The Good

John Sublime’s similarly-but-differently-powered sister Arkea was far from finished after the first arc in this series and this issue sees her triumphant, if slightly unexpected, return to corporeal form. With a newly repowered Enchantress and fully upgraded Deathstrike and Typhoid Mary, the odds are a little more even in the Sisterhood’s favor, but Monet still has a card or two up her sleeve and there are a couple of obscure allies joining the fray. Brian Wood splits time and focus between the two main factions, but has time to toss in a few characters on the side as well, resulting in a book that is long on content, but never loses track of each character’s individual voice and actually has surprisingly little exposition and even a fair amount of action. I especially like the interaction that Deathstrike has with Arkea, explaining why, despite their upgrades, one X-Man (Monet) is likely more than enough to ruin them. Arkea’s solution is...definitely a new spin on an old classic.

Terry and Rachel Dodson return on pencils and inks and continue to bring their dark, cartoonish style to this story and, as has been true in the past, it works wonders. This isn’t a whimsical issue, though there certainly are touches of whimsy, but the Dodsons’ style is very adaptable to situations requiring either joy or sorrow, conversation or action and this issue highlights that ESPECIALLY. From the Sisterhood’s plotting and dealing to Monet’s explosive entrance, most every panel is beautifully, clearly and sharply realized with, surprisingly, three colorists: Jason Keith, Nolan Woodard, and Andres Mossa.

The Bad

As much and as well as Wood keeps his character’s distinct personalities and voices clear, this is an issue with far too much going on inside of it. Between Rachel Grey interrogating John Sublime, Storm and Psylocke meeting up with Gabriel Shepherd and Sabra, Jubilee and Karima run tactical support (inhaaaaaaaaaaale) with the Sisterhood and Monet meeting across the world, it feels like (even when certain groups join up) that no one gets full focus, causing the issue to feel fragmented. And as great as the art is, two or three panels have very awkward faces, two of which caused me to lose track of who was which character.

The Verdict

There’s so much to love about this comic, that the few flaws are, by no means, dealbreakers. This is actually a surprisingly original and unique idea for a storyline using a great many underappreciated, underrepresented characters, giving the book its own distinct feel despite being still another X-Men title. Standing out for so many reasons in such a deep, wide field is admirable enough, but standing out while telling a story this interesting and new deserves very special mention and these visuals are still as easy on the eyes as they ever were, while containing enough strength to practically burst through the panels.

From an outsiders perspctive, I fing myself more connecting to this than Avengers Assemble. I dont know what is the big deal with all the praise kelly sue gets.

i know what u meant with the faces , last few pages i didn't recognize Karima and wondered that was since M was fighting lol

I found really weird and nonsense that Amora the Enchantress´s power is restored by technology and this would overcome Lord Odin´s spells, I find it ridiculous and bad written.

This was definitely an off issue for me. Arkea is a boring nemesis. I'd much rather have seen the team versus JUST the Sisterhood.

Artwise, I was distracted by the fact that so many characters are depicted pointing, sometimes for no discernable reason. It seemed like a lazy choice that was repeated ad nauseum.

I also found it interesting that the reviewer cited the characters each having a unique voice. I found it to be the opposite. In fact, both Rachel and Deathstrike used the phrase "explain that comment."

Glad I found a comment which matched my take on this. Amora is beyond all this, period. Bad character choice in becoming part of a "sisterhood" of anything. This is the Enchantress. She's worth a million Deathstrikes, Typhoid Marys and this tired reincarnation (yet again) of Arkea.

As for the art -- I really could not tell Karima from Monet (again). And there is rushing of the story everywhere. I liked that the X-Men worked well together in gathering intel and logistically, but I was a little thrown by the appearance of Sabra and Gabriel.

I don't want to complain too much because I adore so many of the characters getting a chance to shine here (even the villains) but it is beginning to come off a little haphazard. I am hoping the following issues will deal with this.

Although seriously -- please -- make Monet look like Monet. Consistently. No blue eyes one panel, murky the next with nothing to really differentiate her from Karima. Other than that, I am enjoying the art and the looks given to Lady Deathstrike and even Typhoid Mary.

(oh, and since I am being overly critical, another request would be to get rid of the whole overpowering-Odin's-suppression-of-Amora's-powers. It's confusing and nonsensical. Thanks. :P)

i'm just grateful for any exposure Typhoid Mary gets, I've loved her since her Daredevil days