Uncanny X-Men #13 - Marvel Comics

UNCANNY X-MEN No. 13, June 2025

Quite wonderfully weaving three separate storylines together into a single, twenty-page periodical, this opening instalment to Gail Simone’s “The Dark Artery” certainly contains plenty of mystery with which to well and truly hook her audience. In fact, even the comic’s somewhat sedentary sequences following Miss Henrietta Benjamin’s train ride to New Orleans still provides a gripping journey once it becomes clear the young woman is actually a mutant being menaced by the highly prejudicial “Service.”

By far this book’s ‘loudest’ narrative though is that of Gambit once again facing the formidably-sized Asgardian dragon Sadurang. Admittedly, this remarkable rematch possibly verges on being unbelievably bizarre once the “powerful sorcerer” disconcertingly flies an almost naked Remy LeBeau to the dinosaur-filled Savage Land, and almost gets him eaten alive by a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex. But it also injects an otherwise rather dialogue driven publication with some much needed action, as well as tantalisingly suggesting that the X-Man’s future, thanks to him owning the Left Eye of Agamotto, may well soon turn him into a flesh-hungry cannibal.

Just as intriguing is young Deathdream’s trip to a partially-buried cemetery deep within a Louisana swamp. The excursion is incredibly well-penned by the American author, and absolutely drips in alarming eeriness as the four adolescent Outliers slowly follow a path down into an underground chamber packed full of corpses. It's ordinarily really hard to successfully deliver such an atmospheric exploration, especially one in which the children's senses are clearly screaming for them to get out of the burial site as fast as their legs will carry them. However the level of trepidation generated by these self-doubts and fears makes each scene utterly unputdownable.

Also adding plenty of ambiance to all these various exploits is the artwork of David Marquez, who does a first-rate job in mixing subtle, slow-moving adventure with fast-paced, over-the-top drama. Of particular note is the almost quiet nature of Miss Henry’s aforementioned journey, which projects all the restraint required of a lady travelling at a time in history when outright bigotry would make even the most simple of day-to-day tasks much more difficult for her; “If I want to read a heathen’s treatise, I’ll spend two pennies for the local paper, Andrew.”

The regular cover art to "UNCANNY X-MEN" #13 by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson