Uncanny X-Men #16 - Marvel Comics

UNCANNY X-MEN No. 16, August 2025

It’s probably a safe bet that a fair number of this twenty-page periodical’s readers probably felt its series of almost sickly sweet conclusions were rather anti-climactic at best. In fact, apart from one magical moment where Doctor Theodore Sallis’ slime-covered alter-ego is sensationally launched against the death-like deity Shuvahrak, almost the entirety of “The Voice Of Darkness” is frustratingly filled with missed opportunities; “All I know for certain is whoever knows fear burns at the touch of the Man-Thing.”

For starters, the notion that perhaps having a farm load of super-powered refugees living nearby is not sitting all that well with the inhabitants of New Orleans, is finally revealed to be quite the reverse – with the metropolis’ mayor actually announcing that the "Big Easy” will from now on be “the country’s first mutant friendship city” due to all the ‘normal’ lives they’ve apparently saved. This concept is definitely a bit bemusing, considering that “the shoppers at a popular waterfront mall” wouldn’t have been in danger in the first place if it wasn’t for the Outliers visiting the plaza, and resultantly just smacks of Gail Simone creating an all-too convenient alternative to the safe haven of Krakoa.

In addition, the potential of a deranged robotic Bloodhound murderously bounding into Haven House and massacring its inhabitants is infuriatingly nipped in the bud within the space of three panels. Alongside disagreeable secret agent Miller simply being disbelieved by his fellow operatives that a mutant sanctuary exists in the Mississippi swamplands and resultantly getting sacked, these highly disappointing outcomes suggest that the American author suddenly just got tired of the sub-plots, and decided to wrap them up as soon as the comic's script allowed.

Lastly, but by no means least though, has to be the actual ending of the author’s long-running “Dark Artery” narrative, which sees the mysterious entity behind Deathdream’s journey into the accursed underground hell-town known as Penumbra, implausibly decide to give up her desire for a replacement on some emotional whim. This unconvincing call comes completely out of the blue, and is supposedly due to Jubilee – who up until this moment has had no interaction with the sinister spirit whatsoever – convincing Shuvahrak that she is sympathetic to the grieving goddess’ loss of a daughter..!?!

The regular cover art to "UNCANNY X-MEN" #16 by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson