The "Hope" three-parter concludes in Uncanny X-Men #412.  And I'm left with much the same reaction I had at the outset.

This is a much, much more traditional, team-book formula than Casey was doing.  The same applies in comparison with what Morrison is doing over on New X-Men.  Essentially, this is being positioned as the X-Men book for people who want to read a superhero team story and don't want to slog through Claremont to get one.  Nothing inherently wrong with this approach.  If you're going to have four X-Men titles a month, each should try to offer something different.

The problem is that it's a bit of a lacklustre affair.  Black Tom Cassidy turning into a plant - again - is not the most overwhelming plot idea.  He gets beaten in a fairly conventional way, and conveniently makes Archangel caucasian into the bargain (one of those dreadfully convenient reset button moments that always reads like fanfic).

Juggernaut gets a new status quo by going back to live with the team, which has some definite possibilities.  Meanwhile, the squid boy gets to be a bit heroic by conveniently having a scene near the end for which his powers are ideally suited - nice, if a little contrived.  But where was this character in the last issue?  The structure of this storyline is weirdly designed, with that boy's entire plot disappearing entirely between the first and final acts.

A middling story let down mainly by some awkward plotting and a general feeling that inspiration is in short supply.

Rating: B-

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