I have, for the most part, enjoyed this mini-series.  It is always refreshing to see writers exercise their creativity by using our favorite characters in different situations than with what we’re normally acquainted.  The noir take on the X-Men as outlaws in the 1930s is intriguing, and reading Van Lente maintain the integrity of these characters has been fun and exciting.  Calero’s art has also been phenomenal and perfectly fits the mood of the book.

Despite all that, the third issue felt a little off.  For the most part, I understood the events occurring in the book, but for some reason, this particular issue had a number of confusing pages and panels.  Either I didn’t catch the transitional elements from scene to scene or there was a little bit of a disconnect between Van Lente’s script and Calero’s pencils making the story-telling a little muddled.

There is also something unsettling about a four issue mini that is about to end with a number of loose ends still left unresolved.  Van Lente’s decision to do this makes sense from a story-telling perspective as this issue was meant to set all the pieces for the finale, but the length of this series doesn’t give the readers enough time to get reacquainted with the characters in this universe.  Although, yes, we already know who these characters are, Van Lente leaves us in the dark as to how they all fit in.  Is there more to the X Men than just being outlaws?  What about Xavier?  We can only hope that everything gets answered in the final issue.

EDIT:  I removed the rhetorical question about Wolverine’s appearance since the murder mystery started with Jean Grey having three claw marks.