"Hush now. Daddy's workin'."
Moving on to the second issue of X-Men: The End, Claremont reveals the answers to a few questions you probably had after reading the first issue, such as the true identity of Aliyah's holographic aide, what all those aliens were up to on the Shi'ar planet, and the whereabouts of a few of your favorite X-Men. This issue is a continuation of the first in the sense that it is excellent at setting up future events, but this issue has even less action than the first, which probably will bore some people. If you don't need flying fists and onomatopoeia's to satiate your comic needs, then you will probably enjoy this issue, especially if you are curious about the changes Claremont has made to some of the X-Men.
Moving on to the specifics:
What was good?
I really enjoyed, and this can be repeated for the entire series, Claremont's attention to so many different characters. In one issue alone, Claremont reveals Cyclops and Emma's family life, Rogue and Gambit's relationship (Which, by the way, is my favorite part of this issue. I just love the panels featuring these two. I even like the tattoos!), Polaris and Havok's family, and even Nightcrawler's new profession. We are also shown some more insight into the Wolverine/Storm romance as well as Kitty Pryde's mayoral campaign. All of this is golden for a huge fan of characterization in comics, such as myself. The artwork, again, is very solid, and Claremont's dialogue, for the most part, was spot-on. I especially liked Storm's little bit of dialogue with Wolverine when they are discussing the fact that she is dying. You really cannot help but feel truly sorry for these two.
Storm--"You should have told him."
Wolverine--"What, 'Ro, that you're dying?"
Storm--"Yes."
Wolverine--"Bull!"
Wolverine-- "Once upon a time, 'Ro, I burned up in the flamin' sun, remember? An' got brought back to life! Some rules don't apply to the likes of us."
Storm-- "I wish they did."
What was bad?
As a mentioned before, there is not much action in this issue. I probably was not phased by it when I was reading through these the first time because I bought the entire series at once and I could just tear into the next issue right away. I imagine that waiting a month for these issues, people may have been bored by these first two issues. Other than that, the only thing that bothers me a little about this issue are some of the plot holes that Claremont never really explains. How did the Starjammer come under a Shi'ar princess's control, and how did Carol Danvers get turned into a hologram? Also, how did Jean just up and teleport Nightcrawler onto the ship from a galaxy away? Last I checked, I didn't know Phoenix could do that, but hey, it works.
What was ugly?
The confusing dialogue with Sinister and the slavers was truly ugly. I still do not know what Sinister was trying to say there. That whole page is pretty confusing.
What's the verdict?
4/5. This issue is a good example of Claremont's wonderful talent for character development and voice for his characters, and is an excellent set-up issue. The lack of climactic confrontation of any sort detracts somewhat, but this is still a very solid issue.
Death toll: 2