The exciting events that unfolded this issue and insightful dialogue really made me feel in no uncertain terms this is one of the best X-books in terms of well balanced plot, characterisation and dramatic artistic interpretation. To be drawn into a psychotropic reality such as this is no easy task. And to do it in such an individual and imaginative way is never an easy feat to pull off. Read Full Review

Vita Ayala approaches the conflict with nuance as the newer mutants attempt to distinguish the Shadow King and its host, Amahl Farouk. Read Full Review

Thank you Vita Ayala and Rod Reis for bringing us the best New Mutants run since Zeb Wells. And I think I'm actually liking this even more than Wells' run so thank you for the best since Claremont. I hope it continues well into the new year and beyond!

The New Mutants and the Lost Club team up to defeat the Shadow King on the astral plane and save the soul of Amahl Farouk. That's the whole of the plot -- very simple. But it's executed with such exquisite craftsmanship that this issue comes dangerously close to perfect.

I've teased Rod Reis a lot about doing a shabby Sienkiewicz impersonation, but here he pulls out all the stops and delivers a tour-de-force performance that the master would be proud of.

The script is where a little tweaking could improve the issue. If Rahne's conflict were streamlined, maybe the script pages could be eliminated. But the writing as it stands is already so good that I'm willing to forgive that too-common sin of the Hickman-era X-books: using datafiles as narrative shortcuts. This script handles the characters magnificently and really lays their hearts bare.

Also, the visual contrast between Cosmar and No-Girl's usual designs and their astral projections is heartbreakingly great.
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I have to applaud Vita Ayala on this issue and her work with the Shadow King. As she's a writer I often find to be more of a miss than hit, she's done a solid job on this series. Only nit pick is the jarring redundant lines from Magik but the brilliant art secures this issue as a 9 for me.

Ayala and Reis did the thing!

LSD Trip: Comic Book version.

This was pretty good, although a tad confusing at times. I want to see how it wraps up before the pseudo-relaunch though. I do have a gripe here, and it's the info pages. Maybe they were simply there because it's a staple, or maybe they were there to give the artist a break, but having your info pages be literal script pages seems a bit off to me.

The art is really outstanding. The story is fine. I never hated it, but I doubt I'll remember it next week, if that means anything.

I really enjoyed the first two arcs but I’m not liking the Shadow King arc.