So this book, as always, is a treat. The fact that Rogue gets some play here is another nice little treat.

The majority of this issue is a discussion between Cyke and Xavier. Xavier mentally mentions to Cyclops that he should check the exterior of the forest near their new SF Compound, and they get to have a nice little discussion. Add touches regarding Sebastian Shaw and Miss Sinister trying to usurp some power from the Hellfire Club again (it seems Roberto daCosta has left them recently, was this touched upon somewhere?). And it also gets a nice little Rogue moment or two in there.

Now, really, what do we mention about Cyclops? This is the son of the X-Men. The first X-Man. The one that started the whole thing. And this bad boy has grown. It's apparent in this issue as he is throwing barbs at Xavier and essentially is telling him that once he's able to, he's going to bust his ass. It touches on their recent relationship and the way they seemingly hate each other since secrets have been hidden away from the other. Xavier, having recently been a piece of the Sinister puzzle, has some new information to drop on Cyclops.

There was a comic that came out in the later part of the 90s that was 99 cents and told the Origins of certain characters like Iceman, Archangel, and the first issue was Cyclops. In that issue, it had him in the orphanage after his brother Havok had already been adopted and no one wanted to adopt the broken kid. So he made friends with a young man who was a little strange, and it was revealed that this was Sinister back in the day.

In this issue of Legacy, Carey reveals that Nathaniel Essex was actually playing an elaborate ruse here. He was testing the limits of Scott Summers and nearly the entire orphanage was made up in Cyclops' head and was used to test him. Not only that, but Xavier believes that Sinister is so fully imbedded into Scott's life that that is why he named Cable Nathan (it being Sinister's first name and all). That it was another sick joke that Nathaniel Essex would play on the Summers line for years and years. All Xavier wants is to learn something.

But wait, it seems that Emma and Scott knew that Xavier was mentally pushing him and prepared for this. It looks like next issue will be a nice big mental knockdown dragout for Xavier.

It is a very strange thing to read this book. It regularly features X-characters that I rarely liked in the past (Xavier, Rogue, Sebastian Shaw) and it constantly makes them compelling characters. By taking the characters and making them connect to us as human beings, Mike Carey is really going somewhere with this book. With the always pleasant art of Scot Eaton, this book constantly delivers. Having a team-up artist each issue (this time, the sketchier Checchetto) is a consistent and good way to mess with the vibe of this book. It completely takes it in new directions and throws the issue for a loop, never allowing it to be stagnant.

My only beef: how long can this last?