“From the Ashes” is the latest X-Men status quo, all based around three separate flagship books — X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and Exceptional X-Men. X-Men and Uncanny X-Men weren’t very surprising choices; “From the Ashes” owes a lot to the ’90s, and these were the flagship X-Men titles of the decade of extreme. But Exceptional X-Men was new, and it was advertised as the training book, where Emma Frost and Kitty Pryde took in three new mutants, Axo, Bronze, and Melee, and taught them how to use their powers and be X-Men. However, Uncanny X-Men would also introduce a group of young mutants called the Outliers, consisting of Jitter, Ransom, Deathdream, and Calico and Ember. Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine, Jubilee, and Nightcrawler decide to also show the Outliers how to use their powers and become X-Men as well.
While X-Men also dealt with new mutants being taken in by the X-Men (that’s right, all three flagship books have similar dimensions to them, with X-Men featuring adults transformed into mutants by 3K), the Exceptional kids and the Outliers seem very similar. The X-Men training young mutants is pretty standard throughout the team’s history, so it does make sense for it to be a standard plot of X-Men books that have been all about a “back to basics” approach to the X-Men. However, it feels like the Exceptional kids just aren’t nearly as interesting as the Outliers. One group seems to have a bright future with the X-Men and the other one looks like it’s going to fade away.
I think a big difference between the Outliers and the Exceptional kids is that the Outliers seem like they were meant to stand as their own group. Readers first encountered them as a group of mutants who had been traveling together after the end of Krakoa. There was already a camaraderie to them right off the bat, and they were able to use their powers well enough to challenge the X-Men. Their powers are extremely interesting; Jitter has the power to be the best at anything for one minute, Ransom has a black hole for a heart and superhuman strength and invulnerability, Deathdream speaks to the dead and can summon armies of spirits, and Calico’s powers allowed her to give her horse whatever power she could imagine. That’s super interesting, and it’s before we even get into the prophecy of the Endling, where Rogue, Gambit, and Wolverine learn from Norse dragon Sadurag that one of the Outliers is going to be the death of the mutant race. Readers have seen the way they deal with dangerous situations on their own, like the Sentinels Hounds sent by Graymalkin Prison. There’s a scrappy friendship between the group and a great dynamic, each one slotting into their position with their team. Ransom is the leader looking out for everyone, Jitter is the innocent anxious one, Deathdream is the weird goth kid speaking in non sequitors, and Calico is scared, of her own potential as well as other things (like Ember, but I’m not going to spoil that for you). It’s a great little group of mutants.
Now, the Exceptional kids have their pluses, but they don’t really feel very interesting as characters. The Outliers have tragedies following them that brought them together, and there’s always the sense of more information behind it all. This makes perfect sense; Uncanny X-Men writer Gail Simone has been around the comic industry for decades, and is known for her amazing team books. She’s always done a tremendous job of building up new characters and making them more interesting than ever. The Outliers are examples of Simone flexing her muscles beautifully. She’s created four brand-new characters that were immediately intriguing, each of them with easy to identify character traits that gives the Outliers an identity beyond just wanting to grow up and be X-Men. There are multiple interesting plot lines with the Outliers; how many are there with the Exceptional kids? The most interesting things that happened to them so far is Mister Sinister was able to fool one of them into helping him. Other than that, they’re just the new young mutants. There’s nothing wrong with the Exceptional kids, and if you like them, more power to you. However, the Outliers are just plain better, and they’re probably going to have staying power that the Exceptional kids don’t.
New mutants have a tough time in the X-Men corner of the Marvel Universe. Well, not the New Mutants team; as the third class of students of the Xavier Institute, they were given a spotlight for over a decade, both as New Mutants and as X-Force. Characters like Cannonball, Sunspot, Boom Boom, Warpath, Shatterstar, and Rictor all had years of work done on them, and became popular. But what about Generation X? What about the New X-Men? What about Hope’s Lights? While there are certainly some mutants that got some spotlight from each of those groups, they just aren’t as popular as the New Mutants class. That’s been pretty common with new mutants in the X-Men side of Marvel. It seems like anyone who didn’t appear in the ’90s at the latest has no staying power as an X-Man.
Uncanny and Exceptional both introducing two new groups of young mutants is yet another attempt by Marvel to create some new X-Men that will actually stay with readers, and if I had to bet money on who would succeed, I’d put all of my money on the Outliers. They’re just a better group of young mutants, with cooler powers and personalities. There’s a chance the Exceptional kids will surprise us all, but they just don’t have the gifts that the Outliers do.
Do you like the Outliers or the Exceptional kids more? Sound off in the comments below.
“From the Ashes” is the latest X-Men status quo, all based around three separate flagship books — X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and Exceptional X-Men. X-Men and Uncanny X-Men weren’t very surprising choices; “From the Ashes” owes a lot to the ’90s, and these were the flagship X-Men titles of the decade of extreme. But Exceptional X-Men Read More