X-Men: Manifest Destiny TPB

I'm usually a HUGE Jason Aaron fan, and I did enjoy the Wolverine: Manifest Destiny series that took up the bulk of this trade, but I think I'm the victim of my own expectations. I sort of hoped for something a bit more like Big Trouble in Little China. The story is ok, but the villains are pretty generic. There is a crew of kung-fu named villains, but I just didn't see enough of them to be fully invested. I will admit I love the idea that Wolverine has gotten sloppy over the years. With his healing factor, why bother dodging all the time? Overall, though, the story is ok, but not great.

The Iceman & Mystique segment was my favorite. Mike Carey got to follow up on some of the threads he planted in X-Men before it became X-Men: Legacy. The short story humanizes Mystique a bit, giving her a soft spot for Iceman, and it toughened up Iceman too. He's not playing her games (at least, he thinks he's out) and he's standing up for himself with more fully realized powers. And what a great exit from Mystique; she warns that she will kill him, but he'll love her first. From a shape-shifter, that's an awful threat.

The Nightcrawler one-shot, the Avalanche story, and the other supplemental material were all solid enough, and I'm glad it is reprinted somewhere. None of it is essential reading, but this type of story is great for keeping up with personal favorites like Nightcrawler.

The art is darn nice throughout. I loved the display of Iceman's powers in his story.

Fair