The Uncanny X-Men #480

Another issue in which Brubaker chooses to focus on Vulcan, but in this one he goes deeper in this character psyche, digging his fears and dellusions of grandeur. As Vulcan engages on battle with the Imperial Guard and ends up slaying half of it, it´s up to Gladiator to put a stop in this and he´s not a gentleman in doing so. But it appears that Vulcan is worth more alive than dead, what is a curious and interesting thing in Brubaker´s plot, revealing a most unnexpected (yet natural) event in the end: the return of a certain feathered sibling. This issue Brubaker shows that Vulcan is definitely a very powerful being, worthy of the omega mutant rank, but he has a long way ahead of him in terms of tactics, matureness, balanced spirit and humility if he wants to get back at D´Ken: the shadows of the past and the fear overwhelms Vulcan to the point that he shows his true self out, just a frail little teenage boy. Clayton Henry´s art is better in this issue, reminding a little of what his Legion of Super Heroes would be like in the future, but still I missed Billy Tan´s pencils, althought D´Armata is in this issue with amazing colors. I think that this initial division of the stories works for the dynamics of the plot, but I don´t enjoy two different creative teams, I´ll rather have Tan´s art for all the run and I wouldn´t mind that in the same issue it showed both stories of the plot: the stranded X-Men and the lunatic seeking for revenge Vulcan.
3.5 out 5