Hey, everyone… Here is my fourth review. Next up in the last ‘Uncanny’ issue before the crossover. Hope you enjoy it.

Uncanny X-Men #512
(preview | thread)
Writer: Matt Fraction
Penciler: Yanick Paquette
Inker: Karl Story

Note: Wolverine does not appear in this issue.

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Beast pulling his Science team together with the addition of Warren and Betsy to travel to the past, specifically San Francisco in 1908. They are going to meet the parents of Dr. Nemesis, James Bradley, and get blood samples to study. The other members of the science team are Madison Jeffries, Kavita Rad and Yuriko Yakiguchi. They will only have thirty-two hours to complete the mission before they must return or risk death.

The scene cuts to James’ dad, Nicola, working on a device to create free, wireless electricity. He is attacked by goons wearing Hellfire garb but is saved by his wife, Catherine, who is wielding energy guns. Once they escape they contact Nicola’s sponsor, Cornelius Shaw, who informs them there is no issue and to take as long as they need. He will keep providing the money.

The Science team arrives in the past with Betsy subtlety altering their appearance mentally. They approach Nemesis’ house but he remains behind. They attempt to explain their mission but are thoroughly rebuffed by Catherine.

Shaw and his lady return to the Hellfire club where it is revealed that they are using psychics who have predicted the beginning of the super hero age. In order to stop the rise of the Overman, as they call them, they need Nicola’s device.

Meanwhile, in his lab, Nemesis’ dad manages to finish his invention. He goes to tell his wife only to learn she is pregnant.

The Science team is running out of time and ideas on how to best get their samples. They decide to split forces and try to handle the parents one at a time.

Nicola is busy presenting his completed marvel to Shaw and of course he steals it and the father. More goons attack the house and Catherine but she is saved by Archangel and two members of the Science team. She is bleeding due to complications with the pregnancy.

Nicola is taken to the Hellfire club where they reveal their plan. They have created the first Sentinel and are going to use the device to power it. Hank, Betsy and Madison attack the club but are too late to prevent the Sentinel from activating.

Nemesis attends to his mother and gets her bleeding stopped, getting the sample along the way. He informs her the pregnancy will be hard and she must rest. He leaves the room and tells the rest of the group that she will die in childbirth.

The Sentinel is in the street attacking Beast and the others. Warren leaps to action taking Betsy to shut down the Hellfire members piloting the thing. Madison, meanwhile, creates a electric weapon and fries the robot. It explodes but one of the pieces impales Nicola. Nemesis gets the sample as Nicola dies in his wife’s arms after deciding to name the baby James.

They make Catherine hide the samples in Golden Gate park because they can not take them and then the team leaps forward just before the earthquake of 1908 hits. They track the blood in the park to directly underneath the Sleeping Celestial’s foot.

Nemesis then jumps back in time to attend his mother in her birth. She dies but the baby lives. He gives his infant self to his grandparents to raise.

MY TAKE: This issue was an interesting but ultimately a disposable one off arc. The story was not bad but was ultimately forgettable. They were obviously eager to get to the big crossover and did not want to spend much time on this plot. Most of the issue was spent with new characters but we do not have enough time to see them really developed before they are killed so their deaths lack impact.

Nemesis is the standout of the story. While I have yet to warm to any of the new Science characters, you can at least start to understand him better. Though it still seems like the writer is unsure what to do with the team as a whole.

I am usually a sucker for time-travel stories but there is nothing really new here. We have a Sentinel lifted mostly from the movies and a Hellfire club we have seen before. In fact all the of characters feel like cardboard cut outs of ones we have seen before either in other comics or movies. And tying the whole thing to the San Francisco earthquake felt forced. Like they wanted to story to have a historical reference and that was all they could think of.

In the end though, the issue was not bad it was simply nothing special. We get a little insight into a new character but that is about all. The story was decent enough but it suffered from lack of space and predictability. I just wish they would have had the time and space to make a proper time travel story with real impact.

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.