Meh, if next issue Mar-Vell isn't coming back I'm going to be pissed off, they keep teasing him.

Like the others issues, it was fun to read. Not great, but fun. But Ambush Bug is a pain in the ass.

This is a very quick action issue, and for what that is, it's pretty good.

Though it seemed obvious Cyclops was Captain Krakoa (CK), I am interested in the back story. With characters like the Red Guardian, Captain Britain, Captain America, it makes sense Krakoa would want a poster boy. CK doesn't seem like a lasting character, but I've been wrong before.

Really love the Arakko conflict. Mutantdom found an uninhabitable planet, terraformed it, and by in large left Earth alone. Leave it to an eccentric billionaire to carry on colonizing. more

This isn't a bad issue, but it is an issue whose plot tropes push my buttons. I am especially tired of the villain saying "you'll see things my way and we'll be allies" cliche.

The issue starts with Batman, the female detective and Lex Luthor talking. Lex explains why he funds Batman Inc. now that Bruce Wayne is broke. Sorry, I mean living in reduced circumstances.

This is strike one. We have never really been shown what exactly those circumstances are and how they work. Is he broke. Is he living trust fund check to trust fund check? If Lex can say that the Wayne fortune was lost with the stroke of a clown's actions, how is that money lost. That's the thing about electronic money. It's not real. Deals that are done via unsrupulous means are easily undone. If it is public knowledge that the Joker stole the Wayne fortune, then the Wayne fortune really hasn't been stolen.

We also find out that the police force in the city Batman is operating in has a shoot on site order for any Batman. They shoot and Bats escapes. He later meets Lex at restaurant, saying that he got the subtext of Lex's talking about Bruce Wayne. Lex shows off by emptying a $12 million bottle of wine on the floor. I will admit this is an interesting way of dick measuring.

Lex also chides Nightwing for giving away his fortune without a plan. Bruce grabs Lex and then disappears. But the gist is that Lex says the world needs a Batman and Lwz will fund a Batman Inc. (I always thought Batman Inc was a stupid idea. The liability issues alone could bankrupt Bruce Wayne, even when he had his fortune. It also gave criminals a convenient target. Have Batman Inc troubles, cut off their funding by hitting Wayne Enterprises offices. Bankrupt the company, end of problem).

Bruce then goes to the morgue steals the body from the police and is engulfed in darkness after examining the body. A strange person attacks Batman in the special dark where Batman can see his body, but nothing else. The stranger explains he comes from Batman and hacks Bats up. We are left with the lights on and the detective standing over the battered Bruce body.

So this issue ticks a couple of my boxes - the we're the same one and the let's expose Batman Inc one. The whole Luthor saying Bruce will come around to my way of thinking just doesn't hold up. We all know that's not true. I also hate the hero and villain team up angle. It's a cliche and I like superhero stories that are about the hero. The villain is just flavoring. When you concentrate too much on the villain, it makes the hero look lame. Lex has kept his fortune, destroyed Gotham and been elected president. All under the noses of the heroes. It makes them look lame and ineffective.

I also don't think the writer knows what preserving a crime scene actually means. Bruce using gas to escape the cops shooting at him automatically contaminates the scene. The various shell casings and debris from firing bullets also contaminates the scene. The cops walking on the carpet contaminates the scene. You get my point.

So to sum up, Lex knows Bruce is Bats. Lex rubs Bruce's nose in the fact that Bruce lost the family fortune by emptying a $12 million bottle of wine on the floor. Batman Inc. is under Lex' control and they are wanted for murder, and yet another killer is on the loose because he somehow is created by Batman. We also see that Lex is able to buy whole police departments. He, apparently, knows how to get a proper bang for his bucks.

Am I the only one who has a problem with these issues I've brought up? The whole Bruce is living under reduced circumstances seems to have no lasting impact. He can still fly a bat plane around the world. That has got to cost a small fortune, just buying fuel and maintaining the plane with parts and storing the plane.

The whole Batman creates villains is one, counterproductive because when he does that, it really shows us that Batman does more harm than good. I don't think that's the message DC wants to present. Two, it's been done to death, starting in the early 1950s, when DC gave the Joker the Red Hood origin. I read that when I was 12 and I didn't like it then and I still hate it now. Given all the people the Joker has killed (it must be in the tens of thousands) that means Batman has vast amounts of blood on his hands. Again, I don't think that's the message DC wants to present.

I liked the art. Didn't like the fact that Luthor could push Bruce's buttons and have Bruce grab Lex by the throat. Again, shows that Bruce is out of control and easily manipulated by the villain. Another message that DC probably shouldn't be presenting.

So I stuck in the middle. I suspect I am not going to like this story for reasons I've stated.

But I could be wrong. more

Incridible writing, the detective part was good and Abyss was a thretening when it showed up, the Bruce and Lex moments were great too.

Great art, but I'm not a huge fan of it changing during the issue, even though all artists did well

I can always count on Hickman to deliver a satisfying ending! From secret warriors, the FF, Avengers and now X-Men. I would love it if he wrote guardians of the galaxy or just overall did the marvel cosmic stuff.

I wasn't sure how one more issue could wrap up what was started but it did.

Now... I don't plan on keeping up with any X-Men titles after this so it didn't make me want to see what happens next. It did just satisfy me with an ending to a great story while leaving this easily open for future writers.

This was one of the easiest 10's I've given. This is why I love comics, for stories like this! more

Wow. Not surprising that yet again, Hickman nails the ending of his run but also keeps it open for the other writers to expand and explore new concepts with the groundwork he established. His goal was simple: fix the X-Men. And I believe he has done that. Hopefully post-Hickman is still compelling but I just have to applaud him for making the X family of books a talking point again.