How freakin’ awesome is it that the Mimic is now a regular character in an ongoing comic book series? We haven’t enjoyed this since back in the 1960s for about three issues of X-Men – that is if you don’t count Exiles, which I don’t, since it was a very different Mimic. We’re truly living in a Golden Age of being a fan of the obscure comic book character the Mimic! But sadly, as awesome as this is, it’s also a double-edged sword. Because in the first issue following Mimic’s grand return to the X-Men, he’s reduced to just a side character with very little panel-time.

One very Mimic-less issue

This is Rogue’s comic, after all. But I may keep up these reviews since I know I’m not the only Mimic fan in the world.

Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.

As a Mimic comic, this issue sucks. He barely appears. It’s great that he’s in the cast now, but it’s sad to see him doing nothing. As a tie-in to Avengers vs. X-Men, the comic isn’t any good either. It’s been less than a year since Regenesis, when Wolverine split the X-Men in half in order to go off and re-open the school in Westchester. Yet one giant crossover later and everything he set up is being thrown under the bus, all in the name of yet another punch-fest between superheroes.

This issue pushes the whole school idea just a little too far, revealing it to be the sham that it is. The students don’t want to learn, they want to join in the fight against the Avengers. If they wanted to fight so badly, why didn’t they stay on Utopia? And the ‘teachers’ spend all their time worrying about making sure they stick to the class schedule – yet they all still dress in superhero costumes.

But who cares about all of that? Bring on the Mimic!

We start out with a briefing about the Avengers vs. X-Men that, frankly, doesn’t seem to match up with the actual Avengers vs. X-Men series. Rogue’s team gets briefed, and Iceman and Rachel Grey take off to go join Cyclops. Less than a year ago, Iceman was making the big decision of joining Wolverine after the Schism. Now he’s just jetting off to join Cyclops. Whooo!

Anyway, Mimic is there! And he has no idea what the hell is going on.

The Avengers are such a revolving door these days…

And yet nobody helps him! Poor guy. In the end, Rogue gets all emo about the fact that when she first debuted, she was a bad guy who fought and defeated the Avengers. That hangs over the entire issue, with Rogue moping into her Cheerios. Even when she tries to teach a class about some war – in full X-Men costume – she’s still all mopey.

Then a buncha C-list Avengers show up to babysit the school, including She-Hulk, Falcon and Moon Knight. Since when has Moon Knight been an Avenger? But I guess the same could be said about Mimic being an X-Man…

Speaking of Mimic, where is he? Mimic doesn’t even appear in this damn issue! Yet Frenzy gets a starring role in the issue, but not Mimic. What’s up with that? Who cares about Frenzy? She’s all manner of pissed, and eventually everybody’s worried about a fight breaking out. The X-Men want to force the students not to get involved, and the Avengers just want to watch. They don’t even seem to want to be there. Frenzy’s the only one who really wants to fight – and she gets her fight!

But not before Gambit checks in with Mimic.

I want to see him mimic Iron Man

And with that, my interest in this issue ends. Frenzy starts a fight, Rogue and the students join in, and the issue ends with a promise of more fight next issue. Bland and blander. And not nearly enough Mimic. We can only hope for more next issue!