Morrison has definitely brought a more thoughtful and socio-political tone to this title, but at times, it seems as though he also looks back at what have become standard X-Men conventions to the point of cliche. This is one of those times. I have confidence he will draw me into this plot in future chapters, but some rather ordinary plotting (by X-Men standards) and uneven artwork make for a subpar issue.
Wolverine... breaks up a mutant slave trade in Afghanistan, and in the process he bumps into a couple of mutants. One is Fantomex, AKA Weapon XIII, but he's just in town on business (the business of blackmail). The other is a woman clad in a burka, surrounded by the dead bodies of those who sought to enslave her. Meanwhile, Professor X faces off againt terrorists in Indian airspace, but the real threats may lie within two of the women closest to him.
Van Sciver's art on this issue is richly detailed, but it's also overexaggerated. In the opening sequence, Wolverine's nastier side is emphasized to the point that he looks a bit odd, bordering on silly. Another distraction is one of the mutant staffers at the Mumbai branch of the X-Corporation. It's Feral, a Rob Liefeld creation from the early days of X-Force. I know it's a Liefeld design, but that doesn't mean she has to look quite laughable. Overall, the art here is capable, but its more striking aspects are negative ones rather than impressive.
Morrison's incorporation of real-world ills beyond the simple racism analogy inherent to the X-Men concept remains intact here, and it doesn't cross the line into gratuitous or sensationalist. Mind you, his references to previous storylines might not offer up the most accessible of reads to those who haven't been following his run on the title. The same can be said of his references to 1980s X-Men storylines as well.
Morrison turns his attention back to the potential threat that Jean Grey and the Phoenix manifestation pose to the universe, and a rare disappointment in his storytelling accompanies it. While I think Morrison is capable of doing something different and new with the idea, so far, I haven't seen it. It seems to me that he's rehashing the classoic Chris Claremont/John Byrne Death of Phoenix storyline from the 1980s, and it's one that's been rehashed enough as it is. I also don't see why Fantomex had to turn up in this issue, save to bring Weapon XIII face-to-face with Weapon X in a gratuitous bad-ass scene.
