Writing: John Ostrander
Art: Bryan Hitch and Sal Vellute
What Went Down: At Reverend Connover’s ministry, the police are questioning William as well as recapping readers on the events of last issue. Connover in turn delivers some exposition regarding the original issues where he met the X-Men in Uncanny #242-244. After walking away from the cops, he worries (or should I say “broods,” hee hee) over his wife some more.
Back in the desert, Hannah is still trying to convince the X-Men to kill her to prevent other people from getting hurt. Wolverine is game, but the rest of the X-Men refuse, so Hannah orders her Brood servants to attack. Jean tells them that Hannah told the aliens not to kill anyone, so they know this is meant to be a distraction.
After the Brood retreat, the X-Men split up to find her. Each of the pairs restates their views on the conflict: Bishop explains that in the future some Brood are good, Jean tries to convince Wolverine that any trace of humanity is worth saving, Beast ponders over the scientific potential of Hannah, Iceman and Wolverine think it might be worth listening to Hannah, and Cannonball thinks this might be a genuine miracle.
Hannah’s Brood catch-up with her just as a new squad of Brood elite does as well. Hannah’s Brood are all killed off. Wolverine and Jean find her just in time, followed by the rest of the X-Men. There’s another big fight. Iceman tries to save some of the “good” Brood with his powers, while Cannonball flies Hannah away from the fight. The Brood Elite give chase while the X-Men take the time to debate their plan some more. Wolverine is still gung ho on killing her, but the rest of the X-Men don’t want to take the easy path.
The Brood decide to kidnap Hannah’s husband to use as bait. Hannah senses her husband’s distress, turns into a Brood herself, and knocks Cannonball unconscious. Jean senses Cannonball pass out, and the X-Men set out to find Hannah. In a cave, William comes face-to-face with his wife in alien-form. Surprisingly, he isn’t repulsed and sticks by his oath to love his wife no matter what she is. Hannah tries to fight off the Firstborn Brood, but she is injured. As they are about to be killed, William and Hannah are saved by the X-Men.
Jean comes up with a plan, with the help of Beast and Iceman, to cryogenically freeze Hannah so she won’t have to die, but the Brood will think she’s dead. While the rest of the X-Men hold off the Brood, Iceman pulls it off, and the remaining Brood kill themselves because they think their job is done.
In the epilogue, the X-Men explain that Hannah has to stay frozen until she can be cured somehow. Beast suggests sending her to Muir Isle. At his ministry, Connover gives a sermon about tolerance, love, and hope. An effigy of Jesus appears on the crucifix in the last panel with the X-logo and ‘The End,’ making it look like Jesus is one of the X-Men.
How It Was: Well after the huge moral conflict set up last issue, the X-Men manage to cheat their way out of either choice with a last minute plot twist. To my knowledge there isn’t a story where Hannah is cured, although it could have occurred in Excalibur somewhere. For all I know, Hannah is still sitting around in a drawer at SHIELD or something, waiting to be thawed out.
As for the issue, the first half of it is basically a retread of everything from the last issue. We get the first issue recapped, all the X-Men drive into the ground the reasons they want to save or kill Hannah, Hannah keeps thinking about how guilty she is, her servants sacrifice themselves for her again, and the X-Men fight some more Brood. All of this redundancy really could have been avoided if the story had been contained to one issue, or two regular sized issues. After thirty or so pages, we get it: Wolverine thinks she should die, so we can move on now.
The second half of the issue works a lot better. Hannah’s husband is kidnapped, so there’s some investment in whether he’s going to survive or even accept her. Hannah is wounded to build some tension. And the final fight does have some cool moments to it, especially Iceman pushing a huge ice stalagmite through a Brood as he tries to get to Hannah. Ostrander even manages to get some emotional mileage out of the end when Jean telepathically tells William that he can’t let Hannah know what is going on, or the Brood will read her mind. The final battle works really well; it’s unfortunate that Hannah’s fate is never resolved.
Hitch had some problems finishing this issue up, so Vellute is sent in—a name I am wholly unfamiliar with. Even the panels that are clearly Hitch seem a little more rushed than last issue; he has some problems with people’s noses, especially Wolverine’s. This story is nice and straightforward, but I can’t get past the feeling that over half of this issue is unnecessary as far as advancing the plot goes.
C-
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