X-Men #41

X-Men #41
Writing: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Andy Kubert and Ron Garney

What Went Down: Legion Quest Part 4: The book starts out in the middle of a huge battle between Magneto and Legion. The X-Men have just arrived and are wondering how to proceed. Down on the ground, Xavier fills Gabrielle in on the plot of the story and stresses the gravity of this situation. The X-Men contact Charles and ask for his help; Xavier recognizes Storm as the little girl he met in Cairo.

In the present, the universe is being engulfed by a crystal wave that is somehow related to the M’kraan Crystal. Charles and a hologram of Lilandra talk about the situation; Lilandra comforts Xavier and insists that he is not a failure. Gambit and Rogue comfort each other while Archangel flies around and contemplates his relationship with Psylocke. Warren flies to Scott and Jean, and the group waits for the world to end.

In the past, the battle between Magneto and Legion causes Apocalypse to awaken early, as opposed to waiting for his original first appearance in X-Factor. In the air, Legion and Magneto debate whether it is right to condemn someone for something that has not yet occurred. Legion knocks Magneto down, and the X-Men engage him. Iceman freezes every molecule in David’s body, but he is still able to survive. Unleashing a psychic wave, Legion knocks out all of the X-Men.

Then, the moment of truth: as Legion is about to kill Magneto, Xavier jumps in front of Legion’s psychic knife, sacrificing his own life. This of course causes a time paradox, so the X-Men and Legion all disappear. Because he is actually a time anomaly, Bishop doesn’t disappear, but the event does mess with his memories. Magnus cries over his fallen friend.

In the present, we see a number of scenes frozen by the crystal wave. Magneto and Exodus’ court on Avalon is shown and then disappears. Seeing the wave coming, Rogue decides to kiss Gambit since she figures that they are all going to die anyways. Other scenes frozen in crystal include Wolverine stabbing Sabretooth in the head, X-Force looking over Caliban, a ship crashing, Strong Guy of X-Factor having a heart attack, and the Generation X team standing around. Also there is a scene of X-Treme and Eric the Red fighting, but I have no idea what issue that comes from. The issue ends with the X-Men being turned into crystal and Xavier shattering, symbolizing his own death and the death of his dream.

How It Was: Every single page of this issue rocks. The writing is strong, the art is fairly seamless for having two artists on board, and there are a number of great character moments. First off, the fight with Legion and Magneto is a big improvement over the fight in Part 1. Legion demonstrates a number of different powers, making the fight more visually engaging. Plus, if not for the advertisements stating Xavier dies at the end that appear in this issue, there would actually be some tension over who was going to win. My favorite part of the debate is the subversion of Magneto’s core principles. Since Legion is attacking Magneto for something he has yet to do, Magneto questions David’s sense of justice, but we all know that in the future it will be Magneto trying to eliminate humanity for something that they have yet to do. It’s a great use of the traditional nature vs. nurture debate, and it fits perfectly into the themes of this story and the next. Absolute brilliance!

This issue has a bunch of little moments that add great touches of detail to the story. From Xavier recognizing Storm in the past to Apocalypse’s early rise, it is fantastic to see these bits of continuity not forgotten. It’s also great to see some other characters get the spotlight, such as when Iceman uses lethal force against Legion or when Rogue finally kisses Gambit.

And of course there is the final scene: the death of Xavier portrayed absolutely perfectly. From Legion’s horror at the act he’s committed to the tears running down Magneto’s face, it still manages to convey some emotion, despite being completely spoiled. And although it is a little random and contrived, the crystallization effect at the end serves as a perfect visual symbol for how fragile the ides of hope and peace are. My only complaint is that the moment could have carried even more weight if we all didn’t know it was coming, but in an industry where comic orders have to be made months in advance, I guess it can be excused. Still, this is a really great issue that is the perfect example of how to do a character death.

A

Uncanny X-Men #321

Uncanny X-Men #321
Writing: Scott Lobdell and Mark Waid
Art: Ron Garney

What Went Down: Legion Quest Part 3: In this issue, as indicated by the cover, Cable touches Bishop! We begin with a flashback of Magneto and Professor X talking in a bar; this flashback takes place before all of the flashbacks in previous issues of Legion Quest. The two friends are debating their respective philosophies, in a more friendly than usual manner, over drinks. In another corner of the bar, a big fat guy pours a drink on a blind, crippled beggar. Xavier decides to stand up for the beggar, and a huge bar fight ensues with Charles and Magnus fighting everyone in the bar. After beating up everyone, the two friends walk out together.

