Finally for this week, X-Men: The End.

I dunno.  Technically, this is getting slightly better.  There's a degree of focus emerging, and at least it's starting to become tolerably clear how the major strands of this story are supposed to be tying together. 

But it's still pretty bad.  The book is still cluttered with characters making their obligatory cameo before being shuffled off the page.  The plots aren't been juggled at all well - Phoenix and her group of characters have been completely sidelined for several issues while we watch fight after fight between the X-Men and the Warskrulls.  Finally this issue somebody remembers that Kitty's meant to be running for mayor of Chicago, although in terms which don't make much sense at all.  We're apparently meant to take it that voters who might support an openly mutant candidate are alienated by her helping out at a disaster at a school.  Sorry, but that's just silly.

Most of all, though, I just don't care about any of this.  There's nothing at stake.  Well, in theory it's a matter of life and death, but it's an alternate future, so it's not the real characters, and who cares?  No, the point is that there's no actual issue at stake here.  Even Kitty feels compelled to observe that they're just having a series of meaningless fights.  She's absolutely right, and one wonders why this didn't ring any alarm bells that the plot might perhaps be a bit underpowered.

The plot, so far as can be discerned, comes down to this.  Phoenix has returned, evidently ahead of schedule.  The Shi'ar and the Warskrulls aren't desperately happy about this which, for reasons that are entirely unclear, leads them to attack the X-Men, who are on the other side of the galaxy from her.  Sinister decides that annihilation is on the cards and starts abducting some of his own pet projects to get them out of the way.  Much fighting ensues.  And then some more fighting ensues.

So... what, then?  Phoenix has come back and isn't planning to do anything.  The villains don't like it so they launch a completely unrelated attack on some other characters, to no apparent end.  And aside from the subplot about Kitty running for mayor - which, until now, has been almost ignored since it was first mentioned - there's nothing about any of the key themes of the X-Men here.  Even stripped of all the clutter, this is just Claremont pissing about with some of his pet characters and completely ignoring what made his own X-Men stories work.  The very fact that his last-ever X-Men story involves the X-Men spending half a year fighting a bunch of jumped up Skrulls who appeared in one storyline fifteen years ago speaks volumes.  Not only is Claremont missing the point, he isn't even aiming at it.

The hardcore Claremont fanbase will adore it, of course.  Everyone else can steer clear.

Rating: C

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