GUESS WHO'S BACK IN TOWN? PART 1.
After their battle with the Fury, the X-MEN look forward to a pleasant visit in England with their old friends Brian and Meggan Braddock -- but a surprise villain with an especially ugly history with WOLVERINE and a score to settle with SAGE is crashing the party... and she's not leaving without the life of an X-Man!
Olivier Coipel turns in a solid effort as while his art isn't as smooth or polished as Alan Davis it does an effective job of covering all the bases when it comes to telling the story in a clear, visually engaging manner. The art offers up a pretty impressive array of emotional reactions as several members of the X-Men have a meet and greet with their former Excaliber teammates and there's also a mildly amusing scene where Rachel's new shoes send her tumbling into the waiting arms of Bishop. I also enjoyed the panel design of the scene where Viper looks to have gained her revenge on Sage, as the sound effect is transformed into panels. The design of the new Murderworld could've been more imaginative though, as the various environments don't exactly capture the artificial, fun house feel of the previous Murderworlds. Read Full Review
Even putting aside my unfamiliarity with, and general distaste for, the X-Men, I can't recommend this. While the art is nice, it's not as nice as it could have been with a different inker, and the story is full of so many ridiculous inconsistencies that I can't take it seriously. As a superhero comic, it's flawed, but generally readable. As an X-Men comic, it's a comprehensive failure. Read Full Review
Coipels Storm is in league with Silvestris as most beautiful ever, even better than Davis. And a scene where she and Nightcrawler (an interesting new team-up variation from recent issues) are flooded by a cascade of water is inventive and dynamic (if too darkly lit). Too bad Claremont uses the sequence to point up Storms long-resolved claustrophobia, a weird throwback symbolic of an issue that mixes the old with the new and manages only a confusing mlange. Read Full Review
Art: 3/5
Story: 3/5
Total: 6/10