It's very quiet this week, which is handy, because I have tons of deadlines looming and this is about all I have time for anyway.  So, let's get down to business.

Uncanny X-Men continues its House of M crossover.  Surprisingly enough, in an event which has been of very erratic quality, this is proving to be one of the more successful efforts.  While most books are going through the motions of an Elseworlds story, Claremont clearly has more of an agenda in mind.  For one thing, he's doing a story about the characters trying to set things right before the cosmic police sweep in and eradicate Earth as a dangerous anomaly.  So there's actually something at stake.

On top of that, Claremont wants to bring together the cast of his New Excalibur book.  This is really their story - Psylocke and Marvel Girl are kept around from the regular cast, but basically it's an introductory arc for the new book.  Well, nothing like giving something a high profile launch.  Quite how anything in House of M can really lead into anything remains somewhat obscure, but I suppose it depends how much of this everyone remembers afterwards.  And you can't really blame this book for the failings of the overall concept.

Plus, Claremont happens to be using Nocturne in New Excalibur, which gives him an opportunity to play off the House of M set-up.  Back on her own world, Nocturne is the daughter of Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Witch.  That, of course, makes her part of the royal family - which is odd, because Wanda's meant to be a recluse.  So the story here is that Nocturne's existence is a bit of a scandal, and the government is trying to hush it up. 

With an actual agenda to fulfil, Claremont is on form here.  Unlike most of the House of M stuff - and I include the core miniseries in that - it really does feel like this is heading somewhere.  In fact, not only is it heading somewhere, it's actually getting there at a respectable pace.  Such largely neglected virtues make me happy.

Accessibility is probably the big downside here, with a story that really does rely on you knowing more background than the characters are readily able to explain.  After years of using Courtney Ross without explaining that she's actually an impostor, Claremont suddenly brings it up out of nowhere.  Nocturne's significance also rests on you already knowing her relationship to Magneto, something that (unavoidably) the characters here can't explain.  And it helps a lot if you know this is the first time Psylocke and Brian have met since her apparent death in X-Treme X-Men, something which is alluded to but not terribly well explained, no doubt because the House of M characters remember something utterly different happening in the same slot. 

Still, the general thrust of the story comes across clear enough.  This is also the final issue of Alan Davis' run on the title, which has finally started to click over the last couple of issues.  I still don't feel that this book has been bringing out the best in him, but even slightly off form, Davis is still a spectacular artist.  Chris Bachalo takes over next month, which sounds like a gratingly unpleasant style clash, but we shall see.

This is the sort of book I was hoping for from a Claremont/Davis collaboration.  A good issue in its own right, and one that's getting some real mileage out of House of M.

Rating: A-

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