UNCANNY X-MEN #497 REVIEW

[Beau Tidwell]

<a href=" http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/xmendws/UNCX497_col.jpg" target="_blank"><img src=" http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/xmendws/UNCX497_colt.jpg" alt="Uncanny X-Men #497" hspace=10 align=left></a> Reviewer: Beau Tidwell, comixfanbeau@gmail.com
Story Title: X-Men: Divided (Part Three of Five)

“Welcome to the Summer of Love, Scott Summers.”

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Mike Choi
Color Artist: Sonia Oback
Letterer: Cory Petit
Assistant Editor: Will Panzo
Editor: Nick Lowe
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (www.marvel.com)

“Bah-bahna-bah-na! Bah-bahna-bah-na!”

Sorry, but how can you look at that cover and not get the Austen Powers theme song stuck in your head? Over the years, we’ve seen pretty much every permutation of the X-Men imaginable, from cutsey X-Babies to Apocalyptic evil doppelgangers--- but the swingin’ sixties incarnations gracing the cover of Uncanny X-Men #497 are a fun, new idea.

Smack in the middle of a five-part arc that, frankly, feels a lot like it’s treading water until the big overhaul/reload/re-launch/Revolution ™ we’re headed for this July with #500, Brubaker nonetheless delivers a really fun, immediately accessible X-Men adventure that--- for the first time since he came aboard almost two whole years ago--- really gives him a chance to dig in to the core characters and play around with what makes them tick. Sure, he had Nightcrawler for a while, and Storm for about three issues, but between his initial self-contained Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar arc and the build-up and pay-off of Messiah CompleX, he’s never really had a chance to write The X-Men. Wolverine, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Colossus … they all get a few brief moments to shine here, and Brubaker makes the most of it. As much as I’ve loved his work elsewhere in the Marvel U (Captain America and Iron Fist are among my favorite books of this decade), I don’t feel like he’s ever really found his voice on the X-Men to date. To be fair, it’s an incredibly dense franchise, to say the very least. But here, at last, I feel Bru is finally making the book his own. There has been, certainly, a leaden quality to the franchise, a sort of inertia to any non-Morrison/Whedon/”SUPERSTAR” title in the stable since well before the dawn of the Jemas/Quesada regime. At a minimum--- it’s a steep frickin’ learning curve, and I’m gratified to say it’s one Brubaker has finally gotten ahead of.

With this arc, Brubaker is taking an extended breather between the multi-title madness of Messiah CompleX and The Big New in #500 to examine who the X-Men are when there are no X-Men. It’s a question that’s taken Emma and Scott from the Savage Land to the streets of 60’s San Fran, and seen Wolverine, Colossus, and Nightcrawler trek across Europe and into Russia. The first couple of homo superior are steering into a showdown with a self-styled hippie “goddess”, and the boys have run afoul of the infamous “Red Room,” apparently still ticking away all these years after the fall of the U.S.S.R. The plot mechanics of splitting up the core characters take a back seat, however, to the palpable relief of being out from under the burden of being X-MEN, more so for the creative team than for the characters themselves. The pacing, which elsewhere would have the feeling of decompression, is a welcome change from the frantic slam-bang of recent months.

Newly-exclusive artists Mike Choi and Sonia Oback deserve a lot of praise. They started out great, and they’re only getting better. For all that it may be rare to see a colorist get cover billing (much less a publicized company exclusive contract), Oback certainly deserves it. Reminiscent of Joe Rosas in the early 90’s, and certainly on a par with Richard Isanove (Andy Kubert) and Laura Martin (John Cassady), Oback’s work elevates the entire contents of the issue and brings an elegance and an intensity to Choi’s pencils that recalls the very best of Salvador Larrocca’s work on the title. Their work will be missed when the new art teams take over come July.

Overall, it’s a very satisfying issue--- particularly for fans who’ve been patiently waiting for Brubaker to really hit his stride on the book. The artwork is clear, energetic, and elegant, and the story is a nice diversion from all the strum-und-drang so rampant elsewhere in the franchise. It’s not The Epic X-Men Story by any means, but it isn’t trying to be. And that feeling alone is a welcome new change. To some degree, it’s one of those great, fabled, “jumping-on” points for any new readers--- precisely because it isn’t trying to be. There’s no Big Event, there’s no dense continuity to be dealt with--- just a globe-sprawling adventure starring Cyclops, Emma Frost, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and the Angel. Y’know, the X-Men.

OVERALL:
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[Cerberus_Rex]

First Post!!!!Yay!!!! Okay so I haven't read this issue yet, because I haven't picked it up yet. I'm really hoping that after this arc the characterizations that Brubaker is developing will really get a chance to be fleshed out even more. Are we going to get a glimpse as to the where abouts of Henry in this book or will that be in Legacy?

