X-Men 12, Uncanny X-Men 19, Wolverine and the X-Men 2

X-Men 12
Wood (w) and Anka (a) and Keith (c)
Wood (w) and C. Mann and S. Mann (a) and Mounts (c)

The X-Men were tipped off about Arkea's location by Ana Cortes, who recognized that she was getting in a bit over her head by the end. Fortunately for the X-Men, their approach hadn't been expected and so Arkea's sisterhood hadn't moved from their off-the-grid location, far away from any sort of electrical signals in or out, meaning that Arkea cannot simply escape. Monet busts into the hideout first, plunging through the ground with Amora and leaving her brutally wounded. While Psylocke takes down Typhoid Mary, Rachel and Storm meet Arkea, in Reiko's body which also now holds Lady Deathstrike. Madelyne Pryor and Seline Gallo are with her and ready for a fight. Though they don't particularly relish taking orders from Arkea, they recognize that they're only alive because of her plans. Storm, though, offers them a chance to escape, claiming that they'll settle up later if they'll just leave Arkea by herself. They take the chance with almost no hesitation and depart, leaving Monet, finished with Amora, to hold down Arkea while Karima shoots her in the head with a specially made (by John Sublime) gun that will target and kill Arkea and leave the host body unaffected. With the day won, Karima announces she'll be leaving this X-team and joining Sabra and Gabriel. Story two finds Jubilee emerging from her mist form to distract the Sentinels attacking the beach, giving Quentin a chance to take control of the Sentinels and use them to destroy each other. Successful ending on all sides.

This issue leaves me a teeny bit conflicted. On the one hand, I do feel like the Arkea storyline was starting to drag a bit; though there have been brief interludes (including stupid BATTLE OF THE ATOM) this has been the ongoing story since issue one and I think it's seen better days. That said, it's hard not to see this ending as something of a rush job. Don't get me wrong, I still like the ending well enough; I like the combat and the planning the X-Men have and the fights themselves are certainly fun to watch. However, it feels like it came together really suddenly, with the X-Men able to defeat this foe that just an issue ago seemed completely in control. Maybe there's a greater lesson in that and maybe the change in expectations of a normal comic was the key. Still, it's a little jarring. ON THE OTHER HAND AGAIN, I'm excited to see how this team moves on to the next mission. Certainly, aside from, say, X-Force, my favorite X-team right now. For all that that says.

Uncanny X-Men 19
Bendis (w) and Bachalo, Townsend, Vey, Mendoza, Irwin, Olazaba (a) and Bachalo and Villarrubia (c)

While Hijack, recently released from Cyclops' team, is interrogated by Maria Hill and Mystique shows Sabretooth that she's manufacturing MGH from the captive body of Dazzler, the Uncanny X-Men travel to Chicago to track down a new and powerful mutant that popped up on Cerebro. When they get there, of course, it's a trap and they're faced with a giant Sentinel spewing new, smaller Sentinels that seem to interfere with powers they know about. As a result, many of this team's powers are shut down but the ones who aren't known about are unaffected. As such, Eva is still able to use a time bubble to protect them from an attack and Magik is able to use her new and improved sorcery to protect them from the rest. They manage to force the Sentinels to flee but Scott considers it the last straw, vowing to go to war with whoever is behind these attacks.

Okay, so readers of this blog probably know that I have serious issues with Bendis' preferred writing style for comics. I know it's something of an unpopular opinion and I almost hate it myself because it makes my life harder than it has to be, particularly when I go to review his books and the first thing I want to write every single time is "I don't understand why there's so much back-and-forth dialogue and what anyone is getting out of that." I swear that's not how I want to come at these reviews, just like I swear I'm not out to hate any of his books from the get-go (though I can't always put aside my biases and I'm not sure I should; I would hold a writer I like better to a higher standard because I know their work, why not the other way around?) because, though it's often easier to write reviews about books I don't like (got plenty to say, typically), I don't at all like not liking comics. So I guess what I'm getting at here is that I don't want to level my typical complaint of "I can't stand this writing" at this book even though I just have. On top of that, though, it's hard for me to see Scott as the kind of strategic genius he's meant to be when his plan of attack when the chips were down was "everyone separate and run away" and then he declared war on a foe he can't see. I have other issues, sure, but let's just say what I've said and be done with it, okay?

Wolverine and the X-Men 2
Latour (w) and Asrar (a) and Silva (c)

The Phoenix Corporation that has seemingly appeared out of nowhere has lit a fire under what seems like the entire Jean Grey School. Quentin has taken off, looking to find the Phoenix Corporation for whatever answers it may yield, Wolverine and Storm are forced to follow him, Evan is jealous of him, and Idie is worried about what the Phoenix logo being used by humans means for all of them. Solid questions all around but seemingly no answers anywhere. Quentin arrives at the Phoenix Corporation and immediately runs into a giant maybe-mutant, someone from the future and trained, he reveals, by the Askani priests (like Cable). He seems to know everything about everyone and has the ability to show them bits of their future and to attack their weakest mental points. He reveals to Quentin the path of destruction that lays before him if he continues on his path and, when Wolverine and Storm arrive and promptly attack him, he brings Storm's insecurities down around her and destroys Wolverine in the fight, ending it with what seems to be a threat aimed at Evan, Kid Apocalypse. Meanwhile, unrest surges at the school as Idie fights with Armor, left in charge in Wolverine and Storm's absence (where DOES Beast go all the time?).

There are a number of interesting irons in the fire (just how I like my irons: interesting) here as Evan's (certainly not wrongful) jealousy of Quentin and some of the images John, the Askani-trained maybe-mutant, reveals set the stage for a potential Apocalypse-Phoenix battle between one-time friends Evan and Quentin (of course, the Phoenix and Apocalypse have fought before, at least in other dimensions, but I don't know that it's ever been quite so personal). The Phoenix Corporation stuff is still somewhat shrouded in mystery but there are interesting aspects to the debate over it, including the use of the Phoenix imagery and name all by itself. In addition to that, Storm lays out a compelling argument (after laying out a resistant Wolverine) for why Wolverine needs to cool it, upset with him over his attack-first mentality and for refusing to seek counsel on matters involving Jean or the Phoenix or whatever else. There are some really good nuggets in here and I think it could translate to a really interesting story but I think we still have to learn a little more about what's happening before we can judge that aspect just yet.