SPOILERS here and there.

As a result of the fallout from Avengers vs. X-Men and perhaps an answer to DC’s much ballyhooed New 52, The Uncanny X-Men received a new number one and a bold new direction. Again. A new direction, with a new roster and new creative team seems old hat by now for the X-Men. So, here we go again with Uncanny X-Men with Brian Michael Bendis writing, not so fresh feeling considering his lengthy stint on Ultimate X-Men and Chris Bachalo on art again. No complaints there, as he is always a welcome addition; however, I would love to see him spread his wings and maybe get back to his indie roots. (But, hey, if I got to draw X-Men, they’d have to claw me off the book with a pair of razor sharp adamantiums.)

I think I was reeled in by the white hot image of Emma Frost on the cover of Issue #2. Well done, Bachalo!

So, it appears as if Bendis has taken the “mutant outlaw” tag the X-Men have had forever and a day and taken it to the nth degree. Mutants, while in bad standing with the world, are popping up everywhere, and humans aren’t happy about it. Never fear, Cyclops and Co. have decided to take a proactive stance and take the fight to the streets acting as savior to the new mutants of the world. Not to mention being wanted by the Avengers for the murder of Charles Xavier under the influence of the Phoenix Force as a member of ‘The Phoenix Five.’ Not to be confused with the Jackson 5.

So, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Illyana, Magneto, and 2 uninteresting new recruits make up the new lineup for Uncanny.

Emma has lost her telepathy, which can get boring really quickly. She and Cyclops are no longer an item, but I never bought it any way. Cyclops is a psycho, and it’s sad to see him ruined as a noble X-Men forefather. Oh, Magneto – how edgy, he’s never been on the X-Men- not! That should work out well.

I am happy about the inclusion of Illyana Rasputin (a.k.a. ‘Magik,’ a.k.a. Colossus’ little sister). I’m not so happy about the way she’s handled. She has little more depth than being the team teleporter and saying cryptic, sarcastic things meant to sound terrifying but fall flat. I think she suffers the syndrome that usually befalls beloved characters that have been around for a long time. They become caricatures of themselves, and writer’s don’t know what to do with them.

Hey, wait a minute! Why is Wolverine not on this team? He’s only in 3 solo and 4 team books. All in all, not the worst thing, but it feels more like a bad remake than an awesome remix.

Michael Troy is a deeply superficial person. Born in the midwest in the ’70s, Michael came to Los Angeles to pursue his bi-polar career path as an actor and artist. 2005 saw the release of Michael’s first published book, Homo-Hero’s Big Book of Fun and Adventure (www.greencandypress.com). Michael has contributed to the Lady Gaga comic book from Bluewater Productions and has his hand in various other upcoming projects. Michael has performed stand-up comedy at all of the major comedy clubs in Los Angeles and is making his triumphant return to the main stage of The Comedy Store in September. Michael offers an off-beat sense of humor as the star of such youtube cult classics As The Gays on Film (www.youtube.com/fullfrontaltv), A Minute With Margot, a loving tribute to Superman legend Margot Kidder (http://www.youtube.com/user/rktcommander), and currently hosts a vlog style series Lethally Blonde over at www.monsterburg.com. Sitting alongside industry heavyweight Phil Jimenez at the “Divas and Lassoes” panel for the 2010 San Diego comic-con, Michael maintains and cherishes his “underground” status. A staunch believer in Blonde Ambition, Michael hopes his new comic about shallow blonde super heroes in Los Angeles, The Blonde Squad, will set the world on fire (or at least brighten it a bit). Check out Michael Troy and Lethally Blonde updates here!!!