Astonishing X-Men 66, Uncanny X-Men 11, Wolverine and the X-Men 35

Astonishing X-Men 66
Liu (w) and Pinna (a) and C. Peter (c)

The second-to-last issue of this series (we have a couple second-to-lasts this week) finds the X-Men cleaning up after Bobby's meltdown (not entirely the best way to put it, most of it hasn't yet melted BOOM, NAILED IT). They do what they can to help the people during the day but at night they decide to be in each other's company, having fun and enjoying themselves. It's, of course, interrupted when a creature that has apparently been awoken (and separated from its parents) starts controlling New Yorkers and making them kind of like zombies, but ones who crave companionship instead of loneliness. It's, uh, it's a little on the nose. The X-Men handle it (by comforting, not punching!) and it scurries away. Instead of following it, the team chooses to continue their night which leads to a big talk about what it is to be X-Men and how important it is to be a family and be there for one another. They let Bobby fall through the crack and allowed him to believe he couldn't come to them with his problems so they determine that they need to focus up on the things that are important as a team. The issue ends with what seems to be another weird alien thing (related to the first, probably a parent of some sort) materializing over Earth.

I'm a little happy that the strange alien is coming back for the final issue if just because, like I said, it felt a little on the nose to see a one-shot alien who happens to isolate people and make them feel disconnected in the midst of this whole story. Still, it's a good story with important implications. I talk a fair amount about teams that feel like family and about how the X-Men particularly are built this way; they're not just a team put together because of their abilities, they're a family brought together by a shared genetic code and a similar life experience because of it. It's nice to have the X-Men reset a bit to prioritize that idea. Still going to be sad to see this book go, as I still think it's one of the stronger X-Men books (of which there are just so, so many). The new X-Men series by Brian Wood is still too new to pass judgment on but last issue was a pretty solid one. I still like Ultimate X-Men best but that's neither here nor there as those characters aren't even these ones, you guys. Still, I hope the moral of this issue passes around through the other X-Men books and we get more of that family feel. For all of Claremont's dedication to X-Men and his saving the brand and everything, one of the most important things he did through his run was to occasionally take time out to show the more personal plotlines, where the team could help one another or just hang out with one another. That's important for these guys. Hopefully it permeates through the Universe in the coming days.

Uncanny X-Men 11
Bendis (w) and Irving w/ Anka (a and c)

Cyclops' team has appeared spontaneously at a pro-mutant protest in Michigan only to be met with a new sort of adaptoid Sentinel (or at least similar to a Sentinel). We get Cyclops' perspective throughout the whole issue which oscillates from anger at the way mutants are treated to acceptance of the way mutants are treated to anger at the way mutants are treated to pride at his new team in the way they jump into the fight to anger at the way mutants are treated. Meanwhile, the fight isn't entirely going their way and it's leading to a lot of frustration from Scott and his team. Even when they get a few good hits on the thing, it adapts to their attacks and keeps coming. They eventually overcome only when whoever sent this thing pulls it back. Meanwhile, Mystique (as Dazzler) is scoping out a meeting on Madripoor (which Mystique wants to own) between Madame Hydra and the Hand.

I like the way that the team fights here. They don't seem entirely above their station (remember, they've only had their powers and been working on their powers for a short time) but they're doing well enough to show that their training is paying off. Basic uses of their powers and no one's crumbling under pressure. I still have my issues with Bendis' need to put the snappy dialogue in, which I think undermines the shock and seriousness of the situation on top of counteracting Cyclops' narration. Counteracting that, though, might not be the worst idea as it comes off fairly heavy-handed and like a beginner's guide to X-Men. "Why does the world treat us this way? They'll never see us as equals! I killed Professor Xavier, who really helped pave the way for mutants, so maybe I deserve this but the rest of mutants don't! My team is really good, here's a rundown of who everyone is!" and so on and so forth. It's the worst kind of "tell don't show" exposition and it hinders what otherwise works pretty well as an issue. It might be a function of the upcoming X-Men event Battle of the Atom (debuting, I believe, next week), making this issue feel like a catch-up issue for new readers, which I think weakens this issue, actually. If you feel you have to catch readers up, do it in the event, not before it when you're probably still just dealing with readers you already have. It makes even less sense as a catch-up issue, I think, because the structure of the upcoming crossover is such that it will take up two issues of every existing main universe X-Men book (not Astonishing, as there aren't two issues left of that) plus two bookend issues called Battle of the Atom. To get the full scope of this event you're already going to need to pick up something like 10 books in the next two months or so, now you're asking readers to pick this up as an introduction too? FURTHERMORE, I've heard in an advance review of Battle of the Atom 1 that the start of it reads like a summary of recent events anyway. You know what, I was relatively happy with this issue and now I'm not. Geez you guys, pack it in.

Wolverine and the X-Men 35
Aaron (w) and Bradshaw and Wong (a) and L. Martin w/ eFX, Mason, Milla, and Sotocolor (c)

The Hellfire Club's coup doesn't quite work as the two betrayers stupidly use Kilgore-made weapons to attempt to kill Kade, which have safeguards in place to not harm Kilgores. That doesn't mean things are going well for Kade, though, as the X-Men are breaching rapidly and even the students infiltrating the Hellfire Academy seem to be having some success in their escape. Quentin Quire and Idie kiss and are quickly dating (while they try to escape) and Toad pulls every skin off of Husk to reveal her true self underneath (looks like Paige still, not like a skeleton, but not evil now, conveniently). There are various turns back and forth in battle but it ends with the X-Men winning out and forcing a number of the bad guys into the Siege Perilous while capturing the two Hellfire Club members who tried to betray Kade (they end up enrolled at the Jean Grey School against their wishes). Meanwhile, as Starblood starts to leave with Broo, Broo is visited by a Bamf, who Broo quickly bites. The bite seems to transport his mind a bit to a vision of a man in a white cloak with a Bamf on his shoulder telling Broo it's time to come back. With that, Broo attacks and successfully subdues Starblood, crashing the ship near where the X-Men have landed after the explosion at the Hellfire Academy (there was an explosion there, by the way). Broo emerges, back to his old self with the help from the mysterious stranger.

Hey guys, that stranger was totally Nightcrawler. There's a little epilogue of sorts that shows the man in the cloak surrounded by Bamfs and hoping that the X-Men are willing to risk their lives once more to save a dead friend. And he's got weird feet and he's blue. Guys, it's Nightcrawler. This isn't the biggest surprise as promo art for upcoming X-books has shown a swashbuckling Nightcrawler returned but it's still exciting to see because, hey guys, I love Nightcrawler. I know, I know, people being resurrected over and over lightens the threat of death and makes death just a slightly more inconvenient plot point. I get that. But I really love Nightcrawler, is the thing. The rest of this issue was pretty good, as was the last issue, which was exciting after a string of weaker issues. I'm a fan of books occasionally taking a moment to reset themselves and balance out all the adrenaline and action of a series but, though the plot was kind of building, I felt like this title went through a wave of meaningless issues that didn't help anybody. But that was that and this is this and now I think they've righted themselves a bit. Bit of an upswing as we hit Battle of the Atom.