X-Men Legacy 24, X-Force 1

X-Men Legacy 24
Spurrier (w) and Huat and Yeung (a) and Villarrubia (c)

My plan, right, was to lead Wednesday off with AVENGERS and SECRET AVENGERS, as I tend to put Avengers titles out first if I have them. Scheduling forced my hand, though, and had me lead with X-MEN LEGACY, the end of my favorite book of the year, and X-FORCE, the start of what I hope will be a favorite (I'm writing this before I read that one). I think, given the impact of these two stories (and particularly this one), it's the right call to highlight these books as early as I am, middle of the day on a release day, but it also makes me more wary of spoilers. I've toyed, going back and forth, with having reviews that wholly summarize the book and having reviews that vaguely point at things and reviews that are more log lines with analysis of something I refuse to define. I've more or less settled on fully summarization, leaving out some of the finer details to allow potential readers the chance to find those out for themselves.

There's no room for that here.

This book is not only totally spoiler-laden, it's maybe the most incredible story I've read in comics since Gillen's JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY or the Winter Soldier creation. It's meaningful, it's wonderful, and it, above all else, knows exactly what it is. I refuse to spoil it here and I refuse especially to do so on a Wednesday, when plenty of people won't even have a chance to get to it. All I'll do is advise you to go out, buy this book, buy any copy of X-MEN LEGACY you can find, and absorb it all. Drink it all in. As Spurrier says in the traditional final letter to the audience, the book is "a title, a character, a creative team and above all a vibe so bloodymindedly unlike its fellows." If it's not for you, it's not for you. But it's absolutely been for me and it's absolutely been something to watch. It's an incredible departure from any other superhero comic in the way that YOUNG AVENGERS played with the medium and the art form as a whole or the way HAWKEYE insists on not being about superheroes. It's something worth seeing even if it's not what you're looking for. Please take note of it. I'll end this not-quite-review with more of Spurrier's words:

There will be some, I think, angered by these last few pages, on the grounds that a tale's "importance" can only be weighed according to some grand impact on its Universe. I understand but disagree with that view. Instead I wouldn't have chosen quite such a perversely bittersweet ending if I didn't think it the best way to emphasize a very important point: even when nothing else has changed, when all the explodo and punching seems to have been for nothing, it's the lesson learnt - even the merest echo of it - that renders the journey valuable. Our memories remain.

X-Force 1
Spurrier (w) and R. Kim (a and c)

Cable has assembled Psylocke and formerly-powered Marrow to be a part of his new mutant strike team, a "dirty tricks crew" for mutant nation. The reasoning behind this one is more firm than the reasoning behind the most recent couple of X-Force teams, one brought together by threat and one brought together to prevent disasters Cable foresaw. This one is here to do a little bit of everything, including making sure mutants don't get dealt out of the world-building hand. After an attack in Alexandria (which may be linked to why Hope is suddenly strapped up to machines with Doctor Nemesis claiming that she's "theoretically alive") took over three thousand lives with a mutant square in the center of it, Cable wants to figure out what the mutant's tie was to the explosion, hoping to keep people from getting more mad at mutants, and to recover whatever the weapon was, hoping to arm up the mutants. His "broadly trustworthy" informant has discovered that the cyber-weapon that shut down communications in Alexandria was also used in various other countries at various other strikes to gain data. Now this informant is being held by the Chinese and the team needs to get him out before they can advance to the next stage. Of course, to Psylocke's dismay, the informant is Fantomex. Fantomex reports that the weapon is being carried by a plane always airborne over Antarctica (international air) and it's only susceptible to attack when it's being refueled. He also happens to know the refueling schedule. The team dispatches in EVA to attack the refueling plane, hijacking it to allow the formerly-depowered Marrow to hurl herself at the plane with a Doc Nemesis concocted timefreeze grenade, allowing her 30 seconds of unfettered access. She shatters the engine of the plane before sticking a parachute on the weapon container and launching it and herself out of the wreckage in that 30 seconds (real time a few tenths of a second) before the plane blows. Inside the weapon's container is, as Cable suspected, a new mutant.

Very interesting first issue and one that makes completely clear that these characters will all very much have their own distinct personalities and uses. I talked a little bit in my pre-game this week about the upside to having a team that's a little smaller than the recent X-FORCE teams (and really than most teams in general) and, after reading this issue, I have to emphasize again how neat it is. Four people on the team (plus unofficial member Doctor Nemesis) means we get ample time to check in with each character and get a feel for everyone, even in just the first issue. Marrow, the biggest question mark of the roster, handles narration duty and it gives us a look into an adrenaline junkie's mind, one that we can also see through her action and her dialogue. The narration colors her as something more than just a deranged thrill-seeker, which her dialogue may not have done so well. Cable, of course, is the terse general, always plotting and always leading. Psylocke is the most complicated and perhaps the least fleshed out here, though not because Spurrier does a bad job with her. She's probably the most prevalent character in the wider universe from this team right now so there's less need to really get too far into her character but it still sticks the landing (OLYMPICS) by showing her as the uber-powerful and lethal telepath with a complex history and a vow to stop killing. Fantomex gets perhaps the biggest makeover with Spurrier really relishing the dive into his over-the-top personality and his French aspects. Fantomex sometimes confounds writers thanks to his strange origins. He chose to be French when he was raised as part of the Weapon Plus program and it's something that writers don't tend to bring out too much (even Remender didn't focus on it besides a word here or there and Wolverine's insistence that his nickname be "Le Pew," a nickname which Wolvy would be pleased to know carries over here). Spurrier sees it as a key character point and I can't help but agree. The man chose to be French, of course he's going to embrace it. It also gives him the unerring air of smugness and irritation so points to that as well. Really fun first issue, looking forward to this one as it continues and as we start to go deeper into the story and the people.

