X-Men #202 Review

X-MEN #202
Written by Mike Carey
Art by Humberto Ramos

I was really looking forward to this issue, as I had thoroughly enjoyed the previous two parts of this return of the Marauders story, and I am sad to say that this issue was a major disappointment. Nothing happens this issue. We know just as little this month as we did last month and the story does not appear to be going anywhere at this point. I would almost call it a filler issue if not for the fact it was done by Carey and Ramos.

Instead of the promised brawl from last issue when Exodus, with his Acolytes in tow, showed up at the Xavier Institute, we get a random Acolyte using time warping powers to freeze everything in place while Exodus looks for Destiny's diary. When he finds out the pages are blank, he unfreezes everyone and a small one or two page skirmish breaks out where the New X-Men, Kitty and Colossus are taken out with no sweat. From there he questions Kitty on the blank pages before telepathically finding out her mind was altered so she could read the "blank" pages. Then they simply leave the X-Men there. They do not kill them or capture them or cripple them in anyway. They just leave.

Later, back at Sinister's hideout, we find out Rogue is relatively fine, despite a bullet in her chest from Mystique last issue. Apparently, she has the contents on Destiny's journal implanted in her mind and that is why they captured her. The other X-Men the Marauders took down last issue are shown trapped under the building with little to no injuries. Sinister ends the issue by putting on his own Cerebro helmet and searching for Iceman and Cannonball, who are on route to the real diary of Destiny.

Little to no action, little to no plot or character development and a relatively unfulfilling issue that put the brakes on what was a very high paced, action packed storyline.

As this is an Endangered Species tie-in, I feel compelled to mention that for those picking it up or interested in that only. Beast and Dark Beast are in Genosha now digging through more graves of dead mutants.

Apparently Beast dislikes Dark Beast's piling up of corpses, despite the fact he is robbing graves without consent and going to cut them open and poke around in their dead bodies, which Dark Beast so eloquently points out to our Beast.

They later have a small fight, much like every issue so far, over moral qualms before ending the chapter with the thought process that MGH, Mutant Growth Hormone, which is a designer drug that has been floating around the Marvel Universe for several years now that grants people temporary mutant powers if you have never heard of it, might be the solution to their problems.

Not much to say here. I feel that, aside from the first two or three chapters, this back up story could be told at a much quicker pace and seems to be repeating itself and beating a dead horse with the moral issues. I know it is supposed to be building up to Beast doing something he will eventually regret, but it is time to move on with this storyline and give us some meat to chew on in terms of plot development.

Verdict - Avoid It

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