X-Men: Battle of the Atom #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Well, that was incredibly disappointing.  Bendis leaves pretty much all the mysteries driving this series unanswered.  Let's review, shall we?

First, we never learn who killed future Dazzler, so we never learn why the future Brotherhood felt like humans would always try to kill mutants (essentially invalidating Xavier's dream).  After all, future Dazzler was killed by dragons, not Sentinels.  If she had been killed by Sentinels, it would've made sense, given the revelation at the end of this issue that S.H.I.E.L.D. has its own Sentinels.  But, she wasn't.  She was killed by dragons.  If we're supposed to believe that S.H.I.E.L.D. gets into the sorcery business and uses that knowledge to assassinate a President-elect, we really need to see something that remotely confirms that (other than an off-hand reference by future Wiccan to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s sorcery division).

Second, I'm still not sure why the future Brotherhood wanted to send back the original X-Men in the first place.  I originally thought the future Brotherhood was trying to prevent the original X-Men from unifying the splintered present Brotherhood and X-Men, since it would bring mutant harmony and set the stage for future Dazzler's election.  But, not only does future-original Jean specifically pin the future's problems on the Logan/Scott schism, but Aaron completely discredited that theory in "Wolverine and the X-Men" #37.  In that issue, original Jean says that the Brotherhood is trying to prevent one of them from doing something "horrible," but we don't learn what it is in this issue.  However, how horrible could it be?  I mean, future Dazzler still got elected President.  It's not like the story that Remender is telling in "Uncanny Avengers," where the camps are literally going to open in a week.  Does s/he not do something terrible, but something good?  Does s/he unify humankind and mutantkind?  Is that the horrible thing?  The Brotherhood would have to see that as horrible, I guess.  Otherwise, it makes no sense that one of them does something so horrible that it turns humans against mutants, but the United States still elects Dazzler as President.  (Also, original Jean not knowing the horrible thing that one of them does is total bogus.  When she read future Jean's mind, it was totally clear that she was sufficiently panicked to change her mind about them returning.  It couldn't have just been on the possibility that one of them does something "horrible.")

Moreover, the Brotherhood's need to send back the original X-Men seemed urgent at the start of this event.  If it was, it implies that the "horrible" thing that the original X-Man is going to do is going to happen in days.  But, in the end, it didn't really seem all that urgent, unless we're going to see something huge happen in the next issue of "All-New X-Men."  Is it Kitty taking the original X-Men to the present Brotherhood?  It seems unlikely, since, after all, the present Brotherhood sees things more in line with the future Brotherhood?

Along those lines, I absolutely don't get Kitty bailing on the X-Men.  I get that she was upset at them for not protecting the original X-Men, but, as present Iceman said, she really didn't understand their point that they were protecting the space/time continuum?  I'm not saying that they were right, but she decides that saving the space/time continuum was such a totally inconsequential reason to justify their behavior that she leaves the X-Men?  Unbelievable.

Finally, we don't learn why the original X-Men can't be returned to the past.  Not even a hint.

Essentially, we're left in exactly the same place we were, except for Kitty and the original X-Men joining the Brotherhood.  I'd be OK with that, except for the fact that we didn't even get answers to the story that Bendis et. al told along the way.  (I'm not even going to touch the four epilogues and varying artists.)  I can't believe an event that started with such promise ended with such a whimper.

* (one of five stars)

Wolverine and the X-Men #37 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I don't have much to say about this issue, since it pretty quickly devolves into a "Who's on first?" comedy of multiple identities.  It's not a terrible issue, since Aaron plays up that confusion for laughs.  But, it doesn't really go much beyond that.  Throughout the issue, I had trouble remembering who injured whom in the last issue and I'm still not entirely sure what the future Brotherhood's plans are.  Future-original Jean seems to think that the original X-Men, the present Brotherhood and X-Men, and the future X-Men are going to think that S.H.I.E.L.D. attacked them, when she was the one who commandeered the Helicarriers.  But, with the sheer number of telepaths on the other side, it seems pretty reasonable to expect one of them to see through that ruse.  Moreover, it's still unclear why the future Brotherhood hate humans, since I'm still not convinced one of them attacked future Dazzler.  This last issue has a lot to cover.

