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Uncanny X-Men #25 Cover bv Chris Bachalo

"The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier" leaves a lasting surprise for the X-Men.

Brian Michael Bendis plays a long game. As a writer, he loves to use a long setup and build the suspense of his narrative to maximize the effect. In Uncanny X-Men #25, Bendis unleashes his purpose for the long setup with his arc focusing on the will of the famous mutant leader Charles Xavier.

This has been a long time coming from Bendis who recently revealed on Marvel.com, that he had floated the idea at a writers retreat some time ago, following the Avengers vs X-Men event in 2012. He had to be patient to find the right time to encompass this into the ongoing X-Men stories, which finally came with the recent Original Sin event.

As a tie-in, due to the hidden nature of the idea and story and not explicitly linked to the Original Sin story itself, "The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier" has been intriguing for recent issues of both Uncanny X-Men and All-New X-Men. Bendis also does a nice job of continuing to build ideas and stories to pursue as a result of the content in this issue.

We pick up the story in Uncanny X-Men #25 as Cyclops, Emma, Magik, and Kitty have arrived at the Jean Grey School to listen to the reading of Xavier's will. As the holographic image of Xavier plays, we learn that he is married to none other than Mystique and has been surpressing an extremely powerful mutants abilities, for many years, going against all his teachings, for a greater good.

Xavier confronts a powerful new mutant - Matthew Malloy

We see a lot of character interaction during this issue, notably between Cyclops and Iceman as the two original X-Men stand out in this regard. The actions Xavier describes and the drastic need he had to justify these grate against the sensibilities of the X-Men. This is not a surprise given the plot and narrative details, but we do not see the usual characters such as Beast, Storm, or Wolverine at the forefront of protest against Cyclops here. There are also some nice reunion moments as the separated X-Men are forced together again across the ideological divide.

As mentioned in the previous review of Uncanny X-Men #24, Bendis has introduced a new mutant: Matthew Malloy. He is revealed to be the same powerful mutant that Xavier had being working with to control his fantastic and unpredictable powers. These revelations disgust Cyclops, who has to be reigned in by the other stalwarts in his company. It is with this that Xavier extends one last mission to the X-Men: all of them must find Matthew and make sure he is controlled before something goes terribly wrong.

The emotional nature of Uncanny X-Men #25 is captured by the return of Chris Bachalo in the art. Bachalo captures a similar interesting dynamic as the other regular artist, Kris Anka, but brings a variation that is fitting here. Bachalo's use of facial expression shows a determined anguish in the characters that needs to be associated with the reading of a will. He also continues an appropriate tone by using the limited color palette that has long been seen on the covers of Uncanny X-Men. It fits the story with a gravity of style that is both refreshing and appropriate.

Xavier's final Mission for the X-Men

After the build-up from the story in the last few issues, it is nice to see where we are heading in Uncanny X-Men. Given the announcement from New York Comic Con over the previous weekend, it seems we are all heading to some big events with "Vortex" and "Secret Wars."

The stories being told continue to be captivating and it is certain we will be waiting a long time before the X-Men are pulled away from audiences as the Fantastic Four shall be in 2015.

As always, we would love to know what you think about the comic, so make sure you leave your thoughts, comments, and hopes for Uncanny X-Men below.