X-Men: Legacy — Aftermath

This was an odd volume.  As its title implies, this collection of Mike Carey-written stories picks up on the heels of not one, but TWO crossovers, “Second Coming” and “Age of X,” and uses the fallout from both to tell a couple of character-driven stories about some of the lesser-known mutants.  “Fables of the Reconstruction” focuses on Julian Keller, a.k.a. Hellion, who lost his hands fighting Nimrod sentinels from the future and is not adapting to his new situation well.  This is made clear in the framing sequence which has Cyclops finding out just what went down when Omega Sentinel Karima went berserk and tried to take out Hope and the other mutants who were helping out at a construction site on the mainland.  One one hand, Hellion’s actions scream “potential supervillain” to me, but his lack of remorse at making a hard choice and doing what turned out to be the right thing actually comes off as refreshing in a franchise where EVERYONE is tragically haunted by such choices.  I imagine he’ll have to be put down at some point, but if the story was designed to make me want to see more of the character it certainly succeeded.

“None So Blind” focuses on the enigmatic seeress Blindfold who knows that something is wrong on Utopia, but she doesn’t know what it is.  This one was a bit of a misfire as it’s main purpose (in retrospect) was to set up “Age of X,” but it couldn’t do so without ruining the story’s twist and Blindfold herself comes off as no less of an enigma afterwards.  Though the art from Harvey Tolibao is a bit over-rendered for my tastes, the distinctiveness and energy of his style nevertheless feels refreshing after Paul Davidson’s bland efforts in the previous story.

Then we come to the title story which has everyone back on the island after it had been re-made and had its history re-shaped by one of Legion’s rogue personalities for seven days.  Though the majority of the cast is physically no worse for the experience — with a few notable exceptions — they all retain the memories of their other lives from that world.  So begins the mass memory suppression courtesy of Emma Frost and the Stepford Cuckoos.  The catch is that there are a few who don’t want to lose their memories, with Frenzy — who relished the way she could cut loose and her relationship with Cyclops in the “Age of X” — being the most vocal.  Meanwhile Rogue finds herself having to choose between Gambit and Magneto, which will come off as a VERY familiar scenario to X-fans with memories as long as mine.

However, Carey actually subverts that triangle at the end by having Rogue make a decision.  His take on Frenzy is appealingly unconventional and since I hear that she’ll be sticking around through his last few arcs, he’ll actually have time to develop it.  That, combined with the interesting and unexpectedly humorous character moments he gets from how the rest of the cast reacts to having their memories wiped makes this two-parter a “win” on balance.  Plus, the setup for the next arc is interesting as well since it’ll be dealing with Legion once again and a revolt brewing amongst the many personalities in his mind.  It’s even less accessible than usual for an “X-title” but still worth reading if you’ve been following Carey’s run so far.