Grade: C
X-Treme X-Men #19 really ends the original storyline in which a small team of X-Men separates from their friends and family on a secret mission to search for Destiny's Diary. With their mission accomplished, they joyfully reunite with the larger team. The party ends with Thunderbird, Rogue, and Gambit each announcing their leave of absence.
X-Treme X-Men #20 starts a new chapter. Bishop, Sage, and Storm decide to continue their work apart from the main X-Men teams -- partly out of suspicion of Professor X. Their first case, however, sends them back to the Xavier Institute when a mysterious murder in Alaska leads them to a student under Emma Frost's protection. A more sinister plot emerges as both Sage and Emma must confront an old, rich, powerful, and evil, Hellfire associate, Elias Bogan.
Chris Claremont's strong start of a detective story turns into a confusing mess. I had a hard time keeping up.
A bigger concern for me is that while most of Schism takes place at the Mansion, it felt completely disconnected from the events in the core titles. Their distrust of Xavier seems more on the paranoid side, and the campus appears much less populated. Emma Frost comes across as the White Queen of old rather than the complicated character that has developed since Chris originally left the titles.
[4-Stars] X-Treme X-Men (2001) #19
[6-Stars] X-Treme X-Men (2001) #20
[6-Stars] X-Treme X-Men (2001) #21
[5-Stars] X-Treme X-Men (2001) #22
[5-Stars] X-Treme X-Men (2001) #23
Collected in X-Treme X-Men (Vol 3): Schism
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