This is a very well done action oriented issue that is reminiscent of the kind of battle royales that Chris Claremont used to write for the X-Men. With Claremont, the villain was often Magneto, and the X-Men were battling just to stay in the game versus an opponent who overmatched them. The villain in this comic is Exodus, a character with whom I am not familiar, because I think he was introduced in the ‘90’s, an era when I gave up on reading comics. Exodus appears to have a whole suite of powers that makes him more than a match for Wolverine and the teachers from the Jean Grey School. There isn’t much time for character interaction in this book, and one of the only significant character moments comes with Wolverine and Rogue disagreeing on strategy. Wolverine wants the East Coast X-Men to stop Exodus, or die trying, while Rogue has called in reinforcements from Cyclops’ team. Interestingly, the West Coast X-Men who answer Rogue’s call are Hope’s team. Exodus wants to kill Cyclops for endangering the mutant messiah, and Wolverine doesn’t want the young uns involved in combat, so it will be interesting to see how this conflict is resolved. David Baldeon has an idiosyncratic approach to drawing the human face, with all of his characters looking long faced and rather horsey. Except for that one detraction, his pencils are really quite appealing. Baldeon does a fine job with technology, landscapes (the action scenes take place in a wilderness area) and bodies. The action is depicted in a clear and dynamic manner. Mark Brooks contributes a beautiful, dramatic cover to this comic that focuses on Rogue’s torn costume and scrapped and bruised body.