STORY: "Man" (22 pages)  Valerie Cooper turns up at the Mansion to arrest Professor X after the Onslaught affair.  Although the X-Men want to defend him, ultimately the Professor insists on going with her voluntarily.

What you need to know:
Professor X has been left powerless after the Onslaught affair, although obviously that won't last.  He's written out with this issue, and we won't see him again until the "Hunt for Xavier" crossover in issues #82-84 and Uncanny X-Men #362-364.

Other than Professor X, the only X-Men who support handing him over to the government are Storm and Phoenix.  Quicksilver also drops by to lend his support to the idea.  (This also marks the first time that Joseph meets his "son" Quicksilver.)

Hank reconciles with Trish Tilby, in the latest stage of their go-nowhere relationship.

Cannonball and Iceman are researching Graydon Creed, in preparation for going undercover with him.

Bastion tries to bully J Jonah Jameson into stopping his investigations into the Creed campaign.  Of course, this is completely counterproductive, and merely encourages Jameson to look even harder.  For some reason Bastion seems to consider this outcome a success, although it's never exactly clear (to put it mildly) why he would want to cause trouble for Creed's campaign.  Then again, the whole storyline of Jameson investigating Operation; Zero Tolerance really just peters out without a proper resolution.

The cover is a homage to the cover art from X-Men vol 1 #138.

Comments:
Okay, so Mark Waid didn't work out.  So we're back to Scott Lobdell writing both books.  And just like last time, he seems to be treating it as a bit of a holding exercise until somebody else comes along.  There's a lot of filler over the next few issues

This is the exception to the rule, as it gets to deal with some fallout from Onslaught, and write out Professor X.  The issue is built around the X-Men debating whether Xavier should be handed over to the government.  It's a bit of a one-sided debate, since the pro-surrender characters have all the best points.  After all, Xavier did turn into a raving lunatic, smash up Manhattan, and seemingly wipe out the Avengers and the Fantastic Four.  It's not like the government's completely out of line in trying to arrest him.  Everyone else just comes off as very, very defensive - but then, that seems to be the idea.

I'm in two minds about the idea of Valerie Cooper turning up at the Mansion, on her own, unannounced to try and arrest Xavier on the spot.  You'd have thought she'd have brought a couple of henchmen along.  Then again, maybe she's just working on the assumption that this is the least confrontational way of doing things.

FEATURE CHARACTERS
Professor X (last in Uncanny X-Men #337; leaves the X-Men; next in Onslaught: Epilogue)
Wolverine (last in Uncanny X-Men #337; next in Wolverine vol 2 #106, then in Elektra vol 1 #1 and #3, then in both stories in Wolverine '96, then in Uncanny X-Men #338)
Storm (last in Cable #36; next in Uncanny X-Men '96, then in XSE #4, then in Uncanny X-Men #338)
Bishop (last in Uncanny X-Men #337; next in Uncanny X-Men '96, then in XSE #1-4)
Iceman and Cannonball (both between Uncanny X-Men #337-338, with Cannonball behind the scenes in Uncanny X-Men #337)
Joseph (last behind the scenes in Uncanny X-Men #337; next in Magneto #1-4, then in Uncanny X-Men #338)
Cyclops and Phoenix III (both last in Uncanny X-Men #337; both next in Sensational Spider-Man #10, then in Uncanny X-Men #338, then in the X-Men story in Marvel Holiday Special 1996, then in Uncanny X-Men #339, then in issue #59)
The Beast (last in Uncanny X-Men #337; next in Generation X #21, then in Uncanny X-Men #338-339, then in issue #59)
Psylocke (last in Uncanny X-Men #337; next in Uncanny X-Men #338, then in X-Men '96)
Archangel (behind the scenes; last in Uncanny X-Men #337; next in Uncanny X-Men #338, then in issue #61)

GUEST STARS
Valerie Cooper (between X-Factor vol 1 #124 and Marvel Fanfare vol 2 #6)
J Jonah Jameson (last behind the scenes in Green Goblin #13; next in Uncanny X-Men #338)

SUPPORTING CHARACTER
Trish Tilby (last in flashback in Onslaught: Marvel Universe)

VILLAINS
Bastion (next in Onslaught: Epilogue), Harper (next in X-Factor vol 1 #128) and Graydon Creed (all last in Uncanny X-Men #337)

GUEST APPEARANCE
Quicksilver (between Uncanny X-Men #337-338)

Written: 21 July 2005

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