Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Art by: Chris Bachalo
Publisher: Marvel
What began as “The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier” has quickly detiorated into “The Introduction of a New and Boring Homicidal Mutant who may or may not be Misunderstood.” Last month’s Uncanny X-Men had some great moments that I enjoyed: Iceman asked if Scott wanted to kill Xavier again because of the newly unearthed secrets contained in the will. Xavier connecting with Matthew in a meaningful way. Nightcrawler and Kitty Pride. This issue, however, did not have any of these great panels.
Bendis gets a lot of grief because of his decompressed style and his copious amounts of dialogue, but if this issue is any indication, then those are the tools he should continue using. This issue has some great artwork by Bachalo, and the way he uses double page spreads is impressive, but the material depicted just isn’t that interesting. If you have seen one helicarrier torn in half and sent to the ground in flames, you’ve seen them all. Matthew’s powers, while technically impressive, are not depicted in a way that gives them any sort of gravitas.
Bendis has created a character as a foil here, but the fact is that this foil can only do a couple of things to drive the story forward. He will either A) join Scott and become a part of a “revolution” (thus coming full circle, and Scott’s group will officially become the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) B) he’ll get killed and become a martyr of mutants and a symbol of the hatred humans have for mutants, or C) he’ll join Scott’s band of revolutionaries but just fall into the background like most of the other new mutants, only appearing sporadically. A combination of these choices is also a possibility, but the fact remains that Xavier’s last will and testament was a great idea for a story, though the followthrough has been lacking. When the fate of Matthew has been decided (hopefully after he and Scott have some pancakes and coffee together) we may learn more about Xavier’s last testament. As it stands now, Xavier wronged a mutant by implanting psychic blocks, said mutant later begged Xavier to kill him so he didn’t have to face what he had done, and now Matthew remembers everything and Xavier is dead.
I want to write more about this issue, but I feel like this critique is becoming about what isn’t in this issue instead of what is found within it. This issue is one huge fight, including the SHIELD helicarrier I mentioned previously, and then Scott decides he’s going to try to recruit Matthew. That’s about it. I hope next month Bendis can make readers care again about Xavier and his will—either through more holograms, flashbacks, or even more information about the secret marriage that was briefly mentioned. Currently, I feel like She-Hulk looked in last month’s issue: bored, tired, and ready to leave this storyline behind me.
