X-Men Legacy #24 – Review

by Simon Spurrier (Writer), Tan Eng Huat, Craig Yeung (Artists), Jose Villarrubia (Colorist)

The Story: Every tale deserves an ending, however bittersweet it can be.

The Review: Everything that is good eventually end. Life, a good meal, a decent drink, a superb song, everything that deserves to be cherished and loved has to conclude eventually. It is a rule that not everyone is ready to accept, especially in the world of cape comics, yet it is something that rings true. To enjoy something is to know when to quit it, in a way.

Thus, it is with that very lesson that I look at this issue, which is the conclusion of this weird, yet beloved series. Simon Spurrier, in the span of 24 issues, succeeded in telling a complete story featuring a character that had been rather loathed and spun a tale about living up to someone’s expectation, the burden of mental illness, goals and life, love and a great many deals of other themes. It took chances, it went in a decidedly unique direction and it didn’t necessarily featured the most popular artists, yet there is a certain achievement in this series that made it very enjoyable. However, does Spurrier manage to give this series the ending it deserved?

In many ways, Spurrier goes out with a bang with this tale, going away without forgetting to give a final shout-out to many of the strongest ideas of his run. The final narration of David and how he reacts to what he might have to do in order to save himself and the world is a thing of beauty, with a certain introspection combined with a certain sense of realization that comes as hard to read, yet in a good way for those invested in the character. The finality, the emotions and the way he just deals with the whole thing makes for a superb conclusion to his whole character arc.

X-Men Legacy #23 – Review

by Simon Spurrier (Writer), Tan Eng Huat, Craig Yeung (Artists), Jose Villarrubia (Colorist)

The Story: Forming the World Worm, David is unfortunately stuck in a form set out to destroy everything as Destiny needs to make everything happen as foretold.

The Review: To follow a story is to invest ourselves in its characters, setting and ideas. If a reader is able to follow everything and actually get interested in what the writer is willing to talk about, it becomes a wonderful synergy, a tale that becomes bigger and grander as the themes get more refined and clearer. Not every stories are equivalent of each other, but each has its own potential to hit a particular craving for someone.

The tale of David Haller, as told by Simon Spurrier, was one that was simply powerful in its message. Taking a relatively hated character and rebuilding him, Spurrier crafted a story exploring legacy, trust, potential, goals, belonging and many other such themes to bring out the best and worst out of David Haller and his vision of a united mutant world. However, like any good story, it always get every bit closer to its ending with every chapter released, with this issue being the penultimate one before the very end.

Painting this tale with a good lot of distress and despair, the writer continues his exploration of David Haller, playing up the prophecy in which he will end up destroying the world due to his powers, with naught but Blindfold being able to destroy him to save everyone. Lamenting his fate and how unjust and cruel the world can be at times, the narration carries on the desire for something better that David holds onto, putting forth the events in this issue in a light that is saddening. Playing up with the sympathy the readers have built for the main character, there is a heavy sensation of empathy thrown in for the actual injustice dealt to David, who sees his dreams and his desires being perverted by elements completely outside of his control.

It is precisely the way in which the issue actually shows the mistakes of David and the worst aspects of his faults that make this issue so potent in many ways. His vision for a united mutant kind, his desire to be respected and accepted and his growing control of his multiple powers and personas make for a culmination of the many concepts and ideas of the series that ends up being perverted in a rather surprising way.