When Beast brought the original X-Men from the past into the present, he undoubtedly knew they might have trouble adjusting. After all, present day Angel has had his mind completely erased and been given new powers. Present day Beast has undergone a series of physical transformations, leaving him blue and, well, beast-like. Present day Jean Grey is dead. But no one has had more trouble than Scott Summers: former leader of the X-Men, Xavier’s golden boy, and most-faithful supporter of peaceful mutant/human relations. Finding out that he will kill his teacher, conquer the world, and become essentially a mutant terrorist takes some getting used to. Understandably, he runs away to clear his head, followed by Wolverine.
Unfortunately, Wolverine isn’t the first one who finds him. Instead, it is Mystique who finds Scott at his personal bank, sorting through his safety deposit box, trying to get a better fix on just who he will become. What follows is a classic Mystique con – convincing Scott that she always respected and liked him and Xavier and wants to see Present Scott taken down by his younger self. At first, she seems sincere, but by the end of her talk it’s clear she’s only after one thing: ruining Logan’s life. By manipulating Young Scott to take down not only his future self, but also taking over/destroying Wolverine’s school, she can inflict maximum emotional damage on Logan.
This issue, like all the rest, is quite dialogue heavy. And again, not much happens. Scott goes to a bank. Scott talks to Mystique. Scott talks to Logan. Kitty Pryde talks to Young Iceman. That’s literally it. That being said, the dialogue is sharp. And at least Mystique’s interaction with Scott is tense and important. Kitty’s dealings with the Originals is funny, and she gets a nice “you go girl!” moment with Young Bobby. The scene where Scott hands Jean their wedding invitation is certainly poignant.
Overall, it’s obvious that this series is going somewhere. It’s well-planned, and there’s certainly something big building. It would just be nice to get there sooner rather than later. Otherwise, David Marquez is doing a great job on art – although Stuart Immonen is of course greatly missed.
Bottom line: the series is still intriguing and filled with enough nice character moments to justify a buy, but the action is going to need to pick up soon.
