Extermination #5: Honestly, I'm surprised Brisson was able to wrap up not only this mini-series but the original X-Men's entire story as well as he does in this issue. It's clear that he and Marvel put a lot of though into it, just as Bendis and Marvel did when they originally brought the original X-Men to their future/our present. It's why the kids' story has been so compelling, since it wasn't just a by-product of some half-assed event. Brisson ends the story with the same integrity as Bendis had when he started it, a rare win for a risky story like this one.
First, Brisson resolves the ongoing plot and proves Kid Cable's point all in one fell swoop. We start the issue learning Young Scott didn't die; Mimic did while impersonating Young Scott. But, it's the only good news, because the twins are turning too many X-Men into hounds too quickly, making it impossible for the remaining X-Men to turn the tide. Older Jean agrees it's time for the kids to return, but Young Jean refuses, because she doesn't want to leave the X-Men on their own to fight Ahab and his hounds. Kid Cable says it's exactly why he was trying to force them back into the past: given the lives they lead, the X-Men will always need some help to save the world. Young Scott agrees with Kid Cable and convinces Young Jean they're causing more problems than they're solving at this point. Before they leave, the Bobbys tearfully embrace, as Older Bobby tells Young Bobby no one can take away the gift his younger self gave them.
Kid Cable then timeslides them to the Mansion "five years before the end." Nate explains Manon and Maxime's parents were students at the School. The twins aren't yet evil, so he sends Jean to try to talk to them. But, Ahab has followed them, and the rest of the team prepares to face him and the hounds to buy Jean time. Jean finds the twins and learns Maxime is an empath and Manon "can give people memories" and then control when they remember them. Jean asks Manon to show her how she does so. Outside, Young Scott and Kid Cable manage to destroy Ahab's ship, preventing him from returning to the future. Young Jean emerges from the mansion and confirms she has what she needed, and Kid Cable returns them to the past. In the past, Young Jean prepares to mindwipe them, but, it's here where Brisson is at his best: Young Jean uses what she learned from Manon to release their memories in their older counterparts' minds, ensuring they are not lost. In so doing, Brisson maintains the kids' legacy. It means this whole story doesn't just feel like a cheap stunt; they were real. (Well, you know, for comic-book characters...) Now, the original X-Men -- the adult versions -- feel ever realer somehow. (My only nitpick here is that it's weird Jean could "learn" Manon's power, since it seems like it's her actual power and not just her application of her telepathic power. But, whatever, I like the result, so I'll allow it.)
Brisson makes quick work of wrapping up loose ends. Nate almost manages to kill Ahab, though he survives and disappears with Rachel in tow to cause trouble another day. Older Jean (now Only Jean) asks Nate if it's really him -- her son -- and he confirms it is, even calling her Redd as he departs. (Does that mean Cable always knew how he was going to die?) The X-Men mourn Cable and, later, the remaining four original X-Men get shakes together, toasting in Scott's honor. Brisson then plays his final card, as Kid Cable returns to his safehouse and hands a root beer to his father, Cyclops. With Jean's return, it's been pretty clear that Scott was going to return at some point, particularly as his death during such a forgettable event was the most temporary-seeming death of all comic-book deaths. But, Brisson leaves some loose ends out there to keep us interested. Beyond Ahab still out there, we also never learn who Manon and Maxime's parents were. All in all, I'm legitimately happy, if also sad, with how Brisson brings the original X-Men's story to a close. I know they'll be just a memory soon, but at least they'll be a memory, and not just a ret-con. That's pretty good, for comics.
Iceman #4: This issue is...not good. Grace makes the odd decision to focus it mostly on a speech Kitty and Storm give at a mutant-pride parade instead of on Bobby trying to find Mr. Sinister. Also, Grace borrows heavily from the social-justice warrior lexicon, but then veers from the point he seemed to be making. For example, Bobby pledges to break out Madin's brother, Ash, from prison after he was arrested in a previous issue. Madin launches into a tirade about how it’s just another example of Bobby's privilege as a white pretty-boy mutant, since he’s confident he won’t face any repercussions for such actions. It’s not a terrible point, to be honest. But, it’s undermined when it turns out Madin wasn’t mad: he was just hangry. (No, really.) It's further undermined when he realized that after his doyenne served him lunch. After all, it undermines the point he was making about privilege when his servants feed him. It seems like Grace just wants to tell too many stories in his time allotted here. Instead of getting a series about Bobby, he's trying to queer the X-Men in five issues. I’d be totally down with that, but not here. We’ve waited too long to get Bobby’s story, and he deserves the limelight of his own series. Nothings says erasure more than making a gay character's book about straight characters. I would've much rather have seen Bobby try to process younger Bobby's memories (which he now has, thanks to "Extermination" #5), reconciling himself with the time he lost. Instead, he's helping straight characters get to feel woke. Hard pass.
X-Force #1: I don't have a ton to say about this issue, but I would like to note it's a strong debut. Brisson makes the point of the series clear, as X-Force seeks out Kid Cable to "question" him while he and Deahtlok seek to remove future technology from our timeline. It's a premise with a lot of legs, and I'm down with seeing where we go from here.
Also Read: Uncanny X-Men #6-#7
X-Force #1: I don't have a ton to say about this issue, but I would like to note it's a strong debut. Brisson makes the point of the series clear, as X-Force seeks out Kid Cable to "question" him while he and Deahtlok seek to remove future technology from our timeline. It's a premise with a lot of legs, and I'm down with seeing where we go from here.
Also Read: Uncanny X-Men #6-#7
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