Fanboys Anonymous

Uncanny X-Men has received mixed reviews from me thus far, with a strong opening book and a not-so-strong followup, I ended last time's review on a note that Bendis has not yet solidified a "voice" for this group of renegade X-Men. While the premise of the series is quite an intriguing one, poor writing of characters detracted from the big picture.

Unfortunately, this third installment suffers from some of these same problems. Emma is still written as a helplessly whiny teenage girl, and some of the new recruits have an unhealthy amount of very forced humor added into them. These minor flaws add up and work to detract from the main story, which is actually a very interesting one.

For the first time in a long time, I actually feel for Scott Summers a bit. He presents a very convincing side to his argument for discrimination against mutants. Bendis shows evocation of some empathy from the Avengers during Scott's speech, leading readers to believe that what Scott saying isn't a delusion. Mutants are still in the same position they have always been in, and change is non-existent. Perhaps one of the more interesting moments in the book was Hawkeye's adamant denial of such discrimination, despite the look on his comrade's faces that corroborate Scott's claims.

Bendis is a master of drama and "stirring shit up," of that I have no doubt. It's his characterization of some key players that I find trying at times. This provides for some very on and off moments in the book. One moment I was laughing my ass off at a comment made about "the magic school bus" and the next I was cringing at unnecessary snide comments made by some of the new recruits. What that boils down to, ultimately, is a mediocre reading experience, which is not what a story like this should be giving us.


Score: 6/10