Also this week...

ASTONISHING X-MEN #15 - Oh right, I see where this is headed.  This is a retread of the Hellfire Club segment of the Dark Phoenix Saga, with the X-Men being taken out one by one, and Shadowcat in the Wolverine role.  I have a sinking feeling we're heading towards Emma Frost in the Jean Grey role, since a double cross is being set up quite obviously.  I get all that, but I don't really get what the point is.  Whedon's love of 1980s X-Men and desire to update it for a new generation has been obvious from the word go, and that's just fine.  But this seems to be a straight homage of an earlier story, and I'm not sure what more there is beyond that.  As always, it looks beautiful, and the cowardly Wolverine scenes are very funny, but I'm increasingly unconvinced that Whedon actually has anything to say about the X-Men other than how much he loves them.  Still entertaining, though.  B

NEW AVENGERS #20 - Worth mentioning because it actually attempts to explain away the Xorn mess.  Unfortunately, it doesn't explain it in a remotely comprehensible fashion, and Joe Quesada's attempt to explain the story over at Newsarama just makes matters worse, because his explanation certainly doesn't seem to match the story Brian Bendis appears to think he's writing.  It's at this point that I put the comic down, switch off the computer, and head to a quiet room to bang my head against the wall.  Really, is it that hard to explain basic plot points?  I don't want to sound arrogant, but I'm a reasonably intelligent and passably attentive reader.  If I don't understand the plot, even after you've explained it, then it's your fault, not mine, because it means you don't know how to communicate your ideas in a remotely effective way.  This is neither meaningful nor comprehensible - frankly, it's downright impenetrable - and that's really inexcusable in a mainstream superhero book.  D+

X-MEN: FAIRY TALES #2 - African folk tales this time, and a tale of excessively tolerant trust between a tortoise and an eagle.  The X-Men connection is that the tortoise is vaguely identified with Professor X, and the eagle with Magneto.  A considerable improvement on issue #1, because the story is inherently stronger, and actually has some resonance with the established personae of the characters they're referencing.  Oh, and it's got art by Kyle Baker, who's always wonderful.  It's still really just a folk tale adaptation book with an extremely thin layer of X-Men concepts spread on top, but it's much more successful this time round.  B+

The final Article 10 column is still up from last week's Ninth Art, and there's more from me at If Destroyed.

Next week, the Civil War crossover continues in X-Factor #8 and Wolverine #43.  X-Men #187 is an epilogue to "Blood of Apocalypse", and the final Peter Milligan issue.  Exiles #83 is an epilogue to "World Tour" and was meant to be the final Tony Bedard issue, but he'll be sticking around for a bit longer now.  And Storm #5 continues the build to the "wedding of the century".

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