That leaves X-Men Unlimited as this week's sole ongoing X-book.  And you know the routine by now.  It's okay, but it's entirely missable, and with so many X-books on the market, it's hard to see why you'd pick this one.

"Wings over the World" is an Angel story by Paul Di Filippo and Cliff Richards, so at least it's working with a character who hasn't been used too much in the last year.  Scott talks Angel into starting a charity project to try and improve the X-Men's public image; Angel comes up with a flying dome where the disabled can go and fly.

It's not a bad idea - in fact, I rather like the concept of the Marvel Universe having charities who bring Kirbytech to the disadvantaged.  But it doesn't really make much of a story.  Warren is asked to come up with an idea, Warren thinks for a bit, Warren comes up with an idea, the end.  It doesn't help that Di Filippo openly acknowledges that the idea is lifted wholesale from a Heinlein story, or that a stereotypical evil Christian turns up for three panels at the end to deliver a silly lecture about celestial delusions (which everyone naturally ignores).

And it's only been a fortnight since Warren turned up in Excalibur announcing the formation of Mutantes Sans Frontières.  When a rarely used character launches two completely different charities within a month, the editors really need to improve their co-ordination.

Meanwhile, in the other half of the book, James Peaty and Yvel Guichet do a Beast story where Hank drags Kitty Pryde to the opera, gets into a fight with some thugs, and is a bit depressed about life until Kitty drags him to a Marx Brothers show instead.  There's some reasonably decent material about Hank brooding about his degeneration, and a nice little scene where he gets barred from the opera house because he no longer resembles the membership photo that the staff have on file. 

The creators have a decent grasp on both their characters, but it's never really all that clear why going to a Marx Brothers event is supposed to resolve anything.  It's all going quite nicely up until you reach the last page and wonder what on earth the point was meant to be.

Both stories are pleasantly readable, but nothing to go out of your way for.

Rating: B-

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