Finally, Some Legitamate Action
This issue finally gets around to doing something right since as far back as the fifth issue. Yeah, it's nothing overly fantastic, but it's a step in the right direction.
Something that really baffles me, though, is the start/end of this issue. See, the story does one of those flash forwards at the very start, only to quickly go back in time to explain everything, which can be beneficial depending on where we start. However, instead of building upon what we saw at the start, at the end of the issue, we are more or less left with the exact same panel. Sure, it's explained a little more on why it's happening, but we don't ever move past that moment. So, when we do reach the end, we're left with what we pretty much already knew, leaving us on a less than cordial end to this month's issue.
That being said, this issue does much more correct than usual. There's some interesting team building as the crew goes looking for Mystique, although that venture feels like it pays off a little too quickly. I would have liked to have seen more of this, as it acted as a strong opportunity to make us care about the team dynamics more. And there's some actual fighting that happens this time, which is wonderful. It looks great, feels natural, and we aren't teased with a bunch of cool covers only to rewarded with nothing; it's nice for a change. And Iceman has a bit more prominence in this issue, which is something of a plus.
However, the dialogue can feel a bit strained at times, especially when involving Mystique. Something about the whole mystery behind what she's up to has really forced the dialogue to suffer, more or less because what Bendis can/can't reveal at this point.
Also, something kind of funny happened; Bendis kind of pointed out some bad dialogue he's written in the past few issues. Wolverine, at one point, calls Jean "Jeannie", which she is surprised by. This made me realize/remember that, up until this point, Wolverine has been referring to her as "girl" and such, something that he has never really called anyone, and especially not Jean, even if she is much younger than usual. Not necessarily a knock against this issue (actually, a plus), but something worth noting.
Lastly, I question Mastermind's importance in all of this, specifically to Mystique's plot. Yes, she's useful here in that sense, but this issue makes it clear that she is more or less here because of her family's history with Jean Grey, which is something of a turn off for me. This book just tends to really rely on relationship issues between people from the past and present way too much for my taste, and it feels forced and in your face when stuff like that comes up all of a sudden, especially when Mastermind is such an obscure character.
This is hopefully the beginnings of some very improved writing, but we'll have to wait and see.
