And then there's Whilce Portacio. Sigh. A pretty ordinary and somewhat unexciting issue of Uncanny X-Men, all told. If this story-arc is supposed to be getting me worked about the December-launching Generation Hope, then it's failing. Badly. Let's hope for better luck next month…

A solid showing from Fraction, somewhat sabotaged by the stiff photo-traced artwork of Land. Worth a look if you can get passed the visuals.

Tomasi and Pasarin deliver a solid, if unspectacular, issue this month. Despite it's slow opening, the second half of this chapter of the story moves the plot forward enough for me to already get excited about the prospects for the plot from here on out.

The ramping up of events in this issue, along with plenty of pleasing moments and a back-up story drawn by the always-awesome Michael Gaydos equal a jump in enjoyment when it comes to reading this title for me. While I'm not convinced of Guedes' contributions, this chapter of the story was otherwise solid.

Carey's script serves as a welcome downtime interlude (a few months late) after all the X-Men have been through and the script is brought to life quite well by Davidson. I find myself wishing that this was the solid creative team on this title and that we could get more issues of this caliber. Great job this month, nonetheless.

I still scoff a little at paying four dollars for an issue of a comic series, but, damn, the blow is softened when the product is this good. Best X-title on the stands. ‘Nuff said.

Despite my fears about the fate of Apocalyp-kid, this issue was truly the best X-title on the stands and shows no signs of giving up that title in the near future. Remender and Opena are on fire with this comic and even though this was the conclusion of the first story arc, I'm itching for the next issue just as much as I would be were I left with a cliffhanger. Highly recommended and I cannot wait to purchase the hardcover of this.