After far too long, the possibility of the return of Havok, Polaris and Marvel Girl finally is finally being addressed. Rogue, Magneto, Gambit and Frenzy journey across space to confront the dangers of the Shi'ar Empire.
The Good
The hunt is on to locate the missing former X-Men. In some ways it's pretty crazy that just the four X-Men are traveling across space but that adds to the excitement. With all the mini-events happening in the X-titles, it's great to have a story arc that appears to be contained within the pages of one series. You do get a sense of the team being thrown into strange territories. I'll admit I have skipped the last few issues and that is not a problem here. I got the sense of being thrown into the action as well but there is a nice recap that fully explains what lead up to this issue.
Rogue's characterization is great. You get to see her calm nature that makes her worthy of being a leader. She has come a long way and Carey knows how to write her. I'm still not sued to seeing Frenzy as an X-Man but she also has some great lines that reiterates why she is there.
The Bad
The art was good but there were some moments that were distracting, such as a look on Rogue's face or some of the backgrounds. Magneto didn't look too menacing at times either. While trying to locate their former teammates, it felt like there really wasn't too much of a plan. They seem to have just leapt across space, in the middle of a big intergalactic conflict with the hopes of locating everyone.
With all the excitement of the possible return of these characters, it is the first part of the story arc. That means the story needs to be set up. There is plenty of action and suspense but the desire for more overshadows the events in this issue. There is a really interesting cliffhanger though.
The Verdict
What have Havok, Polaris and Marvel Girl been up lately? The word of their return should be enough to get you to read this issue. Rogue, Magneto, Gambit and Frenzy travel across space in order to find them and jump right into the middle of a big mess. The characterization of everyone is spot on and you really get a sense that the X-Men might be in over their heads. The fact that this story arc is contained in the pages of this series and isn't spilling into other X-titles. Because this is the first part of the arc, the story needs to be set up which takes away from the action. There is a nice cliffhanger that will ensure that you return for the next issue.