The X-Men and the Fantastic Four must regroup and address the unexpected catastrophe, while the effects of 3K’s Chairman’s scheme have only begun to be felt! But the Chairman soon learns that even his plans have flaws… DNX #4 is the penultimate chapter that sets up the final confrontation while answering some questions.

The X-Virus has been released and the X-Men and Fantastic Four have a plan to stop the spread. But, DNX #4 is really focused on the Chairman as he looks at the results of his plan and… is disappointed. Written by Jed MacKay, DNX #4 is a decent chapter in the overall event that does a good job of balancing a few threads.

Where DNX #4 really succeeds is finally really explaining, well at least teasing, where things went so wrong with the future X-Men’s plans in swapping minds that helped lead to the current situation. The future version of Beast, who looks a lot like the current evil Beast, dances around and teases that in the future, there’s one Beast and they messed up forgetting there were two in our time. It gets around and answers an interesting question as to what went wrong and how things messed up. But the rather Beast focused issue shows off the results of the Chairman’s actions. Again, MacKay gives it a nice twist to ponder and allow readers to debate how far the Chairman has gone and how much further he may go. All of this leads to the final issue’s confrontation and who knows where it all goes.

The art by Federico Vicentini is good. With color by David Curiel and Clayton Cowles, it delivers a sort of “creature feature” when we see the results of the Chairman’s actions and there it succeeds in a fun B-movie sort of way that the overall event story has. And, the comic does pack a lot into it with quite a cast of X-Men and Fantastic Four and O.N.E. too. The comic’s visuals fit the comic well.

DNX #4 has a fun aspect about it. As said above, it delivers a sort of B-movie “creature feature” horror read and feels like it mines campy films with over the top concepts while also delivering some action and paying off over a year of build up. It’s not the strongest issue in the event but does a nice job of moving the story along and building towards the finale.

Story: Jed MacKay Art: Federico Vicentini
Color: David Curiel Letters: Clayton Cowles
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle

While 3K’s counterstroke has shocked the X-Men, Philadelphia is no less in the shadow of disaster as the Chairman’s spoilsport plan comes into effect! The X-Men must look to the least of their number, while the Fantastic Four fight against time to deliver the data that can save the day! DNX #3 ups the action as the X-Men must deal with multiple disasters.

I’ve generally enjoyed the DNX storyline as it feels lit gets a bit back to basics for the X-Men. The X-Men are protecting everyone while the opposing side wants to expand the mutant nation to rule over humans. With the Fantastic Four mixed in, the event has been an interesting one that while short, it does a good job of wrapping up recent storylines while delivering a big bombastic battle. DNX #3 is a good issue when it comes to that battle with it clearly over for the Chairman and the X-Virus set loose. That’s not all, a giant ship is bearing down on Philadelphia threatening a second disaster.

Written by Jed MacKay, the comic is interesting and feels like a nice chapter of the overall story, but that’s the thing, it’s a chapter. This is an event taking place in the DNX miniseries as well as X-Men and Fantastic Four. This issue shows, if you haven’t been reading those other series, you’re missing out and missing key information. This is one where the main series can’t be read and appreciate on its own, it relies on its tie-ins for the main story, not ancillary information. It also relies heavily on readers having kept up with the X-Men, making it an interesting one for Fantastic Four readers not interested. A key character in this issue has been around since the beginning of the latest X-Men volume and if you haven’t been reading that series, the moments don’t hit in any way special. Still, there’s something fun about the issue and series as a whole.

The art by Federico Vicentini captures the chaos. With color by David Curiel and lettering by Clayton Cowles, the comic swings big in visuals and nails the frantic nature of what’s going on. The characters look great and it has a lot of visually dramatic moments. But, with a virus loose and a city panicking, the comic doesn’t quite capture any of that well. It all feels like after thoughts for the bigger action going on.

DNX #3 is one with big moments for a few characters. But, their moments flounder without knowledge from other comics. It’s an event that’s not so much contained but playing off of multiple years worth of storytelling and where each issue is key. With all of that, DNX #3 comes off as a sliver of a greater picture instead of big moments to be appreciated on their own.

Story: Jed MacKay Art: Federico Vicentini
Color: David Curiel Letters: Clayton Cowles
Story: 7.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle