Meanwhile, X-Men: The End wraps up its second volume. 

This book is pretty much review-proof by this point, since twelve issues in, it's hard to imagine that anybody's reading other than completists and Claremont fans - who'll love it, because it's very Claremont indeed, and exactly what hardcore Claremont fans are after.  Beyond that, the question of whether it's actually any good is somewhat academic.

Incidentally, I gather that editor Tom Brevoort is now taking the line that all The End titles are out of continuity, even Marvel Universe: The End, which ended in a cosmic reset button and set up Thanos.  Apparently, Thanos was just referring to something very similar which was in continuity.  The mind boggles.  In any event, when the rules of continuity have becomes as stupidly byzantine as that, one can only wonder what we're supposed to make of attempted revelations such as last issue's claim that Gambit is actually the son of Mr Sinister.  Is that supposed to hold any water at all in the mainstream books?  Does it even occur to anyone at Marvel that people are likely to ask these questions?

Anyhow, this issue is mostly divided between Kitty Pryde's debate with Alice Tremaine, and more fighting with Sinister and his henchmen before some of the cast head off to outer space to deal with the Shi'ar in volume 3.  On one level, the mayoral debate is welcome because it's finally getting to the core themes of the X-Men which surely ought to be a focal point of any X-Men: The End story. 

Unfortunately, Kitty and Alice's debate is really just going through the motions, as they rehash the same stuff we've heard a thousand times before.  Alice is a one-note character who doesn't ring true as anything more than an indefensible bigot, making their argument pretty meaningless.  There's no drama to it at all - nobody seems to be listening, nobody seems to be changing their minds, and we're left with two characters rehearsing stock speeches.  While this may be a fabulously accurate rendition of the average Chicago mayoral debate, it's not great reading.

As for the rest, I just can't get into an X-Men: The End book that thinks we should be occupying ourselves with Mr Sinister, intergalactic slavers and the Shi'ar.  All this space opera stuff was only ever a diverting sideshow to the core stories, and I just don't for the life of me see what it's doing in this book.  I've been baffled by its perceived relevance since issue #1, and twelve issues down the line, I still think it's utterly wrongheaded.  Something tells me the remaining six issues aren't going to change my mind on this.

The Claremont fans will love it, of course, and good luck to them.  For the rest of us, it's hard to know what the point is.

Rating: B

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