I read Uncanny X-Men Volume 2: Dominant Species TPB straight after I finished the mediocre Volume 1: Hope. Let me start by saying that Chuck Austen's first arc, Hope, wasn't the worst thing I've read, but it was by far not the best either. It wasn't until I finished Volume 2: Dominant Species that I realized that the bad reputation Chuck Austen seems to have with X-Men fans is entirely well deserved.

Dominant Species is like the three pronged turd. Poor plotting, poor art and poor characterization. The main thread running through Dominant Species is that people with similar character characteristics gravitate toward one another. A majority of the story is told from the point of view of Angel and Husk. There's a bit of old school sexual tension.

There's also a new villain, Max Lobbo, who's head of some sort of mutant werewolf pack. Who he is, where he comes from and what his motivation is, doesn't receive much attention. He works/runs a company that is owned by Warren Worthington (Angel). Besides that Lobbo kills people and mutants for fun, and has a pack of werewolf mutants following him around that seem to do nothing more than repeat everything everyone says.

At one point Wolverine gets pummelled and then has to be rescued by Northstar and taken away to heal. Is this the same Wolverine that survived an explosion and healed himself from skeletal remains in his Civil War tie-in?

So basically, a new bad guy is introduced, but barely fleshed out, and Husk has a thing for Angel, although Angel does not really know that. Havok is brought out of his coma, and Lorna Dane (Polaris) returns.

From what I've read so far Austen applies the same template across his stories. He ticks the 'unrequited love' box, and also makes sure to include a little vague social commentary. Female characters exist solely to stare longingly at their male counter parts.

According to the Amazon description, Dominant Species was illustrated by "superstar" Japanese artist Kia Asamiya. The X-Men clearly take on a manga flavor, but in this instance, I can't say it's a good thing. Some of the characters look just plain weird, and it's often hard to get past the nose. Another thing that stuck out for me was the costume Polaris rocks up in. It looks like she has a set of wings coming out of her head, and I have no idea why.

For me, there were only two interesting elements in this collection. One, the concept of secondary mutation. Mutants mutating further, for example, Angel develops a healing factor and Iceman begins to turn into ice, full time. Two, the idea that Juggernaut is not always such a bad guy. Some people would no doubt hate this aspect, but in a story as pedestrian as the one played out in Dominant Species, people should be grateful for small mercies.

In summary, this is officially the worst trade paper back collection I have read to date. 2 out of 10

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I picked up the trade paper back Uncanny X-Men Volume 1: Hope TPB (Uncanny X-Men) in a nick and dent sale with relatively low expectations. Why? The book carried Chuck Austen's name on the cover, the guy that has been roundly criticized for steering the title directly in to some of its more disappointing moments.

This trade paper collects Uncanny X-Men issues #410-415, and covers off a couple of story arcs. The first deals with the team sent on a rescue mission only to learn that it is the Juggernaut they have been sent to help. Black Tom Cassidy is smack bang in the middle of a secondary mutation, and Juggernaut needs help. Fairly stock standard stuff. The early issues also deal with Professor X tracking down a young mutant named Sammy who has a fish like appearance. We are also introduced to Annie, a nurse caring for a comatose patient that later turns out to be Havok.

In the final two issues, Northstar joins the undermanned group, at the request of Xavier, to assist them to bring in an explosive mutant child unable to control his powers. The big revelation for me here was that Northstar is gay, and has a crush on Bobby Drake (aka. Iceman), who happens to be going through a secondary mutation of his own.

By the end of the collection, Austen seems to have all his players in the game, and it feels like I've just read six issues of 'set-up'. One of the problems with issues #410-415 seems to be that Austen was operating with the X-Men 'C' grade squad to a certain extent. Angel? I've never been a huge fan. Stacy X? Pheromone powers? I've read Austen quoted as saying he wanted to "inject some soap" into his Uncanny X-Men run, which seems to be the exact result he achieved. Is that a good thing? I'm not so sure. A love triangle between Angel, Stacy X and Husk? I'm not sure that I could have been less interested. The whole unrequited love angle doesn't work for me either. The Annie/Havok and Northstar/Iceman thing just didn't float my boat. I want to read an X-Men story, not a rejected script from the OC. » Read the rest of the entry..

'Messiah Complex' was the biggest storyline to hit the X-Men franchise since the 'House of M'. It's one of those "must read" story arcs if you intend to follow the adventures of any of the X-Men teams from 2008 onward. Messiah Complex is told over 13 chapters, beginning with the X-Men: Messiah Complex one-shot, and then continuing in four of the X-Men monthlys, Uncanny X-Men #492-494, X-Factor #25-27, New X-Men #44-46 and X-Men #205-207. Following on from Messiah Complex, all four 'X-Books' underwent a relaunch, based upon the outcome of Messiah Complex.

To follow the events in Messiah Complex I'd recommend reading 'The House of M' arc as well as the X-Men 'Supernovas' and 'Blinded by the Lights' collections.

The Messiah Complex story really began at the conclusion of the House of M, and the event known as 'M-Day', in which a vast majority of the mutant population was de-powered. The X-Gene itself has all but disappeared, and there have been no new mutant births since M-Day. With mutants bordering on extinction, Messiah Complex begins with the explosive birth, literally, of a mutant. This sparks a race between the X-Men, Mr Sinister and the Marauders, the Acolytes, the Reavers, the Purifiers, and Predator X to see who will get to the child first. Clearly each group has it's own motivations, and the line between good and evil begins to blur in some cases. » Read the rest of the entry..