The ‘Raid on Graymalkin’ crossover event between Jed MacKay’s X-Men & Gail Simone’s Uncanny X-Men kicked off in exciting fashion! I know a lot of fans were concerned for a crossover event so soon into From the Ashes, but I thought the way MacKay set this event up in this first issue gave this X-Men vs X-Men story an interesting new angle as two groups of mutants try to save their teammates from the depravity of captivity. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but he used all of the tension that has been building since Krakoa’s final days to introduce a clear explanation for what’s happening.

However, one head-scratcher for me was how Cyclops was all of a sudden fully trusting in Psylocke’s ability to be in field again after he sidelined her in the previous issue. I noted there that his objection to her participating in the previous mission was strange and it was made even stranger here when as it seemed to be completely forgotten. Does he think she’s better now? Did he forget? Was this just a contrived plot point so Psylocke’s solo series could be set up? My vote is the latter.

With that small nitpick aside, every other aspect of MacKay’s script hit for me. I loved the interactions between Beast, Jubilee, & Calico in the Graymalkin prison. It showed that underneath it all, these are individuals with deep histories who have far more in common than they have differences. Beast standing up for Calico, a mutant he’s never met, was a great step towards building the character back up into a good guy now that we have the “new” old Beast on the team. Cyclops also gets some great commentary that reminds us why he’s in charge. MacKay has really shown he has a great handle on the voice for all the characters he’s writing in this book even if every character doesn’t get a ton of story each issue.

The big moment for this issue is the literal Raid on Graymalkin, the X-Men’s former home. Their was well executed narratively & visually. The plotting was fast-paced & intense with kinetic art that excellently depicted motion and sound effects. Ryan Stegman’s style has really grown on me since the first issue. His disjointed linework complements the tone of the MacKay’s story perfectly. JP Mayer & Livesay’s inks give Stegman’s designs extra weight, which make character movements standout & their emotions palpable. Marte Gracia’s colors underscore the bleakness of Graymalkin’s current state under Corina Ellis. He uses small moments of vibrancy to draw the reader in during key moments. This creative team isn’t holding back for this story and the scene with Beast being beaten to a pulp by Graymalkin guards was the clearest example.

Overall, this was a really exciting start to the event and I’m eager to see what the Uncanny creative team has in store to up the ante in the next chapter. So far, MacKay’s doing his usual top tier writing and the art team is matching him stride for stride. more

I'm not sure where this "Adamantine" thing is going, but it's an aspect of Wolverine that hasn't been explored in this way before so I'm interested. The art was quite good and so was the writing.

Interesting issue, curious where the Adamantine plot goes, otherwise another good issue. Ahmed's characterization of Logan is great.

Solid kick-off issue. The art was good and the writing was mostly ok. Some of it was a little corny, and the "body language" guy was kinda lame. This is an interesting way to start up the new direction for Venom, a "who is it" mystery, similar to Vengeance of Moon Knight. I'm onboard for now.

Incredible. Absolutely incredible. I'd give it a 20 out of 10 if I could. The art was sublime, the writing was impeccable. McKay has a great grasp of the characters' voices and tones. I love the story, this is a very interesting stage in X-Men history. If I had to come up with one gripe it would be Beast's eye shadow or whatever is going on around his eyes, I don't like it. But that is inconsequential in the discussion of how great this book is and has been. Can't wait for UXM7. more

The snakes part was pretty good, interesting twist at the end. The Victorious part was fine until she just kinda changed her mind. It was a bit too abrupt in my opinion, ignoring much better arguments and then finally seeing reason after the weakest argument given. The writing was fine and the art was solid, decent issue.

Fun issue, solid writing and art. Mojo is always a good villain, and this was a good setting for a Mojo story. I appreciate the personality being shown among the characters. Hope we see more of Local and Mojo and that plot isn't dropped.

Really good story, great writing and good art. Love the angle they're taking and the issues they're addressing. Also, a side note: "Lao Ban"'s name probably refers to "boss" in Chinese. They mention that no one knows his real name but everyone calls him Lao Ban, which can mean Boss. I didn't see that explained anywhere in the book.

Really good breather issue, letting the impact of the previous issue settle a bit. The writing and art were very good, and I appreciated the insight into how each member is handling the loss. Also appreciated the display of how the media is twisting reality. Good book.

The second story with the Darklings was a lot of fun, the other two were meh. The art is meh all the way through. Not bad, but not special at all. Pretty standard stuff for Christmas specials, aside from the Darklings story. That one was pretty standard structure, but the humor made it stand out a bit. Skippable book, but I'm glad I got it anyway.

