Second Coming just keeps on rolling and today the next issue in the saga was released in the form of New Mutants. To avoid beating around the bush I'll just come out and say outright that this series hasn't missed a beat since the first issue. The usual sputter that plagues so many crossovers in the first few issues did NOT happen here like it did with Messiah Complex. It kept the ball rolling and didn't let up.
While in this issue the New Mutants took center stage with their attack on the Purifier base, the events of the last two issues were still seamlessly integrated. It is as if the pages of Uncanny X-men 523 never stopped. The battle to save Hope and Cable continued only now it coincided with the New Mutant's attack. Both fights brought to light the Sapien League's heavy hitters. William Stryker showed his tactical worth when he took on the X-men's Alpha Team. He showed that he was prepared when he fired weapons that disrupted Illyana and Nightcrawler, the teams top teleporters. Illyana appears to be heading back to Limbo while Nightcrawler is stuck in a daze, hinting further that he's going to be dead very soon. But Stryker wasn't the only one who shined.
In the Purifier base the New Mutants took on Cameron Hodge, the former ruler of Genosha who is now basically a head and a machine. He started off in a normal robot body and transferred himself into a scorpion-like attack bot that appeared similar to the Sentinel Prowlers from Wolverine and the X-men. This was what he used to attack the New Mutants and the fight scene that followed was well crafted and well developed. It ended on an ominous note with Karma getting her leg stabbed. It didn't appear fatal, but it certainly appears to be serious and leaves the door open for X-men Legacy to continue.
Overall, the action was awesome and so was the overall plot. However, this book does suffer from a few significant flaws. The most critical flaw is how the writers seem to yet again send Cable and Hope on the run. Just like the first issue, they're back in a truck driving away from the chaos. It's been done before and it makes all the fighting that has transpired thus far seem a little meaningless. It makes sense tactically, but it just doesn't seem to change all that much. Cable and Hope are on the run again and the X-men are short a few teleporters. That's about it. The plot doesn't seem to progress that much from there and it leaves the overall story feeling a bit stalled.
Never-the-less, New Mutants 12 is an awesome addition to the Second Coming saga. It does what it needs to do in order to further the plot. It doesn't knock it out of the park in terms of awesome, but it isn't filler either. It's a solid read and deserves a solid 4 out of 5. Next up is X-men Legacy and Rogue will have a chance to shine. How she's going to affect Second Coming will be interesting considering the leadership roles she's been taking lately. Hopefully she'll find a way to avoid the same old plot of Hope and Cable running away because that's getting old. The stage has already been set for a big time confrontation between Bastion and the X-men. The sooner this fight can happen the better! I would say to the writers and editors the same thing Hodge said to his men. "Grow a pair!" Nuff said.
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