STORY: "The Splinter of Discontent" (19 pages)  Injured in a recent battle and unable to return to human form, Iceman turns to Emma Frost for help. She helps him to change back himself.

What you need to know:
Iceman's injuries happened in X-Men vol 2 #50 in a rather pointless battle with Onslaught's herald, Post.  Basically, his chest has been shattered and he doesn't dare change back.  Emma simply shows him that he could have changed back all along with a bit of effort.

The Beast was kidnapped and replaced by the Dark Beast, his counterpart from the Age of Apocalyspe, in X-Men Unlimited #10.  He crops up at the beginning of the issue doing a moderately good job of fooling X-Force.

Archangel and Psylocke take a leave of absence from the X-Men while they recover from their injuries (Archangel having been injured in the first Sabretooth one-shot).

Cyclops and Phoenix visit the place where Cyclops, Storm, Iceman and Wolverine fought Post in X-Men vol 2 #50 and discover that it's completely barren and shows no signs of their battle.  Quite how they're supposed to have found it is anybody's guess.  It's possible that this is actually a mix-up where Bryan Hitch, who drew this issue, wasn't given correct references for the original story and inadvertantly came up with an entirely different landscape.  In any event, as Phoenix says, "this doesn't make sense."

Contrary to popular belief:
In the name of god, people, Emma does not ask Bobby if he's thinking of taking up interior decorating because she thinks he's gay.  She says it because he's just filled her office with bloody great towering lumps of ice that fill two thirds of the page.

Comments:
This issue ties up the long-running subplot about Emma Frost's relationship with Iceman.  The suggestion seems to be that Emma was angry at Iceman's failure to develop his powers properly while drifting merrily through the Marvel Universe, while the Hellions she put so much effort into training got themselves killed by a third-rate nobody.  It's a perfectly good idea but nothing really seems to come of it.  Iceman gets a bit more self-confidence, a kind of friendly rivalry relationship is set up, but I can't really get too worked up about it, I'm afraid.  Mind you, maybe it's just me - I know there are fans (and writers) out there who find the whole Iceman/Emma Frost thing absolutely gripping.  To each their own.

Guest art this issue comes from Bryan Hitch, although for some reason the issue is foisted with a dreadful cover by Jeff Matsuda. It's not one of Hitch's best pieces of work, and it's not helped by a colourist who seems to think that ice is grey.

FEATURE CHARACTERS
Archangel (last in X-Men vol 2 #50; next in issue #333)
Bishop (last in X-Men vol 2 #50; next in X-Men vol 2 #51-52, then in Generation X #13-14, then in issue #333)
Cyclops (last in X-Men vol 2 #50; next in Further Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix #1-4)
Gambit (last in X-Men vol 2 #50; next in X-Men vol 2 #51, then in issue #333)
Iceman (last in X-Men vol 2 #50)
Phoenix III (last in X-Men vol 2 #50; next in Wolverine vol 2 #97, then in flashback in Wolverine vol 2 #98, then in Further Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix #1-4)
Professor X (last in X-Men vol 2 #50)
Psylocke (behind the scenes; last in Cable #31; next in issue #333)

GUEST STAR
Emma Frost (last in flashback in Generation X #11; next in Generation X #12)

VILLAIN
The Dark Beast (between X-Men Unlimited vol 1 #10 and X-Men vol 2 #51)

GUEST APPEARANCES
The Banshee (between X-Men vol 2 #50 and Generation X #12)
Jubilee (between Generation X #11-12)
X-Force II: Meltdown II, Shatterstar (both next in X-Man #18), Sunspot (next in issue #335; all last in X-Force vol 1 #54) and Warpath (between X-Force vol 1 #53 and #57)

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