UNCANNY X-MEN #24 Review

Uncanny X-men #24

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Kris Anka

PREVIOUSLY…

In the aftermath of the attack on the Jean Grey School, Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk) arrives with the apparent last will and testament of Charles Xavier. At the same time a man named Matthew, accidentally unleashes a wave of dangerous energy, seemingly destroying part (if not all) of Newberry, South Carolina.

The Ups: Continuing the Original Sin story line,the issue basically deals with getting Cyclops to the mansion for the reading of Xavier’s will, the whole book takes place over the course of a couple of hours. Even so, this issue has a lot of good in it. I’ll be first to admit I am not a big fan of Bendis, but what I will always give him credit for is writing believable dialogue. Dialogue so believable I swear these characters are living breathing people. This book has that in spades. Bobby’s breakdown, Hank’s stoic demeanor, Kitty, and Magic’s banter, Emma’s humor, even Matthew’s ever escalating fear. All of it feels real. The story escalates in a real and believable way, with a beginning, middle, and end. I found myself not wanting to put the book down, I read it twice…in a row. Uncanny is by far my favorite of all the X-books.

The Downs: That being said, I do have some issues with the art. I’m not saying Kris Anka is bad, I just think he takes a lot of shortcuts with his art. There are multiple panels of copy/paste art. He drew 3 faces for Maria Hill and spread them out over 9 panels, Matthew gets the same treatment, albeit at a lesser degree. The lighting does several weird things in Xavier’s office as well, I’m just going to chalk that up to weird mutant office powers or something. Also, the first thing read from Xavier’s will doesn’t make any sense, not going to spoil it, but when you read it…really think about it. My other issue with the book, is the continuity to the rest of the X-books. Characters flip flop emotion so fast and bad, that it’s like no one is reading the other books. So, while the writing is solid, it’s very disconnected with the universe as a whole. It’s almost disheartening because I’m a huge fan of the X-universe.

Overall: I hope the story will progress where I think it’s going. James and some of the other characters made a prediction that could shake up the status quo of the X-universe as a whole. If that s the case I’ll be glad I read it here first. The book is pretty solid, not a lot of action (something Bendis has trouble with sometimes) but tons of heart,and story. I thought it was pretty good.

Grade: 4 of 5