The X-Men have really been taking a beating, and I don’t mean the characters in the book.  I mean the book itself.  “Greg Land’s Art…Blah!”  “Dodson’s not that much better!!”  “Brubaker needs to get off this book!!  He hasn’t done anything and he’s been on this book forever!!”

Ok, I get it.  I hear all of that, but I love X-Men, especially Uncanny X-Men.  It’s one of the few books that I still collect in monthly issues.  Why? because I always have.  Now I know that the current book always gets compared to “The Great X-Men Stories of the Past”.  What are they?  Well, it depends on who you ask.  Usually, it’s the stories that were the first X-Men stories you read.  For me, that would be Claremont & Silvestri in Austrailia.  (God what I wouldn’t give for Psylocke, Dazzler, Rogue, Storm, Wolvie, Colossus, & Longshot back together again!!)

Sorry, back to my point, this book is in the best position than it has been in a while.  Think about it.  New city, new base = fresh start.  Brubaker & Fraction have invited all of the mutants to join them.  This means we should get a rotating cast of characters around a core team.  That sounds great.  Need some brute strength?  Rogue, Colossus, Wolvie, let’s go!  A covert team?  Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Gambit, you’re on!  Powerhouse team?  Storm, Havok, Polaris, Cyclops, you’re up!  My point is, this seems to be the way the X-Men should work. 

Brubaker & Fraction have a long term plan, just like Brubaker on Capt. America.  I appreciate creators who are willing to invest the time & energy into a project rather than do a big splashy one and done, just to leave someone else to clean up any messes. 

As for the art, I loved Dodson on Wonder Woman.  He’ll do well here.  Land? Try to forget all that you’ve heard, just appreciate the story.  If you dislike Land’s art so much that you can’t do that?  Honestly, I don’t think that he’ll stick around for a long time. 

I think that this issue did a good job of beginning an interesting story arc.