Exceptional X-Men #9

Eve Ewing does another fantastic job at keeping the energy up throughout the story, making it an absolute blast of a read. I really enjoy seeing the younger mutants, namely Melee and Bronze, come into their own as heroes, especially when their friend is in danger. Read Full Review

For fans who've been wondering when Emma Frost and Kate Pryde's new class of students would get out there and earn the name "X-Men," Exceptional X-Men #9 is that first taste of what's to come. Sinister's larger schemes at Verate haven't been thwarted yet, but a little trust and teamwork gets these new X-Men safely through their first showdown with a genuine supervillain. Tune in for a fun fight, some decent developments, and a final twist that the climax of this arc is still to come! Read Full Review

A frantic, overpopulated and underchoreographed superhero fight just kinda mashes everything up. Read Full Review

I've enjoyed aspects of Exceptional X-Men since the start but it has increasingly felt listless and unsure of what it wants to be and is just kind of sitting there twiddling its thumbs now. The cast makeup makes no sense, which is fine, but there's just no sense of foundation to any of it and most of them don't even feel like they want to be there. The artwork is fine with some creative moments, but it's suffering under the weight of the worst kind of story – the boring kind. It has some interesting characters to play with but the hints of promise from the opening issue have been long lost. Read Full Review

Kenjamin

Aug 29, 2025

Art: 3.5/5 Story: 3/5 Total: 6.5/10

Chris Y

May 21, 2025

I wanted more action for this team, but I take it back. Eve Ewing can’t write action scenes. This issue was boring, stupid and utterly painful to read. Usually I would take the excellent art into account, but action doesn’t seem to be Carmen Carnero’s forte either. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but please go back to telling slice-of-life stories. They weren’t the X-Men stories l wanted, but at least they worked.