Uncanny X-Men #516 - Marvel

After reading the last issue . . Web #1 . . this one was frikkin' awesome. First of all, Greg Land's art was fantastic . . as usual. Also, Matt Fraction really seems to be on top of his game with these books that he's been writing for Marvel. He's really been doing a terrific job. And finally . . Magneto's back. Ok . . before I get started here . . there's something that we need to clear up. Lately, on alot of these team-books, they've been putting these informational balloons over the characters, sometimes. In this issue, when Magneto returns, his balloon says . . 'Max Eisenhardt aka Erik Lehnsherr aka Magnus aka Magneto. The Master of Magnetism.' Ok, I understand that we've got a new name to add to the mix after the recent Magneto mini-series, but . . we really need to decide what we're gonna call him and stick with it. I mean, that's an awful lot of information to put on a business card. You'd definitely be getting the raised eyebrow after see that. Anyways, Magneto makes his presence known to Scott and the X-Men. You just know he's up to something but he trys, and tells Scott everything to convince him that he's sincere in raising the white flag. He does everything short of . . no . . he even gets on bended knee. Magneto! Can you believe it? 'I come not to bury Caesar . . but, to praise him.' Scott seems willing to listen to him . . to give him the benefit of the doubt. Even if it is with guarded awareness. But Charles? Charles seems ready to burn him at the stake. I know that things haven't always been good between these 2, but that even seems a bit reactionary for Charles. He claims that he's been out in space, with the High Evolutionary, trying to figure out a way to reverse M-Day . . to no avail. Which is the first time he and Scott seem at odds. Scott has hope. He can never give up, while Erik is ready to accept the inevitable. But he does seem genuinely surprised when Scott informs him that Hope is still alive. However, that's about as far as they get because then the X-Men face a threat from Scalphunter. In the beginning of the issue a group of bad-guys are persuading him to do a little job for him. Remember when the Predator X came after the Young X-Men? Well . . apparently there's more. And these guys seem to have about a half dozen of them. They want Scalphunter to fly a plane over the X-Men's island, Utopia, and drop the ravenous mongrels right on top of them. Scott sends Kurt out to do a little reconnaissance, and he comes back screaming to shoot the plane down. But . . we won't know until next issue if they can get it in time. And, if Magneto is truly repentant . . why doesn't he just take care of it? But . . we'll have to wait until next issue to find out. I thought this was a good issue. Like I said, I thought Charles was a little reactionary, but . . I really like the role that Scott is taking with the X-Men. It really fits him well. This book and Legacy are easily my favorite 2 X-Men books. The others just don't stand up to them. Well . . I take that back. X-Factor is also right up there. Anyways, the next 3 books in my pile are also X-Men books, so . . on with the show.