Aaron regroups before the final issue of this series, bringing closure to the story of Husk and Toad. The X-Men fire Toad for spying on them for the Hellfire Club and Husk reveals that her insanity is part of a secondary mutation that makes her change personalities as she changes skins. Aaron does a great job of showing a struggling Husk seeing Toad as a kindred spirit, a possible source of comfort as she tries to find her place in the world (and finds herself seeing it differently than she did). But, he also makes us believe why Toad ultimately doesn't have faith in that, since, as he says, he doesn't turn into a prince when a beautiful girl kisses him. The moments between Toad and Krakoa are also heartfelt, making you realize how devastated Toad is going to be by the loss of the School in his life. It's all beautiful...but, I wasn't totally sold, mainly because I didn't really buy the X-Men firing him. Logan in particular takes a hard line about Toad's inevitable return to villainy and Storm rightfully calls out the inconsistency of that message, give that people also used to say that he was unsaveable. But, that moment goes to one of my long-standing complaints about comics, when authors use a character to point out a logical inconsistency in their story, as if it suddenly makes it OK. We never learn why Logan takes such a hard line on Toad, making you call into the question the result of that decision, namely his firing. In the end, you're left wondering if the sad story that takes up this issue had to happen, not exactly the result that I think Aaron wanted.
** (two of five stars)
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