A satisfactory penultimate issue to a mediocre event. Read Full Review

I knew that Annihilation had an army behind them and they telegraphed that they were going to use it. Why else would they spend so much time explaining the horde of Arakko demons? I find myself disappointed that we did not get an all out brawl between the two teams within the tournament. But maybe that is more on me then the quality of this book. Read Full Review

Excalibur #15 excels when it focuses on Apocalypse and the history he shares between his extended family. The beautiful writing and art combine to make some truly theatrical moments. Certain narrative pieces of the story outside these interactions, however, subsequently come across as pale in comparison. Read Full Review

Was EXCALIBUR #15 exciting? Yes! Was the story entertaining? Yes! But, it comes at the cost of the entire event prior deeming those issues almost trivial. Read Full Review

The battle sequences are rich and fulfilling, but readers can't help but notice this issue is primarily treading water before the climax arrives. Read Full Review

Half of this issue carries us nicely into the climax X of Swords. The other half is more Excalibur nonsense that is impenetrable to those of us who haven't been reading Excalibur. Read Full Review

There's a lot going on throughout this issue, but I enjoyed it overall. It really feels like we're on the cusp of a big finale here and it's exciting. I think Howard balanced everything well enough here, and Asrar's art delivers once again in this event. I will say that Cypher and Bei's relationship made some unexplained advancements since the last time we saw them.

This is a good issue, but it's got a lot to do and it feels a little rough, pacing wise, because of that. But I still enjoyed it.

As I expected, the contest ultimately boils down to how Genesis feels at the end. And how she feels, in a word, is PISSED. So it's war time. This is Two Towers-esque, and we've reached the darkest, most desperate moment before Gandalf arrives to save the day. (The part of Gandalf will be played here by Captain Britain.) I found the plot good, the art excellent, and the script … workable. Doug whiffs another chance to say great things. I do wonder why Saturnyne was surprised/disappointed in the result of her actions here. Obviously, she expected to get a BETTER Captain Britain. We really needed a line or two explaining WHY she expected that.

Nice.

Probably Howard's most solid issue of X of Swords so far. This definitely should have been a 15 issue event

XOS Ch. 21: This is a good issue. The action and character moments are all really well done. My problem is, as much as I liked this issue, it reinforces how pointless so many of the chapters in this event were. I know I'll sound like a broken record but X Of Swords should've been 12-13 chapters at most. If that were the case I may have rated this issue even higher.

I really felt like I missed something with Cypher and Bei.