Uncanny X-Men by Bendis vol. 2: Broken

In this volume, Cyclops’ team finishes out their forced sojourn to Limbo, deal with one of their own quitting the team, lock horns with S.H.I.E.L.D., and take down a new-model Sentinel at a pro-mutant rally.  So there’s a lot going on here in the six issues collected here even if their quality is somewhat uneven.  There are some clever ideas on display, such as how Cyclops orders the Stepford Cuckoos to make it so that the new team members are confident enough to fight against the Mindless Ones of Limbo.  Magneto’s complex relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. is also developing in interesting directions, I like the new mutant Hijack, and there’s a beautifully difficult moment for Cyclops when he almost loses it when discussing Professor X and his dream to the pro-mutant ralliers.  We also get more development of the new mutants and they start coming off less like ciphers as they learn about their powers and either come to grips with or freak the hell out.  One of the book’s highlights is seeing Goldballs finally embrace the ridiculousness of his name and powers and kick ass in a most satisfying fashion.

This is all balanced against the stuff that doesn’t really work in this volume.  After years of being a punchline in Bendis’ books, it’s really hard to take Dazzler seriously as an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.  It’s even more so after she gives a really awkward “Call of Duty”-referencing speech to the family of the mutant who quits Cyclops’ team.  Magik’s conversation with Dr. Strange is also downright confusing until you realize that she’s time-traveling and talking to a version of him from the past.  (At least, that’s what I think happens here.)  There’s also the cognitive dissonance from hearing Cyclops yell, “YOU BORE ME!” to Dormammu because it’s so completely out-of-character for him that it defeats the humor inherent in having Mr. Boring Scott Summers call someone out for it.  Also, don’t get me started on how Mystique has been brought right back to cause more trouble after she got away scot-free in the most recent volume of “All-New X-Men.”  Frazer Irving and Chris Bachalo are back on art duties, and they continue to serve up some stylized, yet appealing visuals in the course of this volume.  All in all, things felt a bit “business as usual” here with not much we haven’t seen from previous “X-Men” stories before.  It makes for decent comfort food-style reading, but anyone on the fence about getting onboard this title won’t find much here to convince them to do so.