GeNext United #5 - Marvel

Well . . this issue wraps up Chris Claremont's foray into a possible future of an alternate universe. Is that clear enough for ya? I wonder if this universe could be connected to the X-Men Forever universe? That would be interesting. That would give this possible future a little more credibility, and . . it would propose an eventual conclusion, or chain of events in the Forever title that would lead to this eventuality. However . . I don't think they're at all connected. That's just wishful thinking on my part. I like it when everything fits together . . nice and neat. However, I think that these are just two separate, distinct projects that Chris has undertaken. Anyways, this group of heroes has been in India fighting the goddess Kalima. Well, actually they're fighting Sophie Von Doom, but . . Kalima has taken possession of her body so that she could cross-over into the land of the living. In an interesting turn of events, Kalima's foes have hidden these new X-Men around the country by transforming them into Indians, in look and behavior. In fact, they're completely lost in their identities for a while. But then Remy and his daughter come to their rescue. The change does work out for the best though as Kalima's stronghold is in the city of Jaisalmar. It's heavily fortified, and in the middle of nowhere, so Kalima would be able to tell if the X-Men had approached from any vantage. However, as fellow Indians, they meld right in with the population and are in the city before she has any realization. All they have to do is not use their powers to stay off her radar. Anyways, long story short . . after much debate and consideration the kids decide they have to do what's right . . they have to save Hank and Remy. They battle Kalima, and through concentrated effort, and teamwork, in the end they end up beating her . . and sending her back to her own realm. They even save Sophie. With the help of some of the other gods . . specifically, Lakshmi and Ganesha . . the X-Men are given their real bodies back. Well . . all except No-Name. She's kept her new look because secretly she wished for a new beginning. But for some reason, after fighting by thier side, Rico introduces her as Anne-Marie, and supposedly he's the only one who knows who she really is. Did they lose their memory after they were switched back to their regular forms? I didn't quite understand that part of it. And, as with the first mini . . this one is left with an unresolved ending posing the possible return of these characters. It's an interesting variation of the theme, but . . like I said in the beginning, with no real connection to any current teams or characters . . remember, this is an alternate universe, and just a possible future there . . without the connections and ties, there's no real buy in from the readers except for these 10 issues that have come out. So far. They are interesting characters, and it's an intriguing story-line, but . . I think if they return, we need to develop the characters a bit, and get to know more about them personally. We need to find out about their past, their goals, their hopes and dreams. If anyone can make this work it's Chris. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the future holds for these kids. As with the first chapter, JonBoy Meyers also does the art for this one. That was probably a good choice because it kept the same feeling going as the first title. Overall I enjoyed the book. It's just hard to tell where it goes from here. Anything is possible. I guess.