has brought back the X-Men of 2099 in an unexpected twist that had me excited as the last issue ended. I remember loving that series back in the day (and the entire 2099 line) though I’m sure if I revisited it I’d be a little let down. So, X-Men 2099, cool. The story that’s presented a bit also cool. There’s something with Alchemex which was taken over the X-Men at some point and honestly I don’t remember much of the original run so it all feels like a new and interesting concept that has me wanting to dare and go back and read the original material. The concepts thrown out there are really neat, but how they’re presented feel a bit choppy with dialogue that is beyond stilted at times.

Bunn has the two teams regroup to asses things and then they’re attacked and there’s a battle with Alchemex but all of it has a flow of an ADD kid who’s missing just enough detail to make things a bit clearer and enjoyable. That isn’t helped by the fact there’s panels of dialogue that feel like they come out of nowhere and just doesn’t fit with what’s going on. The last issue flowed well and this has just way too many bumps on the road to make it as enjoyable and too much thrown out there without enough explanation to really appreciate anything. A dialed back issue with less conflict might have been a better way to go.

The art by R.B. Silva is good but again is missing something compared to last issue. There’s at times too much going on with the scenes too panned out to get a good amount of detail or much emotional oomph from anyone talking or even some of the action.

The issue had so much potential with the re-introduction of X-Men 2099 but things feel squandered and rushed. It’s clearer at the end of the issue that we shouldn’t expect depth instead we’re sort of getting a “this is your life” tour of X moments throughout the decades. That could work as a whole but as individual pieces it misses something until the end is near. Not enough focus creates an issue that’s more nostalgia than anything interesting.

Story: Cullen Bunn Art: R.B. Silva
Story: 6.5 Art: 7.4 Overall: 6.75 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review