The danger stalking the X-Men gets clearer in Uncanny X-Men #3, by writers Ed Brisson, Kelly Thompson, and Matthew Rosenberg, artist Yildiray Cinar, colorist Rachel Rosenberg, and letterer Joe Caramagna. This issue is packed to the gills with action and reveals, all the while adding a new concept to the X-mythos.

Jean’s team is able to contain the dinosaur attack, and goes to help Storm’s team with their Multiple Men situation. At the X-Mansion, Legion, Professor X’s estranged, schizophrenic son, asks the young X-Men to help him in his quest to save the world. The X-Men are able to stop the Multiple Men and discover the prime Jamie Madrox, who reveals who caused the horde. The X-Men race back to the Mansion, but are confronted with something entirely new.

The pace picks up in this one, as the writers drop multiple bombshells. The cause of the Multiple Men and the unnatural disasters worldwide was pretty easy to guess, but there’s a very cool wrinkle to the Multiple Men that takes something that was telegraphed last issue and makes it a little more interesting. The reveal at the end is a true surprise, and a bit of a new thing in the X-mythos. However, it’s only a bit new. It takes a concept that X-fans are quite familiar with and changes it up just a bit, enough to get readers to wonder what’s going to happen next.

The real strong point of this book has been the way the characters interact with each other, and this issue is no exception. The X-Men feel like the family they would have become over the years. They make jokes, they watch each other’s back, and they gel seamlessly. This isn’t a perfect series, but having the X-Men back together and acting this way after what readers have gotten since Schism is a breath of fresh air. For long time X-fans, this iteration of Uncanny X-Men has a lot of old hat stuff in it--well executed old hat, but old hat nonetheless. However, it feels like 90s Uncanny X-Men, with a large cast of characters who worked, loved, and fought together for years, and that makes up for a lot.

Yildiray Cinar’s art is good, but much like the second issue, it’s nothing special. It’s cleaned and detailed most of the time, but the pencils seem almost blurry on long shots. The coloring is a little dark in places and that doesn’t do the pencils any favors, either.

Uncanny X-Men #3 ups the ante, ending the first third of this ten week story with two big reveals. The characterization is perfect, and the highlight of the whole thing. The art and coloring are mostly good, with a few noticeable deficiencies. The big reveal at the end should keep readers on the edge of their seats, though, and makes up for a lot.

Grade: B