This flashback turns out to be a story that Xavier is relating to Cable during the construction of a very large alien machine. The machine’s purpose is to use Jean Grey and Xavier’s powers to somehow allow Cable’s astral form to travel back in time to tell the time-lost Gold Team what they need to do. The heroes are strapped in and the machine is activated.

Twenty years prior in Haifa, Israel, Iceman and Bishop are working as dockworkers. During their lunch break, they meet up with Storm and Psylocke to discuss their plight. We learn that Betsy has been using her powers to try to figure out who they are for three weeks now.

In another part of the city, Xavier and Magnus are discussing Charles’ relationship with Gabrielle Haller; for some reason, the flaming David Haller at the end of last issue has been completely forgotten about. Magnus encourages Charles to go for it with Gaby, and they go off to the hospital together.

Outside in a garden, Gaby is visited by Legion, her future son. Legion uses his powers to take the appearance of Charles. He grabs her and begins kissing her; it is strongly implied that they have sex together. Yep, David Haller sleeps with his mother in the past (Allegedly). Xavier senses that Gabrielle is in danger and hurries to her.

At the dock, Cable appears before Bishop; Bishop recognizes him, but before they can talk, the other X-Men attack Cable. Cable is able to touch Bishop, which somehow causes energy to flow through all the X-Men, letting them remember everything. Magneto and Charles find Gabrielle on the ground unconscious. It turns out that Legion has also regained his memory, and he now wants to kill the future Magneto.

How It Was: Well, if you read my review of last issue, you probably know what I’m going to say about this issue; the Xavier/Magneto content rocks and everything else doesn’t so much. Particularly of interest is the initial flashback at the beginning of the issue that shows off an interesting twist on the dynamic of the two friends’ relationship. While Magneto is usually thought of as the one must ready to use violence against humans to protect the weak, it is Xavier who jumps to the defense of the beggar and Magneto who tries to get the bullies to walk away by talking to them. This actually makes sense in the fact that the X-Men are as much about fighting, although with non-lethal violence, to achieve their goals; this scene is a perfect example of how both men’s methods are really more similar than different, and how their conflict is really defined more by their philosophies about human nature.

The other flashbacks with Xavier and Magneto are also good; I like how both characters are conflicted over Charles’ relationship with Gabrielle Haller, but for different reasons. The only problem is that neither one of them seems to acknowledge the fact that their John Doe patient burst into flames in the last issue, revealing himself to be a mutant. Since this was how the last issue left off, you’d think it would be more important then discussing the ethics of dating a patient. I don’t know, I guess there was a breakdown in communication somewhere between the two writers.

Once again the Blue Team doesn’t have a whole heck of a lot to do. Beast helps the Shi’ar build a big honking device to send Cable back in time, and that’s about it. As contrived as the Gold Team’s amnesia in the past is, I find it even more contrived that the cure for the amnesia is Cable’s touching Bishop. There are a number of other plot holes: how does the Blue Team figure out where and when the Gold Team is? How does Legion get his memory back? And why oh why does Legion have sex with his mother? The plot line is supposed to be that all of Legion’s personalities have merged, making him sane for the first time, but these aren't the actions of a sane individual. More importantly, this scene really doesn’t serve any purpose in the story other than to freak readers out. Also, how did Legion’s hair grow back since last issue?

Ron Garney is pitch hitting for Joe Mad this issue, and he does a pretty good job. I really like the fight scene at the beginning and the art sells me on the fact that Magneto and Xavier could beat up a bar full of bigots. If I had one complaint, I guess I would say that his Beast looks a little short and odd-shaped, but other than that, it is quite good.  Besides the fight at the beginning, this is probably the weakest of the issues in this story. I feel like they could have done the whole series in three issues if the first and last issues were kept the same, and the second issue was nothing but flashbacks of Magneto and Xavier setting up the arrival of Legion and the X-Men at the end. The stuff with the time lost Gold Team and the Blue Team sitting around really has no point.

C