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Summary/Review by CharleyX:
This is it! The Anniversary! The Return! The Debut! AWESOME!!!!!!!! Ok, that's all the raves, because there's so much going on here that I can't spare any more space. First of all, putting the three returnees on a cruise ship was great. They don't get a chance to relax that often (not that it lasted so long). Starting the story with the newscast was also a good move, because it really gets you thinking. The collection of the new team was just like the scenes in Giant-Size #1, which makes sense, considering that the "Founder" is supposed to be the Professor. Now, I don't think it really him - I mean, you can clearly tell he's supposed to be a machine. "Memory scan," "systems failure," etc. I still think Magneto could be behind this, but I'm not sure how. Maybe he built a robot duplicate at some point. He's the one most likely to have Xavier's personal information, like the names of the original team, and the location, powers, and names of the other mutants, especially the Grey King, who obviously had been approached by Xavier years ago. BTW, I like him, especially the fact that he's a teacher. After this is all over, it would be cool if he showed up in Generation X. He doesn't seem like a bad guy, just a little misguided, or maybe even being subtly controlled by the Founder. There is one other little theory which I really don't think is correct, but I'll put it down anyway: The Founder is Bastion, or more likely, one of his constructs or aides, like Harper (who was a shapeshifter). The only reason I even thought of this is because he had Shadowcat work on a Shi'ar-encrypted file, which is what Bastion was trying to decode. Also, Bastion did manage to crack some of Xavier's files, as well as read Jubilee's mind, so he (or a construct of his) could know all of the info that the fake X-Men knew. Anyway, I really don't think that's going to be it, and I'd rather stick with Mags. Like I said early last month, the new X-Men are supposed to remind us of the original team, especially the Grey King and Chaos (which of course is another word for havoc, or Havok). Chaos is the key, BTW. You have to watch what he says and fit it into context, because I think that he gives the clues to the Founder's identity. Next: the four-member team of X-Men. Good interplay between the remaining characters, especially Wolverine and Marrow. Bringing back Peter Corbeau was nice - with the anniversary of Magneto's attack on Cape Citadel dredging up old memories, why not dredge up some old characters? But, then, the appearance of a "newer" friend like Val Cooper was good, too. Also as I theorized, the X-Men are being set up and framed by the new team. Another great thing this issue is that Colossus is once again "Peter" and no longer "Piotr." Much easier now that that loser Wisdom is out of the way. What's also easier is the resurfacing of Peter's feelings for Kitty, as commented on by Kurt. I think they need to restart that, if only because of the lack of any other romance on the current team. And for all those wondering about Cecilia, her situation is perfect: she gets to open a practice and live a "normal" life, but she's still in contact with the team. Again, there are so many mutants and so few can realistically be in the books, so seeing mutants in the "real" world is more and more necessary, and it's cool, too. Kurt's flattering her was classic: of course, it helped calm her nerves, but it's so in character. After all, he is a silver-tongued devil. The battle in the air was good, and the way the Lear jet was destroyed even made the team think that they were going to be facing Magneto (Aha!), which makes me wonder if that was a function of the new team's jet, or a facet of Mercury's powers. Then, Kurt shows up, having somehow gotten the Blackbird up and running very quickly (although I doubt it was in such bad shape - Forge would certainly have protected it when he hid it). Another clue to the "Founder's" identity: their plane's name is the Aurora, which of course is a MAGNETIC effect in the ionosphere. Hmmm... Lastly, the subplot of the "Benassi rocket." Whoever's running the project is very slick, faking an assassination to distract everyone from the payload's nature. Could it be the Trask who showed up in one of the annuals two years ago running Humanity's Last Stand? Obviously that rocket can't be allowed to go up, if its payload can eliminate all mutants. The only question I have is, which team of X-Men is going to stop it?