Broken Frontier

Second Coming was one of the neatest story arcs Marvel has ever put forward.  All questions put forward were answered, people who died stayed dead, and the villain was defeated, which is more than a lot of crossovers can boast.  X-Men: Second Coming #2 saw the departure of a few X-Men and the creation of a new X-Force, but set no clear goal or direction for the teams.  This left readers wondering, “What happens next?”

Uncanny X-Men: The Heroic Age one-shot, written by X-Men vet Matt Fraction, answers those questions.  This issue follows three separate characters that have been affected by Second Coming differently.

The first is Cyclops, drawn by Whilce Portacio.  After the unpopular decisions he made during the war, he takes some time to decompress and contemplate the future of mutant-kind.  This was an interesting look at Scott Summers’ character as we rarely approach him as a mutant and not the leader of the X-Men or the husband of a powerful and dangerous mutant.  He is often portrayed as a stiff and impotent military drone, but in this story we find out that he unwinds from a long day by fighting and killing dinosaurs, which tells us two thing: 1) he is actually really dangerous, and 2) the violent and aggressive tendencies he picked up trying save Hope are here to stay.  The most interesting part of this story-line is Steve Rogers’ involvement.  Ever since his resurrection and subsequent involvement in Siege, Rogers has appeared as sort of a messiah-figure every time he shows up.  That trend continues here in that with a good word from him, the X-Men go from being outlaws and outcasts to heroes, complete with a medal from the president.

The second story follows Beast as he also contemplates the future of the mutant race.  Having decided that he’s leaving the X-Men for good, Hank McCoy goes to meet his girlfriend Abigail Brand but winds up running into one of the youngest mutants, the Runaways’ Molly Hayes, a.k.a. Princess Powerful.  Her naïve but practical view of the mutants’ situation gives the somber former X-Man a different and hopeful perspective.

The final story gives us a look at Hope, drawn by Jamie McKelvie, who visits Mr. Fantastic to have her health properly evaluated. After giving her a relatively clean bill of health, Hope is reminded that she doesn’t know anything about her biological parents.  This sets her character off in a new and interesting direction, as Cyclops gives Hope her own team to protect her as she pursues her quest.  In addition, Cyclops creates five new teams to track down the newest mutants that have been born since Hope’s arrival.

Fraction again does amazing things with character and themes for the X-Men.  His treatment of Scott Summers’ character in this issue goes a long way in redeeming him from the choices he’s made recently and helps the reader better understand his character.