X-Men Legacy 23, Uncanny X-Force 17

X-Men Legacy 23
Spurrier (w) and Huat and Yeung (a) and Villarrubia (c)

David's world worm is in full effect as he finds himself trapped in his own mind while the sum of his powers begin to envelop everyone around him, calling forth all mutants to join him, which they do, convinced by David's powers that it's for the best. The only one who isn't called into David is Blindfold, who tries to stop the other mutants from being taken but who also recognizes that she won't be able to. She enters David's mind as her physical body keeps fighting the world worm outside and the two of them talk. It's a surprisingly soft talk with everything that's happening outside and it has a lot to do with his regret that he won't be able to spend more time with Ruth. It's then, though, that the smallest of loopholes occurs to him (particularly notable since he also spends a fair amount of time lamenting that the beautiful people in this world always get loopholes and manage to worm their way out of death but he just worms his way into it. Get it? Worms. Guys, I'm working on LAYERS here): one of the powers he's gestalt-ed into him is the powers of the Chronodon, who can make time stand still. He uses these powers not to stop anything that's about to happen but to give himself and Ruth just a little more time. And then they make love in that time.

This series and this story have been incredible all the way through, highlighted by a very distinct narrator and protagonist but certainly helped by a well-developed and maintained supporting cast. In the end, though, this was always meant to be a love story between David and Ruth and finally, after 23 issues, they get their moment. Albeit, it's a short lived one as they had to literally stop time to have it and their return to time will return their physical forms to fighting with one needing to kill the other to ensure their better future, but it's still a moment. It's a lovely moment at that and it's backed by an issue that gives us exactly what we've come to expect from this book; it's a solid mix of action, high stakes, and character drama with the typical comic book world-ending possibility and, as David knew it would, it all comes down to punching. Really great visual issue too. Striking images and jarring colors (lots of yellow and grey) really help to highlight everything that's happening and give it sort of an epic feel. So excited for the last issue but also so incredibly depressed by the idea of it.

Uncanny X-Force 17
Humphries (w) and Tolibao, Soy, Tadeo, Young, and Paris (a) and Curiel (c)

The conclusion of UNCANNY X-FORCE, CABLE AND X-FORCE, and the VENDETTA crossover itself kicks off with Hope plunging the psimitar into Bishop's gut. Bishop, though, convinces her to take the psimitar out without actually killing him by again pointing out that he's totally sorry but more so that she shouldn't throw her life away by killing and that she shouldn't throw her life away on him. Not to say he wouldn't deserve it, he admits, but that it's still not worth it (it doesn't hurt that he's not a threat any more). With this, the rest of the X-Force teams locate and attack Stryfe, splitting into two groups, one to attack Stryfe and one to locate their missing teammates. The attack on Stryfe is well-managed by Psylocke but ultimately fails to the omega-level mutant. Stryfe captures everyone in a telekinetic hold except for Spiral, who had left earlier, and Cable, who was still removed from the fight. Spiral, though, hadn't actually left officially but had, instead, gone to pick up Cable and they return to stab Stryfe with the psimitar, which does not kill him but does force him to flee. However, before he goes, he forces Hope to take his powers, knowing she can't contain them and will likely kill them all with the psychic reverb. With Stryfe gone, everyone is free to worry about Hope exploding but, before she can, Bishop rushes forth and talks to her, understanding what she's going through as someone whose powers also rely on absorption and release. Bishop manages to get her to contain the power and then blast it upwards, impacting no one. With everyone safe, the two teams reconvene and hang out a bit, effectively ending the books with Psylocke and Cable walking into the sunset together.

It's not a bad little ending but most of it hinges on Bishop and Hope, which is certainly a worthwhile story and one that's executed as well as anything in these two series has been. However, it also means that the rest of the players in this book kind of get pushed to the side a little and actually end up feeling a little unnecessary. The story was never about them and their rescue of the hostages only ended up serving as a distraction for Cable to get to Stryfe. Kind of a weird way to end the two series, which is kind of what I've been saying since the get-go. I've also been saying that this crossover has hit every beat in a sort of predictable fashion and, with the quality of the issue aside, this issue is no different. Still, like I said, the story of Cable, Hope, and Bishop was one certainly worth telling and I think it's told pretty well here. I don't think either of these series got to end on a particularly strong note with this crossover, sadly, but it's certainly an acceptable note and it paves the way rather nicely for Si Spurrier's X-FORCE next month (woo!).

X-Men Legacy 21, Amazing X-Men 2, Marvel Knights X-Men 2

X-Men Legacy 21
Spurrier (w) and Pham w/ Leisten (a) and Rosenberg (c)

David’s newfound sense of self isn’t exactly thrilling everyone close to him…or really, anyone close to him since Blindfold is the only one close to him. He visits her before he sets off on his journey and he lets her into his mind again, explaining why he has to fight the evil Xavier and where he has to do it. It has a lot to do with the psychosphere, the kind of collective subconscious that Xavier is warping and filling with hate, filling the human hivemind with hate and anger. Ruth understands all of this but doesn’t like that it’s David who has to end it and really doesn’t like that David has become something different and strange as she loves the imperfect David. As ever though, David reveals that his visit, though he loves her, was using her to try to bond his remaining personalities, as he’s always stronger and more complete when he’s around her. It, uh, it doesn’t totally work and he leaves her behind while still bemoaning all of his non-participation medal personalities. He goes to fight the gold-skinned Xavier and, despite his growing power, still can’t best him. Xavier announces that it’s worthless, that he was always the strongest piece of David, whatever he might have been in relation to David. David keeps pleading to his strongest powers to join up with him and they keep refusing. Blindfold, still in her bed at Winchester, pleads too. Xavier makes David watch as his hate bleeds into a man on a nuke-carrying submarine who goes on to kill all of his shipmates and launch the nuke before killing himself.

Despite all of the growing plot and the rising tension as the gold-skinned Xavier starts polluting the world and making humans attack one another to pave the way for mutants, everything that happens here is so fundamentally driven by Spurrier’s insistence to make David a fully realized and wonderfully compelling character. Without David’s character, it’s just another superhero-against-insurmountable-odds story, which can be perfectly fine but right now we have extra levels to it because there’s so much happening with David. In fact, by and large, I’m far more interested in what’s going to become of David as a character than I am about whether or not he’ll stop the gold-skinned Xavier. That’s not a slight on the story nor the threat, both of which are impressive, rather it’s a ringing endorsement of how interesting David is as a character and how invested the audience is in him. More great stuff, looking forward to the last few issues, sad that it’ll be ending.

Amazing X-Men 2
Aaron (w) and McGuinness and Vines (a) and Gracia (c)

After coming through the portal, the X-Men are all separated, with Storm, Iceman, and Firestar landing in what seems to be Hell and Wolverine and Northstar ending up in what seems to be Heaven. Wolverine is contacted by Xavier, who kind of explains where he is and tells him not to let go in his fight against the captain of the ship he’s fighting, Captain Jack (??). He does, of course, let go in the physical sense of the plank he’s holding on to (like, walking the plank sort of plank) and falls into what seems to be nothingness. Storm, Iceman, and Firestar look to fight their way out but pretty quickly realize that they’re not the only target of the demons below, who are also not so thrilled with Azazel. They best their adversaries, though it comes with great exhaustion to Iceman particularly. Firestar tries to help him out of Hell as Storm is captured by some of the red bamfs and the captain of the ship leaving Hell, Captain Kid, as in Billy the Kid (??). Watching the ship and ready to hijack and take it over, though, is Nightcrawler.

It’s probably wrong to say that a book is moving slowly after two issues but, I mean, this book is moving pretty slowly, right guys? It’s not that there haven’t been fights or that there haven’t been big dramatic reveals or villains (kind of, if we’re counting the weird ship captains which I’m still not really counting) because there have been. Still, the book is moving pretty slowly, which might have to do with the amount of narration and character explanations that sometimes come with the beginnings of books. In this case, we get definitions of major X-Men like Wolverine, Iceman, Storm, and Northstar, and a perhaps would-be more useful definition of Firestar if it didn’t basically just say “I don’t really know her.” The narration is from Nightcrawler which makes me wish that the issue was just about Nightcrawler already, and not about this weird Heaven/Hell thing. I’m not totally onboard with that, you guys. The art isn’t bad and I’m less bothered this time out by the similarities between this and the first few issues of NOVA (also drawn by McGuinness) which made everyone look a little more childlike than I would have hoped. I guess ultimately I just wish this book, like Aaron’s time on WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN (which I just found out will be continuing without Aaron and will pass to WINTER SOLDIER writer Jason Latour), was maybe a little less childlike than I’ve seen so far.

Marvel Knights X-Men 2
Revel (w and a) and Peter (c)

Wolverine fights off Sabretooth who reveals him to be Mystique to fight Rogue before being joined by Blob and Pyro and a cadre of Hellfire Guard, all of which rings strange to Wolverine. He realizes that something else must be causing it and sees a girl in the middle of the house, holding a gun and hiding from them. He asks if she’s doing this and she tells him that she’ll shoot him then goes ahead and shoots him. He shakes it off and she cuts her arm, making all of the manifestations disappear. They talk to her and, along with Kitty and the girl they picked up last time, determine to bring her with them until they can figure some more things out. The new girl, Darla, reveals that she can pull out memories from people’s minds and manifest them, which led to the suicide of her mother and abandonment from her father. Wolverine accuses her of killing the mutant they’re there to kill and freaks out a bit at her, which makes Rogue a bit suspicious. They probably all should be suspicious of the other girl they’re with but no one is so the adventure continues!

The story continues to be compelling as we get roped into a backwoods world of mutants and drugs and dirty cops and all sorts of other things that Wolverine, Kitty, and Rogue were never expecting. More compelling than the story and these characters, though, is the art, which continues to stand out and really looks like nothing else in comics today. Between the fluidity of the art and the almost-pastel like colors, the panels look almost like paintings, though not in the same sort of ways you get near-painting-like panels in comics occasionally, like I'd say MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN is kind of looking right now. The story itself is good and the new characters Revel has created are plenty interesting, just as it's interesting to see three core X-Men finding themselves out of their depth in a small town, but it's really the art that's drawing me in, again, not unlike MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN.

X-Men Legacy 20, Cable and X-Force 16

X-Men Legacy 20
Spurrier (w) and Huat and Yeung w/ Tadeo (a) and Villarrubia (c)

The Shadow Phoenix is in David's mind attacking all of the powers that live there as David tries to find a way to defeat it. He thinks back to the things that linked the survivors of the Shadow Phoenix he saw when he was combing around Aarkus' head for clues. His first assumption is that sheer power defeated it, so he tries to rally his strongest and most intimidating powers, though he does so to no avail. They're scared of the Shadow Phoenix, who is picking them apart one by one. His next thought is strength in numbers, so his next move is to attempt to lead the remaining powers in his head. When this continues not to work, it sets in on him. Strength in numbers doesn't matter, it's the ability to work together that saved the Shadow Phoenix's other foes. Knowing this, David opens himself up to bond with his powers, teaming with them instead of simply grabbing and controlling them when he needs. David realizes that his mantra of "I rule me" has never been more true; every human, as he says, is a legion in need of a leader, wishing to be guided and not ruled. As a result, the Shadow Phoenix starts to weaken and even starts to spit back out the powers its swallowed, which David realizes is pretty weird; a predator who doesn't chew its food but keeps it intact. It dawns on David as he expels the Shadow Phoenix and wakes up: the Shadow Phoenix wasn't real, it was all a con. As he emerges from his own mind and awakens again, he begins to accuse Aarkus, who quickly cuts him off and explains it was only for his own good. He needed to learn how to use his powers like this, to become one with them. They needed him scared, not smug. Aarkus, in fact, appreciated that David stepped in to correct his previous views about mutants and wanted to return the favor by opening David's mind to what he could really be. On top of that, they need him whole to face down the golden Xavier. Even this series' first person to turn on David, Karasu Tengu, has realized that her life is, in fact, better for David's interference in it and so she played the role of the Shadow Phoenix. Now David must go and fight, with all of his powers intact.

Really, really lovely book. There are few examples of the sort of "hero realizes his potential" part of the hero's journey that are as well executed as this. All of the pieces start coming together as we see flashes from David of his own memories of this series where, for as successful as he's been, he's used and abused people. He's accomplished most of his own goals but his mistakes and even the problematic perception of him have all come because he's refused to let people in on his plan, preferring to do things himself and let people see too late that maybe he was doing a good thing after all. This issue makes clear that David simply hasn't seen things that way up to now and, even if he realized he wasn't really in any danger from the Shadow Phoenix, it's impossible to argue that he didn't just become far more powerful by leading his powers instead of just controlling them so there's a lesson here for him regardless of how the lesson came to him. The art is gorgeous and fits so well with this book and I continue to read these issues and wonder how I didn't love the art from the start. This issue very much feels like Spurrier's way to wrap it up here as he begins his transition over to his new X-FORCE book (still excited about that, you guys); we've now seen David embrace his powers and his future as well as mending relationships with Aarkus, SWORD, and Karasu. The issue ends with the knowledge that Blindfold was kind of in on this plan from the start but that she refused to be a part of it because she didn't want to see David in so much pain and because she realized that it was the beginning of the end. Brand then promptly wiped Blindfold's memory of it and sent her home. Some has stuck around, though, as she mutters in her sleep that they're going to start the end. So, as Abigail Brand says, go start it, cowboy.

Cable and X-Force 16
Hopeless (w) and Sandoval (a) and Rosenberg (c)

The sudden appearance of another entity in Forge's head has complicated things for the team as a whole. The Sentinel Colossus and Domino were tasked with taking down is not as inert as they were expecting it. Though they eventually manage to shut it down, the initial chase and the ensuing explosion cause an avalanche very near to them. Cable, on the other hand, has found that his new pre-cog powers are working pretty well but that his old powers aren't running properly any more, leaving he and Hope in the middle of a firefight with Reavers without any guns. Hope, though, had accidentally borrowed some of his TK powers when she had to attack him with the psimitar and so has enough to keep them mostly protected, though how far that will go remains to be seen as higher ranking Reavers return with a device that morphs the fallen Reavers into one giant predator. Finally, back at the base, Nemesis has entered Forge's consciousness to try to figure out what's going on inside. While in there, he runs into Forge and the two begin to explore while Forge explains that this entity is known as the Adversary (very clever name) and is a creature of pure chaos who likes to mess with humans (who Nemesis likens to Q from Star Trek: the Next Generation for all you nerds out there, says the guy with a comic blog). As they explore and find no real way to stop the Adversary, Forge realizes that the mind they're in isn't Forge's any more, it's the Adversary's.

A good deal of interesting stuff here as, in typical CABLE AND X-FORCE fashion, things go extremely wrong extremely quickly. There's a lot to contend with and it's almost entirely interesting as Cable's old powers are no longer working, Hope's powers are somewhat amplified by the TK that came pouring out of Cable's mind not long ago, Domino and Colossus have ruined their date night by causing an avalanche when they had to bring down a Sentinel, favorite odd-couple Nemesis and Forge are reunited as they wander through someone's mind, and Boom Boom is stuck at home contending with a god-like being of pure chaos who, in his first moments around her, converted their base into a simulacrum of a night club. As I said, there's a lot happening. The writing continues to be really character-driven, giving us really great moments from...well, from everyone, really. There's not a character in this issue who doesn't have a good few lines. The art fits the tone really well, a somewhat more cartoony feel than what we've seen from this book previously with Gerardo Sandoval  picking up the pencils on this one. There are cute little moments in lettering too as Hope throws a car at some of the Reavers and the sound effect reads "KAR-KRASH," just pages after an avalanche starting made the sound "AVALANCHE." Sometimes little fun games like that can get really distracting and pull you out, but I had to double-check kar-krash before really getting it and I didn't even see "AVALANCHE" on the first read-through. Lots of fun stuff with plenty of plot to keep us motivated for next issue.

Uncanny X-Men 12, X-Men Legacy 17, Ultimate X-Men 31

Uncanny X-Men 12
Bendis (w) and Bachalo, Townsend, Irwin, Mendoza, Olazaba, and Vey (a) and Gracia (c)

Jean and young Scott have come to older Scott's X-Men team for help, hoping that his rogue team might offer them an alternative to being sent back to the past, where they belong. After much discussion and thought, Scott says that he will help to protect them from being sent back (Scott of all people should really be against this) though Emma is against it. Meanwhile, Kitty continues to argue with impassioned and nonsensical speeches about allowing people to do what they want with their lives to her X-Men team and the future X-Men team that they should be allowed to stay. Future Jean and Xavier get a lock on young Jean and Scott and everyone goes to Utopia to retrieve them or fight on their behalf. Future Jean freezes the others and knocks young Jean out. Of course, Emma and the Cuckoos are not frozen and Emma tells future Jean that, though she thinks the original team should be sent back, knocking young Jean out while being future Jean is not okay and gets ready to battle her.

I've been pretty harsh on Uncanny X-Men, All-New X-Men, and, most recently, Battle of the Atom. Sometimes I have to pull back and ask if my dislike is warranted or if I don't like, perhaps, some of the conceits or the writing or whatever factor and am now blowing it out of proportion. Uncanny X-Men 12, to me, feels like the proof I need to say "nope, definitely not." I hate this issue. I hate everything about it and it culminates in what seems to be the biggest, dumbest fan service with even a wink, in case we needed it, to say that it's the biggest fan service. Haven't seen Jean and Emma fight in nearly a decade? Worry not, WE'VE GOT YOU COVERED. Want people who see time travel regularly to still be flummoxed by the rules of time travel? Covered. Want to see normally smart characters suddenly turn absurdly dumb? How about if they have impassioned speeches that come from the heart even if they are unbelievably stupid? Covered and covered. Want more of that back-and-forth dialogue that is meant to be fast but, in fact, slows down the flow of the book to a ridiculous degree? Hey. We've got you covered. So yes, I think this book and this event are both terrible and it's hard to see it as anything other than the weakest form of fan service that I can't, in good faith, believe was actually asked for. And this is coming from someone who read Avengers vs. X-Men. I rather wish I wasn't reviewing this with Legacy and Ultimate X-Men, both of which are really good books and which are weakened by being on the same post as Uncanny X-Men. But I already made a schedule and I'm sticking with it.

X-Men Legacy 17
Spurrier (w) and Pham (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Cyclops and David have begun their "no powers" fight and are right in the middle of it as we begin this issue. We get a fair deal of David's inner monologue (and a little bit of fourth wall breaking as he addresses the audience, the people reading his thoughts) and a whole bunch of recap of things that have come before as the two trade blow for blow. Though Scott is a trained martial artist and is stronger and quicker than David, it's a reasonably even fight because, as David points out, Scott doesn't usually get to brawling with people, instead using his powers vs. their powers, and Scott has a code of honor. David doesn't have that, particularly, and he's really, really angry and, he admits, a bit envious of Scott, as he was viewed by Charles. The fight finally ends with, of course, David finally succumbing. Down and out, he uses his powers just enough to incite Scott, who blasts him into the new mutant Scott and his team had found (she fuses living matter together) and this action, thanks to Scott's attack, creates the world worm we've seen David, in his visions of the future, turn into. David becomes a part of the world worm and begins reaching out for more mutant minds. That means mutantkind is doomed unless Blindfold can kill David before things get too out of control. However, before she can strike, she's stopped by what seems to be a robot containing the mind of Blindfold's brother Luca.

There is an awful lot happening here. There'd be plenty to talk about even if this issue was just Scott and David fighting but then we get the whole last half of the book. The recap is maybe a little heavy at times but it's particularly understandable once we get to the end of the issue, which reveals Luca again, not to mention the world worm. There's also a fair amount of monologue, a lot of text, which slows things down a bit at the beginning (thanks, in no small part, to all the recap). Unlike with most books I say that about, here it still flows pretty well. Spurrier has created such an interesting and complex character with David that his thoughts are more than just the usual superhero book fodder. He's not just narrating what's happening and maybe making a quip or an aside or a reference here and there; he's a fully fledged person with a real personality and a lot to think on. It comes with real questions and doubt and confidence and strength and sadness and anger and happiness and love and many other emotions while also incorporating many human tics and behaviors. All around great writing throughout this series. This issue kind of feels a little like it's leading to a series conclusion but, to my knowledge, the book hasn't been cancelled. I'm hoping that stays true and this just feels big because it is big, not because it doesn't have a chance to get bigger.

Ultimate X-Men 31
Wood (w) and A. Martinez and J. Lucas (a) and Sotomayor (c)

Tian has more or less announced war on Utopia and Kitty has made arrangements by deciding to step down as the head and face of Utopia and put Colossus in charge. She's done this, she explains to her conflicted people, to give the world a different face to look at, one they haven't likely seen and one who is more than a little intimidating without the intent to look intimidating. She can now also be a part of the army that's formed on Utopia. We see a little bit more of what will be defending Utopia before we look in on Tian. Storm has eyes on the nation and is wreaking havoc with the weather there. On the island itself, Jimmy Hudson is having some qualms with the way Jean is running things. He lets slip that he still believes in Utopia and she asks him to choose which side he's on. He's locked up shortly thereafter and Jean formulates a plan, based on the announcement of Kitty's resignation. To attack now would make Tian seem like the aggressors (they rather are, but the world doesn't necessarily see it that way). Jean, then, intends to release Jimmy into Tian to murder civilians, looking like a Utopian terrorist. She plays with Jimmy's mind and releases him, warning Tian of the "breakout." She also authorizes Farbird to find and kill Storm.

It's hard to say tensions are still ramping up when the tensions are already so high. I really like this series and I'm continually impressed by the way tension ratchets up in some new way every issue without ever feeling like it's piled too high, high enough that it's broken past the point of believability, even in this world. The only thing that one could possibly point to as a little weird in these dealings is how far gone Jean Grey seems to be, but even that is a weak point at best. Something is clearly going on with Jean and it's hard to say exactly what but it's certainly impacting this story in pretty extreme ways. Still, everything else seems perfectly reasonable within this world. The actions Kitty and Utopia have taken don't seem out of sync with their possibilities; the logic is always there. The same mostly holds true in Tian, where Jean seems unhinged but is still making kind of logical decisions given how unhinged she may be. Really good stuff which moves the book extremely well and never piles too high to wear the reader down. It's enough to keep a lurking sense of dread, which is perfect for this book.

