The world thinks the X-Men are dead, and the X-Men decide not to correct it. That is the bargain underneath the Australian period: a chance to operate beyond the attention that…

The world thinks the X-Men are dead, and the X-Men decide not to correct it. That is the bargain underneath the Australian period: a chance to operate beyond the attention that has endangered them, paid for with the knowledge that people who love them are grieving. After the events in Dallas, #229 gives the team a new base when it drives the Reavers out of an Australian ghost town. The surroundings are wonderfully different from the mansion, but the stolen technology and stolen possessions inside the place also make its history impossible to ignore. They have moved into somebody else's crime scene. The eight central field members are Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Colossus, Psylocke, Dazzler, Havok and Longshot. That describes the era's ensemble, not a promise that every person is available for every issue. Gateway is essential to their movements and life there, but he belongs in the supporting cast rather than being silently counted as a ninth ordinary field member. Madelyne Pryor is also indispensable to the household's story. The team's operations, Alex's personal life and the coming Inferno cannot be understood by pretending she is just part of the furniture. Her presence is another reason a field roster cannot describe everything that makes this period work. There are robberies to put right, the Brood to face, Genosha to discover and a trip to the mall that refuses to stay ordinary. The isolation doesn't make the book small. It sends a secretive team into a world that remains crowded and dangerous. This spotlight runs from #229 through #247. By the endpoint, the arrangement has already suffered a major loss. The appeal is not that the X-Men have finally found somewhere safe. It is watching them try to turn a hiding place into a life.