Uncanny X-Men #22 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

At some point recently, I realized that all the various series launched in the wake of "Avengers vs. X-Men" are actually reaching a certain point of maturity.  Since they're released twice a month, series like this one and "All-New X-Men" have actually told an impressive number of stories, resulting in a complicated web of plots and relationships that belies the fact that they've only been in existence for less than year and a half.  I mention this realization here because Bendis brings together a lot of threads in this issue.

Scott's hunch that Beast was behind the Sentinel attacks was technically true; it was actually Dark Beast, getting his last bit of revenge against the X-Men before he dies from experimenting on himself too often.  I'll admit that Bendis probably could've fleshed out this part a little bit more, particularly since he only gives one page to Dark Beast's death.   Dark Beast is pretty much reduced to playing a super-villain stereotype, acting against the Brotherhood and the X-Men simply because he hated them.  We at least get an explanation for why he was in the suit, with Bendis explaining that he needed it to survive; Scott signed his death warrant when he blasted it to piece.  Also, one of the drawbacks about Bachalo not being great at close-up shots is that I didn't initially recognize him, meaning that the issues upon issues of building to this moment feel a little flat.

Bendis does a better job in bringing Maria and Scott's ongoing conflict to a close.  They've been at war with one another for a while now, but they both wind up responsible for the destruction that gets wrought here.  Scott has to accept the fact that a mutant was actually attacking them with the Sentinels (not S.H.I.E.L.D.), and Maria has to admit that she not only let the helicarriers and Sentinels get hijacked under her watch but she also failed to prevent Mystique from kidnapping Dazzler.  (As I said in my review of "Captain America" #21, you've got to wonder how much longer Maria is going to be on the job given her general incompetence.)  It's an unsatisfying ending for them, but a satisfying one for the reader.  It's all really a logical conclusion to the series of events that Bendis put into play here, particularly with Hijack arriving to apply to the School just in time to save it.

So, a little rushed, but generally satisfying:  not bad.

*** (three of five stars)