*** (three of five stars)

Uncanny X-Men #13 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

OK, we don't exactly make any real progress here, but it at least feels like we do.  In an example of pet peeve #1, we learn from the title page that the original future X-Men are, in fact, the future Brotherhood (a revelation that'll at least make it easier to write these recaps).  But, we still don't know why future-original Jean and future Hank would decide to join any version of the Brotherhood, since we still don't know who organized the assassination of future Dazzler (or why).  Second, we learn that the original X-Men actually can't be sent into the past, though we're only given future Hank's theory that they've created too strong of a space/time paradox to be able to return as an explanation.  Although my guess is that we still have a final reckoning coming at some point on their ultimate destiny, it at least takes the threat of the future Brotherhood successfully sending them into the past off the table.  In doing so, it clears the way for a battle royale between the present X-Men, the present Brotherhood, and the future X-Men against the future Brotherhood.

We're still waiting to learn how the future Brotherhood came into being and why they're trying to send back the original X-Men.  With the revelation that the original X-Men may wind up staying in the present, it's starting to feel like the reason that the future Brotherhood want them returned to the past is because the original X-Men accomplish present Hank's goal of promoting harmony between the present Brotherhood and present X-Men.  (After all, assuming that someone frees the present X-Men, they'll all be fighting together, against the future Brotherhood, for the first time.)  In so doing, it seems likely that they'll heal this rift and bring together mutantkind, setting the stage for the assassination of Dazzler.  It seems like it's that harmony that the future Brotherhood is trying to prevent, particularly given the peaceful images of the future X-Men's world.

*** (three of five stars)

X-Men #6 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

It's about here where I get event fatigue, where I really just want to know the hows and the whys and be done with it.  This event isn't really any different, despite the fact that, overall, I'm enjoying it.

As expected, we learn that the original future X-Men aren't X-Men at all, though it's not entirely clear who they are and why they're doing what they're doing.  Logan's child with Mystique (um, yeah) apparently posed as future Kitty, but future Hank and future-original Jean appear to be themselves.  So, it's presumably not just some sort of Brotherhood plot to destroy the X-Men.  But, why they're doing what they're doing and how it's connected to future Dazzler's assassination remain unclear.  Moreover, it's unclear why they feel pressed to act.  Future Xavier decides to drop the charade from a sense of desperation to get at least three of the original X-Men to the past, but we're never really given a reason why it's so urgent that he would risk compromising the mission by revealing themselves.

Normally, I could handle my impatience if the story is good, as it has been.  But, Wood reminds me why I'm not a huge fan of this series.  Something about his writing just leaves me cold.  This issue becomes essentially an elaborate family reunion -- beyond Wolverine's daughter, Sentinel-X of the new future X-Men is revealed to be Shogo -- but Wood never really gives himself a chance to explore the emotions that should be at the center of those revelations.  They're just presented as marks to hit before we get to the end.  I find myself agreeing with him:  let's just rush to the end, shall we?

On a side note, we're told that Logan doesn't have his healing factor, but I'm not sure when that happened.  Is that something happening in his own series?  Couldn't we get some sort of old-fashioned "Editor's Note" if it did?  I mean, I get all four core X-books, but it's never been mentioned.  Given that I pretty much loathe Wolverine, if Marvel is telling me that reading all 30 of his series is essential to understanding the X-books, I might as well just good-bye right here.

** (two of five stars)

All-New X-Men #17 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

OK, if you can past the insanity that Dazzler could one day become President of the United States, this issue drops some important clues to where we're going.

First, Dazzler is killed on the night of her victory by a demon.  (The most affecting moment of this issue is a devastated future Hank sitting next to Dazzler, who he convinced to run for President in the first place.)  Future Hank tells future Colossus and future Iceman that Dazzler's death is proof that humans will always hate mutants.  It seems to be the moment that causes the schism in the team, with the original future X-Men taking a more Brotherhood approach, if you will, than the new future X-Men.  The problem, of course, is that I'm not really sure why Hank would draw that conclusion, since it doesn't seem to me that your average human could summon demons.  (Paging Magik anyone?)  But, it does seem to at least set up why we find ourselves with two teams of future X-Men.

