This one is full of meh. First, there's a cliffhanger that really isn't resolved, except through some hand-waving. And even that resolution, such as it is, just doesn't deal with the actual scene. Then comes a blah Storm-centered series that seems to be solely aimed at depowering her and resolving her relationship with Stormcaster. The last issue, I really liked, but, it's somewhat standard fare, showing why the X-Men keep plugging away and that small victories can matter. The annual at the end is also fun. Also, be ready for a lot of continued selfish melodrama on Kitty's part as she grapples with her emotions after leaving Peter at the altar. ( )

Before starting this volume, I was just ready for this series to be over and was expecting a slog of completionist required reading, rather than actually enjoyable stories. And some of it was. It also felt like an editorial mandate to return all the characters to a status quo and basically undo everything that had happened in the series. But Storm's arc in her village in Kenya was sweet and a nice story point for her.

And the Excalibur reunion in the Annual alone bumped this whole volume up by almost a full star. Maggie is wonderful, I want more of her forever.

But at the end of the day, I'm still just glad this is over and Kitty and Rachel got through it mostly unscathed. ( )