Uncanny X-Men #455

By: Dominic Davies

“Worlds End”: Part One.

Writer: Chris Claremont.

Artists: Alan Davis, mark Farmer.

Publisher: Marvel.

Plot: Bishop is attacked by X-23 during a brutal training session in the Danger Room with Logan, it seems the newest member of the team still has a few teething problems. After everything calms down Storms team is called out on a XSE emergency and Logan takes off for some personal space. In Spain Storm’s team comes face to face with Betsy, that’s right, Psylocke who was supposed to be dead.

Comments: I’m going to say what I liked about this comic first, and then bring up the huge issue that is Psylocke’s death, because I hate sounding too negative. Despite the average story this comic (Like all his X-Titles) is another good example of Claremont showing his experience with the characters. Each member of the team is always portrayed perfectly and its something I have come to expect from him. Good work. I am also enjoying the little dramas being played out by Storm, Logan, Nightcrawler and Marvel Girl but I hope we get some resolution to it sometime soon.

When I went into my comic store and saw Uncanny X-Men’s cover Mitch and I immediately went into the usual rant complaining about Claremont and the Marvel Editors for the next few hours like only true comic geeks can. Some of which has made it into this review. So hats off to Mitch from Comics R Us for helping with this review, I share your sorrow brother.

Psylocke is back, in case you missed it. Why on earth Claremont decided to bring this character back to life is beyond me. As cool as she was, I thought it was a great death (X-Treme X-Men #2), one that really pays tribute to her as a character, beautifully scribed and drawn. So why he had to go dig her back up again? Especially because the line up at the moment is quite full with all the new characters we have been introduced with AND all the other characters popping back to life. Why? Besides the actual act of brining her back what really annoyed me the most with her re-emergence is that its handled with no grace or respect at all. Cover art, WHAM! Psylocke. First page WHAM! Psylocke. Then WHAM! Double page spread of Psylocke. The best X-Book on the shelves at the moment is Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men and it’s a perfect example of how to bring a character back to life, not only is it a beautiful, touching affair, but its also just realistic enough to be credible. Claremont does not achieve this with Psylocke, not even close. His reasoning for brining her back is just flawed and completely out there, there’s no grounds of believability and it just seems rushed and clumsy.

X-23 for me is a tired character, I don’t like her, at all. In my eyes she is boring, cliché, and while she is supposed to be a version of Logan I can’t shake the feeling that its just another chance to cash in on Marvels most popular X-Character. All that said, maybe I am being hasty. Maybe there is some fantastic story lined up for this arc and I just need to wait and see. Well, I’m waiting.

Alan Davis keeps the art looking fresh as usual and I hope they get him to stick around, good use of colors and one of the first times I have ever seen Betsy actually look Asian. Besides my obvious objections to the cover art it still looks amazing, it did what it was supposed to do and grabbed me perfectly.

Final Word: Sadly the only reason I care to pick up this title anymore is because I love the characters, I love everything there is about the X-Men. But I also love a good story and this breaks my heart. Prove me wrong Claremont and blow my socks off like you did with X-Treme all those years ago. Otherwise, please don’t ruin these characters, it hurts me.