By Ed Brubaker (Writer), Mike Choi (Artist), and Sonia Oback (Colors)
All by itself, this issue isn’t too bad. But when one looks at the issues preceding this one, they will see it is more of the same. Given we learn the identity of the “Goddess” in this issue, the story of how she changed San Francisco into “Hippieville” isn’t really a story – she just did it! We also see Scott and Emma as they confront familiar faces in their quest to stop the Goddess. As I’ve mentioned before, the whole hippie storyline hasn’t been that entertaining. Sure, I wouldn’t want to be part of an entire town that was transformed, but surely Ed Brubaker could have thought of something more interesting and threatening than a bunch of “social non-conformists.” Perhaps to add to the annoyance level, we get cheesy new “Hippie Name” boxes for the aforementioned renamed familiar faces. Thankfully, there’s only one more issue until this mediocre storyline is resolved.
What should have been the saving grace of the story, the continuing plot thread of Logan, Kurt, and Piotr in Russia, is once again more retreading. Last time we saw them captured by the Russian Mutant Department’s “Red Room,” and this time we see yet another fight scene as they attempt to escape. However, this issue remains (barely) more satisfying for three reasons: One, while fight scenes are always more fun than “talking heads,” Mike Choi’s depictions of fights are both beautiful and entertaining. The action he brings never feels tired. Two, we finally get an interesting twist at the end as an old nemesis comes back to haunt these three characters. And three, there is a complete lack of hippies. ‘Nuff said.
So while this issue may be nothing spectacular, if you have picked up the rest of this arc you might want to get this one just to keep the story complete. I’ve got a good feeling Brubaker will give us a satisfying conclusion next month. Also, I’m quite interested to see what he does with the baddie that has returned. (Grade: C+)
-M. Staples
Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews Tagged: | Comic Book Reivews, comic books, Divided We Stand, Ed Brubaker, Marvel, Marvel Comics, Mike Choi, Sonia Oback, Uncanny X-Men, Uncanny X-Men #498, X-Men, X-Men
