Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

X-Men Legacy #210
Marvel Comics
Carey, Eaton & Land

This issue is a let down in a lot of ways. Think about it for a second: Xavier, Magneto and Exodus, all in the same issue. Yet, this issue falls short of almost any level of expectations that you might have coming in.

Xavier and Exodus face off in a battle of minds. This is odd because Xavier’s mind wasn’t fully rebuilt, but I guess it still works. Magneto tries to help Xavier, but cant. So that means Exodus saved Xavier and is now battling him. Exodus brought in Magneto and is now battling him. Okay. Exodus has Xavier on his knees. Then the issue takes a turn that reminds me of what I haven’t liked all along. Emma feels Xavier fighting for his life.

Think about that for a second. Xavier died in front of all the X-Men. Yet, his body disappeared and none of them looked for him. Add in that now he is alive and Emma alerts Scott and he shows no signs of being shocked? This is going beyond annoying in the loose plot hole department.

Eventually Xavier stops Exodus and Exodus reveals that he wants Xavier to lead the Acolytes. This I can accept. What I can’t accept is that Xavier walks out of there without getting any flack from Exodus. So does Magneto and others. Exodus just stands there like a statue. This makes no sense. Add in that mutants who were in mix in previous issues (and fighting in them too) aren’t around for this and you have a patch work issue.

The issue concludes with some future plot lines opening up on two fronts which look fairly interesting.

Hey look, I don’t mind unclosed threads in arcs, but this story just has too many. I can’t get past how dull this issue was with three heavyweights in there. I also can’t get over the fact that no one is wondering where Xavier’s body went. Plus, Xavier doesn’t have all his memories but he sure seems to have a lot of them and of them, the ones he needs. Like people’s names. This allows for selective memory which is rather annoying if you ask me.

A plus was the art. I loved the artwork. This issue really didn’t use the art to the fullest but it sure looked great where it needed to.

As an arc I liked a lot of the ideas in here. It doesn’t bug me that Xavier came back to life. I rather liked the idea that Xavier would need Magneto to help him come out of his coma. I also kind of liked the idea that Exodus would want to team with Xavier. However, this arc seems to have skipped so much after the Messiah Complex. It just feels like this arc is taking place in a random bubble. Ideally you don’t want an issue or an arc to end with more questions than answers, but that’s what I have here. Maybe some of the X fans will love this issue and the potential plots, but I didn’t.

2.5 out of 5 geek goggles.