Moving on from ‘Uncanny X-Men’ #24 we had learned quite a bit about what Professor Charles Xavier had been up to in his spare time but nothing could compare our mutants for what they learn this issue. With the third installment of ‘The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier,’ Brian Michael Bendis gives us a major new piece of information. However, is the delivery enough to keep the story moving forward?
Well, the big reveal that Bendis gives us in this comic shows a huge change in Xavier’s actions as well as inserted an ongoing event in his past that seems like a hard fit with how much time he’s spent off planet. While his inclusion in the Illuminati has already shown the less than perfect side of Xavier, the events we are witnessing are painting him as a hypocrite as well. Also the new events included an ongoing one that would be difficult to have happen when he was off the planet during the Secret Wars, when he lived with the Shi’ar Empire, what happened during the events of the House of M, and finally when Xavier was in space prior to ‘World War Hulk.’
So there does seem to be some inconsistencies from this story and all of Xavier’s past and I’m not sure if they are going to bother writing around it. I do have to say, though, that while they paint Xavier in a negative light, he does ask the X-Men to help him one last time and they way he does it should bring a mile to the face of any long term reader. Also, he pretty much requires them to carry out his last wish in order for the will to be fully read, so that is another annoying move on his part. I must say, it was nice to see more of the conflict between the X-Men over Xavier’s death rear its ugly head.
A quick interlude though is that Chris Bachalo’s art is fantastic and you’ll be enjoying every moment of it.
So we’re given a new character, a bigger take on Xavier not being the man that the mutants have looked up to all of these years, and they’ve turned him into a giant hypocrite. Great way to use Xavier while he’s dead Bendis. I can’t say I’m a fan of this turn of events but we’ll have to see how it all plays out before any true judgement is made.
In closing this was just an okay continuation to the story. The recording of Xavier had the stand out scene of the issue as we got to feel how he had been at one point but past that they seem to be ruining what was left of his good legacy. A lot of aspects felt forced and sticking in events into the past didn’t feel as if it lined up with how the timeline played out so far. Bendis may still surprise us but I feel that this chapter of the ‘Uncanny X-Men’ has slipped in quality from everything else we’ve seen since he’s taken over.
UNCANNY X-ME #25
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Chris Bachalo
