Comics of the Week

Uncanny X-Men #542, written by Kieron Gillen, may be a Fear Itself tie in, but at the end of the day, it was just a good X-Men story. Picking up where the last issue left off, the X-Men are still trying to figure out how to stop the amped up Fear Itself Juggernaut, who is on his way to destroy San Francisco, unless the humans destroy Utopia, the X-Men's home, first. Scott's leadership is on display here and we see many of his numbered plans tried and pretty much fail. Meanwhile, he's got his real last ditch plan in motion. He's recruited Magik to go talk to the demon Cytorak with Colossus and Kitty. The twist at the end of the issue is one I didn't know was coming. I'm sure it had been spoiled, but I had managed to avoid the articles about it and I like that. I hope this is a twist that stays for a while.

X-Men Schism #3 seems to be the moment that Wolverine and Scott are going to refer to as the straw that broke the camels back. Wolverine understands guilt. Being a killing machine is a hard burden for him to carry. He may the best there is at what he does, but he takes no joy in it. He will do anything to protect kids, not just from harm, but from this guilt. Scott, on the other hand, has come to believe that mutants can't afford the luxury of innocence. Jason Aaron showcases these two viewpoints, without speeches, to great effect. The tension is high as Wolverine races to the museum to save Oya from the new Hellfire Club as well as what Scott is asking her to do. By the time he arrives, it's worse than he thought. But before he can really get into it with Scott, the real nature of the bomb the Hellfire Club set up is revealed. Schism is turning out to be a great set up for the new X-Men status quo. I'm in.