Review: Uncanny X-Men #4

It seems Gillen is using villain exposition as more than a prostethic tool for prose these days, given that Phalanx follows suit into rambling, much like Sinister did since the revamp. Also, it's ironic that Sinister plays a part in the book, and it's even more ironic that Phalanx adapts a synthoid world much akin to what Sinister did in the previous 3 issues. It's hard not to draw parallels here, but I don't know what irks me on the book. I usually love Gillen and Ponsor/Peterson do well on the art, but Gillen meanders and meanders too much for my taste. It's a bunch of talking and non-action which jump into a lot of anticlimactic finales.
He seems to be using that recipe for this title a bit too much, and it isn't a good thing given the sparkling and dynamic cast he has to play with.

There's potential for romantic attrition, not to mention arcs such as Ororo's place, Betsy's alliance truly, the Rasputins etc and I'm sure I'm being overzealous and anxious to jump the gun, but so far, he's botched Sinister and this issue to me. These 2 villains should have been kept for later on but then again, he wanted to open with a bang, and there isn't much leeway till half-time because that's the everlasting commercial known as AvX. That contraband aside, Sinister and Phalanx annoy me in modern books, and I just couldn't stomach much of them here. It's personal. Not business. (4/10)