Astonishing X-Men #2

Life Of X pt. 2

Written by Charles Soule
Penciled by Mike Deodoto Jr
Cover by Mike Deodoto Jr
Published Aug 16, 2017

   The X-Men find themselves in on the Astral Plane, and in treat for a show. Only problem is it's one they've seen before. The story of the X-Men ... brought to them by the Shadow King. The two architects of the program - Farouk and Charles Xavier, discuss among themselves the setting. Next move though belongs to Professor X.

I got next!

   Meanwhile above the London skyline, Bishop and Angel stand guard over Psylocke. She tells them that the players are no strangers to the plane although Bishop has reservations. In the sky and around the building, the military aircraft circle. The Ministry of defense is completely attuned to what's happening. They order a two kilometer evacuation order and for the man in charge, trouble could loom on the horizon.
   On the astral plane, the play contunues. It shifts back and forth from lovelives of the X-Men but the players keep shifting. The move is Xavier's doing. Farouk declares an early victory because the players don't seem to notice, but his opponent reminds him the game has just begun. When the play wanders into the death of the dark Phoenix, a Jean Gray copy tries to put a move on her old crush, Logan. He notices something is off. When he shifts into his old blue and yellow costume, Farouk again declares victory but this time, Logan is positive. He puts his claws through the doppelgänger and the stage actors declare war on the audience.

Wolverine's like "I really wanna dig this... but you're a zombie.."

   The team realizes that they're in a false reality, much to the Shadow King's chagrin, and Rogue gives them the order to start kicking heads off. They all have a hard time understanding how they fell for it, all except for Logan. The reason why? The smell - Beast was the morphing Mystique all along. Rogue tells Fantomex to shoot her, but through her explanation, she hates the Shadow King as well. Eventually they stand before a series of doors. They realize that while it was all an act, it was like someone was putting enough red flags to get their attention. They open a door and Mystique walks through before Gambit kicks his friend Fantomex as it as well.
   The issue wraps with Rogue, Logan, and Gambit standing before another door. Logan reminds them that someone is obviously fighting the Shadow King... Don't forget that. Meanwhile, the stakes to the competition are revealed. It Farouk wins, the X-Men's souls are his forever. If Charles wins, he gets the opportunity to kill his former students to give them a shred of dignity. With that, this issue is left to be continued.

Alright. You know the deal.

   One of the most interesting things about this group of X-Men is that Charles Soule wants you to know they were brought together by chance. It's not like they have a mansion headquarters or even a Blackbird. Instead, it's a series of heroes you know from various eras and books and puts them in situations you've never seen them together in. That's cool.. And while I lamented in the previous issue how Logan is largely unnecessary, it's still isn't lost on me that they could have put another character in his place and made this book just a tiny bit cooler. Either way it is what it is. And it's not bad. I give it an 8/10.

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