So far, Millar's take on the Phoenix saga is much less about Jean Grey and more about the other characters in the X-Universe, but then, that's pretty much how the regular Phoenix saga began as well. At any rate, the addition of some new cast members, both amongst the heroes and the villains, makes for an interesting shakeup of an already fluid status quo in this issue, and the driving focus of the story seems to be the characters more than the plot, which is a nice change of pace for such an event-oriented book. Also, this may be some of the strongest artwork that Kubert and Miki have done on the book so far, with some particularly nice designs for the new members of the Brotherhood of Mutants.
While Millar's characters still come off as all being built on the same edgy tough guy base, I'm starting to see differences between them beyond their powers, which I appreciate. It doesn't hurt that Millar has one of the most interesting characters the X-Men has had, Kitty Pryde, without the problems of all the continuity that has made her a less enjoyable character in the mainstream universe. He captures Kitty's outgoing and adventurous nature very well, even as he has updated her teenaged attitude to a more modern take. The high point of this issue for me, though, was the boiling over of the tension between Cyclops and Wolverine. Rather than the safe, bantering rivalry that the comics (and even the movie) have given us, Millar has written it that these characters hate each other. Seeing that anger turn into a physical conflict was a nice bit of character advancement for both of these characters.
The other high point of the issue is further development of the Brotherhood, which has become a very interesting organization of antagonists in Millar's hands. Millar nicely mirrors real life extremists in that the softening of their leaders, giving the organization more strength in the world scene, angers the more extreme and "get everything now" members of the group, leading to potential schisms. The development of a subgroup of mutants, more animalistic types, is a nice physical reflection of the philosophical divides that occur in such groups. The parallels to terrorist groups in the real world are pretty clear. And the look of the new team members, whether it's a stirring double page splash of Sumatran or a quick look at Prosimian, is great, a nice new addition to the many revamps that Millar and company have been doing.
Kubert's artwork, with Miki's inks, is unusual in this issue for its contrast between strong detail and a more animated style. The expressions of Professor X, Jean Grey, Wolverine and Cyclops are exaggerated, almost cartoonish, but the detail on the weapons or equipment or team members as the Brotherhood charges into Pakistan are more rooted in the real. Oddly enough, these two conflicting approaches compliment each other, as Millar's story shifts from a political tone to one based more in soap operatics.
Although I wasn't crazy about the latter half of the Proteus storyline, I have been very happy with the new storyline so far. A slightly bigger focus on characterization has helped to reconnect me with the characters, but the action fans won't be let down either, as Millar and Kubert portray an old foe regaining strength a new danger rising in the mind of one of the heroes.