However, even if the original future X-Men broke from the new future X-Men because they're disillusioned with Xavier's dream, it doesn't clarify why they would've come to the past in the first place.  We still don't know what they're trying to prevent.  Why are they willing to die (as Jean Grey was) to "save" their future, if their future doesn't look too shabby?

Next, future Quentin comments to future Iceman that, if original Bobby stays in the future, then he's going to have to watch Bobby hit puberty all over again.  It implies that original Bobby would've been in the present long enough for present Quentin to see him hit puberty, implying that future Bobby is actually future-original Bobby not future-present Bobby (similar to "Xorn").  If that's the case, what happened to present Bobby?  He doesn't seem to be Ice Hulk, since future-original Bobby implies that he created Ice Hulk with his powers.  In fact, thinking about it, it implies that the future we're seeing is the future if the original X-Men stay in the future.  But, we still haven't seen any of their present counterparts.  Where did they go?  Which Beast is future Beast?  Moreover, it seems to make clear that the goal here is to prevent both timelines related to the original X-Men coming to the present -- the original one and the future one -- from happening.  Is someone going to kill present Hank before he can make the trip?

Finally, can I say that Immonen is spectacular here?  The scenes of future Alison's victory speech and the chaos surrounding it are stunning, some of the best action and emotional work that I've ever seen.

We still have a lot of questions to be answers, but I'm still happy to be on this ride.

Wolverine and the X-Men #36 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

One of the main complaints that I (and, well, pretty much everyone who read it) had about the "Age of Ultron" event was that the pacing was totally bizarre.  First, we didn't wind up seeing Ultron until the last issue.  Second, the characters spent so much time jumping from era to era that it was hard to tell who was doing what, when and why.  Conversely, the X-scribes have really done a spectacular job of hitting their marks in this event.  Aaron brings us to the point that we all knew that we had to reach, with original Jean learning of her future from future Jean, who we learn is actually future-original Jean and not future-present Jean.

(As confusing as it sounds, it actually makes sense.  I had mentioned previously that we had to learn, at some point, how original Jean traveling into the present changed her future, given the assumption that her advanced powers meant that Professor X wouldn't be able to simply erase all repercussion of their "visit" with a timely mind-wipe.  Events so far imply that original Scott maintains a connection to present Scott -- given the latter's disappearance as a result of the former's death -- but it's unclear what connection original Jean maintains with present - a.k.a. dead - Jean.  In other words, original Jean hasn't done something that suddenly resurrects present Jean, as far as we know; her connection is only to future Jean.  It implies that the repercussions of their travel are so far constrained, since nothing in the present - except for Scott's brief disappearance - has changed.  Future-original Jean is a creation of the new timeline created when original Jean came into the present; she's not the result of a change to present - a.k.a. dead - Jean.  But, again, it's unclear how long we can expect that these events not affecting the present will be the case.)

As a result of the horrible future that she sees in her future self's mind, original Jean decides that she and the other original X-Men have to return to their past.  However, it's here where the X-scribes cleverly more us to the next phase of this event, exploring original Jean's suspicions that these X-Men aren't who they say that they are.  Magik takes original Bobby and Hank with her to the future X-Men's future (after having caught a glimpse of it on a previous trip) and they discover Sentinels subservient to another group of future X-Men occupying the Jean Grey School.  As such, it's clear that the original future X-Men are somehow vying against the new future X-Men.  However, we have to assume that it's not over something trivial; after all, future Jean was essentially willing to lose her life to prevent this future from occurring.  As such, if it's not all Ahabs and hounds, what is it that so terrifies the original future X-Men?

(Honestly, as much as I'm enjoying this series, I pretty much have to call it quits with this review at this point, under the weight of too many "future-original Jeans" and "new future X-Mens."  Oi vey.)

Uncanny X-Men #12 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Message boards indeed!

OK, many, many thoughts.

