There was no action… only discussion. That said, battles and fight sequences dont necessarily make a comic outstanding. Its a strong story itself that drives a reader's fascination with the comic. Well, Hickman delivers this week! Sure, its only the beginning stages of whats on the horizon with the X-MEN. But ultimately, X OF SWORDS introduced dozens of new mutants that weve never seen before and has now brought many of them to Earth. 2021 is going to see this main title unquestionably intermingle with these new mutants as well as battle them throughout the next 12 months. If anything, X-MEN #16 is an intriguing prologue for the events to transpire this next calendar year. Next up, is an election for a new team. I for one am jazzed to see this new team and where the X-MEN will be heading in 2021. Readers, this is the perfect time to hop on board the main title if you havent already. Pick it up and let me know what you think. Read Full Review

X-Men #16 is an awesome book for many reasons, but thats pretty much what weve come to expect from Jonathan Hickman. His writing has set up this series for months, if not years, to come. Phil Notos work looks like some of the best of his career to date. X-Men is hands down the X-book to read. Read Full Review

With truly excellent art and pristine characterizations, this issue rose high above it's purpose. It's well worth picking up. Read Full Review

World building including concepts of elections, galas, councils and talks should not be this interesting, but Hickman and Noto knows how to tell any story well and it keeps our attention. Hickman's individual issues always seem unimportant until one pulls back and sees the larger narrative. That being said this issue does much to build up a new potential enemy and sets up a new status quo in admirable fashion. Read Full Review

Despite Noto's issues with environments, X-Men #16 still succeeds at setting the stage for an exciting new phase in the Krakoan era of X-Men. Read Full Review

In the end, there was nothing to look forward to involving the Captain Commander of Krakoa. However, the events of X-Men #16 gave us something else to take interest in for what has been set in motion for the whole of mutants, instead of a few. Read Full Review

The creative team lays the groundwork for 2021 and beyond! Read Full Review

Jonathan Hickman and Phil Noto maximize exploring the impact X Of Swords had on the X-Men franchise and how the Reign Of X direction will move forward. Every scene in X-Men #16 built well into the next so the tension was always high with what various characters were discussing. It all made the way Cyclops and Jean Grey made it clear what the X-Men will be representing moving forward even more effective. The foundation has now been completed for a lot of intriguing stories to be crafted in the Reign of X direction. Read Full Review

Diplomacy seems to be the name of the game in this issue and Hickman has gotten the ball rolling for what promises to be a tense story from here on out. Not heavy on action but still solid plot building. Absolutely got my money's worth. Read Full Review

X-Men#16 is one of the better issues in this title because it feels like it's going somewhere and the questions that have risen are wholly intriguing and thought-provoking. Read Full Review

Overall this issue was slow but pretty enjoyable. It asked a lot of questions and set up several future plots for the book to head down. 'Reign of X' has officially begun. Read Full Review

I hate the new Arakko stuff, so that part of the issue stank. I love the crazy ideas Hickman has for the X-Men, so that part of the issue was great. Your thoughts may differ. Read Full Review

X-Men #16 feels like a middle issue when it should have been a solid hook for the next arc. Read Full Review

X-Men #16 is a well-written comic, but it doesn't feel like anything important. It's a problem this book has been having for a long time. Hickman is a great writer, and there's nothing really wrong with this issue and how it's written. It just doesn't feel like anything special. Noto's art is the issue's saving grace, but even then, there's just something empty about the whole affair. It's just setting things up. The wheels are spinning, but the car isn't going anywhere. Read Full Review

I like world building and politics. It's just because I'm smarter than the rest of you, obviously.

Slow-paced world-building - love it

A super interesting follow-up to X of Swords. Yes, this is a lot of talking, but that's something Hickman is no stranger to making engaging. The, sort of, tension between Krakoa and Arakko is intriguing and definitely something that can be built upon. Isca was super cool in this issue and I really enjoyed her interaction with Charles and Erik. Plus, Noto's art made all of this look great.

Is it weird to love crazy mutant politics? Yes? Too bad.

Krakoa's status quo remains ever mercurial. Arakko arrives and Jean and Scott refuse to join the Quiet Council. I love the art and the ideas are brilliant. This issue does take a lot of time and space to lay them out, though. A faster pace and a little more content would be the keys to taking this from good to great for me.

Great character development and set up. I love the fallout from X of Swords. This is building up a lot of great potential for future stories. The art is also very neat and expressive for the strong character driven story. Looking forward to the next issue. I recommend picking this up as a breath of fresh air for the new X-Men status quo.

Great slow paced world building that makes you think about more the political side of this mess the X-Men are in now instead of another Oh look BOOM/BUDDA/BLAM explosion issue. Those will come later but for now words needed to be said and feelings had to be shared and they were. Noto is great for this and his art is sharp as always.

Great the X-Men are back ! Only thing missing is Rosenberg behind the pen again.
Noto provides possibly the most gorgeous paintings of Marvel Girl and continues to do so here , and tbe Quiet Council's conversation in this issue was comedy.
The Unbeaten and her interaction with Magneto and Professor X was also comedy. Magento tried to pull the wool over theat Arakki's eyes, but Xavier looked like an idiot carrying that flower even before The Unbeaten called him out. Real bad form.
The two islands being unable to reconcile was just Hickman's way of saying when you want to call your ex back ... Don't. Which is kind of what Xavier did in trying to reinstate Marvel Girl into the Council. A move seen a mile away , having read the Onslaught series and knowing Xavier for being more than fond of the redhead.
I dont know who will be on the new team, but the laughs surrounding the politics in this issue make me eager to find out. more

Now that we are away from that sword nonesense I find this book getting back into a nice little rhythm with this issue.

if you're not into politics, I get why this issue may have been a little boring for you. otherwise, damn...it feels like Hickman was inspired by the current political climate in the US when writing this issue. people are getting tired of both the R & D establishment politicians, and thus emerges a new power that represents the people (the Squad)...at least for now. super eager to see how Hickman evolves this concept in the context of Krakoa's government!

I'm actually a fan of the world-building. I still have faith in Hickman.

Good issue. Disappointed that the Arakko-Krakoa relationship was completely dropped. At least have a few issues where we see their differences being too much to the point where they give up on uniting.

The scene with Isca and Charles and Erik was great. Very excited to meet plenty more Arakkis, and the land itself. 20x the population though? A bit much I'd say. Also don't like the vagueness since we don't even know the population of Krakoa.

There's not enough going on in this issue to merit a higher rating.

This is really just setup, but I enjoyed the twist of "It's been thousands of years and they're just really different people/islands" and I'm excited for the election plot. On it's own, this issue is really nothing, but it's loaded with promise for future issues.

This might not have been the best of issues but I feel like people are a bit harsh with Hickman, there are A LOT of more bad books in the industry that are getting better reviews here and, for better or worse, he has created something interesting with the X-Men, something the franchise desperately needed.

Sweet Arakko it's not u it's me

This was mostly meh. Mostly acts as a X Of Swords epilogue but it does set up some interesting future storylines. I'm excited to see who will be on the new X-Men team!

Curious what happens next but I thought this iss was fairly boring.

I felt this number very weak, very little action, the art is excellent as always

Hickman is so inconstant. Some times he writes GREAT. Other times he writes DULL. Unfortunately, X-Men #16 was dull.

16 issues , tons of boring worldbuilding