Review:
X-Men Legacy #235 and Will Nightcrawler Die?

X-Men Legacy #235

When last we left our down and under mutants, the New Mutants were in dire straits as they took on Cameron Hodge. Cable, Hope and the rest of the X-Men engaged Bastion's forces once again--and once again Cable and Hope escape, continuing the chase for both Bastion and the X-Men.

In Legacy #235, we find out just how Bastion is tracking Cable--something that will cause Cable and Hope to split. The X-Men take a casualty and it better not be the one they've been touting in ads because it's such an insignificant character. The X-Men finally hook up with Cable and Hope and Rogue "powers up" for the upcoming battle. I really like that they've evolved Rogue into controlling her powers. And in one of the best scenes of the book, Warlock (a favorite of mine) finally gets revenge on Cameron Hodge. This crossover continues to please but I hope they progress from action-chase-action-chase into an actual story and some sort of revelation about Hope soon.

Mike Carey’s writing is crisp and clean as always—but then there’s Greg Land’s art. There is no question he can draw women, very sexy women at that. But that’s where it ends. He cannot draw a male character that doesn’t look feminine. It’s like Frank Cho. He can draw the sexiest girls but his guys don’t look so manly. I think the perfect example of this is the final panel of this issue which shows Wolverine’s head with his claws up and a goofy, non-characteristic smile on his face. Yes, I know Wolverine smiles, but it’s the exact same smile Land draws for his female characters.

Speaking of the X-Man death, I still maintain they're going to kill Nightcrawler and here's my reasoning. First off, he's a fan favorite character that they really don't know what to do with--so not only will it have an effect on the fans, but they really aren't using him so it won't affect their core group. Secondly, his massive protests over X-Force and their liberal killing of villains. With his death, probably because of something with X-Force, it will prove Nightcrawler correct in his views and make Cyclops take a second look at what he's doing—and perhaps put a schism within the group causing more drama for our mutants. And what are the X-Men without drama? We're reading a soap opera with super powers after all! Plus X-Force is ending after Second Coming and Marvel's already announced "New X-Force," a new team lead by Wolverine who has a different take on X-Force than Cyclops did. Plus Nightcrawler's not in the Second Coming prelude story which takes place after the event (which we see Cable in as he's one that people are speculating will die). So who do you think they will kill?