Stegman delivers beautifully detailed and intense art throughout the issue. It beautifully captures the tension of the story and how both sides of it are dramatic in their own ways. Read Full Review

X-Men #3 delivers a lot strong developments, specifically for Cyclops and Temper. The one-shot style storytelling worked to build the credibility of this X-Men team. This approach of storytelling also once again emphasized the variety of threats the X-Men face in this new era. If you're an X-Men fan this is one comic book to pick up. Read Full Review

X-Men #3 is the best issue in the series so far being a nicely balanced mix of character interaction and situational exposition with some government agent headbashing thrown in for good measure. It's not Krakoa but what the creative team is doing is getting more and more interesting every issue and it feels like there's some real story momentum building with this issue. Read Full Review

Overall, X-Men #3 is a solid installment that continues to build upon the strong foundation established in the previous issues. It's a must-read for fans of the X-Men and those interested in exploring the complexities of mutant society. Read Full Review

The world of Scott Summers comes front and center in this latest X chapter. MacKay drives the anger and purpose in Scotts voice with solid writing. Stegman and the art team mix in loud action with the dramatic reactions of simple diner talk. Things are moving fast here so dont miss out! Read Full Review

X-Men #3 is a noticeably improved issue over the previous two when Scott has a contentious meeting with a government agent while the Factory is invaded by a Shrike team. MacKay keeps the pace, scene transitions, and drama high while significantly elevating Scott Summers's badass status. Likewise, Ryan Stegman's weirdly inconsistent art from the first two issues has leveled out and improved. Read Full Review

Jed Mackay and Ryan Stegman (With JP Mayer and Livesay on inks) finally hit their stride with X-Men #3. Read Full Review

Plot
CYCLOPS is visited by Government Agent Lundqvist, who demands that Cyclops be given the Sentinel factory, then he should not leave the space. Here Scott reveals that the factory was given to him as part of the settlement of the lawsuit Cyclops won against the US Government. Cyclops declines Lundqvist's order, because he is going to continue researching new mutants whose powers are flourishing with great potency.

But Agent Lundqvist was actually meeting with Cyclops to distract him so he could send a team of soldiers led by Vanisher to investigate what is in the Factory. This causes TEMPER, PSYLOCKE, KID OMEGA, MAGIK and JUGGERNAUT to confront this assault team, whom they easily defeat.

This comic ends with the X-men neutralizing Lundqvist's assault team and with Cyclops having a kind of panic attack that he hides by going to the bathroom.

This comic continues to build suspense and mystery with timely revelations.

Art
It's gorgeous, organic, and Stegman-inspired throughout, offering a classic yet modern tone.

Summary
Cyclops makes his plans clear to the U.S. government. more

In a year or so I think we’re going to look back at this issue & say this was when MacKay put his mark on the X-Men. The first two issues were a good transition from Krakoa, but this issue felt like it was MacKay laying down the marker for the next chapter he wants to tell and I’m ready to eat it up faster than Cyclops ate a diner sandwich. I’m definitely getting more excited for this series after this issue, which was my favorite of the series so far!

Speaking of Cyclops, you can see MacKay finding a great voice for Scott here. The range of emotions we see him display throughout the issue payoffs with a gut punch in the final panel. Cyclops isn’t always the team lead I’d choose to follow first, but to say he doesn’t take things to heart is a half face lie. All of the recent actions are weighing on him & we can see he’s at a breaking point. What’s worse is that he feels like he has to hide it from his team. How is this going to impact his decision making process??

Outside of Cyclops’ development, I’m absolutely loving what MacKay is doing with Magik, & Juggernaut as capable comedic relief. However, I’ve especially loved Idie and she’s probably my favorite FTA character so far. Her story has been compelling & I hope we get to keep seeing her discover who she wants to be. I think we’re going to see her play a key role in Scott’s arc. Kid Omega is Kid Omega and Psylocke feels like the odd mutant out. Her upcoming solo title probably means she won’t be central to this story & I’m not sure we need 2 TKs anyways.

I wasn’t sold on Stegman’s art after the first two issues but boy did he sell me here. Every character design is crisper & looks great. Again, Idie steals the show with her badass look but Juggernaut’s new suit isn’t far behind. As has been the case in all 3 issues, the inks & color elevate Stegman’s pencils even further & the lettering kept dialogue easy to read. Combined, the art team produces a clean & energetic visual experience.
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Art: 3.5/5
Story: 3.5/5
Total: 7/10

Better but still a long way to crawl from its terrible start. All that being said, based on interviews with the X-men team I have little confidence this will meaningfully improve to 'good'. Also based on the sales data we have so far, seems like the general buying audience has similar thoughts.