We are trapped in the Shadow King’s web. All strands have led here. We have seen sacrifice, battle, manipulation, lies and the darkest truths. Now, at last, Charles Xavier and his X-Men will save one world and lose another.

Writer Charles Soule has talking about his goals for Astonishing X-Men and the return of Professor X has been one he’s mentioned a few times. We’ve seen him on the Astral Plane, but will he move to the physical world? That’s answered here in Astonishing X-Men #6. After lots of set up, Soule delivers a solid conclusion to the first act of this epic.

Though the final reveal seems a bit obvious and choreographed for some time, it’s still cool to see but feels very “X” in a way. In this series, Soule has done a solid job of capturing the feel of some classic X-Men comics with the twists, turns, and action.

The art by Mike Del Mundo is really interesting and I generally enjoy it. There’s something that feels like it’s really fitting with the story arc having a lot to do with the Astral Plane. There’s some issues with a little bit of detail but it’s the big picture to check out and in that case, it looks great. The characters look solid and the action is presented in an entertaining way. It really fits the story.

This is a great final chapter to the first arc of what Soule’s setting up. There’s a goal here and the use of the Shadow King is a nice nod to the character’s increased recognition due to Legion. There’s also something a little different about this Professor X and Soule has me really intrigued to see where he takes the character. This is a key issue that will have folks talking.

Story: Charles Soule Art: Michael Del Mundo
Story: 7.95 Art: 7.95 Overall: 7.95 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review