Uncanny X-men #496 By Zach Bowen Mar 27, 2008 - 8:44:23 AM

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Marvel Comics
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Pencils: Michael Choi
Inks: Michael Choi
Cover: Michael Choi
Colour: Sonia Oback
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos

Ed Brubaker is currently writing numerous Marvel books and even with his workload, still manages to tell the best stories on the stands today. Uncanny X-men #496 is no exception to this rule. Following Messiah Complex, Brubaker takes some of the most iconic X-men and shows what happens to them after the X-teams have been disbanded. The issue has some serious nostalgia points for hardcore X-men fans, but is still an entertain read for any casual readers along with being a good jumping on point for newcomers.

After Wolverine, Colossus, and Nightcrawler visited Germany in the previous issue, they mind themselves in Colossus’ homeland, Russia. After visiting the graves of Colossus’ family, they make their way to a bar. This is a wonderful part of the story as it mirrors Chris Claremont’s Uncanny X-men #183. In Claremont’s issue, the three X-men find themselves in a bar where the run into the Juggernaut. In the modern day issue, Wolverine does make a small comment about that fight, which creates the sense of reading one of the more classic issues of the X-men.

The other thing that is a callback to the Claremont issue is the reason for being in the bar. In the 1984 issue, the three of them went drinking because Colossus had just broken up with Kitty Pryde. In this issue, he makes mention of the fact that he has “lost” her. At this moment, it is unclear exactly what he means due to delays on Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-men. However, due to trends that Whedon has shown on his TV show’s (Buffy, Angel, Firefly) and his feature film Serenity, we can assume that he killed off this beloved character.

Of course a bar fight does eventually break out, and this is where the art in the issue, drawn by Mike Choi, hits its peak. Choi images are all very clear and sharp. They could have easily told the story without inserting Brubaker’s script. While the art overall is very well done, there are a few things that stand out as being a little odd. In about half of the drawings of Wolverine, he has a smile on his face. Looking at the other titles that currently feature Wolverine (Wolverine, Wolverine: Origins, X-Force, Astonishing X-men, New Avengers) you would be lucky to find as much as a smirk. The only other complaint is the drawing of Cyclops body. While he does need to be shown as a man who is in top physical condition, I find it odd that when he is standing next to Emma Frost, he has a smaller waist.

Cyclops bizarre waist size can be seen in the other story that is being told as he and Emma go off to locate Angel, Hepzibah, and other X-men who have yet to be named. They find a town that looks as if it has been pulled straight out of the 60’s. The members of the community, along with the X-men, are under some kind of yet undefined physic influence that has revitalized the hippie movement.

Brubaker is teasing readers in this half of the story as everything right now is still very unclear. It is a very fun read, and a lot of that has to do with Brubaker’s humor. Emma points out that Cyclops does not need to narrate the events to her, as she is sitting beside him, but moments like that in Brubaker’s writing are part of what sets him apart from other writers to date.

Despite being an issue that is almost entirely exhibition for the rest of the arc, this is still an amazing read. I would rant this title to currently be the best X-book on the stands and is definitely worth picking up.

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