Sometimes, reading comic books can be an unfulfilling hobby. This past week saw the release of X-Men: Schism #5. Schism is an X-men event series that will chart the way for future X-men books by launching brand new series, such as Wolverine and the X-men, relaunch old mainstays such as Uncanny X-men, give books like Generation Hope a new creative team, and give series such as Uncanny X-Force and New Mutants new directions. Furthermore, every book’s line up of characters will be altered in some way, in some cases more drastic than others. The overall storyline that ties these books together is called “Regenesis.”
When Schism was first announced, it was already revealed how this change to the X-men mythos will go down. The set up for the series was that it would pit Cyclops aka Scott Summers and Wolverine aka Logan against each other, after having grown as close as they have ever been these past few years. Traditionally, the relationship between Cyclops and Wolverine is an antagonistic one, with much of their rivalry having to do with their differing methods and Cyclops’ late girlfriend Jean Grey.
This all changed in 2005, when the House of M mini-series ended with mutants on the brink of extinction. This forced Cyclops to take a more general type of approach to leading not only the X-men, but the entire species of mutants. During this time, Logan became Scott’s most trusted ally in fighting for muantkind: If Scott needed someone to disappear forever; all he had to do was call Logan. If he needed someone to lead a team of secret assassins, call Logan. If he needed someone to teach a class full of kids….uh, call Logan. Effectively, Logan became Scott’s most trusted soldier in the survival for their species.
The Schism series finally turned this relatively newfound friendship on it’s head, with Scott and Logan at odds about a variety of events that transpire over the course of the series. However, what it fundamentally comes down to is that Logan no longer agrees with Scotts view on the future of mutantkind: he feels that Scott’s militaristic approach will cause more young mutants death than it is worth. He no longer feels that these young mutants should have to risk their lives instead of enjoy their youth. Naturally, this climaxes in a brutal battle between Cyclops and Wolverine while a giant sentinel looms over them, in traditional comic book fashion, and Wolverine decides to leave the group with anyone that would like to join him.
While this is all good and fine, I felt cheated out by this being how Wolverine and Cyclops part ways. Instead of building on the foundation that had already been established between the two characters, a seemingly random conflict between Cyclops and Wolverine is constructed and the only other X-men characters that have any major contribution to the storyline are extremely minor ones. Also, it is never explained why “x” character choices to go with Wolverine or Cyclops, which left me with an odd and unfinished feeling.
It is just another instance of something getting hyped to the point that when the actual event occurs, it goes out with a whimper. The battle between the two characters was still enjoyable (I mean, look at how brutal this is), but I’ve been aware of Logan and Scott’s break up for a while, and when it actually happened it was as inorganic as the entire second Matrix film.
Am I still going to read the new “Regenesis” storyline that launches as a result of Schism? Yes, and I’m actually excited as hell. The idea of Wolverine leading his own team is one that has not really been explored outside of the Wolverine and the X-men cartoon, so that it will be interesting to see. It will also be interesting to see how Logan’s group reacts to returning to Westchester and how their relationship with the other teams (especially Scotts) will be. It just leaves readers with a bittersweet feeling knowing that the end result is the most exciting part of an entire event (whoa déjà vu).
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