Well, I can see why the second six issues of this 18-part story was launched with a new first issue and title. After all, the tone of the plot is completely different... well, no, it isn't, as this issue continues the assaults of the Warskrulls. But this new #1 focuses on different characters... well, no, that's not true either. Well, the narration is different, as is the art... whoops, strike three. Ultimately, Claremont's continuing story goes nowhere fast. It reads more like a chapter break than the beginning of a new series. The art is capable but ultimately unengaging, lacking in a dynamic look that reels the reader in. The irony here is that a series entitled X-Men: The End is as long and drawn out as it could be.
As word of a catastrophe makes its way through the ranks, several more X-Men, past and present, rush to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters... or at least the site of what used to be the school. An explosion has wiped it off the face of the Earth, and the mutant heroes struggle to cope with the devastation and death around them. Meanwhile, Professor X remains in Genosha, carrying on a telepathic conversation with the recently resurrectly Jean Grey, who's on a spaceship in another galaxy, making its way toward Earth. Both are completely unaware of the assaults of various X-Men across the planet, and that could very well prove to be Charles Xavier's undoing.
Sean Chen has to juggle a large cast of characters here, and he does so fairly well. His art is clear, but even with gaping chasms in the landscape and shapeshifting assassins from the stars, there's little in the visuals that really packs a powerful impact. Perhaps what's most disappointing about the art are the costume redesigns Chen has created for the future incarnations of familiar characters. Wolverine's looks more like a racing outfit, for example, and Cyclops's red X across his chest barely looks like an X some of the time.
More Warskrulls sneak up on mutant heroes. Jean Grey and company continue to make their way across the cosmos. This story is spinning its wheels, and I feel the reason is clear: Claremont is trying to include every character imaginable from X-Men history. Vargas? Is he really necessary here? Do Domino, Feral and Rictor really have much to add here? Given that we see Cyclops, Angel and the Beast featured together prominently and we know that Jean Grey is on the way, it seems clear that Claremont is heading toward an ending that focuses on the core, founding members of the team.
Another weakness with the script -- and it's one that plagued the first X-Men: The End limited series -- is that only the most die-hard X-Men completist is going to pick up on everything and everyone involved here. Claremont references far too many past plot threads, and few of them have much to do with the main plot here. This is a thoroughly inaccessible tribute to the property's convoluted history. 3/10
