Editor's Note: Uncanny X-Men #511 arrives in stores tomorrow, June 10.

Bill Janzen:
Dave Wallace:

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Bill Janzen

Uncanny X-Men #511 is a comic that I can't help but be of two minds about, in more ways than one. For one, the X-Men are a team that I love, in theory, but which I've rarely ever enjoyed the comics of for more than a few issues (Ultimate X-Men being the exception, but of course that's now being cancelled. Nice move there, Marvel). The perpetually changing roster, the sickeningly long list of clones and alternate universe relatives, and unending line of deaths and resurrections amongst the characters has left me rather cynical of reading the flagship X-Men title any more. So, despite my idealistic memory of the characters I still have approached UX-M with trepidation.

I'm also of two minds on this issue due to the primary artist, Greg Land. Yes, Land puts out some of the most beautiful images in comics today, but he is also infamous for creating those images via tracing, and his drawings also seem very static these days when there are artists out there who capture action scenes so dynamically. In comparison, Land's characters look like they're standing still even in mid-battle.

So, since I'm torn on the actual title, and I'm torn on the art, it means this issue's plot, dialogue and characterization were going to make the difference. So how is Mr. Fraction's writing this issue? Sadly mediocre I'm afraid. This issue is a fairly generic plot with some minor, poorly done twists. For example, (minor spoiler warning) in one scene Dazzler is facing one of the attacking girls and reveals that Storm had deliberately shattered the window so that the noise from the city could be used by Dazzler as a weapon. Dazzler then blasts the girl, showing a level of power Dazzler has rarely displayed. The problem is that it makes no sense. The scene takes place numerous stories above the shattered window. Sure, there'd be some ambient noise for Dazzler to use but bringing an air horn along with her would obviously make more noise. After all, they could hear each other in the room despite the ambient noise; they wouldn't have been able to with an air horn. But I guess it would be a little less cool of a twist if Dazzler just suddenly pulled out an air horn. Fraction's best written scene is actually the final one of the issue. Without going into details, it involves Beast standing up for something that will hopefully make for some interesting progression next issue.

The final scene is also interesting for another reason: it's the only one that is drawn by Dodson. That's right, the entire issue is drawn by Land, except for the lat two pages for some reason. To say that it is an unnecessary change in style that jerks you out of the story is an understatement.

There's one final thing that I HAVE to mention here just because it is too bizarre not to. In one scene, Cyclops is trying to stop Madelyne Prior, and he blasts her. Now, the blast goes through her because she's basically a ghost, but the bizarre part is WHERE he shoots her. Now bear in mind that he's supposed to be a marksman with his optic blasts, and where he shoots her is... well, let's just say it's between the thighs and the stomach. Alright, I'll just say it: Cyclops shoots her in the crotch! Why?! Why would Land have him do that? And it's not only Land's fault. An inker, a colorist, and then at least one editor ALL had to have okayed a scene where Cyclops tries to shoot a lady in the crotch! I'm baffled that such a panel actually got published.

Overall Uncanny X-Men #511 is a mediocre issue with a generic plot, boring looking action scenes, and a LOT of female characters that all have virtually identical physiques and facial features. From such a high-profile creative team and with superhero characters with such potential, this is a pretty disappointing result.

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Dave Wallace:

This issue of Uncanny X-Men sees Matt Fraction wrap up his Madelyne Pryor storyline (for the time being, anyway), offering a couple of decent fight sequences and... not much else.

The storyline of the last few issues has felt pretty hollow to me, since I have no real interest in any of the villains involved and no emotional connection to Psylocke, whose return seems to have been the big selling point of the arc. However, Fraction condenses the story down to its essential elements for this issue, providing a straightforward race-against-time setup that ends with an inevitable big superhero smackdown that should entertain fans of the characters involved.

Some of Fraction's writing confused me a little (is the opening page's assertion that Mach Five equates to 300mph a mistake, or evidence that Cyclops isn't thinking straight?) and there are a few moments that feel a little too cliché and neat to be really satisfying (such as Psylocke's inner turmoil manifested as a one-on-one fight with her "other"), but it's a more enjoyable chapter of the story than the previous issue -- although that might just be because the story is finally brought to an end, allowing the book to move on to a new arc in the next issue.

There are a couple of fun flourishes: I was amused by the monosyllabic dialogue during the fight sequence, which pokes fun at the usual idea of pontificating speeches and complex exchanges in the middle of fast-paced superhero battles. The final bait-and-switch also works quite well, even if it does feel a little too reminiscent of one of the twists from the end of Grant Morrison's Cassandra Nova storyline to come off as truly original. However, there are places where Fraction misses the mark, too: the line "We're the X-Men, Emma. And we're pissed off" doesn't carry the sense of swagger that the writer seems to intend, and the issue's central fight sequence ends on a flat note, due to the lack of any real resolution of the conflict between the X-Men and their enemies.

I've been hard on Greg Land's artwork in previous issues of this book, but to his credit, he does show a slight improvement here. Maybe it's a change in Jay Leisten's inking, but the book's figures look a little less static and posed in this issue, with a slightly less tightly-controlled line helping to make the images feel more dynamic than usual. There's also a little more effort to distinguish the book's many female villains from one another, which hasn't always been the case in the past. Having said that, many of the close-ups of the female characters still appear to be interchangeable, and there's still a certain reliance on stock poses and repetitive compositions, especially in Land's staging of the action sequences.

The closing sequence sees Land hand the art chores back to the Dodsons, who create a suitably sinister sense of foreboding that helps to stop the issue's conclusion from feeling too neat and tidy. I look forward to seeing what happens in the next issue, as it looks as though Fraction is going to switch his focus to the attempts of Beast and his "X-Club" team of scientists to research the original catalyst for mutation. That sounds like a storyline with a lot more promise than this one, so I'll stick around to see whether the writer can put this book back on track after the lacklustre diversion of the last few issues.

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