Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Uncanny X-Men #506
Marvel Comics
Fraction, Dodson, Dodson & Ponsor

This issue has three main threads, all of which are sort of in the middle stages making this issue just one piece to the bigger picture. As a result it has that building feeling and leaves you wanting more, which is a good thing, but it also doesn’t have much in the way of immediate concluding satisfaction. I’m curious to see where all of this is going but I felt I could have used a little more connecting of the dots in this issue.

The plots in here include Emma trying to figure out herself, Colossus finds himself bringing refugees to live with the X-Men while the X-Men find themselves taking other former mutants in due to hate crimes being committed against them and finally the genetic crew led by Beast finds another member for their group.

Emma’s thread takes up the least amount of space in the comic and is the least fleshed out. It seems like she’s choking in her own mind, which is either related to Scott keeping secrets or her keeping secrets from him. The issue ends with taking up her own advice for Colossus in a previous issue, which is to smash something.

The piece of the issue with Beast and the gene brain gang takes them to Japan to seek out a member of the green team, Yuriko Takiguchi. This sent me to wikipedia as my memory in the X-verse is not that solid. It seems he has roots in the old Godzilla series, which I have the Essential volume of, yes I actually own that. This part of the comic had the most action as they battle some giant crabs. This plot has the most weight in X continuity because it could reverse M-Day eventually, which would be a welcome change.

Finally, the plot involving refugees both collected by Colossus and those that show up at the X-Men’s doorstep on their own has some possibilities because it sure has the X-Men exposing themselves to potential villains sneaking in the gates. It also allows some former mutants to be on site for potential experiments to undo M-Day if that eventually comes to pass.

The comic has a lot going on in it and uses a good array of characters. The artwork seemed to range from incredibly emotional (like when Colossus finds the people hidden in the cargo carrier) to silly when the crabs attack. However, the artwork made the comic feel like it had the pulse for the variances in the story, which is all you can ask for really.

The next issue wraps up the arc but I would think some of the plots here wont be fully resolved. I do expect Colossus to come to some sort of closure and perhaps Emma will deal with her feelings better. However, I think the gene squad will be evolving more long-term as is the case with the refugees. The comic has successfully switched to more a slow burn type of story telling rather than the small compact story arcs with a lot of action. A good recap page catches up new readers or ones that wandered off for a while, but still when dealing with the X-Men using wikipedia is a huge help. A good issue overall.

3.5 out of 5 geek goggles