X-MEN #31. (Annotations here.) This is the first part of a new arc, as the X-Men’s Science Team – in other words, the supporting cast plus Kid Omega – investigate a weird gravitational anomaly in Canada, where chunks of mountain are floating around. In other words, we’re picking up on Schwartzchild, who was kicked off the 3K ship back in issue #24 and has apparently been lying unconscious in a ditch ever since. Given that Schwartzchild ends up as an X-Man in “Age of Revelation”, presumably we’re heading towards a face turn here, if the other 3K victims in the cast will tolerate having him around. While the floating chunks of rock make sure that there’s something to look at here, the bottom line is that this is a character issue for the supporting cast – the only villain is Schwartzchild, and he’s out cold. I like the idea of Beast trying to establish a non-combatant wing of the X-Men, particularly as he’s trying to set himself up in opposition to his counterpart from 3K, and it’s good to see the likes of Ben and Xorn get some development. A solid start to the new arc.

WOLVERINE #21. (Annotations here.) Sort of a downtime issue, with Nightcrawler dragging Wolverine to Waikiki for some relaxation. There’s a random fight with Titania and the Absorbing Man, who happen to be passing, and that’s pretty much it in terms of the issue’s plot. More broadly, it seems we’re doing a storyline where Wolverine’s healing factor isn’t working, and it’s hitting the broader theme of Wolverine bringing trouble with him which is sort of his own fault for rising to the bait. But all this feels quite familiar, and it’s a middling issue in terms of plot. Julius Ohta’s art is the strong spot here – he does give us a nice sense of Wolverine starting to relax, and then getting into self-pity at the end. And his fight scenes are pretty energetic. Overall, it’s fine.

BISHOP #1. By Saladin Ahmed, Mario Santoro, Federico Blee & Travis Lanham. Another month, another miniseries. This time it’s Bishop, a character who hasn’t done much in the post-Krakoa era, in part because of Tom Brevoort’s understandable preference to steer clear of characters with convoluted back stories in the early stages of the relaunch. This issue leans heavily into his back story – it’s a time travel story involving his younger sister Shard, apparently meeting him at a point before her death – and so a fair chunk of it is unavoidably devoted to recapping bits of back story. She’s a character who’s barely been used in years, and using her at least provides a plot reason to explain all this back story. Of course, it also means Bishop’s now dwelling on a character he’s barely mentioned in an age, just in time for her to show up, but that’s comics for you. Not bad as a set-up issue, and Santoro really is quite good at doing younger versions of the characters in flashback.