Soule is constantly keeping you at the edge of your seat with this series. X-Men comics are easily lovable, but if you liked the FX series Legion, this issue is for you. The psychological elements make it extra interesting along with the real world drama. Read Full Review

"Astonishing X-Men" #5 will keep readers guessing until the final page and hits an emotional high with both of the dual storylines"what else can you ask from a serialized comic book? Read Full Review

Astonishing X-Men's rotating roster of artists keeps undermining the look of this series. Ramon Rosanas is a competent artist by anyone's standards, but Carlos Pacheco is a hard act to follow and their styles don't fit well together. Read Full Review

This is an interesting first arc that honors the past while setting up… something. I'm not 100% sure where Soule is going and have some guesses based on this issue. Out of the various “X” series out there, this one comes the closest to really capturing the X-Men of old and at the same time delivering something that feels new at the same time. Read Full Review

With two shakier issues in a row, one hopes Soule is paired with an artist that can inject Astonishing X-Men with the energy this book needs. Read Full Review

Astonishing X-Men #5 is the weakest issue of the series thus far, but its not awful or unreadable. Its still recommendable to the devoted X-Men fan, but Im not sure it will do much for anyone disinterested with Marvels premiere mutants. Read Full Review

This issue is fine, honestly. The art is fine, the story is fine, it's all fine. There's just not a lot to actually get excited about here and a few logical lapses/storytelling issues that don't do the book any favors. If you weren't already going to pick up this book, there's nothing here to win you over. Read Full Review

Again I was thrilled by the story. And what a cliffhanger!

While conditions in London sink from "bad" to "holy ☠☠☠☠ bad," Professor X charts out his retaliatory plans. A lot of threads are developing in parallel, with Xavier conducting multiple simultaneous conversations while also fighting the Shadow King. It's a tricky onion of a plot, and it's so complex that there's really no space left for character work. Ramon Rosanas's art is just capable of living up to Charles Soule's script and divvying up the multiple plot threads into a quality reading experience.

Kudos to Mr. Soule for another meta-textual gag that makes this story into the thinking reader's answer to the execrable Mojo Worldwide crossover happening in Blue and Gold: Xavier implies with exquisite subtlety that the last few years of X-Men stories (the O5 team and M-Pox, specifically) are just echoes of the Xavier/Farouk conflict playing out on the Astral Plane.
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While many seem to see the change of artist for every issue as a weakness, I tend to see it as a way to keep the experience fresh. Sure, it felt weird at first, but for an avid reader who likes to see as many talents as possible, it's a nice showcase. The problem is the fact that when a stellar artist is followed by a less skilled one, it does show. This month's issue falls a bit into that category. While the story keeps going forward and many details of Xavier's plan are laid out, some visual hiccups can bug the reader. Gambit looks like they made an actor's change for example. Small details, but still. I wonder how Soule will be able to close every story loop left opened by all the events.