The invasion storyline is finally finished.  Thank god.

X-Treme X-Men #17 is a one issue epilogue, tying up the Rogue/Vargas subplot which moved so glacially through the course of the invasion arc.  On the plus side, the pace has certainly picked up.  The issue resolves that subplot and also somewhat advances the Diaries plot - although not entirely in a welcome manner.

If this is the big blow-off to the Rogue/Vargas feud, though, I'm not desperately impressed.  We still haven't been given any real explanation of what Vargas is after.  Yes, of course he wants to avert his own death at the hands of Rogue, and that's fine as far as it goes, but doesn't he have anything more positive he wants to achieve?  He makes assorted anti-mutant comments, but this scarcely counts as a distinctive angle for an X-Men villain.

Plus, he's still acting in ways that seem suspiciously plot-convenient.  ("Just run along, henchman.  I'm going to pop back and pick up that sword which I left behind so that last issue would have a dramatic cliffhanger.")  And I have tremendous difficulty in suspending disbelief to the point where I can accept Rogue going after Vargas and defeating him in combat when she's just been impaled on a sword.  It's silly.

The main arc advancement this issue is that Rogue decides that the Diaries are a bad thing and that the X-Men shouldn't be trying to find them after all.  I find myself wondering whether Claremont is simply admitting defeat on the point that this plot has gone absolutely nowhere in the last seventeen issues, despite supposedly providing the team's reason to exist.  In any event, Rogue's argument seems to be that the Diaries are bad because they "take away all responsibility" and "represent the death of hope."

Um, but wasn't the idea to find the Diaries and then use the information they contained to change history?  How does that amount to taking away responsibility?  What the hell did the X-Men want the books for in the first place if they were just going to read them and say "Oh, that's nice.  I'll do exactly what it says here."

Then there's the completely unexplained appearance of Shaitan, still as a duplicate Storm, which is guaranteed to completely baffle any readers who didn't read the last two issues.  (And from some of the threads I've read, confused an awful lot who did.)

And why does Rogue's costume change entirely halfway through the book?  Yes, I know it's meant to be Psylocke's costume.  Why is she suddenly changing into it halfway through the story?

Bleh.  Supposedly we're coming up for an issue which is meant to redefine the direction of the team.  Please god at least come up with one this time.

Rating: C-

back | continue