So ends the best X-Men crossover in years. When this “event” started I told myself I was only going to get the issues of the books I was already collecting. X-Force and Uncanny X-Men. I’d fill in the gaps by reading. In the end I bought every issue except the obscure science patrol one-shot and the hellbound mini-. I’m glad I bought all of the main issues.

Along the way many battles were fought and lives were lost. This issue was more of an epilogue than the final chapter, although I appluad Marvel for putting it all between one cover instead of drawing out the four stories contained within, by having them each be an epilogue issue in their respective titles (New Mutants, X-Force, X-Men Legacy, Uncanny). Now akamuu stated that the funeral scene wasn’t Sentry-level bad but wasn’t fun either. Personally I found it a nice touch, nothing was drug out and it hit home with the characters it needed to. I don’t understand why everyone is so afraid of Hope but all of the writers did a good job of giving a consistant feel for all of the characters throughout the issue. I guess I’ll have to read the Uncanny Heroic Age one-shot to learn more about the “cliffhanger” ending.

The art was good throughout. Not great but not terrible. For the first time I started to be annoyed by Greg Land but mainly because his Deadpool looked horrendeous. Ribic, Dodson, and the other artist all looked good.

My recommendation: if you enjoyed the crossover, check this out. It’s a nice end cap.