Uncanny X-Men #14 - Marvel Comics

UNCANNY X-MEN No. 14, July 2025

Somewhat slowly scratching away at “the history of the hidden landscape under the Louisiana swampland”, Gail Simone’s script for Issue Fourteen of “Uncanny X-Men” certainly contains an incredibly intriguing insight into a terribly trepidatious time when mutants in the United States of America were mercilessly hunted by the sinister “Service”. True, Miss Henrietta Benjamin’s  captivatingly penned adventure set during the early Nineteenth Century regrettably only occupies just over a quarter of this twenty-page periodical. But it so dramatically depicts a far less civilised time where any “Johnny Devil” is apparently shot on sight, that the young lady’s bloody confrontation with two heavily-armed ‘holier than thou’ government agents will surely stay in the audience’s mind well after they’ve put the comic down.

Furthermore, this book also features a pulse-pounding bout of pugilism between Rogue and the dragon Sadurang, which shows just how fearsome a fighter Anna Marie can be when she believes her husband is in mortal danger. As with Miss Henry’s aforementioned ruckus in New Orleans, this punch-up is sadly somewhat short-lived. However, considering that the super-strong mutant is going up against a gigantic Asgardian sorcerer who studied under the dread Dormammu himself, such a fight was always going to be swift (and one-sided), even when the mutant gets in two thunderous whacks before the ice-spewing serpent really knows what’s hit him; “Females. By the frosted peaks of Jotunheim, I will never understand them.”

Perhaps this publication’s weakest plot-thread therefore lies with the American author’s handling of the Outliers encountering the Man-Thing close to their supposedly safe retreat at Haven House, and debatably not doing much else except talk amongst themselves. This unexpected meeting undeniably gave this ongoing title’s previous edition a suitably scary cliff-hanger which potentially promised at least a modicum of sense-shattering shenanigans due to the X-babies’ terror at meeting a creature who “will melt your face off if you show any fear”. Yet rather than utilise Theodore Sallis’ terrifying alter-ego for any adrenaline-fuelled action, or a dynamically-charged momentary misunderstanding, Stan Lee’s co-creation is underwhelmingly referred to as “just a big, good doggie” by Deathdream, and rather perturbingly pencilled by artist David Marquez as the burial site’s sedentary doorman.

The regular cover art to "UNCANNY X-MEN" #14 by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson