Amazing. Really. Just amazing.
The thing that impresses me the most about this issue is that Bendis really builds off the previous issues in a way that shows the care that he's put into crafting this narrative. When Jean discovered her telepathy in issue #2, I didn't really think all that much of it. OK, Bendis decided that he wanted Jean to have her telepathy earlier than she had it. Cool, whatever. It made sense within the story that the shock of coming to the future would've undone the mental blocks that Professor X had previously installed around her telepathy and it also made sense for the story since it would allow Jean to verify that Beast was telling them the truth. But, Bendis takes that ball and runs with it here. First, the use of her telepathy to create a virtual conference between present Beast and young Beast was brilliant, if not for the inventiveness, than for the snarkiness. But, perhaps even better, Bendis uses it to present Jean with a download of her own personal history, a revelation so disturbing that it prompts her to demand the the original X-Men stay in the present to right the wrongs that they have committed (and that have been committed against them). The believability of this series has always been attached to the reason why the original X-Men came to the future and the reason why they would stay in it. Bendis did a great job answering the first question in the first two issues and he does an equally good job of answering the second one here. No matter how fantastic it all sounds, I actually believe that the original X-Men have come to the future from the past and are here to stay. I really, really didn't expect for Bendis to be able to sell me on that as well as he has. I don't even mean that as a slight on Bendis; I have trouble believing that any author would've been able to sell me on it. But, here I am, totally buying it. Well effing done, BMB.
Moreover, Bendis is doing great stuff here with the characterizations, of the present and original X-Men alike. Finally, someone has Logan be an asshole again! Logan is an asshole. Logan is exactly the type of guy that would threaten to kill at teenage boy for the adult man that he will become. Given how neutered Logan has become, it was a real thrill to see a flash of his old self here.
Plus, I like this assertive Jean. Unlike a lot of female characters created in the '60s and '70s, Jean was never actually too much of a victim. After all, she accepted the Phoenix Force as a conscious decision to save the lives of her friends; it wasn't like Captain Marvel, where she essentially became a hero because of an accident that occurred with a man was defending her. But, that said, Jean was never really a leader either, like Storm or Rogue have been. Here, she clearly emerges as just that, the leader of the original X-Men. Her view of their future has erased any passivity that she may have had in her, inspiring her to do everything in her power to avoid the dark futures awaiting her and her friends. After all, it's the differences between the original X-Men and their present counterparts that are going to make this series interesting. Is something going to happen to Bobby to make him more serious? Is something going to happen to Scott to make him less serious? Are they going to wind up dating any of the other students? It would be pretty weird for present Bobby to be dating Kitty and original Bobby to be dating Idie. But, it's that weirdness and those differences that's going make this series interesting. It could definitely go the wrong way at some point, but, right now, Bendis' adroit handling of a changed Jean here certainly shows promise for the whole concept.
All in all, Bendis is five for five and I found myself, once again, anxiously awaiting the next issue.
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