The Uncanny X-Men # 496 - X-Men: Divided - Part Two

Ed Brubaker is obviously having a lot of fun with his latest Uncanny X-Men arc. I'm glad to say I am too. That hasn't always been the case. The Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire was a bloated mess. The Endangered Species tie-in seemed to have little point beyond giving a few X-Men characters some extra face time. With the team now split up and seemingly aimless until the next big X-event hits, Brubaker is free to spin whatever yarn he wants. Apparently he wants to write about dinosaurs, hippies, and bar fights. I'll go along with it.

After last issue's little vacation, Cyclops and Emma Frost put some clothes back on and fly to San Francisco to investigate reports of hippies and time disturbances. Meanwhile, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Colossus hang out in Russia and drink beer, something all three are exceedingly good at. Overall, this is shaping up to be a fun little diversion from the more serious events that usually dominate X-books. I am slightly underwhelmed by the Russia story. The entire sequence seems a little too perfunctory. Whenever the X-Men want to wind down and transition between storylines, they either play baseball or get drunk and start bar fights. Don't they have any other hobbies?

Regardless, all this frivolity is written very well. Brubaker isn't going to outdo himself on Captain America anytime soon, but I'm finding this story to be surprisingly enjoyable so far.

It helps that Brubaker finally has a suitable artist to work with. Mike Choi easily outclasses all previous artists to work with the writer on this book, if only because his work is both clean and consistent. His pages are all very sleek and pretty, and he handles the sheer variety of settings and characters Brubaker throws his way every adeptly. I suppose it could be argued that sleek and pretty don't necessarily suit the X-Men, but in this case they do. I find myself oddly attracted to Wolverine and his rugged "Burly paper towel" type of good looks.

I don't know if I should actually dock the issue any points for this, but it does manage to spoil the upcoming finale of Astonishing X-Men pretty severely. I do feel bad for the rest of the X-writers for being forced to tiptoe around that storyline for so long. Just be advised that spoilers are afoot, and consider whether this enjoyable and whimsical storyline is worth the spoilage. At least Uncanny X-Men #496 offers plenty to make up for it.