X-Men #200 - Marvel

All I can say is . . . . WOW! I've been a huge X-men fan for a long time, but this book . . . . it really blew me away. Just to let you know, I have all 3 covers to this book pictured here. Unfortunately this just shows the actual cover and not the fold out poster type cover. The David Finch cover, for instance, the one in the middle, when completely unfolded shows 57 different mutants on it. And the detail is astounding. But think about it, and this is the crux of the big crossover event of the summer, Endangered Species, this cover shows almost half of their current population. Kind of sad when you really think about it. But more on that later. First I want to talk about the main storyline. Last issue, Rogue was . . . . infected . . . . or maybe possessed is a better word, by the 8 million souls that resided in the Hecatomb. It was

either that, or let it destroy the Earth too. Not much of a choice when it comes down to it. Anyways, now they're trying to figure out how to help her. So they've taken her back to the house she grew up in, with Mystique, to see if they can ground her memories somehow. She's become lost in the 8 million souls in her mind, and they're trying to get her to come back to the surface. Meanwhile, and if you don't know this by now, the Marauders are back. And they're already making their moves on the X-men. Gambit and Sunfire have gone to Providence to take out Cable. He's there all alone trying to rebuild. Taking him out is actually a bonus for them. What they really want is all the years of information that he's got built up in his computers. Why? We aren't privy to that yet. But I'm sure it's not for anything good. Then, back at Mystique's old homestead, Malice has taken over Lady Mastermind and the Omega Sentinel. That is really not a good thing. But they need Mastermind

to cloak their entrance on to the scene. She keeps them cloaked from the rest of the X-men until they're already in the house. Then to add insult to injury, when the fighting starts, Rogue who's upstairs resting comes down to join in, and almost immediately . . . . Mystique shoots her. "You don't shoot my daughter . . . . nobody else can do that for me." And then she shouts orders to the rest of the Marauders, "Mission parameters stand Marauders, KILL them all!" Say it isn't so! Just when we think that maybe Mystique has turned a corner . . . . she's the same old evil bitch she's always been. Fantastic story by Mike Carey and Humberto Ramos. Actually Chris Bachalo does some of the pencils too. But to be honest, the majority of the style . . . looks like Humberto's. So this was part 1 of their new story-arc, Blinded by the Light. And this one . . . really came in with a bang. Now . . . on to the back-up story. Actually the really important story, Endangered Species. This issue has part one of that. The rest of the 17 parts will be in the rest of the X-men books over the course of the summer. Actually, it'll only be in the main 4 X-men titles. But it'll wrap up in this title in issue #204. I think I'll just go with Marvel's explanation of the story for now, "Dr. Hank McCoy searches for a way to reverse the disastrous effects of M-Day, the tragic day that 99% of the mutants on Earth lost their mutant gene. But as he draws closer to an answer, what price will he pay for the chance to be a savior?" And this first part of the story, starts out with a bang. Hank's been working on this problem for a while now. Reed Richards and Tony Stark have also come to his aid. In the process of their belaborment, they've come across several discoveries. Some of which could change the world. This issue, Hank is on a conference call with several people. He's willing to sell some of those discoveries . . . . for their help. This list includes, Dr. Doom, the Dark Beast, Mr. Sinister and the Evolutionary . . . just to name a few. Which shows how desperate Hank has become to find an answer to this mystery. Because essentially, his outcome could spell disaster, or a future, for his species. Not much pressure there. It should be an interesting summer.