X-Men #23 Review: “The Burning World” Part I

G. Willow Wilson of Ms. Marvel fame takes charge of the all-female mutant team with X-Men #23 and it was an amazing debut. Wilson immediately sent the team to a very tough mission and managed to raise the stakes quite high in just one issue of the four-part arc “The Burning World”.

I’ve been looking forward to Wilson’s writing since the previous issue of X-Men. I enjoyed the little cameo by Gambit flirting with some women at the start. I particularly loved the panel showing Jubilee teaching little Shogo how to walk. However, things took a dangerous turn and Gambit had to call the X-Men and ask Storm and her team to take care of a supercell.

A supercell is indeed a very dangerous natural phenomenon and you might think that Storm can take care of it in a minute because she can control weather, but things are never easy for the X-Men, right? Sure enough the moment Storm tries to dismiss it she senses something wrong and everything goes downhill from there.

Wilson really understood the characters and I enjoyed the way she handled the team dynamics. Storm, Rachel, Psylocke, and Monet are strong female characters in their own right, and it’s not easy to control them as a team. There will definitely be disagreements among them and this issue was no different. Death of Wolverine took its toll on Ororo and her teammates knew that. What I didn’t like is how the moment Storm lost control of the supercell Monet immediately thought it was due to Logan’s death. I know the team can’t sense that the supercell wasn’t natural the way Storm could but I still hope they realize it wasn’t Storm’s fault and talk about it, especially Monet, once they figure out what’s really happening around them.

The issue was mostly from Storm’s perspective and I liked how Wilson handled her character. There were a bunch of very emotional panels where Storm hallucinated talking to Wolverine while trapped deep underground. Storm is claustrophobic, and I liked how Logan was able to bring her back to her senses and help her find the strength within herself to try and escape. Also, kudos to Wilson for explaining how a supercell worked and what Storm decided to do to manipulate it. I always welcome exciting scientific tidbits in comic books.

There was also a secondary story involving Jubilee and Beast as they tried to make sense of Krakoa not feeling well. It’s obvious it’s somehow connected to the supercell. There’s something sinister at work and I’m excited for the mystery to unravel as the arc progresses.

I still can’t get over how fast the issue went by! G. Willow Wilson has indeed done a very impressive job her very first time writing for the X-Men title and I can’t wait for the next issue.

Did you read X-Men #23 yet? What did you think of it? Let us know!

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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