X-Men Legacy, Vol. 2: Sins of the Father

X-Men Legacy (2008) (Collected Editions)

by Mike Carey, Scot Eaton

Xavier traces his history and the history of the X-Men to the core. What he finds will shock you And what do Rogue, Gambit, and Sebastian Shaw have to do with it? Then, Sinister's machinations finally come to a head, after decades of preparations. Can Xavier discover the secrets to the plot against his mind before he loses his sanity? Or will he become another in a long line of victims? Either way, he just may learn things about his past he'll come to regret Guest starring Sebastian Shaw and the deadliest gator in the swamp, Gambit.

Collecting: X-Men: Legacy 213-216

Genres: Comics, X Men, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction

96 pages, Hardcover

First published December 10, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Mike Carey was born in Liverpool in 1959. He worked as a teacher for fifteen years, before starting to write comics. When he started to receive regular commissions from DC Comics, he gave up the day job.

Since then, he has worked for both DC and Marvel Comics, writing storylines for some of the world's most iconic characters, including X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER. His original screenplay FROST FLOWERS is currently being filmed. Mike has also adapted Neil Gaiman's acclaimed NEVERWHERE into comics.

Somehow, Mike finds time amongst all of this to live with his wife and children in North London. You can read his blog at www.mikecarey.net.

Reviews

[Paul]

A continuation of the previous volume, in which ol' Chucky X takes a trip through his memories and comes away horrified. It was OK but I can't help feeling it could have been told just as well in one or two issues.

[James DeSantis]

Wow what a bad collection. I mean, why add two stories that really have nothing to do with the main story OR not even written by Carey? Odd...

Overall this is a messy collection. The first two issues are continuation of Mr. Sinister and it's not...very good. Then got a storyline about Scott and Xavier in a one on one, till a certain Ms. Frost comes into the equation. Then the last two stories are one shots, both very old, and both have nothing to do with...anything.

Good: The two part storyline with Xavier and Scott is great. It also shows the consequences of using someone for your agenda and Ms. Frost is great.

Bad: The two last issues, the one shots, are both bland and boring. Nothing to do with the main story and not very interesting. I also thought the Mr. Sinister storyline is pretty wacky, over the top, and confusing.

Overall the middle is great but the rest? Pretty horrible. A 2 out of 5.

[Molly™☺]

A Charles Xavier introspection that explores his failures and choices as a father figure and mentor. It's really just a mosaic of flashbacks with current day commentary, and whilst it works for the most part, it still feels largely underwhelming at times. An interesting premise with some unusual character appearances, it might be worth a look if Professor X is of interest to you.

[Jesús De la Jara]

Este volumen es muy interesante porque marca la reunión entre Cíclope, Emma Frost y Xavier. Es uno de los volúmenes que mejor explica la tensa dinámica entre los tres y el porqué Scott ya no confía tanto en el profesor Xavier como antes. Se resume bastante del sueño de Xavier y las cosas "malas" hechas por el profesor entre las cuales Cíclope no está de acuerdo y las veces que Xavier ha jugado a hacer de "Dios". Es una reunión muy dura en las cuales Emma como novia del nuevo jefe de los X-Men también tiene mucho que decir.

[James]

2.75 stars. So the main part of this book, issues 213-216, focus on Xavier. There is a lot of mental battles and mindscapes going here. Got kind of repetitive and a little boring. Same reason why I didn’t like Immortal Hulk #39. Then there were two one shots at the end. One dealing with the New Mutants and one with Stan Lee, Xavier and Magneto. Both were kind of forgettable.

[Derek]

This is a hard volume to like, not that it's bad or anything like that, it's just that it's such a deviation from what X-men stories are usually about, and maybe that's a good thing in its own right--a little spontaneity to ease the tedium. Mike Carey focuses on Charles Xavier and his endeavor to rebuild his past or at least justify his mistakes, he starts off with Scott Summers (we all know what a farce their relationship has always been) but it's cool that Emma Frost has Scott's back and she doesn't go easy on Charles. At the end of his 'punishment' he has a better grasp on who he is, what mistakes he's made. Is he deserving of pity, is his pathos in anyway justified!? Well, we'll see how he progresses in this lonely, arduous journey to rebuild himself.

[J.]

The bad rating for this book isn't really reflective of the quality of the work; it's more a comment of the collection. This volume contains:

1. The last two parts of a 4-part storyline.

2. A stand-alone 2-part storyline.

3. 2 stories from somewhere around the '80s that i can only assume were whatever the comic book equivalent of deleted scenes are, and they are TERRIBLE. I literally have nothing good to say about them, other than that the colors are ok. They are boring and insignificant.

