X-Men catch-up.

Picked up and read X-Men (2011) 7-12 over the past few days. I sort of like what I read. Quick overview of 7-10: The X-Men hired a PR firm to make them beloved in San Francisco. They end up being dispatched to NYC where they and Spider-man have to duke it out with lizard people in the sewers. Turns out Dark Beast got his manipulate on and is using The Lizard to convert people - the more hateful and miserable they are, the better they are at being monstrous lizard people.

Good use of Spider-man, but Emma Frost reads a bit "off." Her tone shows up a bit better in #10, but beforehand, she's a bit more vapid teenager than materialistic cougar. The PR stuff is interesting. Not the best arc ever, but not terrible.

#11 is a one-shot about Jubilee struggling with being a vampire. It subtly shifts into a story about Xavier knowing a pretty swell vampire in his younger years. This issue reads like a morality tale, but it's not terrible.

#12 is a new storyline, so I'll hold back judgment for now.

What really stood out to me today was Uncanny X-Force. A few months behind, I picked up issue 10 (mostly for the awesome cover on the left here). This book is really excellent. It has this really interesting gritty feel, like they are finally able to harness all of the misdirected badassness of the 1990s into a cohesive, modern storyline. Angel/Archangel's internal struggle creates a mega-smart Mr. Hyde situation, like if grey Hulk had been evil incarnate. The cliffhanger, which brings the team along with Dark Beast back into Age of Apocalypse (my all-time favorite x-over. Leave me alone. I grew up in the 90s) essentially guarantees I'll be hunting down issue 11 (released 6/1) before issue 12 comes out next week.

All in all, good show Marvel. I'm interested to see where the writers are going with these storylines, but having solid narratives in each individual book makes me much more likely to keep following.