This issue is full of reasons to love the X-Men, time-tested reasons like Banshee's iconic costume and new reasons like writer Matthew Rosenberg's spot on dialog and fast paced, multi-layered narrative. I would love to see this creative team stick around for a good long run, they have the imagination and talent to deliver the goods. Read Full Review

Still familiar while forging its own identity, this latest team of X-Men will please long time fans and those new to the series. Read Full Review

Astonishing X-Men #14 continues to be a promising start for this new team. Matthew Rosenberg has let his inner fan boy out onto the pages of the book and it's a really wild read. The art has been exciting and glamorous thanks to the hard work put in by all involved. Astonishing X-Men is the most fun you'll have with mutants this week. Read Full Review

Rosenberg and company arent reinventing the wheel with this X-Men story, but it does all the little things right. The characters are entertaining and endearing, theres good action, and the plot, while at this point not seeming like anything special, has the potential to take some interesting turns, especially with the way this issue ended. The art isnt consistent, which is a shame, but this book is light years better than it was under Charles Soule and deserves a look. Read Full Review

All in all,thisAstonishing X-Menarc is shaping up to be humorous, heart-breaking, and dramatic. Read Full Review

What the latest arc of Astonishing X-Men gives us is a wonderfully snarky, dysfunctional team of outcast mutants. They might not save the world, but they're gonna crack some good jokes as they trip over each other. While issue #14 completes the roster and strengthens the comedic tone, the visuals and the opposition remain a little too generic to make this a must-read. It doesn't belong on the top of your pull list, but it'll be a fun treat if you circle back later and pick it up cheap. Read Full Review

While the execution isn’t necessarily flawless, Rosenberg is bringing something different to Astonishing X-Men that I think bears watching — something that, in many ways, plays to the strengths of the franchise dating back to Dave Cockrum and Chris Claremont’s original run. While we’re not seeing the sort of wild concept work of living islands or galactic forces gone awry, part of the reason why the lineup of Giant-Sized X-Men succeeded was because of the way the cast interacted and gelled with one another — and that’s the sort of sparks I’m seeing with Rosenberg’s work here. Like Justice League International before it, Astonishing X-Men eschews the iconic in exchange for the irreverent, making for a surprising and engaging read. Read Full Review

Astonishing X-Men should be a really enjoyable X-Men comic with a more comedic bend than any of the other books in the current line, but the art is working against it. Read Full Review

Astonishing X-Men #14 is another disappointment from Rosenbergs new direction on the title. I love the lineup, and Rosenberg has put out a few comics I genuinely adore in his time with Marvel, Tales of Suspense and Punisher being among his better works. This doesnt gel for me though. I cant recommend it reading it. Read Full Review

I am getting more and more into this, really interested in the characters now, stupid headgear and all.

Fantastic writing, really makes me want to read more of this. Land's artwork knocks the score down a little bit, but it's still manageable.

Astonishing X-Men is the best x-book out right now. I think this could signal the beginning of a X-Men revival over the next few months. This is long overdue considering that x-fans like myself havebeen forced to suffer mostly garbage over the last six years.

I honestly think this current story arc is fairly underrated. I think the humor and the heart are the best parts of it, as it does have a bland plot and pretty boring villains. However, I think seeing the drunken and disheveled post-wedding Colossus was really fun and original. The whole Banshee thing, however, doesn't work for me. It just ended up feeling too out of place and it is odd, none of the characters pay any attention to him. I also don't like Warpath as he doesn't really do much and he feels thrown in just for a bigger lineup. And while we're at it, I have to say Dazzler is kind of obnoxious. I usually really like the character but here they make her feel like a selfish jerk who has no other layers other than being a selfish jerk. That said, the writing for Beast and Havok and Colossus is really, really good. So that's 50% of the team well-written. I would complain if the other X-Men series did any better, but alas, that may never happen. Also, excellent art. I really like the way the characters and action scenes are drawn. Overall, I would pay attention to this story arc as I see real potential for something great here. more

the art by pornface land seriously knocks it down

Not terrible. Just not in any way special or overly interesting.

Havok assembles a ragtag misfit team while also winning a pair of simple fights. He's got a babysitter (Warpath) and two broken toys (zombie Banshee and jilted drunk Colossus). He also gets a pair of better-judgment-defying mutants who both reach the strange conclusion that "Alex Summers bringing a fight to my doorstep means I better team up with him": Beast and Dazzler.

I could give this a "thoroughly average" 6.0 rating, but Greg Land is still terrible (An animatronic Mojo robot? It's too hard to trace, so we don't get to see it.) and this sort of snarky Teeth-Clenched Teamwork is Matthew Rosenberg's Signature Shtick. This is a cruise-control effort for the creators all around.