[ustad]

i think this ''post MC'' arc will make characters breathe for a while,since we have #500 in 3 months,and i hope it gives a clear reason why X-Men is setting the headquarters in San Fransisco

[Kizmet]

I disagree with the review on several points: "There has been, certainly, a leaden quality to the franchise, a sort of inertia to any non-Morrison/Whedon/”SUPERSTAR” title in the stable since well before the dawn of the Jemas/Quesada regime."

Carey did a great job from the get go. As did David. Furthermore, I think David's X-Factor (both the current incarnation and the classic one) clearly show that it doesn't cripple a writer to use characters from somewhere other than the A-List.

Brubaker didn't have "Nightcrawler for a while" he had him for TWELVE issues... He just didn't do anything with him.


Also this is not Brubaker's first chance to write these characters, most of them were also featured in "Deadly Genesis". As in that mini, I find Brubaker does a wonderful job recreating the classical dynamic between Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Colossus. And surprisingly this issue's Scott/Emma dynamic was also pretty good (and this is coming from someone who hates the pairing with a vengeance). After the sappy, sweet utterly disgusting Scott/Emma of the previous issue, I'm utterly shocked and pleasantly surprised.

This issue marks the first time I've seen a Scott/Emma interaction that did NOT make me want to see both characters six feet under. Scott had a sense of humor, he was making jokes about his own lack of coolness. That's a hell of a long way from the socially crippled Scott that Morrison was trying to sell. Scott wasn't being pushed as some-sort of badass, the more Wolverine-y than Wolverine Scott that I saw in MC and X-Force. He was just being a competent leader, rather than being dark, edgy and WAY too kill-happy. Emma wasn't talking down to Scott the way that Wheldon frequently had her do. In this case I could actually see them as two people who like each other, even if they're still a long way from the best pair ever that Marvel keeps trying to push. Maybe it was because they were just interacting and I didn't feel like either of the characters were being pushed as the latest greatest thing, that I could actually enjoy them for once.

This arc makes me certain that what the X-Men need is fewer big events, fewer "Nothing you know will ever be the same" stories and more stories that just let the X-Men be the X-Men.

And Choi seems to be having fun drawing everyone all hippie-ish.

[Anand Khatri]

I am really loving the art.

[peeper]

I had been whining for so long about how we always see Kurt be there for Logan and yet get so very little of vice versa and then I got this issue in my lap. Finally finally finally. That moment was beautiful.
I think the hippie part is moving at too slow a pace, although I enjoy the Scott/Emma dynamic a lot. And Scott's hot when he's hippie-fied.

[BlackSamurai]

I think the 'down time' these stories are giving shoot the X-Line in its own foot a little. It shows that there were enough episodes between MC and UXM500 to take the time to properly set up a reason for the X-Men to "disassemble" credibly. We also didn't need any set of dramatic long wait between until "reassembly" because it's not like solicits or common sense wouldn't reveal that the X-Men disbandment wouldn't be permanent (or even a long build back restructuring like how the Avengers' was). But I guess what Bru works with on his own is not going to be the same as what he has to do to fit his stories in with 3 or 4 other titles.

For this issue alone though, I sense a lot of Wanda-esque hints for this "hippie goddess" and that also vibes with the nature of gypsies. While that would be a very undramatic way of reintroducing her powers with such a low key event, it is at least unique. And while I can't say for sure whether Marvel/Brubaker is going the route of bringing in the Scarlet Witch to the X-Men line or whether this is a totally different reality warping character it wouldn't be the worst idea as the big event marking in 500... but for that this hippie story is going to have to escalate and get serious. Knowing the trend in comics nowadays though, some new character inherits someone's power, some double exists, etc. just maybe here'll be the Skrull that was supposed to have reproduced Wanda's power, but something went wrong. (Yes, everything has to have Skrulls behind it now)

[Cerberus_Rex]

I am really loving the art.
Me too! I thought I read some where that Choi was going to become the regular artist on this title :cross: . I know I'm in the minority but I'm really enjoying the Emma/Scott pairing.

[thewrite1]

I had been whining for so long about how we always see Kurt be there for Logan and yet get so very little of vice versa and then I got this issue in my lap. Finally finally finally. That moment was beautiful.
Wonderful, wasn't it? The highlight of the issue.
The artists have done a good job making Wolverine's powers credible with little details such as the glass cutting his skin (when he is so often made to look indestructible) and the blood popping out of his hands when he retracts his claws.
I'm being being picky here I know, but I like to know the motivations of a character and I'm trying to think of a logical reason (all machine are based on logic) why the robot would take out Kurt first? After all, without weapons Kurt is no threat to the robots at all and this one was being torn apart by Wolverine. I won't believe for a second that the robot knew Wolverine would sacrifice himself for Kurt so I'll just have to conclude that the robot had a bad aim and luckily took out both of them at the same time.
Colossus has always been so cool when he is confident. Go Piotr!

