Uncanny X-Men #495 Review

UNCANNY X-MEN #495
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Michael Choi

Uh, what the hell? Did Xavier die or not? I know the answer is no, but why the hell doesn't Cyclops know or not? Why wasn't there ANY mention of what the hell happened with some no name kid, she was like a messiah of mutants and the first new one in a while?

I sure don't feel like I just bought fourteen or so issues of a crossover and am now picking up the newest issue. Did the X-Men break up? Scott and Emma are shacking up in the Savage Land and going on double dates with Kazaar and Shanna. Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler are off having fun in Europe on their way to Russia. Angel is off doing missions for Scott in San Francisco. They're all keeping in touch with each other still. "No more X-Men"? Kind of loses it's meaning if they don't even break up.

This issue would have probably been the one of the best of Brubaker's rather lackluster run on the title, what with it's focus on Scott and Emma's relationship and the friendships between the other X-Men, but this is the big follow up to the first real X-event in years. One they've built up and touted as the proverbial second coming and this was the beginning the all new direction for the books post-Messiah Complex. It's like that didn't even happen. The only lasting effect is the X-Men are too lazy to rebuild Xavier's mansion and don't care if he's dead or alive.

Verdict - Avoid It. Technically sound writing and art, much like Brand New Day's stuff, but this failed to follow up in anyway on the huge event that just happened, heralds the new status quo for the team, which is identical to the old one minus the New X-Men, and just boggles my mind. New readers, and probably most old ones, will still enjoy the book, but I'm just frustrated with it at this point.

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