No Absolute book has been less than a 10 in my opinion so far, and this one is no different. Love the interactions between WW and Steve, love the Lovecraftian monster threat, love the tone, the art is pretty good, the writing is great, everything is just top tier story telling.

Enjoyable corporate drama, with Tony appealing to the board members to no avail. Solid art and good writing, I'm enjoying the direction of the relaunch. Bonus points for the ZZ Stark look.

Classic X-Men drama, I'm loving the new characters and one of them might be the "mutant who sees all other mutants die", intriguing. The school bully was pretty cookie cutter, but he wasn't the focus anyway. Great stuff, my only complaint is the art took a bit of a dip in this issue, same as last. We need David Marquez back.

Incredible story, every page is interesting both visually and story-wise. The backup stories were mostly good too, I probably enjoyed She-Hulk's the most, short and mysterious.

Amazing story and writing, the art was pretty good. Donny's physical transformation is freaky, disturbing and sad, while his determination to save the other mutants in the pit is heroic and inspiring in the face of overwhelming odds. This is a great new start for the book and I'm enthralled by the direction. Great stuff.

Loving the new villain. The writing and art are both really good. Very interesting story overall, enjoying this book a lot.

Extremely interesting story, and very well written and drawn. This "fountain of youth" plot works great in the Gotham setting, and the moral conundrum for Batman/Bruce Wayne is good drama. Superman's perspective was very well done and felt right for the character. Great issue all around.

I really like how this story is structured, bouncing back and forth between the time of the fight and Canary's "training". Interesting so far, we'll see how it plays out.

This issue is the same as the previous ones, hilarious, well drawn, well written, and dirty. I hope this series never ends.

Another great issue, but I didn't think it was quite as great as the previous two. Still absolutely great though. The art was solid and the story is still interesting. The writing is great and relatable as a parent. DWJ doesn't miss.

I loved the writing and the world building and the general plot. The characters are easily likeable/hateable and well defined. The story is well developed and efficient. I would definitely pick this up every month if it became a regular series.

My one complaint is the art. My god it was atrocious. Looked like a child's doodles. Some of the worst art I've seen in a comic from a main publisher in a while. Luckily the writing and story made up for it, because this was one ugly book. more

As a psychological thriller this was for me a perfect take on Selina. All the elements of the Bourne Identity wrapped up in one of my all time favourite characters. Add in a bit of Mafia and it's a home run. The only thing was the art wasn't quite up to the story telling and although didn't spoil it at all , it could have been a whole lot better. Selina really needs a much stronger artist going forward.......JM more

Good finish to a solid tie-in series. Art was solid, writing was good. It fit well within the event, exactly how a tie-in should. Worthwhile series, I enjoyed it.

This book was less than the sum of its parts in my opinion. The art was good, the writing was good, and yet I found myself mostly bored by it. So much time spent on Wolverine's interactions with the Wendigo dragged it down. I know it's just a personal preference thing, a kid wendigo who is struggling to retain some of his own mind sounds cool enough on paper, but I was just bored. I think I'll start enjoying this more with the next arc, with the gold tainted adamantium or whatever is going on there and Lady Deathstrike and Cypher. Wolverine has one of the best rogues galleries in my opinion, below Batman but above Spider-man (whose rogues I've always though were overrated beyond Green Goblin), and I like seeing someone other than Sabretooth getting some shine. Looking forward to seeing where this goes. more

Fun little Jeffventure, as it should be. The art is great, the writing is sufficient, nothing to complain about with this one.

I want to love this book, I really do. Storm is one of my favorite comic characters. But it just doesn't feel right for Storm. It's not grand enough, for one. The writing doesn't work for me, and the story just feels meh. The art is really good, and because I love the character so much I'm going to stick with this and hope it gets better, but it is entirely unimpressive so far.

This is a much better than average "Spider-Gwen" story, or any spider-side character for that matter. These are often boring, cookie cutter filler just to capitalize on their Spider-adjacency. I'm actually enjoying this one and it feels like it could be a long term regular series, fully integrating Gwen into the main universe, establishing regular allies and foes, trying to find a foundation to build upon. This issue was a bit of a breather with Gwen on stakeout for most of the issue, but I enjoyed Jessica's scene and Gwen's romantic musings. The art really grew on me, after the first couple pages I was very unimpressed but starting with the panel where Gwen's hood retracted and showed her face I started enjoying the art very much. The writing was also very good, with everyone sounding natural and like believable people with real personalities. Also, I have to mention the Mark Brooks cover. I love it. I want a virgin version. Brooks is so good at a few styles of art and I love the little cherub versions of Spidey and Black Cat as well as the layout of Gwen and BT in the heart. So good. more