Uncanny X-Men #413 is basically an epilogue for the "Hope" three-parter.  Consistent with the old-school team-book feel of Austen's run so far, this is a very soapy and melodramatic issue, but good enough on that level.

Annie Ghazikhanian, the nurse from the Alex Summers subplot in the last two issues, arrives at the X-Men's school accompanied by her son Carter.  Apparently, since we last saw her, Alex has been transported to the Mansion, and Annie has quit her job to go and work for the X-Men.  There's a glaring timeline problem with this whole story, since only a few hours seem to have passed since the last issue from everyone else's point of view, while Annie seems to have had a good few days at the very least.  I suspect Austen is hoping that we won't notice this glitch, but it leaps off the page at me.

Let's leave that aside, though, and take the issue on its merits.  The main theme here is Annie turning up at the Mansion, trying not to be openly anti-mutant, and generally playing the innocent abroad.  It's not dissimilar to Austen's first issue in that respect, but it does set up Annie as a promising supporting character with some potentially interesting subplots.

Alex Summers is back at the mansion, but Xavier can't find a way to restore his mind to his body.  There's a decent astral plane scene in it this issue, but I suspect that long term, we're heading to the story where Alex returns due to his love for Lorna, and Annie gets to feel rejected.  Which would be obvious, but it gives Annie a decent storyline.

As far as the regular cast are concerned, Wolverine gets to squabble with the Juggernaut in the traditional manner, and after being built up as a sympathetic character over the last few issues, Stacy X reverts to type by giving the readers every reason to hate her again.  The idea seems to be to play her as an intolerable bitch most of the time, who reveals her vulnerable side when she cracks under stress.  It's good to see Austen trying to make something of her, although I'm not sure where he can head with this besides softening and neutering her.

Sean Phillips is on guest art this month.  This being a talk rather than action issue, he's probably better at it than Ron Garney would be.  His art isn't the prettiest out there, but he's good at telling this sort of story.

All of this issue confirms my general sense that Austen's Uncanny X-Men is staking a claim as a traditional 80s-90s style soap opera team book, for readers who don't want the idiosyncracies of Claremont.  There's nothing dazzling about it, but it works for what it is.

Rating: B+

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