X-Factor 262, X-Men Legacy 16

X-Factor 262
David (w) and N. Edwards and Leisten (a) and Milla (c)

The final issue of X-Factor kicks off focused on Layla as she discovers that, at perhaps the worst possible time, she's pregnant. Old X-Factor enemy Tryp shows up to threaten her a bit and to tell her of something new coming, another version of him, more or less, who she would perhaps call the "good" version, coming to replace the bad. Before dying, though, he does call the police on her for "trespassing" in the house she's staying at, which is a Madrox family farm. Though she's Jamie's wife, no one really officially knows that and Jamie himself is a goat-headed demon being hidden in the barn. Layla tries to bring him food and he breaks free, launching himself at her. He pins her down and she screams that she's pregnant, which is enough to send him fleeing back to the barn. As Layla begins to return to the house, the police arrive. Meanwhile, Jamiegoat seems to pray to something and something seems to answer. As the police begin to take action against Layla, we see Siryn, now the Morrigan, talking with Jamie. The police brought weapons to handle Layla, knowing her powers and knowing she has something in the barn. Siryn joins in the fight against the strange special agent the cops have brought and Jamie, no longer a goathead, jumps in to prove his identity and that they belong in the house, finally sending the police away. Later, Siryn briefs the couple on the rest of the team's whereabouts and asks if they want her to bring them all back together. They think it over briefly but decline, saying they have a family and a farm to get back to.

It's a sweet little ending for X-Factor and one that ties up what remaining threads may have been out there. Great to get Jamie back to his normal self, even if he is in a nondescript white tank and jeans instead of his trademark green duster and if he's not exactly brimming with personality in this issue. Still good to get everything wrapped up and a nice little close for the series. Some intrigue with the strange police special agent with a specially prepared weapon. Also a nice wrap-up note from Peter David at the end of the issue to assure that he wasn't wrapping the series because of his recent stroke or anything of that nature; instead, they wrapped because it was a good time to wrap and they had a story that could do it nicely. He also promised something new coming up that was hinted at in 260 (the issue with Polaris and Quicksilver wherein Polaris was offered a job of a sort). Sad to see the series go but perhaps it was time.

X-Men Legacy 16
Spurrier (w) and Davidson (a) and Rosenberg (c)

David is ready to dispense some filial justice but he actually has to track his father's killer first. No easy feat as Cyclops has dedicated himself to not being found in recent days (not well, they keep running into traps, the dummies). Watching all sorts of international news programs, David begins to track Cyclops' movements and is able within a few hours to figure out Cyclops' location. He bursts in, riding down on thunderbolts and lightning (very, very frightening) with Blindfold and begins to set to work taking out Cyclops' team one-by-one. There are several nice moments in here, including him putting the new mutants on Cyke's team down first (gently and thinking to himself about the ugly legacy his father built of sending children into battles like this) before attacking the big guns on the team. He dispatches them nicely (his feelings about the members also come out, including his calling Magneto a grandfather and Emma Frost a trollop) before turning to Cyclops. Cyclops tries very minimally to talk him down but knows he won't likely listen anyway. David, for his part, says that they won't use powers, just a man vs. man fight, to be continued next issue.

I'm always a little surprised when this book sends an arc for multiple issues and I really shouldn't be at this point. Through 16 issues we've probably had, at this point, more to-be-continueds than not. Still, the feel of this book doesn't always lend itself to cliffhangers so it always catches me a bit off-guard. Maybe it's just that I'm eager to see every story to its conclusion so I am left a little disappointed when I don't immediately see the end. That's probably a good sign, though. Just means that I want to read more of this series. Good issue overall, really great stuff as he dismantles, one-by-one, one of the pre-eminent X-Men teams around. Granted, they're not at full power but the idea is still the same and his confidence-based powers are still on full display here. Solid work. Still a pretty great book. As this series has gone on, too, the art has grown on me again and again. Davidson's has typically been solid but I had to grow a little on Tan Eng Huat's stuff. I have, though, overwhelmingly, and I've really liked what's come recently. What a great book.

X-Men Legacy 15, X-Factor 261

X-Men Legacy 15
Spurrier (w) and Huat and Yeung (a) and Villarrubia (c)

Pete Wisdom set up a meeting for David with his rather estranged mother Gabrielle Haller and it instantly starts on a pretty hostile note as David brings Gabrielle to Muir Island, the place where David was at his craziest and abandoned to Moira MacTaggert's experiments. There's an emotional core to the issue that's really solid as David tries to get to the center of his abandonment issues and why Moira MacTaggert was a bigger role in his life than his own mother. There are some really great resolves here for David and his own issues (including Gabrielle going into David's mind and identifying the demon that's been in there as specifically not Charles Xavier, which is rather a weight off of David). It's good that these resolves come, of course, because Gabrielle is promptly shot after David's issues are lessened. He immediately, in a remarkably cool moment in his brain, harnesses new powers and destroys the attackers (an attack organized by the newly unseated President Abdi) before teleporting himself to the Jean Grey School where he can sit in front of the statue of his father (unbothered after he telepathically suggests to everyone around that he's not there) with Blindfold. The two talk for a bit and it leads to David's revelation that he ought to maybe dispatch some "filial justice" in honor of his father, dead at the hands of Cyclops.

