Once More ... with Feeling
Like the previous couple of issues, we are given a fairly good beginning with no satisfactory payoff at the end. As Byzantine said above, Merlin is a thoroughly inconsistent villain: his powers change frequently, and like most of the Factor Three members, runs away immediately despite his ability to topple towers and eliminate Xavier's abilities. His motivation is likewise perplexing: if he couldn't take over the world in the original medieval ages, with a population of approximately 100 million, why would converting 3 billion people to that mentality, coupled with machine guns, somehow make his job easier? If it's all science, why does it depend on proximity or temperament? It's confusing, at the least. Where does this issue take place? We are told it sort of looks like New York, but then we are just left in Merlin/Warlock's self-made Xanadu for the rest of the issue without any context, even as the X-Men fly away at the end (with a mummified Warlock). As nice as it was to have all the X-Men get a shot in at the end, Thomas really needs to stop having villains be stopped with the old "carpet/cape over the eyes" routine. It's weak. The art does save the lack of story, at least for a while (though why Jack Sparling needs to emphasize Jean's bust is beyond anyone's guess - perhaps he was channeling Gen13). The intriguing mystery of the beginning likewise fades out quickly, leaving us with a ho-hum story highlighted by Cyke's renewed commitment to Jean with her finally noticing ... yet the absence of him actually saying it out loud leaves us with yet another disappointing lack of finish (so, is Jean permanently back with the team? is she still on Christmas break from Metro College?). Again, not to be overly finicky, but lack of strong finishes is tiresome, especially when Thomas teases us with fairly decent beginnings. Ah well, this can't go on much longer forever.
