Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Uncanny X-Men #497
Marvel Comics
Brubaker, Choi & Oback

We get a nice split in this issue of action from the X-Men in Russia along with the X-Men in San Francisco. We have some investigations on the one hand and a good old-fashioned battle on the other. It’s a really good issue. Sure, it wont be ranked among the greatest X-Men stories ever, but it’s making good use of classic characters in a story that is interesting, but not in a save the world kind of way.

The first third of the comic deals with Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler under attack by some giant robots while on a train ride through Russia. No, they aren’t THOSE robots, but they aren’t any less powerful. This scene makes more good use of these three classic characters and their interaction with each other. Wolverine fights but not in his berserker mode. It’s all good stuff. Did I mention they lose?

Then we pick up with Cyclops and Emma walking around in San Francisco. They get into disguise and go as locals. Locals circa 1969, mind you. Emma attempts to use her mind powers to tap into the source of the hippie redux. Meanwhile, we get a glimpse of the woman behind it all. Her name is goddess. I don’t know who she is or what her powers are but she is at least compelling in that she can block out Emma. That and she’s seductive. She uses some trickery to turn the cops on Cyclops and Emma.

The issue ends with the goddess aware the X-Men are on to her while in Russia, Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler are captive and in deep trouble. They are faced with an interesting question: why were they among those that survived M-Day? Beyond the fact that they are cool characters and all that.

This issue is good. It moves quickly and advances some plot all over the place. The only gripe I have with this issue is the usage of Angel. First of all, he’s on the cover and isn’t in this issue anywhere. Secondly, the character called the goddess is taken aback when she figures out the X-Men are among her and her group. Yet, two X-Men, Angel and Hepzibah, are already there living in the past with her. How could she be at all surprised that more would show up? Maybe the next two issues will fill in these blanks.

The artwork is stunning. Each character has life on their faces and gives excellent reactions. The action scenes are so clear and precise that they rank among some of the nicest action I’ve seen in a long time. All this from a small fight with some robots. Not bad, eh? The artwork nails down Emma cold. She looks great and she shows her smugness when necessary and her use of the mind powers with equal accuracy. The one complaint you could find with the art is that the backgrounds are non-existent in some panels. This is a matter of taste and doesn’t detract at all from the visual story being told here.

I know that this arc is out of left field in the wake of the Messiah Complex, but it doesn’t mean the story doesn’t have its own place. Would I have rather this arc dealt with the hows and whys of the ending of the X-Men? Yes, but it still doesn’t mean that this story being told isn’t a good one because it is.

The arc won’t change your life, but it gives a nice look at five of the key X-Men characters. This story is worth a look for sure.

4 out of 5 geek goggles.


Uncanny X-Men #497