4. The "Stan Lee meets..." story that I already have collected in about three different volumes.

So wtf, Marvel? Is it really too much to expect you to publish a 4 (four!) part storyline together? This is the kind of crap that really pisses off the fans.

Anyway, average quality art. A Mr Sinister storyline that I can't really judge since I forgot what happened in the first half (since, again, they aren't collected together.) And a pretty decent showdown between Xavier, Scott, and Emma. Although Carey's love for and deep knowledge about the X-men's history is apparent, there are some things (mostly from the '90s) that I would just as soon pretend didn't happen. Anyway, I'll keep reading his stuff because I think he can do a great job with these familiar characters. Although I will be much less likely to BUY the book next time.

[Jess]

So the main story in this was like 4 stars but the last few issues were clearly filler. Entertaining but unnecessary

[Paul]

X-Men: Legacy issues 213-216 = 4 stars

The continuation of the story from the previous volume that should’ve all been collected in one was still really good. Hopefully we’ll get a Mike Carey X-Men omnibus sometime soon. I know it always gets voted super high as a most wanted omnibus and his run really needs it especially since it would read so much better if read straight through. His writing really is extremely consistent in this run.

The two one-shot issues are completely skippable and only serve to bring down this collection by a star.

Really 208-216 should’ve been collected in one book. If 188-204 (X-Men: Marauders) can get collected in one collection why couldn’t this 9 issue story have gotten one too?

[Jeff Lanter]

I liked this volume a little bit better than the last, but not enough to give it a higher score. It focuses on Professor Xavier struggles against an internal enemy and trying to deal with the damaged relationships he has over the long history of the X-Men. This is a much different take on the character than the X-Men movies. I kind of prefer the movie version than the one everyone hates and I would say it was a little tiresome (especially by the time Cyclops shows up) hearing everyone complain about how terrible he was all the time. At least he had good intentions much of the time, right? With that said, I thought this offered a slightly different kind of villain or villains as the case turned out to be and there were a few unlikely partnerships which were enjoyable. I have no doubt now that X-Men Legacy demands a fair amount from the reader and while I'm enjoying it so far, I don't love it either. I'll keep reading until I get bored or find something about it that I really don't like but I'm hoping that it can at least stay as entertaining as this volume and slow down on the Xavier bashing a little bit.

[Judah Radd]

I dug it! Full disclosure; there are two stories at the end that are random and have nothing to do with the Legacy series. Those are not included in this review because I didn’t feel like reading them.

As far as the XML arc goes... it was cool. We took a very personal dive into Charles Xavier’s brain, and he had to come to terms with his own hypocrisy and failure. It was harsh, but well deserved and satisfying. This story was important, because it sets the stage for his redemption arc. We still like Prof X... but we’re a little irritated with him at the moment.

Seeing Emma and Scott stand up to him was very exciting. The Sinister stuff was cool too. He’s a sonofabitch... but the world’s greatest telepath showed him what’s what in a badass (and well drawn) psionic battle royale.

Can’t wait to see more Ms Sinister. She looks cool.

It was weird seeing Sebastian Shaw as a goo... err... less bad guy. Rooting for him was kind of fun.

The art here was pretty awesome. Everything looked smooth, slick and nice.

All in all, there are worse ways to spend an hour or so. This is a worthwhile part of X-Men canon.

[Mike]

I think I really like Carey's writing when he's working hard to torture his characters - making permanent scars on their psyche. But here goes yet another collection of crap that makes no difference on the X-landscape.

Still with the flashbacks gimmick, Carey? Really? This is getting tedious - and especially for someone who hasn't followed every X-men adventure of the past couple of decades, pretty repetitive. How many old plotlines can you resurrect?

Somehow this makes me wonder if Carey was trying to compete with the much more successfully epic Brubaker run on Captain America. There too is a long series of flashbacks, but while I never followed old Cap stories either, somehow that treatment felt a lot more resonant - didn't fall as flat or boring/distracting as the Professor X flashbacks here are.

Carey fessed up to a self-indulgent motive in his afterword notes, so maybe that's all it was.

And the throwaway stories that got bolted on to fatten up this book? Execrable.

[Adam Stone]

Carey's dull plod through Xavier's past continues. The art is as unnecessarily convoluded as the story. Running parallel with the Wolverine Origins series, this era has to be in contention for the worst part of X-history. While there are many worse stories and worse art from over the years, this book suffers from neither presenting original ideas nor moving the larger narrative forward.

