While we’ve been addressing each of the Uncanny X-Men one has stood out as apparently not having any problems – Magick. Last issue we were shown just how much that wasn’t the case as Magick had been dragged to Limbo and back. In fact Limbo when she was there was falling apart just as her powers were and Dormammu was making a play for taking control of the realm. The real downside? She was dragged into Limbo once more at the very end of the comic though was forced to pull all of the Uncanny X-Men through with her!

Usually a full on team of X-Men headed by Cyclops, Magneto, and Emma Frost might not be too concerned about an evil magic using creature such as Dormammu with all of their power sets combined. However, they are all still hurting from their interaction with the Phoenix and none have the ability to really use their powers to the fullest. With that in mind Cyclops still tries giving a full on force shot to the demon with nearly no effect.

What happens from here on out is an all out brawl between the X-Men and the demons in limbo with a few interesting twists. While the majority of the comic is set in a serious tone there is a bit of amusement as they flash through the quick description of each of the new mutants that have signed on for Cyclops’s cause. While on the one hand all of their new students are completely terrified and don’t know how to react we also have a bonus for the X-Men here. Emma had recruited the Cuckoos.

Emma orders the Cuckoos to not turn into their diamond forms and go against a golden rule she’s instilled in them. She then enters the minds of the students and use mind control and removes their fear making them warriors or else there will be no hope of survival. I can’t wait to see how this plays out both with the other students as well as how it changes the dynamic between the Cuckoos and Emma.

Throughout this entire battle Limbo has never looked this good. If the Hell he has created out of Limbo looks this amazing I really want him on any book that deals with the actual Hell in Marvel Universe (at least for the scenes that show it!) Dormammu and Magik (stuck in her Darkchylde guise) are beautifully rendered in a way I have not yet seen before.

While the X-Men are always the focus in their own title we’re getting a new little mixture here. S.H.I.E.L.D. has almost never had too much to do with the X-Men. Sure Nick Fury has stepped in now and again or there’s been something minor. However things are changing here. S.H.I.E.L.D. now has the X-Men firmly on their radar and Maria Hill wants the agency to be able to keep tabs on them. To do this they’ve hired a new agent – Dazzler. Fresh off the mess of X-Treme X-Men we do see Dazzler returning to a regular X-Men comic though not quite the way I had expected. The last thing I was seeing would be Dazzler working for S.H.I.E.L.D. to track mutant kind. While I can see her easily falling into wanting to help mutants after the ordeal she had just gone through this almost feels like too unlike her. Also the only downside I could really feel about the entire issue is that she seemed far too bubbly and upbeat compared to what she had just gone through.

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Frazer Irving