Uncanny X-Men #519: A Beastly Exit

Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here… Since there are no Marvel titles next week I am breaking up the reviews. I will do three this week and three next. First up is ‘Wolverine: Weapon X’. Hope you enjoy it.

Uncanny X-Men #519 (preview)
Writer: Matt Fraction
Penciller: Terry Dodson
Inker: Rachel Dodson

NOTE: Wolverine does NOT appear in this issue

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with a young mutant, the boyfriend of the girl killed last issue, explaining her death and his flight to someone he believes can help. He describes hearing some sort of large animal but he does not know what it was. The man is then shown to be Fantomex and he offers to help.

Back on Utopia, Xavier, Emma and Betsy are restraining Cyclops and trying to figure out what to do for him now that he is infected by the Void. Emma wants to go back into Scott’s head and tells Psylocke to cut off both of their heads should Xavier give the order. In his mind, Cyclops is looking for Emma but finds only Void echoes of her.

Deep in the bowels of the complex, Magneto is working with the Science team to help power their turbines. Even though he gives it everything he has, it is not enough to even slow the sinking. Jeffries, meanwhile, reveals that they have been invaded by recording nanobots that came from the Predators Xs. Magneto tells the Science team to deal with the nanobots and find where they came from and he will take care of the sinking asteroid.

Back in Scott’s mind, he is still fighting the Void, without much luck, until Emma arrives and shatters her dark doppelgangers. She explains it is still his mind and he can fight there. But it is not long before he is buried by the darkness. In the real world Betsy is preparing to attack as Scott cries out. Xavier says there is still a chance but to strike if Scott wakes before Emma.

In the water outside, Magneto goes to talk with Namor. Erik wants the Atlanteans to build a pillar underneath the island which will save Utopia and give Namor’s people a home for themselves. Namor wonders about Scott, but Magneto promises he will be able to bring him around. On the surface Hank and Bobby are still talking. Beast is haunted by his torture and does not know if his place is still with the others.

Scott begins to fight back inside his mind and is able to get to his safe room. Emma tries to reach him but Cyclops refuses her entry, saying he needs to do this himself. Emma is jolted awake but pleads with the others to give Scott a chance to save himself. Xavier decides to have faith in his student but warns Betsy to stand ready should he fail.

Cyclops is once again drowning in his mind but refuses to give in. He is able to pull all of the Void essence into a small box and contain it deep within his head and then blocks the door to the room. There is a celebration when he wakes up which is cut short by Beast’s arrival. He tells Scott he is leaving for a while but Cyclops treats it like just another problem to be dealt with later.

MY TAKE: This is a pretty good issue which deals with a couple of the ongoing problems while building the current story nicely. I was never much of a fan of the Void sliver plot so I am glad it get nicely resolved. I appreciate how Scott was portrayed here as having such a strong mind and how he gave thanks to Jean for teaching him how to control himself. I do think they missed an obvious connection when they did not mention how Scott was able to overcome Apocalypse in much the same way. While it does not really hurt the story, it would have been a nice nod to continuity.

Magneto is becoming pretty interesting as well. He is still trying to find his place, both helping and trying to lead at the same time. It will be fun to watch him and Scott butt heads, as they are obviously going to do, since neither is truly right or wrong. His idea for Namor’s people, for example, is quite an elegant solution for both sides.

Beast’s departure was a low point for the story mostly because it does not really fit with his personality. Not too long ago he was making his own bargin with Dark Beast and doing all sorts of questionable things for the greater good, so he does not really have any room to judge. Plus he has suffered worse as an X-Man and bounced back. Basically this is an excuse for him to jump to S.W.O.R.D. and I never like sudden plot changes for those reasons. I am still irritated by Storm’s wedding too.

While I am not much of a fan of Fantomax’s involvement, the Predator X story is definitely picking up. The nanobots were good idea and it is nice to see that the villains were not dumb enough to think five monsters could wipe out Utopia. I am excited to see what is revealed next issue and I hope we start getting some answers on the group behind it all.

In the end, this was a solid issue that took care of a couple of lingering plot threads and worked at least one more towards a good solution. I am glad to see that some of the story elements are actually being addressed in a timely manner rather then being allowed to drag out forever. I would have preferred a bit of action or excitement here but it looks like we will be getting plenty of that soon. So I could enjoy this more downbeat story with its strong characterization and good plot advancement. I just hope we can see a few different characters next issue as these last two have been a bit limited in scope.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again next time.

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