There was a lot of anticipation for the first issue of X-MEN in a post-Hellfire world and Gerry Duggan showed that the X-writers’ room wasn’t going to hold any punches during the Fall of X. X-MEN #25 continued to show how bleak the mutants’ current reality is and offered little hope for an immediate fix.

The main story of the issue primarily focuses on Kate Pryde’s new role in the mutant rebellion several weeks after the events of the Gala. She’s now adopted the Shadowkat persona — a more ruthless version of the Shadowcat persona she had during the 1980s. Through flashbacks, Duggan also reveals what happened to her immediately after Gala and how she ended up going down this darker sinister path.

To start the issue, Duggan also writes a touching conversation between Krakoan era Kate Pryde & a rabbi that acts as an anchor to remind readers that deep down inside Shadowkat, she’s still a good person at her core. I’m really excited to see the development of Shadowkat as part of the larger mutant rebellion and I hope that Duggan can withstand the urge to turn this new persona into a caricature similar to what’s happened with Moira.

While he has other characters mention it directly, Duggan does a great job writing the character to remind readers just how powerful and important Shadowkat is to the survival of mutants. The artwork by Stefano Caselli also goes a long way in reminding readers just how dangerous Shadowkat can be in hand-to-hand combat with some of the more disturbing visual depictions of her powers in use that I can remember.

While it was great to see more of Shadowkat, we also got an initial glimpse of how the mutants who escaped the Gala with Emma Frost are building a network of resistance. It all felt very reminiscent of the original Star Wars trilogy and I can’t wait to see how Duggan handles telling this part of the story arc where the X-Men are the underdogs.

Rating: 8.5/10