The other X-book for the week is X-Men #199, which concludes a three-part story identified as "Red Data" on the cover, and "Condition Critical" on the inside.  Is it really that hard to pick a story title and use it consistently?

After the previous storyline, which ended with Rogue getting infected, the team take refuge on Cable's island of Providence, just in time for a random Shi'ar weapon called the Hecatomb to show up.  The X-Men then get to spend three issues fighting it, with the help of a stray Mummudrai who (presumably) led it there in the first place.  Much exploding ensues.

A Hecatomb, if you're wondering, was an ancient Greek ritual which involved sacrificing a hundred cattle to the gods.  Which actually seems a bit lightweight, compared to the thing that shows up here.  The basic idea is that it's a bundle of psychic energy, comprised of all the people it's absorbed over the years, with a tiny little solid core in the middle.  The characters can't explain clearly what it looks like. 

One might have thought this was problematic in a visual medium, but the story is drawn by Chris Bachalo, who cheerfully fills the panels with baffling scrawl -  a sort of cartoon set of jaws with a load of random stuff swirling around it.  For once, however, his general storytelling is kept fairly clear and direct, and the effect works rather nicely. 

There's a lot to like about Mike Carey's run on this title.  He's one of the first writers in a long time who seems to have an eye on the bigger picture, and he's trying to pull together assorted elements to provide some sort of direction.  Notably, he's the writer who's finally going to grapple with the implications of M-Day.  We've had a lot of writers in recent years who've tried to impose their own identities on the X-Men, which can be a good thing up to a point.  But the franchise also needs somebody to knuckle down and give it some proper direction.  Carey seems willing to play that role.

That said, there are some odd decisions going on here.  I have faith that Carey knows where he's heading with this, because his track record justifies it.  The Rogue plot clearly has a direction, as do some of the internal tensions within the team.  But the Conquistador is unceremoniously despatched this issue, only a few issues after it was introduced.  I'm not honestly sure what the point of it was.  The team feels a little too random - what is Lady Mastermind actually doing in this comic?  And three issues with the Hecatomb, however great the visual may be, runs up against the fact that it's a mindless device.  This book is running low on real antagonists.

Still, for all that, it's a good three-issue action story with some great art, and at least there's some tentative sense of direction emerging in this book.  I still feel we haven't seen the best of Carey by a long way, but I'm optimistic that he can pull something off when he finally gets to grips with the "Endangered Species" storyline.

Rating: B

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