X-MEN (2024) #34 / Script by JED MACKAY / Pencils by GREG LAND / Inks by JAY LEISTEN / Colors by FER SIEFUENTES-SUJO / Letters by VC’S CLAYTON COWLES / Published by MARVEL COMICS

Regular readers are likely aware that I’m not a huge X-Men fan. I’ve got nothing against Marvel’s Merry Mutants, but I’ve always found most of their comics to be repetitive. (At least, everything that was being published as I was first getting into comics in the late 1990s.) Given that, I was surprised when X-Men #34 told a shockingly good story about a character I had always dismissed. Unfortunately, that amazing story is let down by some outrageously awful artwork.

Our story is set in the small town of Juniper, Pennsylvania. Juniper is notable for only one reason; it is the town where Bolivar Trask, the inventor of the Sentinel, first designed his Mutant-hunting robot. Persons unknown have put up a statue honoring Trask in the middle of the town square, prompting a number of complaints. Mutant Rights activists protest a statue being erected to a genocidal madman, while Anti-Mutant activists ask why the protesters hate Humans and Free Speech with a wink to the camera.

Hither comes Cain Marko; former terrorist and current avatar of Cyttorak. The man known as The Juggernaut is many things. Currently, he’s a member of the X-Men. More importantly, he’s the only X-Man who is not a Mutant. This makes him the ideal person to make a statement against the statue. Particularly given that his powers are almost wholly destructive. Unfortunately, someone is just as determined to keep the statue up as Marko is to destroy it.

Jed MacKay adds multiple levels of conflict into what is, at its heart, a relatively simple story. While never accused of being a great thinker, Cain Marko is more than dumb muscle and X-Men #34 showcases that fact. He gets a good point on one of the lead protesters, who claims that the hate being showcased in his town isn’t really part of who they are. Marko says that’s bull and that he’s in denial about there being good and bad people in Juniper.

Conversely, Marko gets stunned into silence by the leader of the counter-protest, which she claims to agree with Magneto that war between Humans and Mutants is inevitable. The fact that Magneto no longer believes that doesn’t matter. Then there is the conflict between Cain and himself and his fears that he is good for nothing but destruction. This is effectively conveyed through a psychodrama in which Cain seems to hallucinate the statue talking to him and mocking his efforts. Even if he can smash the statue, he cannot punch the hatred that inspired it.

Unfortunately, the artwork undercuts a lot of this messaging. Greg Land is one of the most infamous tracers in American comic history and has been busted for it repeatedly. (It doesn’t help matters that he mostly seems to trace porn.) It is clear that Land is back to his old tricks based on the portrayal of the lead bigot – an attractive blonde with pouty lips, who spends most of her page time looking over glasses at people or staring straight at the reader.

The damnable thing is Land was a great artist once upon a time and his tracing was born of taking on too much work and needing to meet deadlines. Unfortunately, the fact that he did make his deadlines allowed him to keep getting hired. There are signs of his former greatness here and there, primarily in the action scenes involving Cain fighting the statue. Unfortunately, Land’s presence here corrupts the excellent work by the rest of the creative team. The inks, colors and letters are all well-applied, but can’t cover-up Land’s hack-work.

In the end, X-Men #34 is a solid story let down by its penciler. It was successful in making me look at Cain Marko in a new light and sympathizing with the Juggernaut. Unfortunately, that and the skillful support team cannot wholly negate Greg Land once again tracing naughty librarians.