[Arturo]

Mr. Sinister is dead but still has plans. ..And back up plans. And Prof. X, Gambit and Sabastian Shaw have to deal with it.
Last 2 issues of a multiparter.
next up. Prof. X returns for and encounter with Cyclops and Emma Frost. In a 2 parter.

[Megan]

I’m giving this three stars purely for the Stan Lee cameo - may his memory be a blessing. And the more I read, the more I’m realizing that Charles Xavier is a jerk. That is all.

[Kris Shaw]

Mike Carey is a solid enough writer, and Scot Eaton is a solid enough artist, so why is this series on such shaky ground? Mild spoilers ahead... Gambit and Sebastian Shaw are fighting side by side...ughh. I like Sebastian Shaw, a/k/a The Black King of the Hellfire Club, but to see him fight with a hero makes me sick, even if it suits his own purposes. Sinister is featured throughout this arc, battling with Xavier in Xavier's mind. Lots of backflashes and ret-cons* here. Rogue appears in her garish '90s costume why?? Mystique is briefly shown, although I am not sure if she is evil again or not. During the Claremont/ Byrne heyday she was the leader of the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and was awesome. I am really leaning towards dropping this title. I dropped the X-Men during the Silvestri era in '89/90, and didn't come back until 2003. Thank to trade paperbacks, I have caught up on most of what had transpired during my sabbatical, and have come to the conclusion that there are more bad X-Men comics than there are good ones. Morrison's run was OK, Astonishing X-Men was brilliant, the Claremont/ Davis Uncanny run a few years ago was good, Brubaker's run has been great, and X-treme X-Men started out strong but fell short in the long run. Other than that, it's buyer beware. the continuity has become so convoluted that a re-boot is in order. Odd Men Out is an inventory story from the '90s by Roger Stern and the late, great Dave Cockrum that is largely forgettable. Some things sit on the shelf for a reason. The Unlikely Saga of Xavier, Magneto, and Stan completely sucked.

*Ret-con stands for retroactive continuity, where they change an occurrence that was once cosndiered canon and then make it appear to have never happened, or even worse, insert things into canon that more often than not shouldn't be inserted.

[Tomás Sendarrubias García]

Pecados del Padre continúa directamente con el arco anterior, enganchando su final con el principio de esta nueva trama, es decir, realmente Divididos Resistirán y Pecados del Padre forman parte de la misma historia. Al igual que en el arco anterior, el guión será de Mike Carey y Scott Eaton a los lápices, con Ken Lashley encargándose de los recuerdos de Xavier, que continúa siendo el protagonista absoluto de la historia, compartiendo escena con Gambito y Sebastian Shaw.

Mientras Xavier se enfrenta a Siniestro, Shaw y Gambito tienen que hacer frente al Gremio de Asesinos, contratado por alguien para matar a una serie de personas que incluye a Xavier, a Shaw y a Juggernaut. Descubriremos así que Jacob Shaw, el padre de Sebastian, trabajó con Milbury/Siniestro en los tiempos en los que Brian Xavier y Kurt Marko formaban parte de los proyectos de investigación genética de Alamogordo.

Así, descubriremos que aunque Mística mató a Siniestro durante Complejo de Mesías, proyectó junto con Jacob Shaw una máquina (el proyecto Cronos) que le permitiría hacerse con el control del cuerpo de Xavier... pero hay un jugador inesperado que quiere atraer los poderes de Siniestro hacia su propio cuerpo, manteniendo lejos su personalidad... Y al final del arco, tendremos un nuevo villano para la Patrulla-X...

[Dakota Morgan]

Sins of the Father digs deeper in Professor X's childhood, revealing a whole host of lies and double-crosses. I'm sure this is all "rewriting X-history UGH," but not knowing that X-history, I was pleasantly engaged.

For one thing, I had no idea Xavier, Sebastian Shaw, and Sinister go way back. All their interactions on Krakoa in more recent times make a bit more sense now. Also wild to see Sinister taking control of Professor X's body here, just like he would do 20 years later on Krakoa.

Most of the minor elements sailed over my head (who's this old crone, Amanda Mueller?), but the pacing is terrific, the artwork solid, and the character work focused. After Sinister gets the boot from Xavier's brain, he checks in with Cyclops on Utopia, only to be pre-empted into Emma Frost's mind palace. More flashbacks - again, new to me, so not bad!

The only real ding against this volume is the long, unrelated issue at the end that recaps X-history in a much less interesting way (throwback to 60s comic storytelling), explores a totally unrelated X-team, and, worst of all, ends with a gimmick Stan Lee insert issue. Totally skippable.

