Uncanny X-Men 411

This is part two of Austen's first arc, and it's a step up in some ways from the last issue, and continues to plant more seeds that Austen will get some decent material out of down the road.

The biggest positive development has to be Juggernaut's introduction. He was teased on the last page of the previous issue, but we get to see him in full glory here and man, is it good. Out of all the characters Austen has written, Cain is probably the one he had the best grasp of. The issue starts off with a classic comic book "misunderstanding" fight between the wounded X-Men and Juggs, and not only do we get some decent action out of the scene, but also some legitimately funny/bad-ass banter between the two groups (and once again, Garney draws the crap out of this). We then are introduced to the true threat, and that is Cain's longtime ally and friend, Black Tom, who last time we saw him was slowly being take over by his plant powers. At this point, he's gone full-on plant, and it's actually an interesting development which I like because it builds on established continuity. We also see just how much of a friend Juggs is to Tom, as we see some touching moments of concern from him for his friend and that he was willing to go to his most hated enemies for help.It's very strong work with the character, and a good sign that things won't completely suck as Austen's run goes on.

That said, the issue also plants the seed for one of the more... eccentric character arcs, which is the introduction of Annie Ghazikhanian and the return of Havok. Now, this isn't to say this is a purely bad development, but we will get some weird moments out of these characters down the road, to say the least. There are some good things about this development though; for one, I never liked the way Marvel removed Havok from the rest of the X-Men, so at least now Austen is working him back into the mix of things, which will at least make him available to other writers down the road. Also, I like Annie; I know a lot of people hate on her, but, while she has some truly terrible moments, she does get used pretty well as the non-mutant POV character in this run, pointing out just how crazy the X-Mens' lives are to these people who've gotten way too used to the insane things that go on around them. Also, she's a pretty unique character as a single mom raising her kid around meta-humans (she might just be the only one in comics...), and is even more interesting now that I know Austen grew up with a single mom. Still, the Florence Nightengale syndrome she displays here is a little disturbing and cliched, plus the bit with Alex's picture showing up in the newspaper she's reading is contrived as all hell. Also, Stacy X continues to be whiny and annoying in fights. Even with these flaws, though, it's a solid issue that advances the story and sets up some important subplots.