Written by: Ed Brisson, Matthew Rosenberg, and Kelly Thompson
Art by: Pere Perez, Rachelle Rosenberg, and VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 26, 2018

I haven’t been digging this new Uncanny X-Men book at all. As a newer reader, I was pumped when it was announced, but even I can tell that it’s been pretty much the greatest hits/cliches of the X-Men and it’s a real shame. Throw in the fact that the story also feels disjointed and has left characterization behind in favor of “big moments” and it’s no wonder that I don’t see many people talking about it in a positive light. But hey, that can all change with one issue, right? Let’s see if this is that issue…

With all the problems with this weekly series, one of them hasn’t been the art. This issue looks good, despite the drab surroundings, with a big plus being the character models. Pere Perez and Rachelle Rosenberg brought their A game…I just wish the writers did as well.

Last issue’s cliffhanger left Rockslide, Pixie, Armor and Glob banished in the Age of Apocalypse with X-Man. It looked cool with most of the characters changed up (and on fire) and I was looking forward to seeing how they were changed and how they would get the hell back to their world.

Well, we open this issue with a time jump that could be months or years depending on who you ask and while I am guessing a bit of time paradox at play, I would like to know what gives. The big problem here, though, is that the team is split up with little explanation and the issue drags on with bad transitions and a fight that was not earned in the least.

The two sides are Rockslide and Pixie vs Glob and Armor and it seems that they are at odds on what to do with X-Man. Pixie makes it very clear she wants him dead, while Armor wants to use him to get back home. As for Rockslide and Glob…they just want to fight each other.

We do get to see some Age of Apocolypse trappings along the way, but they are very minor and make way quickly to bickering and punching. The worst part comes at the end when all it takes Armor to flip-flop is the idea that they are at war. I mean, Pixie spells it out pretty well that if they make it back home with Nate, he will likely just get back to cleansing the world and I agree…so how could Armor not realize this the whole time? Maybe if we spent a little time with her after they ended up here, it would have made more sense and had more impact.

The issue ends with another wow moment cliffhanger but I guess I am a bit fatigued by it all because I just closed the book without really caring. While I like that this issue went a bit of a different route than the previous six and seemed to want to focus on the new recruits, it ended up being a bunch of nothing for an entire issue with the turning point again being something that happened just because it had to happen.

Final Thoughts:

While this issue will make all the Glob fans (?) out there smile, it doesn’t do much else. An odd time jump coupled with the lack of information makes it hard to understand and care what’s going on. I liked the art in this issue, but the story that hasn’t done much to hook me up to this point just stalls out.

5.5/10