Uncanny X-Men #33

By Brian Michael Bendis, Kris Anka and Antonio Fabela

Brian Michael Bendis is wrapping up many of his loose ends on Uncanny X-Men as he prepares for the 600th issue. This month we get a story about Magik and Kitty Pryde as they try to find a new mutant and mend a friendship.

This was what some may call a filler issue because it is essentially a one and done story. Brian Michael Bendis does give us some nice moments between Kitty and Magik, who used to be best friends. Having said that, there was some of Bendis’ overlapping dialogue in this issue that was a little annoying. Magik has consistently been one of the characters Bendis has written the best on his run, and she is good here also. She has a few good one liners in this issue and her rapport with Kitty works well. While this really doesn’t further the overall arc of Bendis’ run, it was a decent break from much of the drama happening.

The pencils this issue were handled by Kris Anka with colors by Antonio Fabela. Anka is a step up from regular artist Chris Bachalo, but this wasn’t a perfect issue. His style lacks much detail at times and it’s not uncommon to see characters with bumps as noses. On certain pages Magik looks like a different character with a distorted face. Anka does have some decent panels though, like when new mutant Bo uses her powers for the first time. The page is well drawn and Antonio Fabela colors it wonderfully as it’s shaded just right and the vibrant reds leap off the page.

As far as filler issues go, this one was all right. It probably won’t be the best book you read, but it definitely won’t be the worst. It’s clear that Bendis is getting his pieces in order for the big issue coming up. The art is a little better the normal, but this could have been a stronger issue from Anka.