I loves me some Bachalo drawn pages! Unfortunately, I think he has toned his work down, after years of harsh reviews from his critics. Nonetheless, his work in this book was still good. I am a little disappointed that my LCS didn't have the 1:15 Bachalo cover, so i had to settle on this Dodson rendition.
The story itself, written by Victor Gischler, was just okay. The X-Men, aided by Spider-Man work their way through a series of clues to try and solve why a slew teens have been going missing. The link that draws Spidey and the X-Crew together being the reports of "lizard-like" beings abducting the children.
Each member of the team recalls their conversations with family members and school peers about the missing children. Gischler tends to be a little heavy handed with the social theme around bullying, coming across as a bit repetitive rather than enlightening. Not that I don't think the theme is worth addressing. He just doesn't seem to address it with any degree of insight past surface observations.
There is little doubt in my mind that this story has potential. And Bachalo is the perfect man to draw a subterranean sewer environment (not to mention a mean looking Lizard!) Only time will tell if Gischler can pull off this story without coming across as too preachy!