[Terry Murphy]

A ho-hum sojourn into he psyche of axavier for far too many issues. Throw in some tepid fights and a low stakes sub-plot about Sinister's convoluted plans for immortality and you will arrive at this collection. The art is slapdash and doesn't bother trying anything new. Worse still, the normally exciting Mike Carey pushes the same buttons issue after issue and leaves the reader wondering what the point of all of this was. The final panel hints at interesting stories in the future, but it felt like far too little, and far too late.

[Michael T. Christensen]

It is super weird that these 4 issues are divided into a story on their own, but be that as it may - this story does a nice job of setting up what’s coming next for the book, but the main thing it does is settle the question of whether Xavier will return to the X-Men. While the series does keep leaning on the “show Xavier all his failures” trope, and normally I hate when artists switch partway into a story arc, Phil Briones does a wonderful job translating the abstract concepts into linear art.

[C]

Continuing the great X-read of 2017/2018...

Carey's main story of Xavier recovering and dealing with his memories is still quite interesting to me but the other half of this volume is made up of filler stories. And most of them are just not good at all. 3 stars might be a bit kind to this collection but as I said, I did really enjoy the main tale.

[vk chompooming]

The Legacy run mostly centered on Xavier as he delt with his perceived 'failing his students". I never realized this, but Xavier was not presented as a fighter or main protagonist in the X-Men books. However in the Legacy runs he shines. Like Yoda in the prequel movies, Charles Xavier "puts boot to butt" in this run. Legacy is a good read if you want more Xavier action.

[TK]

There's a lot of padding in this series but I really enjoy the critical look at Xavier's past. Especially in his relationship with Scott. Also top 5 Emma Frost moments here. Make that old man cry Emma.

[guanaeps]

Lots of Xavier bashing in this one, but it all seems pretty warranted. Some interesting/crazy Nathaniel Essex things going on here as well. Xavier's history is convoluted.

[B]

I like it. I'ts more than a little over-the-top with the drama and a little repetitious. But it manages to recap a bunch of X-Men stories in a very interesting way.

[Josh Pilch]

Professor Xavier is a jerk! But I’ll admit, accepting your past mistakes while also living without regrets is a tough lesson to learn.

[Emmett Spain]

Poorly collected, but a cool story with some great character stuff. The 2-issue "Walkthrough" story was fantastic.

[Odo]

6.5/10

[Elizabeth]

Man, Xavier's catching a lot of bullets these days. After some silliness regarding Mister Sinister's potential resurrection from comic book death #twenty-billion, this storyline concludes the journey of self-discovery Xavier goes on to recover his memories and build a new sense of self. He's taught his final lesson by, of all people, Emma Frost. Such a turn around to have the White Queen educate Professor X on morality! She even bitchslaps him at one point (go Emma!)

What I like about this is that she allows him neither the self-indulgence of crucifixion for his crimes nor exculpation for his motives. She shows him himself and forces him to understand the main flaw behind it all. Arrogance. Reflecting what was said in 'Divided He Stands', his destructive drive comes from believing he is more than what he is - one man, as capable of failings and flaws, cruelties and deception, as anyone else. Not the embodiment for the hope of mankind, not someone whose motives are so beyond reproach and faced with such evil that he can take it for granted that any action he chooses to take is justified. Not someone who saw so much further than everyone else that he was fit to lead and mold a generation. Just a man. Someone who made decisions and will have to live with the consequences like the stupid rest of us.

I like that Emma is guiding this last part, as she made her mistakes early and has spent the latter half of her life in redemption. In doing so, she knows herself well and has close scrutiny of her motives and understands, even with all this, she will occasionally fail. For her to pass this lesson on to Xavier, who saw himself always as the teacher, without needing to question himself, is a deliberate reversal of X-Men tradition, an inconoclasm of the revered who was too fond of handing down benediction to others.

Good story.

[David Edmonds]

Alas, we go right from one story that is decent to one that is mediocre, more or less. I'm not exactly sure what the point of the story was other than to bring Sinister back into the story for the umpteenth time (and people complain about Jean Grey coming back...). Anyway, I'm sure there is going to be a point to the 'shocking' reveal at the end of the volume, but for right now, it left me wanting something more. The art was decent, and really, the story wasn't bad (although a little disjointed in sections) but I'm really hoping it's leading up to something better. And for anybody interested, I think you can safely skip the follow up stories. I think these were placed here just to fill up space.