Uncanny X-Men #11
Tensions are finally running high. Things have been going way too easy for Cyclops and his team, and Bendis has now shaken things up. This story is starting to get dark, and it’s that alone which separates this book from the other X-titles.
This was an emotional roller coaster for Cyclops and you can see that he has finally snapped. There is a spy which makes him unnerved, innocents are getting hurt when he steps out into the public, and his powers make him feel useless. This is the worst position Scott could find himself in and his inner dialogue displayed every emotion he felt. What everyone really needed was an idea of what is going through his head and this is that point in time where it matters most. This is where everything he has worked for can continue to thrive, or it can start to wither as they fear him in place of adoration. That inner struggle takes spotlight and this is what makes Scott more than what people used to see him as.
This new villain is the best thing Bendis could have done. Since Second Coming, the X-Men have had no legitimate villain out to create that unsafe environment for them. Now we have this mysterious figure who is behind all the Sentinel attacks, with no clues as to who he is other than being on the cover of New Avengers. A book also done by Bendis yet was pre-Marvel NOW!. So that raises many questions as to his motivations because he could be redesigned, or there is just something we missed because nothing was known about him even then.
This was a spectacular issue leading into Battle of The Atom. Now with that said, you could still fear the transition from this cliffanger, but hopefully this all still carries over into the crossover event and has some influence on his actions. Uncanny has done a great job of standing on it’s own, but this is a point where things have to click.
