Home was about Nehnzo (of all people) and was written by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost and penciled by Sana Takeda. Nehnzo settles back home in Wakanda and discovers he has a little brother that his mother doesn’t want him to see because Nehnzo is a mutant. Nehnzo then realizes that he misses all the New X-men that got on his nerves while at the institute. Over the course of the New X-men series Nehnzo had about 5 lines of dialogue so I found it strange that he got his own story in this miniseries but to my surprise it was pretty damn good. It really fleshes out Nehnzo’s character and shows us that he has a lot of potential. The art by Sana Takeda was gorgeous as well but he seemed more suited drawing landscapes more than faces. I also found myself relating to Nehnzo in that I also miss the New X-men (stupid Young X-men).
Grade: A-

Blend In was about Anole and was written and penciled by Skottie Young. Anole meets up with his former teacher Northstar and Anole tells him that being an X-men has ruined his home life and runs away (after punching Northstar in the face for no reason). Anole was an interesting character in new X-men because he acted the most like a real teenager but here he suffers the same problem Cannonball did, he comes off very whiney. But despite this the story still comes off a lot better as Anole’s anger and sadness is more understandable. I also liked the Skottie Young art which I know is an acquired taste but I think it’s always nice to see some art that’s different in the X-books. Also Northstar totally needs to update his iPhone photo of Cyclops.
Grade: B+

Belong was about Hellion and was written by Chris Yost and penciled by David LaFuente. Hellion feels abandoned by the X-men so he does what every teenager would do in his position: try to be evil. Hellion meets Magneto who tells him that he owes the X-men his life and he shouldn’t be trying to be against them. I never liked Hellion that much but he was starting to become more interesting as the New X-men series started to end. When he was first introduced Hellion was a stereotypical jerk but then after M-day he became an emo kid. This story shows a mixture of both personalities and he comes off as very unlikable. He’s probably just pissed because no more school means no more hot Emma Frost as a teacher. I did like the way Yost added Magneto as a voice of reason to Hellion because lord knows he needs one. The art was nicely done but none of the characters save Magneto looked like how they’ve been drawn before.
Grade: B-

Migas was about Nightcrawler and Scalphunter and was written by Matt Fraction and penciled by Jamie McKelvie. Nightcrawler finds Scalphunter working in a diner where he orders migas from him everyday. Scalphunter gets tired of him and decides to move away but if found by Kurt who spares Scalphunter’s life because he is right with God. The next day Scalphunter wears a cross necklace to work. In my opinion this was the best story in the whole series because we see some insight into a character that’s been around for nearly 30 years but has only been portrayed as a generic villain. It’s really a Scalphunter story disguised as a Nightcrawler and Matt Fraction shows that he has a good grasp on both characters. The dialogue is smart, the plot has a clever twist and the art is brilliant. This is what X-stories should be.
Grade: A

Lights Out was about Beast and was written by Mike Carey and penciled by Scot Eaton. Beast ties up all the loose ends at the mansion and takes No-Girl home to the new mansion. This story restores my faith in Mike Carey as he writes a story that not only understands Beast as a character but respects past stories about the mansion. The story says a nice goodbye to the mansion we all wanted to live in since the 60’s. Also any appearance by No-Girl (the living brain) is great. Scot Eaton does a good job with the pages of Beast jumping around but everything else seems rather average.
Grade: B+

Planting Seeds was about Illyana Rasputin and was written C.B. Cebulski by and penciled by David Yardin. Magik can’t find the X-men after she leaves Limbo and decides that she is not ready to confront them as she just needs her soul back. I didn’t grow up with Magik as a character so I’m not excited that much about her return; I started reading when she was already dead. This story does a good job of establishing where she is right now but I just don’t seem to care that much. C.B. Cebulski didn’t show much of her personality in this story. The art was fine but Illyana’s costume looks weird.
Grade: B-

The Hole was about Havok and was written by Andy Schmidt and penciled by Frazer Irving. Vulcan taunts Havok (in a space jail cell) about how the X-men have disbanded but Havok remains hopeful because the new mutant baby means a future for their race. Havok then swears that one day he will kill Vulcan. This one was the worst story in the entire miniseries which is a shame because Havok is one of my favorite character’s in this miniseries. Putting Havok in space as a prisoner was a stupid idea because his fans are just going to keep pestering Marvel for his escape which we have seen no sign of getting. We Havok fans don’t want to see him in a hole listening to his teammates get tortured, we wanted this story to detail his escape and then save the Shi’ar Empire. Half of the story anyway is just a summary of Messiah Complex. I hate giving this story a low score because the art is phenomenal and it’s a shame that one of the best artists in this miniseries was stuck with the worst story. Also, where’s Rachel in all of this?
Grade: D

Idée Fixe was about Forge and was written by Duane Swiercynski and penciled by Chris Burnham. Forge goes back to work after recovering from his injuries given to him by Bishop. Forge doesn’t have very many fans as he’s only been an X-man for about 3 issues in the early 90’s. In my mind Forge hasn’t been cool since “Lifedeath” a story released almost 30 years ago. Oh well, we still get a Forge story nonetheless and it falls because it’s just simply average and unmemorable. I didn’t even remember who wrote, drew it or what happened in it until I checked the comic again. And to think we could have gotten a cool Iceman story or a Kitty Pryde trapped-in-magic space bullet story instead.
Grade: C

The Sun Also Sets was about Surge and Moonstar and is written by C.B. Cebulski and penciled by David Lafuente. Surge and Moonstar talk about suffering after Surge decides to crash at her place. Moonstar believes that suffering gives them inner strength while Surge believes that the suffering while only cause pain that will stay with them forever. Surge was one of my favorite New X-men and it’s good to see her again even if it’s only for eight pages. Both C.B. Cebulski and David Lafuente step up their game on this story. It was cool to see the parallels between New Mutant Moonstar and New X-man Surge and what sets them apart. Still Surge gets really angry again (like she does in all of her stories) and that can be a little annoying. The art sets a good tone for the story and the full page spreads of Surge’s and Moonstar’s memories are cool. I don’t remember Dani having such a big nose though.
Grade: A-