Shadow and Flame with Magik

Writer Brian Michael Bendis

Artist Mahmud Asrar

Colorist Marte Gracia

Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

Bendis’ final issue of All New X-Men and he doesn’t send them back in time.  Also, this doesn’t feel like a final issue to an almost three year run.

The New Xavier School.  Location : Secret.  Today.  The team, minus X23 and Angel, are just relaxing on the grass as Maria Hill’s SHIELD Hellcarrier approaches.

Magik teleports inf ront of the teenagers.  She gets to say the classic, “To Me, My X-Men” which is awesome!

Maria Hill stops Magik before Magik can teleport everyone away.  Hill wants the team to help her with a situation.

I like how Hill explains how she knew where to find them.  It is the reason why cloaking never really works.  Wouldn’t all you ever need to do is look for the absence inside an area?  Sonar would be the anti-cloaking device.

Hill tells the team that there is an issue with the X-Men’s former home, Utopia.

A group of SHIELD agents went to Utopia and were confronted by a band of mutants.  The agents have not been heard from since.  Hill wants mutants to solve or investigate a mutant problem.

X23 and Angel fly back down and get a quick recap.  Magik teleports the team.

Utopia Island.  Former Home of the X-Men.  San Francisco.  Has Magik been back since losing her Phoenix portion, back in AvX?  Has anyone?

I’m surprised Magik isn’t placing all of the blame on the Avengers, if they hadn’t gotten involved, the Phoenix Force’s return to Earth would have ended without much conflict.

The All New X-Men meet the Utopians – Random, Masque, Elixir, Boom, Karma and Madison Jeffries.  I like how Karma is the leader of this group and she chooses to speak directly to Magik, who has to be the leader of this group.  I would have loved a New Mutants reference between the two of them.

I do like Bobby and Hank enjoying saying, Boom Boom.  Such a silly name, that’s what I always like to call Tabitha, Meltdown.

I like how Random is a realist and knew that they needed to have a policy about fools who would bother them.

Tensions are getting high so Jean shuts the Utopians down.

How great is that page above, great composition!

Jean really is tired of fighting mutants.  Just then, Cyclops starts blasting dudes, Jean is taken down first.  Magik dodges, for the most part.  Cyclops starts shouting for someone to take him out and Beast is super glad to do so.

Then the worst case happens, X23 turns on the team.

The teenagers don’t really know to take down one of their own.  Magik has to tell them that this is Karma who is up to no good.

Jean confronts Karma.  I do like how X23 is willing to kill any and all who have tried to control her.

Meltdown starts throwing bombs.

Jean causes Karma to wake up in a mindscape.  This is the first page that I notice that Asrar is still drawing boobs weirdly.  Up to this point, Magik and the Utopians ladies’ costumes are more supportive to the gals so it isn’t noticeable at all but Jean’s costume is skin tight (or some nonsense) and her boobs just seem, I don’t know, artificially placed, isn’t the right word.  Like he has to draw them and draws them to do it but they seem fake or some such thing.

Jean really wants to see life through Karma’s eyes.

We get that awesome effect seen in both All New X-Men issues 5 & 32, but with Karma!

We wish some of these panels were more specific.  I like her origin and being part of the original line up of the New Mutants, the two Shadow King.  Then we get four panels that are essentially pretty generic.  Karma as a teacher, makes sense.  Her training with Emma, did that happen?  Is it crucial to her story?  It is one of three panels featuring her robotic leg.  One would think that one of these three panels would be during Second Coming but I don’t think that is represented.  I was going to say her time on Astonishing X-Men isn’t but that’s what the panel with her hand is showing.  Those are ice walls.  Could that be Kitty Pryde in the dark shirt?  I’m surprised there isn’t a panel showing her with a special lady friend.  The bottom two are the formation of the Utopians.

Still, I do like the technique being used again.

The team goes to Maria Hill and they have brought the missing SHIELD agents.  They do not sell out the Utopians.  They call Hill on her nonsense about how she’s cool with the Avengers setting up base anywhere but apparently the X-Men need to be accounted for.

The team have brought the Utopians to the old New Xavier School, as no one is using it.

The Utopians are not thrilled about staying at a former Weapon X facility but it is abandoned and there some attempt to make it more of a home.

Issue ends setting up Teen Jean Grey’s portion of Uncanny X-Men 600 – Jean is going to try to figure out why the X-Men are always being persecuted and hated.  I guess we will learn in twenty weeks.