ALL NEW X-MEN #41 – MARVEL COMICS – (W) Brian Michael Bendis (A) Mahmud Asrar
The last issue of All New before Bendis wraps up both X-books in Uncanny #600, further exploring the mutants found on Utopia last issue. Introducing these guys and this new storyline so close to the end seems like a bit of a poor decision, Bendis not leaving himself a whole lot of time to really detail any of the characters. Maria Hill, seeking yet again to foster Mutant/Human relations, approaches the young X-Men to act as diplomats, to approach these Utopians, and pretty much vacate them from this abandoned wreck of an island. It’s about midway through the fight when everyone kinda comes to the realisation that they’re friends fighting friends, and why the hell can’t these guys stay on Utopia, an otherwise unimportant, uninhabited locale, why can’t they just peacefully be left alone and why does Maria Hill have to stick her big nose in anyway? Kinda the same questions Bendis has been asking all series. It’s a good note to ‘end’ on, I just wish he had more time to do it. Asrar pulls off another of those Jean Grey mind map spreads that I enjoy so much. Looking forward to #600.
Jeremy Scott
