Now here's an unusual experience for me.  X-Men #158 has picked up a slew of negative reviews and is getting the usual reaction for an Austen book.  And for once, I'm reading all this and thinking, "You know, it wasn't that bad..."  I mean, don't get me wrong.  It's not that good either.  But it's not that bad.

Austen has made it abundantly clear in interviews that bringing back Xorn was not his idea.  I can certainly understand his reservations, particularly given the mess that Excalibur #2 is apparently about to make of Grant Morrison's plotting.  Rather than get bogged down in this for months to come, let me make a couple of comments on this issue now, and we'll see if that turns out to be enough.

Changing direction after Morrison leaves makes perfect sense.  Cannibalising his run for ideas, and then distorting them in ways that undermine the original point and damage his plot, seems bizarre.  If you want to change direction, move forward.  Do something new.  Clean start. 

In any event, don't go undoing major plots moments after they're finished - no matter who they're by or how good (or bad) they were.  That undermines the sense of permanence which is essential to making these event stories work.  If you start shredding one writer's stories the moment he's out the door, every other writer will struggle to make readers believe that anything will ever matter.  It sets a terrible precedent.  All of this, by the way, applies equally to anyone trying to undo large chunks of Chuck Austen stories the moment he leaves.  Just leave it be, and move on.  If something really has to be reversed, wait for a reasonable interval before doing it.

In the instant case: bringing back Xorn is not a cripplingly awful idea, depending on how it's done.  In the Morrison stories, it's obvious that Xorn is not a real person.  But if Magneto is simply impersonating a real person who we haven't seen, rather than creating a cover identity from scratch, it doesn't really affect the plot in any material way.  Equally, I don't have a huge objection in principle to reversing Magneto's death, which was really just one of those deaths that exists to make a story more final.  If they wanted to play the illusion card and say he's alright really... well, I could live with that.  Deciding that it wasn't Magneto at all, on the other hand, would be utterly clueless on so many levels that it's hard to know where to start.

That, however, is a problem for another day.  Austen is charged with bringing in Xorn, and produces something which at least features a passably coherent plot and involves characters asking all the appropriate questions.  I have a sneaking suspicion that I may be less impressed with the answers, based on the way the line's going these days.  But so far as it goes, I have no real problem with the way this issue deals with Xorn.

Much of the rest of the issue is given over to a big fight with a bunch of Chinese heroes who go after the X-Men in the ever-popular misunderstanding storyline.  You're standing around in the wreckage of a Chinese village, you probably did it.  For some reason none of the characters get named, and it's certainly arguable that they're a bunch of Chinese stereotypes without a personality trait between them.  And the guy with knives for legs (yes, legs) is a seriously stupid idea.  ("I know, I'll cut off my own legs and replace them with knives so that I'll have to hobble around on crutches from now on!  That'll make me a much more effective martial artist!")  But they do make for some nice visuals from Larroca.

There's also a curious subplot back at the mansion with Jay Guthrie, which seems out of place - what on earth is he doing in this book?  I realise this is the successor book to Uncanny X-Men, where his story appeared, but surely anything with Jay belongs either in New X-Men, where he's a recurring character, or Uncanny X-Men, where his brother's in a starring role and he has a sensible reason to show up in a supporting role.  With both Angel and Husk out of the cast, there's no apparent reason to keep pushing Jay in this book as well. 

Oh, and Gambit gets blinded.  Well, whatever.  We'll see where they're heading with that one.  It doesn't strike me as a very bright idea for a permanent change to the character, but maybe there's a story in mind.

Overall, it's passable stuff, elevated considerably by Salvador Larroca's artwork and some excellent, subtle colouring from Udon.  The book looks fantastic, to the point where it's possible to enjoy it just so long as the writing stays above "aggravatingly bad."  This time round, it does.  It's not exactly clever, and there are characters with no personality whatsoever.  But it doesn't drag me away from enjoying the art, which is strong enough to carry the book past an awful lot of weaknesses.

Rating: B

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