X-Men #18 - Review/Spoilers

[JB]

She’s not? I thought she was still on the team. My mistake.

With so many Wolverines running around it's understandable.

[Devaishwarya]

With so many Wolverines running around it's understandable.

LOL. Indeed.

I wonder if Vaultra would now be an X-Man via her relationship with Synch?

[Agent Grayson]

This issue was full of wasted potential.

First, where was the Synch-centric issue we were promised? He’s come to be one of my favourite characters and he’s been sidelined so much recently, I was looking forward to seeing him get the spotlight. Instead, he just provided transport and was the romantic support character to Laura’s lead.

The Laura storyline exemplified the problem I have with Duggan’s run on this title. It took what should be a really complex and layered issue and dealt with it in quite an empty, rushed manner. Nothing in his run has delved beneath the surface and this is probably the worst offender, because this should be causing all kinds of complications and conundrums for the X-Men. At the very least, for Synch and the two Lauras. Instead, one quick conversation with stilted dialogue and it seems to be done. I imagine there’s more to Vault Laura than meets the eye, but I’m not particularly invested in seeing more of her.

I would’ve liked more interaction between Synch and Jubilee, but I find all the X-Terminators stuff pretty juvenile so I could’ve done without that element.

A few bright spots:

• I liked the fact that Jean called out Beast (even if it’s comically too little, too late) and her defence of the Orchid rescue.
• I loved the X-Men taking the moral high ground and rescuing the Orchis operatives.
• I’ve really been enjoying the Brood arc over in Captain Marvel so I enjoyed the teaser at the end and I hope that the same quality from Thompson’s work is kept up in this title.

[Havok83]

The best part of the issue was the shade that Jean was hurling at Beast

[JB]

LOL. Indeed.

I wonder if Vaultra would now be an X-Man via her relationship with Synch?

Hmm yeah, I guess she is now. She doesn't seem to have any interest in going to Krakoa at the moment. Wait... does that mean she's going to run into Wolverine in space during the Brood saga? LOL!

[LordUltimus]

The best part of the issue was the shade that Jean was hurling at Beast

She's too nice.

[JamJams]

This was an excellent issue for Jean and as a promotion for X-Terminators and Captain Marvel's Brood arc.

And everything else felt...Weird.

[LordUltimus]

Cynic in me wonders if Old Woman Laura will be the first on the chopping block at the end of the Krakoan age to show death matters again while also not sacrificing a pre-Krakoa character.

[Havok83]

Cynic in me wonders if Old Woman Laura will be the first on the chopping block at the end of the Krakoan age to show death matters again while also not sacrificing a pre-Krakoa character.

She is a pre-Krakoa character. If anything its the other Laura thats the new one and should be sacrificed

[LordUltimus]

She is a pre-Krakoa character. If anything its the other Laura thats the new one and should be sacrificed

Well, that part can be played for irony.

Like I said, not saying this is going to happen, just where my mind went.

[mesjarch]

Let's see if Duggan will go for the hattrick and make Vault Laura the sleeping agent. That way he would make all mutants to be incredible morons and Beast would be the only smart person.

[jpmst17]

It seems that people hated this issue, but I liked it. It tied together several plot threads and introduced a couple of interesting tings that i'm looking forward to reading about. Corsair with an egg in him is interesting, I always like brood stories. I also want to see what happens with the Orchis since the X-Men saved them. those are a couple of things i'm interested in

[davetvs]

She is a pre-Krakoa character. If anything its the other Laura thats the new one and should be sacrificed

The only reason people will argue differently is because they just #HATE the vault story so much they're willing to sacrifice the character just so she hasn't canonically boned Synch. Lol

Even though now that I think about it, Laura does have a type. Angel, Hellion, and Synch are all the Cutest Boy in School. Warren and Julian are just Type 1: Rich Boy while Everett is Type 2: Star Athlete.

[Frontier]

I feel like for various reasons Vaultra has a limited shelf life, and either she goes out heroically or turns on everyone, but I guess it depends on how Duggan wants readers to take things as they are right now (like it seems like they're leaning into Jean being right, but is that to lull you into a false sense of security?).

[pkingdom]

I'm on the opposite end of Jean's put down on Beast. My immediate response was "oh **** off with that flowery nonsense". Not as a defense of Beast, but because Jean knows or should know more about what Beast is actually doing, seeing as how she helped him ENSLAVE A COUNTRY. So seeing her be all "you've been in the dark too long", when she actively helped him and is doing nothing to stop him. Making a cutting remark just emphasized that she's aware of how awful he is but isn't actually doing anything about it. It doesn't help that them saving an Orchis blacksite serves to emphasize that Beast is doing the exact same thing, with no comment from everyone else.

What more is there to say about Laura and Sync? It sucks for Sync fans that the biggest plot he's stuck with after getting the spotlight is a terribly written romance no one wants. And Laura was basically proven right when she said she was being sent into the vault because she's more disposable, and replaceable with clones. Now they are in a situation where they really are disposable and its a side plot.