First, I totally get what Storm's saying here.  In fact, I think that she's absolutely right that they were all so overjoyed by the presence of the original X-Men and by the remembrance of the way things were supposed to be that they let those emotions overrule their better judgment.  I also think that she's right that Kitty's attachment to the title of "Professor" comes from her grief over the loss of Professor X.  However, it doesn't mean that Kitty's wrong.  The X-Men's response to the kids not wanting to return -- physically attacking them rather than talking to them -- does represent the worse of the X-Men.  She's totally right that the way to handle the situation was to tell the future X-Men to go shock themselves, to use 2099 slang, and to sit down with the scared kids for a series of conversations about their future.  Instead, the X-Men threw in their lot with a bunch of alleged X-Men from the alleged future, despite original Jean's suspicions, and then hunt down original Jean and original Scott like dogs.  (You can see why Rachel, in particular, wasn't thrilled with that part.)  At this point, I really have to take off my hat to Bendis for telling such a nuanced tale that both Storm and Kitty can be right.  It's really scripting at its absolute finest.

Moreover, I similarly loved the opposing yet sensible positions that Emma takes here.  She thinks that Scott is acting too emotionally (understandably) to be able to make the right decision, to send back the kids.  However, it doesn't mean that she's going to let future Jean attack her younger self and force her into the past against her own will, particularly given that future Jean is hiding behind Xorn's mask.  In fact, future Jean's assault on herself raises all sorts of issues, making you wonder, of course, if it really is Jean and, similarly, why her first response is to use violence to get the kids to return to their past.  The answer is either it's not really Jean and the future X-Men aren't acting in the kids' best interest or it is really Jean and their future is just that horrible that they don't have the luxury of time.  Bendis continues to play his hand close to the vest on that front.  Either way, Emma clearly smells a rat and shines in confronting future Jean.  After all, Emma's probably the only person there whose emotions over seeing Jean alive aren't going to cloud her judgment (at least not in the direction of trusting her).

This event is starting to read like some sort of future business-school case about the ethics of space/time manipulation.  In that sense, I couldn't be happier.

X-Men #5 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Seriously, I'm totally Team Kitty/Rachel here.  I thought Wood did a great job of having them take a moment, realize just how crazy everything had gotten (while eating leftover Chinese food), and decide to do something about it.  In fact, it took me a minute to remember that it's a perfectly natural thing for them to do, since they're closer friends from their "Excalibur" days than we've recently seen them portrayed as being.  (I'd love to see Colossus and Nightcrawler appear to help!)  Given Rachel's experience as a time-displaced warrior and Kitty's role as the original X-Men's mentor, it makes sense that they're the two X-Men who want to make sure that the kids aren't returned to their own time against their will.  Moreover, Wood plays up this tension in a really fun way; I loved seeing Kitty come into her own and tell Storm where she can shove her "orders."  Wood is having the two of them assert themselves against the senior X-Men not in an adolescent way, but in an adult way, demanding to be treated as the equals that they now are.  It's a great way for Wood to use the event to play up a storyline that he's already been pursuing here, namely Rachel's disapproval of some of Storm's decisions.

Moreover, Wood takes full advantage of the chance to show us original Jean and original Scott together, just the two of them.  Given how rocky their relationship has been since they arrived in the present, it's adorable to see their attraction to each other and significant to see them getting closer to one another.  (I loved Scott being willing to get shot in order to talk to Jean about his feeling, a sign that Wood really understands sixteen-year-old boys well.)  Finally, given that they couldn't call Excalibur, I, too, would've called the Brotherhood.  That revelation felt right to me, as did everything else here.  After three issues, this cross-over event just continues to go in surprising directions, but ones that feel organic.  It's been a long time since I've read an event this good.

All-New X-Men #16 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

All-New X-Men #16:  Man, I did not see that coming.  I was actually sort of rushing through the last half of the issue, because I thought that we had already seen the big reveal, that original Jean might be right and the future X-Men aren't who they say they are.  As a result, I thought that Bendis was being overly dramatic with Xorn taking off her helmet, since it was pretty clear to me that it would be a scarred Rachel.  I was obviously wrong at least on one (though possibly both) accounts.  

The revelation that Xorn is Jean Grey is interesting on several fronts.  First, original Jean tells original Scott that she doubts that Professor X will be able to completely erase her memory of their time in the present now that she's developed her telepathy.  In my last review, I expressed a similar doubt.  I had been thinking that it would be difficult for physical reasons, like original Bobby inexplicably being able to use his powers better.  But, that same logic obviously applies to original Jean, whose powers are mental and not physical.  So, she's making essentially the same argument, that it's probably unlikely that Professor X will be able to make them "forget" their progress.  I'm glad that Bendis addressed it, not only because it keeps the story more realistic, but also because this added level of uncertainty about how everything is going to wind up resolved really ups the drama.

