X-Men #33

Once again, thank you to Brian Wood, David Lopez as well as the rest of the team for making this series a sucess from start to finish. This arc was enough, the fact that there's still more to come overwhelms me with joy.

Following up from last issue's startling revelation from Psylocke, the team sets off to pursue David Michael Gray. This issue, as i described it a while ago, was an emotional rollercoaster, i'd say more for Psylocke and Colossus as the matter was more close to them than to the other team-members, not even Storm. It goes further than the roots of Mutantkind, all the way to what means to be a mutant, the way that's seen, the way you'd classify yourself and the potential possibility that you're not alone. Colossus more or less takes centre stage in this issue as he confronts the mastermind we've been aching to see from #30, and he's mad, i almost thought for a second that the Cytorak persona would take control of the situation, but, as is evident, Wood doesn't exactly seem to be making that the basis of Piotr, as he's actually giving him a personality as opposed to the angry dude whom is helmed with a red helmet any time he get's real mad. I won't spoil too much, the outcome of Colossus' confrontation as well as what he saw, hit close to home with Psylocke, considering the fact that she lost her sense of "sorrow" in Uncanny X-Force, i think Wood has acknowledged that and wants to tinker with it before it's present in this series, because, for all we know, the events of X-Force may not have occured yet, this being a self-contained title and all. That, and the fact that she "grabbed" Ister's remaining consciousness, taking him with her, it was hard. Domino questions her actions as well, we haven't heard much from her since the starting of this arc but we do now, things are different now that we've gotten to the source of things, things are...different.

The Good

Everything, as usual. The title hasn't exactly been getting a lot of action this way, it's usually a lot of talking which is a good thing, seeing as how Gischler's run was all action and no memorable talking. The team interacts in a way that it's almost natural, they actually care for one and other's needs, it's proponent of what the X-Men were about, how they unified themself amongst all the chaos they were facing back in the glory days. Domino actually does something of use, we actually get to see her part of the story other than being the go-to girl to drive the plane. Colossus did wonders in the issue, too, his confrontation, the revelation, his apparent "decision", his coming to terms with Ororo's choice to not fill Scott in with what was happening. Given the fact that Wood likes Pixie a lot, that was somewhat evident in this issue as she is no longer seen as that naive Young X-Man we once knew, she's an adult now, rolling with the big guns and she'd like her opinion to be heard, too. Also, two more things, i like the fact that Wood still wants to play with the "sorrow" concept that Betsy's got going on, he still has her acknowledge the feelings instead of being a blank slate, which is something we need to see more of, i'll presume. Ororo. Still the fearless leader but doesn't hesitate to question her choices at the end of the mess, she had to make certain decisions in the thick of things and is now pondering whether or not they were the right ones to make, something the character has had troubled with since her first period as leader of the X-Men.

The Bad

Nothing of note, only thing i could say, is, that the plot kind of dragged a long too much, we only got action towards the end, which isn't a bad thing, but still. I kinda wanted Illyana to show up again, but i guess Wood didn't exactly have enough space to have her, though, he did say she'd be a recurring character so that's nice.

Verdict

As the arc closes, so does the mystery behind all of it, though, we, at the same time, are filled with more questions; what does it mean to be a mutant ? Are there others out there like the Proto's ? These are the questions that haunt. It's close to home like Wood said it'd be, grounded in reality and not hocus-pocus'y or far-fetched, the type of Sci-Fi/Action/Adventure you'd like to read. 4.5/5. Pick. This. Up. Now.