X-Men #8 was a hard-hitting comic book all around. With the hatred that Corina Ellis has for the mutants, it's hard not to find yourself emotional for the X-Men and the other mutants in the prison. I can't wait to see what happens next! Read Full Review

Stegmans art is beautifully detailed and brilliantly dynamic both in the character designs and the action itself. A gorgeous looking issue. Read Full Review

Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman knocked it out of the park with how they kicked off the "Raid On Graymalkin crossover event. The layers to this story created a compelling narrative around where the X-Men are right now and how Doctor Corina Ellis has become a major threat to the mutants. By the end of this first chapter your left wanting to find out what will happen next. Read Full Review

Overall, X-Men #8 is a thrilling and thought-provoking installment in the series. The fractured team dynamic and the introduction of a new threat promise exciting developments in the future. Fans of the X-Men will appreciate this fresh take on the classic team. Read Full Review

X-Men #8 is a great opening to this first crossover. It sets an exciting tone and gives everyone a chance to shine both with the action and with their own character moments. If it keeps this pace, this will be a fun crossover. Read Full Review

Its the big opening salvo for our merry mutants, and so far its a pretty by-the-books crossover. MacKay and Stegman arent trying to reinvent the wheel, but just tell an interesting and fun story. Not all of the puzzle pieces are fitting together, but thats to be expected when youve got an event with multiple creators attached to it. Heres hoping the other 3 chapters are as entertaining as this one was. Read Full Review

X-Men #8 is an entertaining story, but some artistic choices make the story hard to connect with. Read Full Review

While the writing, art and character usage are quite excellent, the overall story and villains leave a lot to be desired, especially considering how much time has been spent building them up. Read Full Review

X-Men #8 commences the Raid On Graymalkin crossover when Cyclops decides to take the fight to his enemies. Jed MacKay's script goes a long way toward elevating Cyclops as a leader on the battlefield, but the setup and conclusion don't quite work. Plus, Stegman's battle action is generally solid, but his choice to inject moments of cartoonish silliness deflates the dramatic tension. Read Full Review

Plot
Beast is kidnapped by Corina Ellis who takes them to the old Xavier Mansion, converted into the Graymalkin prison. There Beast meets Jubilee and Calico, who are verbally attacked and Beast intervenes, the response is an excessive attack on Beast by the guards.

Cyclops, enraged, launches an attack on the prison with Magik, Juggernaut, Quentin, Psylocke and Temper, where the objective is not to kill anyone but to neutralize them and make them suffer. Just when Blob attacks them, Rogue arrives with the Uncanny X-men division from Louisiana.

Exciting first part of this crossover of X-men titles, where the mutants face off against their main detractor, Corina Ellis.

Art
It is magnificent, organic and with Stegman's imprint everywhere, offering a classic and modern tone at the same time.

Summary
The X-Men have no tolerance for their main enemy, who committed the sacrilege of turning the place where Xavier's dream began into a prison.
Exciting start to RAID ON GRAYMALKIN more

The ‘Raid on Graymalkin’ crossover event between Jed MacKay’s X-Men & Gail Simone’s Uncanny X-Men kicked off in exciting fashion! I know a lot of fans were concerned for a crossover event so soon into From the Ashes, but I thought the way MacKay set this event up in this first issue gave this X-Men vs X-Men story an interesting new angle as two groups of mutants try to save their teammates from the depravity of captivity. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but he used all of the tension that has been building since Krakoa’s final days to introduce a clear explanation for what’s happening.

However, one head-scratcher for me was how Cyclops was all of a sudden fully trusting in Psylocke’s ability to be in field again after he sidelined her in the previous issue. I noted there that his objection to her participating in the previous mission was strange and it was made even stranger here when as it seemed to be completely forgotten. Does he think she’s better now? Did he forget? Was this just a contrived plot point so Psylocke’s solo series could be set up? My vote is the latter.

With that small nitpick aside, every other aspect of MacKay’s script hit for me. I loved the interactions between Beast, Jubilee, & Calico in the Graymalkin prison. It showed that underneath it all, these are individuals with deep histories who have far more in common than they have differences. Beast standing up for Calico, a mutant he’s never met, was a great step towards building the character back up into a good guy now that we have the “new” old Beast on the team. Cyclops also gets some great commentary that reminds us why he’s in charge. MacKay has really shown he has a great handle on the voice for all the characters he’s writing in this book even if every character doesn’t get a ton of story each issue.

The big moment for this issue is the literal Raid on Graymalkin, the X-Men’s former home. Their was well executed narratively & visually. The plotting was fast-paced & intense with kinetic art that excellently depicted motion and sound effects. Ryan Stegman’s style has really grown on me since the first issue. His disjointed linework complements the tone of the MacKay’s story perfectly. JP Mayer & Livesay’s inks give Stegman’s designs extra weight, which make character movements standout & their emotions palpable. Marte Gracia’s colors underscore the bleakness of Graymalkin’s current state under Corina Ellis. He uses small moments of vibrancy to draw the reader in during key moments. This creative team isn’t holding back for this story and the scene with Beast being beaten to a pulp by Graymalkin guards was the clearest example.

Overall, this was a really exciting start to the event and I’m eager to see what the Uncanny creative team has in store to up the ante in the next chapter. So far, MacKay’s doing his usual top tier writing and the art team is matching him stride for stride. more

a much needed improvement from last issue

This was ok. I really would like the X-men to go back to fighting someone other than humanity though. It's been kind of beaten into the ground by this point and I thought this was trying to get away from Krakoa plots. I know many folks don't love the art but it has grown on me, like reallllly grown on me. I LOVE IT! Overall this issue was one of the better ones.

Considering I hate most things about this book - the team roster, the writing and especially the art - this was probably the "best" issue so far. Stegman's cartoony art works quite well in some of the action scenes. As usual, it fails completely where emotion is needed. The scene where Calico decides not to take the easy way out is genuinely great though. However, it doesn't save this comic.
X-Men #8 is far from what I consider a good comic. Cyclops captures it perfectly: "I was never fun".