A more fitting resolution to DeFilippis and Weir's run is the New X-Men: Academy X Yearbook, which helpfully bears the normal New X-Men logo for maximum confusion.

Originally, the plan was that DeFilippis and Weir would write one final issue after House of M to wrap up their storylines.  That idea was spiked when the incoming creative team decided they wanted to pick up immediately after the reality warp ended.  Instead, the story has undergone a rewrite so that it can take place before House of M, effectively turning it into issue #15-and-a-half.

In fairness, given what we now know about the effects of House of M, this was probably a good decision.  If this story had appeared as New X-Men #20 it would have had to deal at length with Decimation, which would not have improved the story in the slightest.  In this format, it can do what it needs to do by providing a sense of closure - not just for DeFilippis and Weir's plots, but for the whole "Academy X" set-up, which to all intents and purposes will be trashed by Decimation.  Although the comic is apparently set to continue as a more traditional book in the style of the original New Mutants or Generation X, this is basically the end of the line for the comic as we know it, and it deserved some sort of finale.

Of course, this being New X-Men, it's a very low key finale.  This book is a soap opera, and DeFilippis and Weir had spent over a year building up tension within the team.  Since issue #15 left the team on the verge of collapse, this story tries to draw a line under all that by sticking the characters around a campfire and getting them to talk out their problems.  And that's it.

But for readers who've followed this series since the beginning, this should be a largely satisfactory resolution.  It doesn't go overboard in having everybody hug and make up, but the major issues are ventilated, the air is cleared, and at least everyone is talking by the end of it.  Even Sofia's relationship with Julian Keller is given a nudge forward so that everything's set up properly for the incoming team.

These deck-clearing issues can often come across as horribly contrived, and it's to the credit of DeFilippis and Weir that this one doesn't.  The key is to have Sofia realise that her team is on the verge of collapse.  That gives her a reason to bring everyone together and makes it her mission to achieve some closure.  As a result, they get to simultaneously resolve a number of plots without it coming across as artificial or coincidental.  The kids talk everything through, closure is duly reached, and we feel like they've achieved something.

It's as good as a story of this sort can realistically be, and it largely succeeds in giving this version of the series the ending that it deserved.

Rating: A-

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