Uncanny X-Men #25 Review: Big Secrets and Big News from Mutant-Land!
By Roger Lee
The recent run of Uncanny X-Men has taken readers on a real roller-coaster ride, as each recent issue has ended on a surprising, and emotional point. Brian Michael Bendis is crafting a strong, compelling drama that is taking the X-Men and their fans into new areas of conflict and emotional angst. Uncanny X-Men #25, dubbed “Revolution,” is a well-written continuation of the Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier story arc.
As we left off in Uncanny X-Men #24, the various and hostile factions of the X-Men are gathered in the late Charles Xavier’s mansion to hear the reading of their dead teacher’s Will. Xavier’s attorney is Jennifer Walters, AKA She-Hulk. Using Shi’ar technology, the assembled mutants, plus She-Hulk, are able to see a holographic image of Xavier and hear him speak the words he recorded prior to the events of the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline that resulted in Xavier’s death. Thus, the holographic Xavier, in telling his tale, was unaware that Logan (Wolverine), would stand before him bereft of his famous healing factor, and that Scott Summers (Cyclops) is the man who killed him (Xavier).
The prior issue ended with the explosive revelation by Professor X that he was married to Mystique , and that there was a yet another deeper secret that he had to reveal. The general assumption was that Xavier was going to reveal something like a long-lost lovechild he had with Mystique or a big secret along those lines. Well, the big secret turns out to be…
Uncanny X-Men #25: Xavier and Child
Major Spoiler Warning Here…
…that in the early days of the X-Men, Xavier had used Cerebro to detect the existence of the an incredibly powerful mutant. Upon investigating, he found that this mutant was an eight-year-old boy named Matthew Malloy who possessed perhaps more raw power than any other mutant in existence. Xavier then explains how he in effect betrayed his own philosophy and his own teachings about how mutants should treat each other by using his mental powers to, in effect, “lobotomize” the child into not knowing he is a mutant and suppressing all memories of the violence and deaths that he had caused. Over the years, Malloy’s power managed to break the mental bonds holding his memories and powers in place, but he was at a point of maturity where he then requested Xavier to make him forget again. This is the man we saw in the previous two issues who suddenly manifested his destructive powers, leveling a good chunk of a city and disintegrating several SHIELD agents sent by Maria Hill to contain him.
While taking a potty break (no, really, they do) during a pause in Holo-Xavier’s recitation, several emotional scenes play out between members of these two hostile factions of X-Men. Snide comments are made, an emotionally touching reunion between Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde takes place, and an explosive encounter between a sarcastic Iceman and an unrepentant Cyclops results in one of the more interesting threats yet made.
Uncanny X-Men #25-Kurt and Kitty
Cyclops and Iceman Fight
Iceman Threatens Cyclops’ Bowels
After the fun and games part of recess ends, they turn the hologram back on, where Xavier leaves them with one last order from their old professor, (and stating that the final reading of his last will and testament cannot be heard until this task is complete), which is that Logan and Scott are to take a small team with their most powerful telepath, to find Matthew Malloy and help him, since Xavier’s mental blocks on Malloy are now gone. And so this issue ends with another big cliffhanger: Wolverine and Cyclops, who now hate each other, are ordered to work together to deal with this new mutant menace.
Brian Michael Bendis is a veteran writer who knows the characters and personalities of the X-Men, the Avengers, and the rest of the Marvel Universe like the back of his hand. This is a well-written issue with excellent touches of real human emotion and angst. Like two sides of a divided family forced to come together to hear a late elder’s will, Bendis’ X-Men perform like normal people, albeit with destructive powers to make their emotional dissonance more interesting. It was also nice to see someone finally ask Dazzler about her new look, and her response to that query was interesting, and very much in-character considering what she has been through lately.
The future will be very interesting to see a now-vulnerable Logan and a high-strung Cyclops forced to lead a team together, (and who else will join them in this potentially suicidal adventure?), without killing each other.
One question that comes to mind, as a potential continuity conundrum, is how does this complicated storyline relate to the events in Wolverine’s own book where he is figuring out how to live and function without his powers? Again, Marvel seems to have issues with keeping their continuity straight, or at least in letting readers know that this story is set between such-and-such book in another title or some similar explanation of the Marvel Universe reading order.
To finish off this review, though, we must say, that f you are an X-Men fan, then Uncanny X-Men #25, and the prior two or three issues are must-reads!
Uncanny X-Men #25 (2013)
Words: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Chris Bachalo
Inks: Tim Townsend, Mark Irwin, Jaime Mendoza, Victor Olazaba, and Al Vey
Colors: Chris Bachalo
Letters: Joe Caramagna