Uncanny X-Men 6, X-Men Legacy 11, Ultimate Wolverine 4

Uncanny X-Men 6
Bendis (w) and Irving (a and c)

Scott's team of X-Men are in Limbo right now (capital "L" means that they're in the place, not the state of being. Unless the place is a state of being. Look, just...it's a place in the Marvel Universe and we're all going to have to get over that) and Dormammu is enjoying trying to torture Illyana and claiming sole ownership of Limbo. The team, almost entirely consisting at this point of new mutants with untested powers and of teachers with broken powers, is nervous to engage Dormammu and his minions but are also unable to escape. The Cuckoos enter everyone's minds to give them courage to fight, which they proceed to do. Meanwhile, Maria Hill is trying to figure out who masterminded the attack on Cyclops in San Diego and what Cyclops' mutant revolution is planning on doing, exactly. To do this, she has enlisted another mutant to head up mutant affairs at SHIELD (I don't know if that's a real department, it's just what I'm trying to say): Dazzler.

There are some decent ideas in this book. Obviously training new mutants to use their powers and teaching them about what it is to be a mutant are cornerstones of X-Men books and those cornerstones are made more complicated by the fact that this is the first wave of new mutants since decimation. On top of that, learning that mutant powers can "break," as opposed to being simply magicked away or "cured," is an interesting thought if it's approached the right way. Speaking of approaching things the right way, there is really a feeling that Bendis can't get out of his own way on this. I've already spoken at great length in this blog and to anyone who will listen about how I don't like Bendis' writing style of late, which relies very heavily on snappy back-and-forth (he had a Tumblr post this week about how The Newsroom is not The West Wing in the same way that Bunheads isn't Gilmore Girls; both West Wing and Gilmore Girls are clearly pretty high up in his pantheon of shows and it DEFINITELY reflects in his writing style but, like I've said, that can work in TV and movies but works best if used very infrequently in comics). Putting aside the fact that I personally think it's obnoxious and gets pretty boring to read when done too often, I do think it slows up the actual good ideas he might have about the characters or about the world. It's a pity because I think there is still a Bendis out there I could not spend my time criticizing but, unfortunately for me, it's not present right now.

X-Men Legacy 11
Spurrier (w) and Davidson, Huat, and Yeung (a) and Rosenberg (c)

This book continues to be a joy to read. The secrets of the "red rage" and the Xavier (or at least one of them) in David's head are revealed as he continues through his tour of the I.B.S.S. facility to see if the "cure" pill is the real deal or some scam meant to kill mutants or steal their powers to be used by the stealer. As the issue pushes forward, David finds out a number of things about the facility, including the fact that the pill leaves mutants in a somewhat vegetative state, able to still feel happiness but not much else and never to really develop a personality again. Despite that, he still demands the pill, knowing that putting him in a vegetative state is better than him eventually losing control of his powers and destroying the world. As he reaches the last room, full of people who were the victims of mutant violence (all these victims have been unintentionally hurt as bystanders), he is surprised to find that they're not actually real. Well, they were. They are all dead, reanimated by an Xavier linked to David's brain. They're guarding any secrets perfectly from David because they're almost entirely shells. The red rage attached to that Xavier appears and berates David for trying to give up his powers and making himself a failed legacy to his father (X-MAN LEGACY), all of which David falters under and apologizes for. However, as the red rage disappears, he pulls himself together and understands that his father is dead and whatever sick being is corrupting David's mind to show him this has no control over him. He still demands the pill. In the end, the mastermind reveals himself as none other than the Red Skull, pulling off the Marcus Glove mask and starts soliloquizing, expecting David to lash out at him or something along those lines. Instead, David tells him that he's not going to be any part of the plan, the pill really does seem to work and that's all that matters because he still wants the pill.

The end of this issue was pretty amazing. On top of the reveal of the Xavier and the red rage in David being controlled by the Red Skull and the Red Skull running this little facility, David makes a real character stand and manages to do something that I'm not sure I've ever seen done in comics: not fight. Sure, fight scenes are great and comics are great at them, but there is a real expectation, especially when the mask comes off, that David is going to attack Skull or flee or decide not to take the pill because Skull is evil so this procedure is clearly evil or so on. Instead, David stands up to him and very candidly tells him that he doesn't care that it's Red Skull running the operation, he doesn't care that the Skull has his father's brain, he doesn't care about anything that could spawn from that. All he cares about is that the pill works and he's going to use it. It's a really brilliant twist in that it's not a twist from anything David's said over the last two issues but it breaks from everything comics are known for doing. Meanwhile, Blindfold is rallying the troops at home (by troops, I mean three other mutants who want to beat up David but are also willing to try to save him) to rescue David from taking the pill. That's more like comics but it's set opposite David insistence on taking the pill in such a way that it will still create new drama and a new story to build on. Really expertly done, great series, another great issue.

Ultimate Wolverine 4
Bunn (w) and Messina and Erskine (a) and Tartaglia (c)

The Ultimate Wolverine limited series concludes as Quicksilver and Wolverine brawl over what to be done with the Mothervine sample running through Jimmy's veins. Quicksilver wants to weaponize it to bring the mutant race back to its power and Jimmy refuses to let innocent people be hurt by whatever it is Quicksilver wants to do. Quicksilver, though, has the upper hand in this fight because he just needs blood and Jimmy doesn't want to kill him. However, Jimmy gets in enough hits to stall Pietro and is eventually saved by the reappearance of his birthmother, who knocks them both down. Jimmy, she reveals, will heal so she's not too worried, but she's willing to let Pietro suffer a bit. For Jimmy, that healing is going back to Utopia and forgetting about Mothervine for a bit while also embracing his heritage as Wolverine. For Pietro, suffering means whatever's about to happen next in Ultimates Disassembled, the Ultimates storyline set to start in Ultimates 25. Ultimates.

It's a neat and tidy story with a little bit of character building for both the Wolverines of this universe, giving us the father aspect of Logan that knew the best way to protect and raise Jimmy to live and be a good man was to give him to his old war buddy James Hudson and giving us a good amount of information on Jimmy, who has starred in plenty of Ultimate X-Men books but hasn't had a ton of time to really be explored in that series. The Ultimate Quicksilver is also a somewhat fascinating person; he's not so removed from his 616 parallel that his whole personality is different, but he has more of the villainous streak that makes Pietro such an interesting character across both universes. Obviously he's been a hero in each place, but he has done his fair sure of treacherous acts and is often viewed with suspicion or contempt from his peers. Adding to that feeling in the Ultimate Universe isn't a bad way to push forward. It'll be nice to see him re-emerge in the Ultimates in a few issues.