Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

X-Men #204
Marvel Comics
Carey, Choi & Oback

This issue is the one before the start of the Messiah Complex. Call it the quiet before the storm.

I haven’t followed any X title except New X-Men and the Wolverine titles in the last year. I plan to read the Messiah Complex as I need a crossover now that both World War Hulk and Sinestro Corps War are wrapping up. I expected to be lost. I wasn’t one bit.

The issue gave a nice re-cap of all that has happened and I felt confident I wouldn’t be too confused in this issue and I really wasn’t.

The reason, of course, is that not a whole lot happened in this issue.

Beast tends to Cannonball and Blindfold. Iceman seeks some council from Beast. Cyclops has a confrontation with Emma Frost. Sinister and Mystique argue. Gambit and Mystique argue. Sinister and Gambit argue. Rogue wakes up briefly. Gambit and Mystique argue some more. Iceman and Cyclops have a heart to heart. The X-Men form their strike team and make a plan. That's about it. It's pretty cool though to see the strategy and inner workings going on in this issue. The distrust is palpable.

Blindfold offers the tension filled ending to launch us into the Messiah Complex. I'm sold so far. But it will be hard to live up to the hype.

Endangered Species also wraps up in this issue. It gives a nice recap of what has happened to this point and much like the main story, nothing really happens. Beast looks and looks for something, anything and pretty much ends up at dead end after dead end. It's a nice piece on Beast, but it's nothing that will reshape the X universe. Add in the fact that you don’t pay extra for it and how can I complain?

This issue probably isn’t essential for either past or future story arc, but it's as good as any jump on point for a long-lost or new reader like myself. You do get a lot of information on Rogue and Gambit's history as well as descriptions on what Blindfold is all about. The issue just sets the stage.

The artwork is great. The style matches the intense drama of the arguments and the wounded laying in their beds.

If you are a die-hard or a complete-ist you'll need this one. If you are relatively new and want in on the Messiah Complex grab this issue. If you are neither then please move along.

3.5 out of 5 geek goggles.


X-Men #204