X-Men #41

X-Men #41 Review

Overview:

The final issue! Sort of. The team gets into a fight with the new Freedom Force over a new mutant.

The Good:

The story is really good. It effectively introduces Freedom Force and gets to the point; also the end is a bit of a surprise. Seeing the team in action, especially Pixie and Chamber, is a treat since they are not heavily featured. Freedom Force seems like they could be more than the throwaway “villains” that they are here and that is nice to see. The action is paced well and is interesting enough. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I’ll avoid any more details.

Seth Peck does a solid job with the writing. It is fairly explanatory in the beginning, which is needed but then lays off and lets the story do the talking and it works well. At no point did the issue seem overburdened or uninformative; there was nice balance and a nice blend of humor and seriousness as well.

The art by Jefte Palo and Guillermo Mogorron is pretty food if not a bit stylized. It is not for everyone but it fits the story well enough.

The Bad:

Nothing major. There is one part where it looks like Angel got hit in the face several times with something heavy and the bones healed wrong but it is only one panel.

Verdict:

A solid wrap up to Peck’s short run that delivers action and story; it is nothing special but not disappointing. It is just a good issue with good writing and good art that has fun with the characters while still remaining an X-book and holds to the method of recruitment at the Jean Grey School. The last page was a nice tie in to the rest of the X-books which the series has largely ignored until now.

3.5 (3.7) out of 5