[BlackSamurai]

...why the robot would take out Kurt first? After all, without weapons Kurt is no threat to the robots at all and this one was being torn apart by Wolverine. I won't believe for a second that the robot knew Wolverine would sacrifice himself for Kurt so I'll just have to conclude that the robot had a bad aim and luckily took out both of them at the same time.
Colossus has always been so cool when he is confident. Go Piotr!
I actually thought the robots may have been controlled by human operators (whether inside or remotely) but I'll have to reread to be sure there is actually proof one way or the other. I suspect however that Wolverine's proximity made him hard to blast (especially since they took out both Colossus and Nightcrawler with ranged blasts). Minor nitpick, although I know weapons, especially fictional media, have varying settings, it's slightly jarring to think a weapon that can drop Colossus wouldn't disintegrate Nightcrawler instantaneously. As I said minor, but I'd think it more visually interesting, and respectful of Colossus's known might, for a far more powerful looking blast (or 30 of them) to be taking him down in armored form. And I suspect the main motivation for not having Wolverine blasted by a robot as well had nothing to do with threat level but mostly wanting to depict him as doing something cool on his take down (precisely helping out his buddy Kurt by taking the brunt of the fall)

[peeper]

Wonderful, wasn't it? The highlight of the issue.

Mmm-hmmm. :cloud9:

I'm being being picky here I know, but I like to know the motivations of a character and I'm trying to think of a logical reason (all machine are based on logic) why the robot would take out Kurt first? After all, without weapons Kurt is no threat to the robots at all and this one was being torn apart by Wolverine. I won't believe for a second that the robot knew Wolverine would sacrifice himself for Kurt so I'll just have to conclude that the robot had a bad aim and luckily took out both of them at the same time.

Kurt's a teleporter - notoriously hard to hit and could cause a bunch of problems if he managed to escape, which he could do very easily. Better to take him out quick, during the brief moment he was distracted. Then Logan took himself out by plunging after him.

[Jordan T. Maxwell]

well, i've been digging Brubaker's run since Deadly Genesis and Rise and Fall, so the amount of sweetness this arc is rocking comes as no surprise for me. this feels like a very old school X-Men adventure from the early Claremont days, yet still fresh and new at the same time. and with Fraction coming on board soon...well, just look at how badass they've been together on Iron Fist (sniff...it's just going to make me miss them on that title even more. :( ). love Choi's artwork as well. hope he sticks around for a bit or at least jumps over to another title i'm reading. :D

[emesem]

Best single xmen issue in ages. It felt like something out of the late 70's /early 80s with its pacing. I cant believe it took Bru over a year to finally write a good X-men issue. Keep it coming.

[Xavier Disciple]

and with Fraction coming on board soon...well, just look at how badass they've been together on Iron Fist (sniff...it's just going to make me miss them on that title even more. :( ).

Yeah... that concerns me alittle. Why IS Fraction coming on board? I've noticed Brubaker, come July, is going to be co-writing Daredevil with someone else as well. Is Brubaker trying to gently hand over all his titles or what? Only thing he writes by himself now is Captain America.

[Kevin Jones]

Yeah... that concerns me alittle. Why IS Fraction coming on board? I've noticed Brubaker, come July, is going to be co-writing Daredevil with someone else as well. Is Brubaker trying to gently hand over all his titles or what? Only thing he writes by himself now is Captain America.If he's doing it to focus more on writing Cap, fine by me. Now, if he got a co-writer on Captain America, we'd have a revolt on our hands.

[BlackSamurai]

Yeah... that concerns me alittle. Why IS Fraction coming on board? I've noticed Brubaker, come July, is going to be co-writing Daredevil with someone else as well. Is Brubaker trying to gently hand over all his titles or what? Only thing he writes by himself now is Captain America.
As is I prefer that way to another where writers leave a title or get moved off them and someone completely rearranges the pacing and direction of a series I was getting into. I believe that there is a better chance of someone smoothly transitioning into another path if there is a period of collaboration before the former leaves. This way they can properly set up things with long ranging plots and arc follow ups from the previous take with knowledge of how the dominoes should fall so the next take is set up. The period of time working together also allows for the next writer to see and understand what long range sub plots need to pan out after the other leaves; and if it is not a case where another is being groomed to take over the reigns, but rather that both work together and leave together, then at least we've got a chance for another person to give opinions and have a say in what one wanted to do. Sort of like when we fans wish our opinions would influence comics instead of seeing some real contradictions and character inconsistencies that we can hardly understand a writer making.

[cpahl2000]

Best single xmen issue in ages. It felt like something out of the late 70's /early 80s with its pacing. I cant believe it took Bru over a year to finally write a good X-men issue. Keep it coming.

That´s true. I´m enjoying this arc but I´m looking forwar to reading #500. :wolvie: :storm: :phoenix: :colossus: :chamber: :iceman: :gambit: :profx: