ENTER: DOCTOR STASIS!
The X-Men’s new nemesis finally makes himself known to them, bringing his creations to bear. Mutants may have conquered death, but their foes are all too living…
Publication Date
Publisher
Format
Kindle Edition
Print Lenght
25 pages
Language
English
Price
$1.99
Amazon ASIN
B09CR6YJLV
10 Critic Ratings & Reviews from:
- 100
Fortress of Solitude
- 90
AIPT
X-Men #5 is a great issue that leads into the holidays with a mix of heightened emotions. The X-Men are the world's newest -- and possibly best -- superhero team, and yet danger looms not only from the man watching them but from humans who may find out their greatest secret. In the end, this issue will make you love Polaris even more while the larger story's stakes rise. - 84
The Super Powered Fancast
The Story: I liked a lot of this issue. There are some fun interactions between the characters. The character relationships and team dynamics are strong and interesting. Everything with Scott and Urich continues to be compelling and entertaining. Even the moments with Lorna and her doubt are interesting. Unfortunately, the story feels all over the place most of the time and that makes it hard to appreciate those character moments because you’re trying to determine when and where this particular moment is happening. The Art: Pina and Carlos deliver some impressive and fun visuals throughout the issue. The art is stellar and the action is thrilling throughout. - 82
Comic Watch
X-Men #5 is a capable installment which splits itself between x-heroics and some character introspection, while pushing ongoing plotlines a few steps forward. It tries a little too hard to justify some past choices in my opinion but that doesnt stop it from being an entertaining yarn nonetheless. - 80
ComicBook.com
X-Men #5 puts the spotlight on X-Men fan vote winner Polaris, delving into the reasons for joining—after attempting to reject—the mutant superhero team. In doing this, Gerry Duggan provides some closure for fans torn by Lorna exiting the ongoing X-Factor series. It's a stellar day(s)-in-the-life style story told with distance narration giving it an old school, 70/80s superhero style tone, and it's all elevated by Pepe Larraz's always incredible artwork with a few pages from Ze Carlos. To cap the issue off, we get a few pages suggesting that the X-Men's best-kept secret—their mastery over death and resurrection—may be a secret no longer. It's a stellar issue, especially for fans of Lorna Dane, some of the best art currently offered by the superhero genre. - 74
The Comicbook Dispatch
Ultimately, X-MEN #5 can be summarized in about two sentences making the cover price seem a bit too much for this issue. However, readers do get an excellent exposé on Polaris that gives fans searching for that a solid foundation of the character moving forward. If that’s what you’re looking for, pick this bad boy up! Nevertheless, if you were looking for a team book that progresses the story ahead, manages all the characters well, and does so all while unveiling some clever twists and turns, this week’s X-MEN just won’t do it for you. Right now, it almost seems like Duggan has the title a bit too scattered in multiple directions, which is what makes this issue hurt a bit more than it should. X-MEN #5 could have been an opportunity to put some of these moving pieces together. But instead, we learn about a character and her confidence issues that we didn’t know were there until this issue began. - 70
But Why Tho?
X-Men #5 is a stumble from the series' previous hot streak, featuring some baffling storytelling and character decisions. Hopefully, the next issue will keep characterization in focus as it introduces the newest member of the mutant heroes. - 65
Comic Book Revolution
X-Men #5 was another solid issue in this series that has become one of Marvel's most consistent monthly titles. Gerry Duggan does a good job providing some development for Polaris' character and pushing the greater narrative around Orchis' plot forward. The final few pages of X-Men #5 sets the stage for the next issue of this series to be a highly important comic book in this era for the franchise. - 50
Henchman-4-Hire
I don’t think Duggan did a very good job establishing anything concrete about Polaris. I thought he was going somewhere with Lorna being melancholy and perhaps Jean changing her mind to join the X-Men, but nope, that was revealed as Lorna’s idea all along. The rest of the Lorna scenes are still more of just her being a generic person. Her fight against the Reavers also didn’t work for me. So the Reavers are powerful enough to take out all but one of the X-Men, and somehow Lorna is able to defeat them by swinging Wolverine’s body around? That doesn’t feel, to me, like an effective way to use Wolverine. Also, Lorna then takes the sunglasses off one of the Reavers because hers got destroyed…ew. You don’t know where those sunglasses have been, Lorna. Also, this Ben Urich story just doesn’t work for me. Overall, the idea works just fine. The mutants have invented true resurrection and that’s pretty big worldwide news. It’s the how of Ben Urich’s work that isn’t working for me. He knows Jumbo Carnation is alive again, he knows Cyclops is alive again following a space mission, and he knows that a grave labeled “Nathan Summers” is empty. And through that, he’s decided mutants have solved death? Even though nearly every major superhero Ben Urich writes about has died and come back from the dead at some point, some multiple times? It just feels like a big stretch that this is how Ben Urich, of all people, is uncovering that mutants have this resurrection system. It’s not like the mutants have been hiding how many of them are now back from the dead. And yet only little old Ben Urich notices? Try as he might, Duggan can’t seem to find any solid ground for Polaris as a character. - 0
You Don't Read Comics
X-Men #5 is a terrible comic. There's really no other way to put it. Duggan messes up from the first page and then never really recovers. In fact, he continually makes the book worse and worse until the end. This is kind of okay until it gets to the part with the big bad with a parabolic microphone watching Cyclops and Urich through a window. Pina and Carlos get nothing great to draw, and their art is fine, except for the Reavers, who look sooo very bad. This issue isn't comically bad, where can you laugh at it. It's just really, really bad.
