New X-Men #38

New X-Men #38
I know, last issue, I said that I really enjoyed the art. It's true, I did. Of course, nothing really happened last issue, and half of it was comprised of "storybook" pages. In this next issue though, we get a look at what Skottie Young's style for illustrating this book is going to be. Unfortunately, the art really doesn't match with the tone of the story. In fact, characters look so markedly different that unless they're referred to by name, they're nearly unidentifiable. Action sequences are nearly impossible to decipher. The lack of captions for locations and characters makes it even more difficult to enjoy the art - basically, because apart from their obvious physiological dissimilarities, every single one of the kids has nearly the same face. Additionally, we haven't seen many of these characters in nearly a year. A recap page with pictures and brief bios would be helpful.
I had some hopes for this arc. However, the story seems to be taking a macabre turn once again, with senseless death again characterizing the tone of the book. Not uplifting in the slightest. And you know, it really should be. This is a book about children, for god's sake, and I don't particularly like to read about children being slaughtered.
Not good. In fact, I'm going to have to go with AWFUL.