Mystique finally reaches the end of the road with issue #24, the final part of "Quiet" and the end of the series.

Fortunately, "Quiet" is a good place to leave off.  If the book had continued, this would have been the point where all outstanding plot threads were resolved and the direction of the series changed anyway.  As it is, at least everything gets resolved.  The identity of the Quiet Man is further clarified; it turns out to be Prudence, the dead agent from issue #1, occupying the body of Steinbeck, the villain from the same issue. 

That allows the series to come full circle, with the main villain being revealed as a character (albeit a minor one) from the book itself rather than somebody yanked in from another corner of the mythos.  Okay, Shepherd and Prudence seem to have had a fairly well-developed plan for two characters who turn out to be nuts, but I can let that slide.  It feels right.

In the current market, Mystique actually did pretty well by completing a two year run.  When you factor in the fact that it's a villain book with a female lead, it's actually quite impressive that it's lasted this long.  I'll admit that Mystique never quite made it to the level of essential reading.  But it's given us some solid, well-constructed spy stories which were just good fun to read, and the overreaching Quiet Man arc has paid off satisfyingly.

I've genuinely enjoyed this book over the last couple of years.  We could all do with a few less X-books, and I can't honestly say that this title was so spectacular that it deserved to escape the axe.  But I'm still going to miss it.

Rating: B+

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