Exciting times for the book and, really, what this whole thing boils down to as ever, is that I really love this book you guys. It's just...it's the best book and I don't get why you're not reading it. If you are reading it, ignore that because you totally know how awesome it is already and I don't need to tell you (I will anyway). There's a great emotional core to this book, as I mentioned above, and it really strikes home for David and for the readers that care about David. There's a lot of resolution to hope for and certainly not enough that could ever be given (David was given up by his mother to Charles and Moira when he developed his powers, where he inevitably went a bit crazy and was ultimately sedated and tested on relentlessly, so yeah, there's a bit to come back from) but David gets enough to satisfy and to make more of a weight for Gabrielle's death. I talked in a Fearless Defenders review in the last couple months about "fridging" a character, creating them just to kill them off for an emotional resonance, but this isn't exactly that. Gabrielle is an established character in the Marvel Universe and her death, even though she's been off the pages for a while, still has a real impact to it. She's big in that world (head of the Israeli Embassy) and she's big in the mutant community. Most importantly right now, she was somehow big to David, even if he didn't grow up with her around. So it's not exactly fridging, it's bigger than that and the weight it holds can't be ignored. Some more great stuff with David in his own mind and hey you guys, I really love this book.

X-Factor 261
David (w) and N. Edwards and Leisten (a) and Milla (c)

We're on the penultimate issue of this iteration of X-Factor (it's very likely it will be rebooted shortly after it ends but no official word yet) which means we're still trying to figure out what's become of the team since the events of the Hell on Earth arc. Today's team members: Darwin and Monet. Darwin, sick of being a lackey for Hela, is trying to hunt the Norse goddess down and work some things out with her when he runs into Monet. He questions how she came back from the dead (it happens) and isn't totally satisfied with her response. Like Guido before her, Monet has come back not feeling much of anything and hoping to fix that but can't find the team and has no real outlet so she's shooting in the dark. She and Darwin talk for a bit and he reveals that he's in love with her, that he always has been, leading the two of them into a brief entanglement that ends when Hela appears the next morning and Darwin shoos her off, deciding he's happy the way he is. Awwwwww.

I've mostly been happy with the wrapping up of individual arcs as the book winds down and I think Peter David's taken great care to make sure his characters, the ones he's been writing for years and years pretty much untouched now are in good shape as their book concludes. It's especially nice for X-Factor fans because there's a good chance we won't see much from these characters in the immediate future, particularly if they don't end up on the newest iteration of the team. Sure, some will probably find their way into X-Men books here and there but by and large these characters are ones that are likely to drift into the background of the universe. Truly sad, sure, but kind of expected. The fact we had them in this book for as long as we did is nice (except Rahne, who I still don't care for). But BOY, he better resolve the Madrox thing in the final issue or I'm going to be so angry. I love Madrox. He better not be a goat-headed demon for the rest of his life. I'll be so mad, you guys.

X-Men Legacy 7, Ultimate X-Men 24

X-Men Legacy 7
Spurrier (w) and Huat and Yeung (a) and Villarrubia (c)

After a run-in with a version of his father lurking in his brain, David Haller is back to where he started, maybe even further back than that. His powers aren't necessarily driven by confidence, like Captain Britain or Kid Briton, but they require lots of focus and focus has taken a bit of a dive since his father's appearance and subsequent guilt-tripping. At the start of the issue, David can only really use his telepathy powers, which is problematic as he intends to start a fight with the Church of the Happy Host, a mutant-hating religious organization which was responsible for turning Luca (from the last arc; Blindfold's horrible brother) into the full-blown mutant-hater he became. David can also see astral projections so, going into the church, he knows that Blindfold is following him. Inside, it turns out the church was a little more prepared than he thought, wearing helmets to block out telepathic suggestions and equipped with pills that destroy the X-gene. Blindfold rushes in to save David, unbeknownst to the priests, and he is led away from the sanctuary to wait while they prepared their prayer cleanse. David and Blindfold chat and David lays out his plan for pre-emptive strikes against organizations that would do mutants harm, as opposed to the reactive strikes the X-Men have always made. It's kind of like a one man X-Force team, made up of one man who is unbelievably powerful in the right mood. After a quick blessing from Blindfold, David's confidence is somewhat restored and his focus allows him to access several more powers, including the power to instill images into the priests that make them seem guilty of mutant hate crimes (to SWORD, at least, who has been tracking David all issue after his recent teleportation of an entire Dire Wraith squadron to the Jean Grey School). SWORD shows up and arrests the church and, unable to tie anything to David, Abigail Brand tells David that she's watching him.

In the first issue since his first major arc ended, X-Men Legacy is taking another turn for good. This book has been such a surprise to me; not because I was expecting bad things, per se, I just wasn't expecting something so good. David Haller is a very interesting character, Blindfold is becoming interesting after years of me not caring at all about her, and the plot that David is setting himself seems full of places to go and exciting things to do. There have been plenty of books in Marvel NOW! that have truly surprised me with their quality (some, like Avengers Arena and Cable and X-Force and Uncanny Avengers, came out of nowhere to floor me while others came from solid backgrounds, like Thor and Captain America and New Avengers, but switched enough that being absolutely delighted by them came as something of a shock) and X-Men Legacy is, in a way, even more of a surprise than those books. Every other book in Marvel NOW!, I had some sort of a feeling about before its start. This one I had no thoughts on and it came in strong and hasn't let up. Great book so far.

Ultimate X-Men 24
Wood (w) and Asrar and Vlasco (a) and Bellaire (c)

This newest arc comes with a cliffhanger beginning and a smaller cliffhanger ending. I guess we're sitting on some weird precipice with two cliffs. We start two weeks in the future, with military surrounding the head group of mutants in Utopia, Kitty, Storm, Jimmy, Blackheath, and Rogue. Then we cut back two weeks to find that Utopia is finally starting to build. Magma has raised the tiny nation physically up, giving natural borders, while Blackheath and Storm have created plant life. The mutants now have protection, water, food, resources, and land. Mutants start filing in, excited by the new prospects. Mach Two's group is still lurking around, unnoticed by the others, biding their time. Meanwhile, the US government is plotting their own little plan, one that would name mutants government property (after the revelation some time ago in the Ultimate universe that mutants were created by the government) and therefore all of their patents and land and everything else would belong to America. The book ends with Jimmy meeting with two members of Mach Two's group to discuss some sort of offer.

