A Quick Look at Uncanny X-Men #516

Writer: Matt Fraction. Pencils: Greg Land.

What Happened: Magneto stops by the X-Men's new island base and seems like he wants to bury the hatchet with the team. Prof. X doesn't buy it for a second and proceeds to mind-blast Mags. Cyclops, who seems curious as to what Mags wants orders Prof. X to stand down so they can see what Mags wants. Mags explains that he admires what Cyclops has managed to do(uniting all of mutantkind under a single leader)and that he wants to be a part of it. Cyclops takes Mags inside to hear him out(which really angers Prof. X and Beast). Mags explains that the High Evolutionary managed to give Mags his mutant powers back, but that the machine they used was completely and irreversibly destroyed. Magneto continues to tell Scott he's proud of the way he united the mutant race, as well as revealing to Scott that he was wrong for all the years he spent thinking that mutantkind was the future of humanity. Mags tells Scott he's come to terms with the impending end of mutantkind, and Scott inexplicably reveals to Mags that there has been one mutant birth since M-day, so he still has hope that the mutant race will carry on. Mags is nearly floored by this revelation, but before he can question Scott further, Wolverine alerts Cyclops that trouble is approaching the island in the form of Scalphunter and a plane full of mutant killing predators. Scalphunter was sent by some mysterious group of people who claim they want to save mutantkind, apparently by killing all the mutants... OK... This issue ends with Cyclops ordering the X-Men to their battle stations.

What I thought: Well, this issue definitely wasn't as good as the last issue was, but it was still a very solid comic book. When Prof. X attacked Mags with little provocation I had to laugh just a little bit... How many times has Prof. X turned the other cheek when it comes to Magneto? Now all of a sudden the Prof goes rabid at the very sight of Mags? What the hell is that??? Scott telling Mags that Hope(the sole mutant born after M-day)was still alive was also kind of puzzling to me. Why would Scott entrust Mags with that sort of information? With Magneto's rather checkered past, is it really a wise move to tell him something that important? Besides the weird mischaracterizations of Prof. X and Cyclops, I have to say this comic wasn't all that bad.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Jeez, Prof. X sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day!