All Action. Little Character Development. Still Awesome
Whedon/Cassiday are a tough act to follow. It's like taking the stage after Zeppelin--whatever you do pales in comparison. But even though Ellis's "Exogenetic" doesn't feature the character depth and exploration of Whedon's run, this volume gives fans exactly what you expect from an X-Men comic: action, explosions, aliens and a disgruntled Wolverine.
It begins with Agent Brand hurtling to Earth in a battered spaceship, then a bio-sentinel descends on the X-Men. Then a horde of Brood swarm our heroes. The first thirty pages are non-stop action.
What's more, Jimenez's artwork is the best I've seen from this series. Truly inspired work.
At the end, the story falls victim to a tired action-comic tropes, e.g. the villain explaining his motivation over three pages. And yet, the ride through issues 31-34 are so much fun, it's easy to forgive such miscues.