Uncanny X-Men #514 Review: Wolverine Is All Wet

Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here…There wasn’t anything worth a review last week, but I am back this week for three fun-filled issues, starting with a bang reviewing Part 4 of Utopia. Hope you enjoy it.

Uncanny X-Men #514 cover Uncanny X-Men #514 (preview)
Writer: Matt Fraction
Penciler: Terry Dodson
Inker: Rachel Dodson

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue starts with Trask’s sentinels making their existence known and attacking the city. Scott has a plan however, and meets with Dani, Domino, Mindee and Psylocke to discuss their parts in it. The Cuckoo’s job is to get arrested.

We then visit the Dark X-Men and Avengers where Daken and Bullseye are fighting. Emma steps in breaks it up calling her team into battle to stop Trask’s forces.

They are ported to the main site of the disturbance and Emma leads her people into battle. She makes saving the civilians the priority.  She scans the minds of the sentinels and finds nothing human left, so gives the order for maximum force.

Scott takes a group out to watch their progress, consisting of Pixie, Colossus, Northstar, Iceman, X-23, Dazzler, and either Armor or Karma.

Emma’s X-Men are doing well, though cracks do show in their team work. Cloak and Dagger feel forced into the team, Namor hates humanity and Daken is too savage. Interestingly Mimic wants to help the sentinels while Omega wants to lash out at them.

We briefly see Dani arrive in Las Vegas to meet with someone about her task but we do not learn any more about it.

Scott brings his group to a roof where they can study Emma’s team. He has picked his people specifically to take out a target and wants them to study their enemy. They are given a good show as the Dark X-Men perform flawlessly. They learn that Trask is at St. Francis Hospital and teleport there to find him.

Meanwhile, Illyana is with X-Force waiting for Wolverine’s arrival. X-23 returns from her studying just in time to see Logan rise from the river and vow to get their people back.

At the end we see the science team with Betsy. They are arriving at a site under the ocean to install a device at an underwater site that will spell the end for the X-Men in California.

MY TAKE: This issue is really starting to ramp up the plot and tie the story elements together. I am getting more and more interested in the conclusion of the story as it goes along, which speaks well of the writing. I am still a bit concerned that, with only two issues left, we will be given a naturally flowing conclusion rather then one that feels rushed or tacked on.

It is already starting to feel a bit pressed for space. For example several of the plot points only got a page and a couple, like the prisoners, received no screen time at all here. Hopefully there will be enough pages in the last issues to resolve all of the plot points and give them the space they need.

I was very glad to see Cyclops showing some leadership here and the X-Men going out and making a plan. The team has been back on its heels since the beginning and while they should feel like under dogs a bit, they definitely needed to start seizing the initiative. While we do not yet know the whole plan, we are given some very interesting clues and plot points to build on.

I am especially excited about Wolverine finally getting his screen time with X-Force and Dani’s mission to Las Vegas. I do wonder, however, if adding more story lines to the series will cause an even more frantic pace. There is already so much going on that the pay off is going to have to be something really special, especially since the last issue is mostly going to be fight scenes.

Besides the pacing issues, my biggest complaint is the artwork, especially the women. They are all drawn identical so you can not tell who is who without either an intro box or someone saying their name. I still am not sure who the other girl that went with Cyclops is and I had no idea it was Illyana at the end until Wolverine spoke to her.

In the end we have another strong issue of a really big story that is being crammed to fit into six comics. But even with the lack of space, it reads well and has kept me interested and entertained since the first issue. I can not wait to see what the last two issues has in store for us.

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.

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Ace
14 years ago

It was a strong issue, but an odd one. I was eager to see where things were going when it… ended. And it wasn’t an intriguing “Find out what happens next time!” sort of ending. It just ended mid-scene on something we’re told almost nothing about. My problem with this issue is that it feels like an interlude rather than a full chapter. A series of in-between moments that are all great, but leave you feeling like you haven’t read a complete comic issue. To me, this issue showed off some of the better aspects of this crossover storyline. With… Read more »

jrpbsp
14 years ago

Well this is all building up to a big fight, all these things ever build up to so most of the sociopolitical stuff was going to take a back seat eventually.

This is the build up to what will probably be two issues of fast fights and whatever the big reveals are in what they are doing and where they are heading next.

Pretty much the whole purpose is moving them out of CA which is kind of a shame since they have only been there a year.

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