Next week, Reload begins with the first issue of Claremont and Davis's Uncanny X-Men.  In the meantime, we have one more week of... well, filler, to be honest.  Most of the books are playing for time so that they can kick off their new storylines in May, and this is no exception.

Mystique #13 ties up Brian Vaughan's run on the title, with Sean McKeever taking over next month.  McKeever's an equally good writer who's been doing great work for Marvel of late, so the transition shouldn't be too bumpy.  Since the previous storyline ended last month, what we have here is a self-contained story where Mystique runs around Rio de Janiero trying to get a macguffin.

However, instead of just writing a completely throwaway issue, Vaughan also takes the opportunity to advance Shortpack's subplot, by explaining his involvement with Shepard.  Given that he'd been set up as a possible traitor, it's probably best to have cleared that away quickly, before the explanation came across as an anticlimax.

The success of this book has been built on a simple formula - straight action stories as the focus, conspiracy subplots, and intelligent musings hanging around the edge without derailing the plot.  The balance has worked very well, and I imagine McKeever won't want to tinker with it.  In any event, the last year on this book have shown that Vaughan has a knack for this sub-genre, which bodes well for his upcoming run on Ultimate X-Men.

It's also the final issue for semi-regular artist Michael Ryan.  The digitally-inked style works wonderfully for Ryan's art, with the surviving pencils adding depth that was sometimes missing when he was conventionally inked.  The technique doesn't work for all artists, but it certainly suits Ryan.

This has been a solidly entertaining book over the last year; fortunately, the new creative team seem like a good bet to keep up the quality.

Rating: A-

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