But, building off that premise, that Professor X won't be able to erase their memories completely, you obviously have to wonder if original Jean remembering something about her future leads her to make different decisions, resulting in future Jean being alive and well, as we see here.  If you go with the way that Bendis has portrayed the space/time continuum so far in this series, this change would have to be something that hasn't yet been realized in the present continuity.  After all, original Scott's near-death experience caused present Scott to disappear; it implies that future Jean would have suddenly appeared by now if original Jean made a different decision in the past (like not letting Xorn kill her).  I'm not sure how it would work -- original Jean would somehow make a time-lapsed decision that hasn't yet activated -- but Bendis has eight more issues to clarify that situation.

Finally, the revelation that "Xorn" was future Jean doesn't remove original Jean's fear that the future X-Men aren't who they say they are (or at least don't have the original X-Men's best interests at heart).  Simply because this woman looks like Jean doesn't mean that she is.

Essentially, I have no idea where this story is going and it's always a pleasure to be able to say that in a good way.

X-Men: Battle of the Atom #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

X-Men:  Battle of the Atom #1:  Well, that was intense.  Bendis really gets your attention here, with past Scott almost dying and present Scott temporarily disappearing.  I thought that he did a great job focusing on the ramifications of that event, with the adult X-Men drawing the logical conclusion that the original X-Men pose too much of a danger to the time/space continuum to be able to stay in the present.  The arrival of the future X-Men, though, seems to call into question that hypothesis, since they seem to imply that it's sending back the original X-Men to their appropriate time that will end the mutant race.  I'm intrigued to see where we go with that.

Beyond just doing a good job introducing the larger plot, the issue itself is well plotted and scripted.  I thought Bendis did a great job reminding us how green the original X-Men are, from Kitty making the point that they survived the Sentinels' attack because they followed her orders to Scott almost dying when he disobeyed them.  As present Scott does here, you do have to wonder why Kitty decided to bring the original X-Men to confront a dragon-conjuring criminal in the first place.  (Of course, you also have to wonder why Scott brought his own green new X-Men to Ann Arbor in "Uncanny X-Men" #10, given that he knows that the Sentinels tend to appear everywhere he does.  So, you know, he probably needs to dial back the judging a little.)  Bendis also continues to have a great ear for dialogue, using the conversation between the original and present X-Men to show how it's all become such a big mess, with the adults trying to keep their focus on the big picture despite knowing that it means ignoring the teenagers' feelings.  (I also loved present Scott and Kitty's restrained patter during the confrontation in Phoenix)

I debated including this next part, but I feel like I should.  Bendis loves him a time-travel story and I generally hate them as a rule.  That said, Bendis is actually better than most at dealing with the inherent logical inconsistencies that comes with these sorts of stories.  But, I feel like this issue raises some issues that really start to unravel the sweater if you pull at them.  We have pretty much accepted, until this point, that the original X-Men coming to the future changed their time line, essentially severing it from the present X-Men's.  Essentially, it created a whole new time line.  However, if it did, in fact, create a new time line, original Scott's death shouldn't have affected present Scott's existence, since they were, at this point, essentially two different Scotts.  (Now you see why I hate time-travel stories.)

As such, if original Scott's death did affect present Scott, it implies that they're in the same time line.  If they are, then why does only this event affect the present?  For example, wouldn't Jean developing her powers earlier than she did in the original time line affect the present in some way?  I feel like the answer to that question is that the original X-Men are eventually returned to their time line and Professor X is able to undo anything that happened to them in the present; original Scott dying, obviously, would be something that he wouldn't be able to undo.  But, the longer that they're in the present, the more difficult it is to believe that.  That conclusion isn't contradicting anything Bendis has done so far; after all, the whole reason why the present X-Men want to send back the original X-Men is exactly that issue, that the longer they stay, the more damage they do.  But, we're getting awfully close to the point where it gets hard to believe that everything that happens to them in the present can be undone simply by Professor X making the original X-Men forget about it.