What’s up everyone! Welcome to Beyond The Panel. Coming at you today with talk about X-Men #15! I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t entirely sure that I was going to pick up this issue of X-Men. I do recall being one of those very excited about X of Swords as the event was approaching, though it didn’t really take long for that feeling to change. Mostly because there hasn’t been a lot of this which has met expectations. It’s not the kind of battle you expected from this event. Neither is the straightforwardness either. To have to keep up with every X-book to stay up to date on what’s going on is tasking.

For this issue in particular, I felt like I was able to overlook most of the concerns that I had about X of Swords. Mostly because this issue created a balance between the events of this war, and the continued understanding of how Krakoa works. This we got through the situation which Jean and Scott find themselves in. Obviously for them there would be worry about the fate of their son on the other side of the gate. Obviously if push came to shove, they would be the brave souls willing to throw themselves into the fire to keep their family whole. Though nothing about that kind of mission is ever so straightforward with the way that Krakoa works as a nation. This was a great time to address just how troublesome it can be to have to clear everything which has to be done in the name of protecting mutants. Especially when clearing certain actions involves so many voices who all want different things for the nation. The issue hit hard because for even Xavier and Magneto it was shocking to see just where they stood on matters which were personal, rather than for the whole.

As for Jean and Scott, this was a beautiful moment for them to draw the line in the sand between being leaders, and being heroes. I think when this world was created initially, the line between the two roles became blurred. This was never truly a problem till everything started to become a thing which had to be discussed or voted upon. At a time like this, there was no better duo who could have stood tall to draw that line and say that the world needs to have those who don’t need to worry about the red tape. Those who can act just because doing the right thing is the right thing to do. The dialogue here was brilliant and probably some of Hickman’s best work. He may be thinking big with X of Swords, but it matters that even now he can remember that this is a superhero story at the core.

So with that said, there was still a story to tell for what remained of the battles of X of Swords. It wasn’t the whole battle that we got from Apocalypse and Genesis, though you had to love the determination from both sides that they weren’t looking to allow affections to interfere with what they were fighting for.

If there was one thing which kept this issue from being perfect, it was the interior work from this art team. Not to say that it was bad, but the problem was more in terms of the usual when it comes to this book. That being the way that these characters are drawn. These are important moments which unfolded in this issue. It’s hard to immerse yourself in that atmosphere the way that you should be able to when the characters are looking so stiff and bland. This was Scott at his most stoic in the Dawn of X books, and yet there he was looking flat as a doorknob. I do mean that as in his expressions too. The same could be said for others. Even Apocalypse and Genesis who should have had more to give visually as this final battle was personal. Aside from this, the color work was astounding. That much you can’t take away from the interiors.

Overall, X-Men #15 was definitely one of the better issues since X of Swords kicked off. My opinion of the event hasn’t change, but my confidence in this creative team just writing the “X-Men” is still there.