Uncanny X-Men #19 – Review

By:  Brian Michael Bendis (writer); Chris Bachalo (pencils); Tim Townsend, Al Vey, Jaime Mendoza, Mark Irwin, and Victor Olozaba (inks); Chris Bachalo and Jose Villarrubia (colors)

The Story: We heard you like Sentinels so we put Sentinels in your Sentinels…

The Review: Back in August Uncanny X-Men received a slight boost when it featured a story about Cyclops facing off against a new breed of Sentinel. In the seven months that have passed, Uncanny has been growing and changing, largely for the better. Now that it’s time to pick up that thread, will it have the same oomph that it once did?

The answer is an ever charming sort-of. Bendis makes no attempt to hide that the past half a year of stories were a distraction. While the events of issue seventeen are mentioned, it’s clear that this series has been off track since the last Sentinel arc. The problem is that, for the most part, the filler was far better than anything that preceded it. So while it is intriguing to return to the mystery Sentinels again, there’s a sense of a backslide that I can’t deny is worrisome. It’s also strange since the event that took us off track, “Battle of the Atom”, ended with a dramatic reveal that S.H.I.E.L.D. has Sentinels, and different Sentinels at that.

Regardless, we’re diving back into Bendis’ main story. Summoned by a surge of mutant activity, the New Xavier X-Men find themselves lured into a trap. Bendis knows his collaborators and the creative team deliver a slick futuristic take on the X-Men. These aren’t the simple androids of the Mark I, and panels like a swarm of alien-looking mutant hunters spawning from the maw of a gigantic Sentinel are powerful and eerie. Likewise, a scene inside Cerebro is the stuff of science fiction, the kind that convinced us to buy sunglasses in middle school.

These new model Sentinels present a solid challenge for the team and Bendis’ answer serves to resolve the problem while significantly deepening the mysteries surrounding it. It’s a situation that is all the more fascinating for the removal of Hijack from the team, but the answer is pretty simple. Indeed, much of the issue seems designed to highlight Chris Bachalo’s contributions.

Unfortunately, the soft digital glow of the Sentinels quickly become omnipresent and Bachalo’s art loses definition. Sentinels seem out of phase with the rest of the panel and the X-Men feel squished together into a vague mass. You can see how Bachalo wanted the panels to read, but the eye doesn’t follow the paths he’s laid out.

The first third of the book is stronger. Bendis’ focus is clearer and the goals of the scenes are better defined. While Maria Hill is more than a little repetitive in her interrogation, not to mention overly casual, her meeting with Hijack brings a sense of intrigue to the issue. David was always a character with a strong voice, and this scene reminds how much that can do, even if it does resemble Fabio’s situation from not long ago.

Meanwhile, Mystique continues to scheme in the background and reveals how right Magneto was to turn his back on her ‘Utopia’, if not why he did. As Scott Summers’ story has grown stale and by the numbers, the presence of third parties in the looming war between the X-Men and S.H.I.E.L.D. is a big part of what will keep this book exciting. And if that wasn’t enough, it looks like there may be a hitch in her ingenious plan.

Crosscutting helps to keep things lively, and the simpler structure of this sequence does a lot to keep Bachalo in line. His work here is comparatively conservative but it’s still beautiful and rather haunting when it wants to be.

The Conclusion: Bendis chooses to focus this issue around the visuals, resulting in some awkwardness when his wordy style breaks in or his jokes fall flat. It’s an uneven execution that is all the worse for Bachalo’s unclear rendering. The early pages are stronger, but feel too much like a recap.

It’s not up to the quality that the other post-BotA issues have been, but don’t give up on the series just yet. Mystique’s scheming, the Sentinels’ mysterious backer, and the continuing drama surrounding Tempus, who is quickly becoming a standout among the cast, remind us of the strong character-driven title that Uncanny has been over the last few months.

Bendis seems to be trying to combine the best of both eras. In this, he’s had a misstep. It’s understandable and there are some pretty cool moments in this story but, combined with the hard to read artwork, this isn’t an issue to recommend.

Grade: C

-Noah Sharma