Socialist Services
Again, we have an issue that is trying to be very good, and actually has some rather fine elements, but it cannot sustain them and is hampered by a number of irrational elements. The cover is great, but I don't want to overrate the issue just because it is mostly better than most of the issues lately, but it does rank a bit higher than the other 40s so far. Gary Friedrich does a better job this issue with tying up loose ends many fans had noticed (and wrote in the letters pages) since the abrupt death of Xavier: things like his will, the estate, the fate of the X-Men - not quite as trivial as it might seem. We finally get a scene of the X-Men taking the time to mourn, which we didn't get from the actual funeral. Trying to add some tension, Friedrich interrupts the scene again, with Fred "Amos" Duncan (oops) bringing them news so urgent it can't wait for them to arrive at home. It could be impressive Duncan knows where Xavier is buried, since he didn't attend the funeral, or an overlooked detail, but it may just be the FBI keeping track of everyone "for their own good." It's an issue of interruptions, really. Scott tries to get Duncan to leave them alone, but caves a bit quickly when Duncan utters the magic word "urgent." Back at the mansion, Foggy Nelson crosses over from Daredevil to read the will to the kids (he had a key, apparently, or the X-Men never remember to lock the door). Why it took so long to get to the reading of the will, which is all of four sentences, is one of those things, really - perhaps we should just be grateful Friedrich is attending to details and logical consistencies (of a sort) Thomas never got around to doing in his haste to exit the series. Not surprisingly, Xavier leaves everything to Scott and the X-Men, with Scott as main trustee ... except all his money? which goes to a secret fund about helping mutant children? This came from ... where? What good would the estate and tools do the X-Men without any money for food and such? Are they going to be the first Heroes for Hire? Nice try, Gary, I guess, but try not to create new problems when wrapping up old ones.
Speaking of old problems, Friedrich does a Roy Thomas impersonation by bringing back an old X-Men villain for, well, no particular reason. In his favor, though, Friedrich does manage to get a few good panels out of it, despite the ending. Apparently, despite knowing he was dying, Xavier decided to make a machine to bring Juggernaut back from the Crimson Cosmos, perhaps to continue to rehabilitate him, but no one is around to know for sure. This could be a rather scary premise - how many other pots did Xavier leave boiling? Despite this nonsensical premise, as I said, Friedrich gets a couple of good panels out of the confrontation (though continuing the writer's inability to decide whether Cain Marko still exists, and to what extent his personality is still alive in the Cyttorak Juggernaut persona). Juggernaut refuses to accept Xavier's death, despite the words of the X-Men, which adds an interesting twist to his rather static character. The battle isn't all that special, made more bizarre by the sudden appearance of Juggernaut's globules of energy power, again, not really necessary for a powerhouse. Jean gets a chance to practice her telepathic powers, which ends up working against them, since it gives Cain another reason to disbelieve the death of Xavier (nice touch, that), even though he found Xavier's tombstone (perhaps the grounds have large directional signs, since everyone can find it). The end of the conflict is utterly disappointing. Without a real ending, Friedrich follows in Thomas's steps and decides he wants the magical machine that brought Juggernaut back from the Crimson Cosmos to be able to send him back again on a delay switch ... even though Juggernaut broke the machine! Oh well, I suppose they do those things.
Then comes the really weird part. It could almost work, except Friedrich has already made it not make sense. The FBI orders the X-Men to leave the mansion, split up, and spread out over the country. Why? To better be able to handle nation-wide mutant menaces, of course. Erg. First, Duncan was at the reading of the will - he knows, legally, the X-men have the mansion and the estate (despite Foggy's nonsensical statement about it being held up in probate for awhile - huh? no one is there to contest the will, why would it be held up?). Second, as Beast says, the FBI has absolutely NO jurisdiction over the X-Men, despite Duncan's tenuous "liaison" position. Cyke is totally feckless when he says they "have" to obey. No, they don't. (Friedrich is going to pull a Thomas and say "it was all part of a secret plan" in a few issues, isn't he....) Third, why would splitting the team up make them better able to fight the mutant menace? They barely are able to beat anyone together - they can do a better job individually? It would be a great scene, really, if Friedrich had not already made it so incredible. Had he phrased Xavier's will so that the FBI had control over the X-Men and the estate, forcing them to actually follow Duncan, that would have made more sense, in a way - something, at least, other than "you are totally free ... except now I tell you what to do, and do stupid things." Had Friedrich come up with a sensible reason for the X-Men to split up, this would have been a terrific ending. At least Friedrich has improved in only four issues far more than Thomas did in 23. Perhaps there is some hope for these final 20 issues after all.
The finale of the Iceman origin is likewise foppish. Bobby finally realizes the people who have been trying to hang him are bad and agrees to go with Scott somewhere, even though he doesn't remember the shortcut to his own house. The sheriff decides too late not to let the lynch mob do any lynching, getting beat up in the process. Instead of dealing with this in a timely manner, Xavier lets Scott and Bobby run around without powers, getting the business, until he is ready to mindwipe the assailants and let them go free. Who knows what happens to the sheriff. Bobby's parents are likewise mindwiped into forgetting their son is a mutant and agreeing to let him go to Xavier's school. Nothing special, nothing meaningful, just more "it sort of just happened."
