[singlepic id=421 w=320 h=240 float=left]Losing Hope
Writer Kieron Gillen
Artist Ibraim Roberson
Colors Jim Charalampidis
[rating:5/5]
Synopsis
Hope is abducted while shopping by Crimson Commando, a former mutant whose mutation gave him Captain America-like abilities. Now growing weaker and nearing death, he has kidnapped Hope to force her to attempt and restore his dormant X gene. Wolverine, despite his apparent dislike of Hope, sets out to save her.
Review
Kieron Gillen. Seriously, just….Kieron Gillen. Uncanny X-Men hasn’t been terrible lately, but it hasn’t been this good in a long, long while. Gillen’s character driven arcs (the previous arc, focusing on Colossus, Kitty and the Breakworld survivors is a prime example of this) excel at taking characters from different places in the X-Universe and making them front and center of the story. This jaunt, which finally highlights Wolverine and Hope’s tension, hides the character developments among a sea of action, gorgeously rendered by Ibraim Roberson’s fantastic art work.
However, it’s again the characters that make this story work. The final moments of the book, where Wolverine and Hope have a heart to heart highlights just how different they are, and yet shows how much they have in common at the same time. Yes, we know why Wolverine dislikes her; we saw it coming the second we got a good look at Hope as a baby in Messiah CompleX, but to actually have the characters saying it out loud finally puts an emphasis on this plot point, which has been mostly overlooked so far.
Uncanny is clearly at the top of it’s game as of late, and has quickly become a book to look forward to. With it’s richly woven stories and gorgeous artwork, this outstanding done-in-one tale is no exception. With Schism happening very soon and this book relaunching with a new #1, you should definitely cherish these final moments of the X-Men as a unified team while you still can.