One of the great things about this book in the last couple years is that it's really characterized mutantdom. Not just the mutants themselves (which is important and which this book has done), but what it means to be mutant in this world. There's something inherent in the 616 that says that mutants are different and that they're prejudiced against, for sure, but I'm not sure it has the same weight it does over in the Ultimate universe, which is impressive considering the age of each universe. I think Remender's Uncanny Avengers book is doing well to show off how hated mutants are, but X-Men books tend to get muddled down with their own villains, or with mutant villains. Not that those stories are bad or that they don't belong because a good deal of them are great, but you tend to get pulled away and kind of forget that the X-Men are hated by many around the world simply for being what they are. That never seems to happen in the Ultimate universe. Someone, in every issue, is plotting against mutants as a race. There are plenty of entities in the 616 that do that as well, sure, and you do see it come up pretty regularly. Maybe it's just the sheer number of X-books in the 616; though they're all fairly different, typically, and pretty good, usually, you wouldn't read the five different X books where they're all fighting Sentinels all the time. The Ultimate universe has one X-book, so showing that mutants are feared and hated and isolated maybe works better. It's certainly working right now. Even when mutants are doing pretty well and led by a peaceful leader, we can see the hatred and fear from the outside. It's a great illustration of how this world functions.

X-Men Legacy 6, X-Treme X-Men 11

X-Men Legacy 6
Spurrier (w) and Molina, Lee, and Wong (a) and Rosenberg (c)

This book never stops moving, it seems. Six issues in and David's still harnessing new powers and, don't be put off by how lame this sounds, discovering himself. I KNOW, I wouldn't have bought it if I read that either. But for real, he makes some incredibly important decisions that benefit his characterization like mad. On top of that, he finishes up the story in this arc with a bang and leaves us with an idea of the sort of things to expect all while creating a new and very complex villain for us to be on the lookout for. Not bad for one issue.

Legion, held at knifepoint by the rescued child Karasu while her possessed brother attempts to kill Blindfold, decides that he's fed up with being led and grabs a new teleportation power that sends him straight to Luca possessing Karasu's now-dead twin brother. Luca is one thrust away from killing Blindfold when Legion stops him, but he leads Legion on a chase through the X-Mansion. Luca, now in control of half of Blindfold's power, has set up a number of traps and contingencies for Legion to fall into. In some cases, Legion does, but in others, he avoids narrowly. Legion keeps a step or two away from Luca before Karasu appears again, threatening David to stop him killing her brother. As David faces a moment of weakness, an unseen personality in his head takes over and easily knocks the girl aside, telling Luca that he'll be useful someday, before giving way to David's true personality again. The fight against that personality takes a lot out of David so he's winded when the X-Men show up and Luca puts on the guise of a little boy again and blames David for attacking him and his sister. Before the X-Men can react, Blindfold, recovered, leaps in and slices Luca across the middle. She goes on to cool things down with the X-Men, who offer David a chance to stay and find help. Claiming again that he won't be led, he leaves, determined to go the extra step of his father's dream, actually accomplishing something in the fight for mutant equality rather than just being reactive. His evil personality is revealed, telling him that Blindfold will eventually kill David to save mutantkind. That personality is a disappointed Charles Xavier.

Lots of demons here, lots of plot, lots of character building, lots of support characters, just lots of everything. And it's all executed really well. David's personality (and his powerset) has grown stronger and stronger with each issue without sacrificing any actual feel for the character. His resolve is stronger, though this new demon is bigger than one he's faced yet. It'll be very interesting to see where we go from here.

X-Treme X-Men 11
Pak (w) and Segovia, Valdes, Crisostomo, and Ruggiero (a) and Kholinne, Noor, and Sotomayor (c)

Geez, lot of creators on this book. ANYWAY. So Nazi Xavier, unlike the cliffhanger of last issue might have led readers to believe, is totally a friggin' Nazi. Namor has lost too much at his hand and has been waging war on the psychic for about ten years, by Nazi Xavier's count, and he looks primed to kill the last 500 humans on Earth in his latest attack, all to get at Xavier. Though the X-Treme X-Men hate this new Xavier, they refuse to watch Namor kill the last humans, so they all work together to take out Namor before Dazzler sneaky-stabs Xavier, allowing the wounded Namor to finish the job. The team's Xavier tells the team that this completes their journey and that, in the morning, he'll bring them all where ever they want to go.

There's a little bit of characterization to follow, including a new relationship for Dazzler and Cyclops and Dazzler's admission that she's changed so much in this journey that she's not sure she can go back home. The others celebrate and recount the ten evil Xaviers they've killed and, of course, come up with only nine. They hurry off to find their Xavier, who is now bonding with two previously-deceased Xaviers (including the friggin' Nazi), promising the destruction of worlds. So there's somewhere for this book to go yet, as the team faces three evil Xaviers at once. Then they'll probably cut away real quick for the X-Termination event (I'm not sure if that will slide in neatly or if it'll be in the middle of this arc or at the end of this arc or even at the beginning, I'm not sure when it happens and, frankly, as I type this sentence, I'm only kind of sure that it WILL happen). That's about all I've got here. A lot of stuff happened but it was largely plot. I friggin' hate Nazis. Always worth mentioning that.