Well, it wasn’t Predator-X who stopped Bishop, but instead the Marauders made their re-appearance at a fortuitous moment, taking the baby for themselves. This is the first time it’s significantly changed hands during the arc, and presumably signifies the point of the final chapter – rescuing the baby from the Marauders.

At this point, I’m wondering if Bishop won’t become the main antagonist in Cable’s new series. His role in Messiah Complex just become far more important, and once his apparant betrayal comes to light it feels like the only really payoff can be death or exile, in the grand tradition of previous X-Traitors.

Speaking of which, Gambit’s appearance in this issue can’t fail to disappoint Gambit fans. Sometimes a character shows up and suddenly they’re just acting how they should, and you realise that for years they’ve been mis-written - This is one of those moments for Gambit, in my opinion. Tan’s artwork contributes to that, as he continues to improve massively. There’s a brilliant panel later in the issue where Wolverine squares up to a disobediant (and much taller) Warpath, that Tan deserves credit for rendering, because it’s an excellent little Wolverine moment.

The final twist in the issue sees Cable contact the Professor for help – as expected, the Professor’s about to play a big role in Messiah Complex which explains the earlier attempts to put him down. There’s going to be a triumphant return for one Charlie Xavier, but the question should be whether the X-Men will be pleased to see him or not. A few threads remain to be wrapped up – Predator X really has to do something big to justify his inclusion in the series, and Layla has to get back to the past somehow (though part of me wonders if this isn’t part of a plot thread introduced in X-Factor… I’ll elaborate if anything comes of it.)

Once again, the best thing you can say about Messiah Complex is that, Morrison’s run aside, the X-Men haven’t been this exciting or urgent in years. Only a few chapters left and I’m still as gripped today as I was at the start. I’m just hoping they manage to buck the trend for climaxing with a damp squib like most of Marvel’s recent big stories.