Overall, X-Men #19 was much better than I thought it was going to be. The Brood storyline had just enough power to keep the momentum of the narrative while also simultaneously juggling almost three to four different mini-stories in the process. Duggan is certainly on to something here, however, it may be an extremely difficult place for fans to jump in on this series. Additionally, Duggan continues to make X-Men one of the top, must-read series of the Krakoan Era by mixing and matching some wildly creative stories with new ideas and missions that continue to hit the mark. This may not be the best place to jump in but, if you go back about two to three issues, I think you could hop in there. Read Full Review

Caselli delivers some great art in the issue. The action is visually exciting and intense and the horror imagery is great. Read Full Review

X-Men #19 melds ideas from movies like Alien and Event Horizon into an action-packed issue with plenty of good characterizations to keep X-Men fans happy. Read Full Review

This issue was a lot of fun, and worth the time. This invasion is more than just another beat-em-up, using King Broo to set up a story that could have impact for a while yet. Read Full Review

X-Men is full of character and adventure and makes for a very entertaining read. Read Full Review

X-Men #19 quickly brings the team into the story with the Brood's attempt to takeover the Marvel Universe. The sense of urgency with the team search for Corsair and Broo worked to keep the X-Men and Captain Marvel stories separate for now while still having a clear connection to the greater Brood story. Read Full Review

There's enough cool stuff in this issue of X-Men to keep anyone into its brand of super heroics hooked, even if the execution doesn't hit all of the marks. Read Full Review

X-Men #19 is surprising because it isnt completely terrible. Duggan somehow stays out of his own way and doesnt completely botch this issue. Nothing is spectacular, and the subplot makes some dumb mistakes, but the art makes up for a lot of the normal Duggan problems that are baked into the script. Read Full Review

Much better issue from Duggan this time around. I like both stories and especially Forge and Monet's venture which made this issue keep my interest. But I have to give it to Stefano Caselli on art who killed it. The details on almost everything from faces (near or far) or towers and windows or railings and their shadows were just splendid. He did nothing wrong here. Federico Blee on colors complemented Caselli well too. It didn't feel like I was reading X-Men Red but actually was tailored to the story. Nice work!

It really feels like at long last Duggan has found his stride with this book. Caselli does beautiful, expressive work, but it's not quite up to the high standards of his work on X-Men Red and in particular his Brood don't quite hit the visceral awfulness that they should have. And Iceman and Firestar continue to feel like they're not there to do much but remind you of old cartoons and have awkward, meaningless conversations about whether the team being called "X-Men" is sexist. (It IS a relic of 60's casual misogyny, but it's also a lucrative trademark owned by Disney and will never be changed, so having the characters talk about it feels frivolous and empty and makes Firestar look that way too.)

But that's all picking nits. Overall this is a solid issue that brings up intriguing questions, plays with fun ideas (like the idea that Old Lady Laura and Synch became experts in improvised mutant surgery during their time in the Vault) and plays for stakes that feel real instead of the villain-of-the-week loop this book felt stuck in. Add in an interesting cliffhanger, and this has at long last taken its place among books I look forward to instead of just reading in hope. more

The last several issues of this run have been phenomenal

On the script side, it's just one big tense scene surrounded by a bunch of choppy little scenes. But the dialogue and characterization are decent, the plot developments are reasonable, and the mysteries are engaging rather than infuriating.

And the visuals really elevate everything that's happening. Clear, stylish, and wisely blocked.

Pretty good issue with the first part of the Brood storyline on the X-Men side of things. I've been liking the dynamic between Firestar and Iceman as of late, so I hope that can be shown in more depth at some point over the next few issues. As for Laura and Synch, I enjoyed seeing them put some of their skills learned from their time in the Vault to use. Overall, a solid start to X-Men's side of the Brood arc and I'm interested to see where things go from here, especially after that ending.