Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here… Last but not least for this week is ‘X-Men Forever’. Hope you enjoy it.

X-Men Forever #11 (preview)
Writer: Chris Claremont
Art: Tom Grummett

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with a mission in Russia. An agent is dropped from a transport plane without a chute but when he strikes the ground, we see it is Colossus. He is looking for two suits of stolen Crimson Dynamo armor. He knocks the first one down quickly, but the second blasts him. He is saved by an kinetic charge from Gambit. The first suit gets back up but is disrupted by Kitty.

Colossus greets his friends but the reunion is cut short by his contact, the Black Widow. It is quickly clear that Piotr and Natasha are more than friends. Gambit, Kitty and ‘Ro explain that they came to check on Colossus when he did not show for Logan’s funeral. They decide to stay for a bit and help the Winter Guard.

Back at the Mansion, Rogue and Sabretooth get into a fight over his not bothering to do his dishes. Jean lets them blow off steam. She goes to talk to Beast about finding a cure for mutants burning out at a young age. Fury and Xavier have a long talk about facing up to mistakes and doing what you can to get past them. Fury is harsh in order to shake Charles from his self-doubt.

Back in Russia, the rest of the X-Men have dinner with Piotr and Natasha in the Winter Guard’s secret base. Remy flirts with the Widow but it becomes obvious that the two Russians only have eyes for each other. We then see Piotr’s sister, Illyana, walking house from class. She is picked up by a stranger in a black car who says it is time for Magik to return.

MY TAKE: This is a decent story and I am glad to see both Colossus and Illyana enter into the series. Magik is one of my favorites and Piotr is a very strong character in his own right. Unfortunately, not much happens of any note. We have several pages dedicated to a fight over the dinner dishes after all. Hopefully, the plot will pick up speed next issue.

Claremont’s strength is his dialogue and the characters do read well, although it is not always the way we would expect them to behave. Still, there are plenty of good scenes of interaction, a highlight being Xavier and Fury’s conversation. I was glad to see how well Jean was handling her sudden promotion too. Not sure if Scott is meant to be gone for good but it is nice to see Phoenix having a larger role on the team.

I think that I have finally accepted that this series has absolutely nothing to do with canon or the main Marvel Universe. I did not bat an eye at Piotr’s sudden change to being part of the Winter Guard (something he never showed interest in) or having a relationship with the Black Widow. Not sure why she would be back in Russia either but then it does not really need to make sense. This is clearly Claremont’s world so he can do what he wants with it. It would be nice to have a bit more explanation on the changes though.

I did, however, have a bit of a problem with Colossus’  handling of Kitty. While their relationship has been in flux a lot over the years, you would think he would have made some effort to let her know he was involved with someone. It also seemed out of character for Colossus to not even call for Logan’s funeral. They were friends and teammates for a long time and ignoring that seems very out of character for Piotr.

In the end this was an entertaining comic where very little actually happened. It was focused on minor points and dialogue rather than on really advancing the plot. I do enjoy character interactions but not at the expense of the story. There was no need to spend any real time with the X-Men at the mansion either since the main story did not involve them. Hopefully the focus can be tightened in order to advance the plot in the future.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again next time.