Astonishing X-Men #36

The Roxxon corporation have plans for Monster Island but so does the evil Mentallo. How will the X-Men and the monstrous inhabitance of the island factor into these plans? 
 
The Good: 
We get some good interactions between the X-Men, specifically Armor and Wolverine. I like the attention being focused on Armor in this book. As a fairly new character I think it's important that she get stories about her, so that readers get to know her and hopefully like her. I feel like she is becoming more and more apart of the team, which is good because until recently when I thought of the X-Men she would not come to mind. I think the use of Mentallo is interesting, he's not a character i'm all that familiar with so i'm curious to see how he'll be used. Also having Roxxon included is cool. Being that it's supposed to be a powerful company within the marvel universe it's good to see it in multiple books, this actually gives the impression that it's a big deal. 
I really liked the colouring in this issue, we get some nice bright colours, as well as some good use of shadows. I also thought the layout of the book was good, you get a few cool splash pages and generally the panels are large so the art is really big on the page. Unfortunately for me this is also were a problem comes up. 
 
The Bad: 
I'm not a fan of Jason Pearson's style of art in this book. His work is quite cartoony and it's a big departure from the art in previous issues. I've always felt that this book has a more serious tone and although I've liked Pearson's art in the past (specifically Deadpool), it just doesn't fit for me in this title. 
As far as the story goes, the reason for the X-Men going to Japan feels pretty contrived. It's not a bad reason and if you're a fan of Armor you might like but for me it just didn't have much impact. 
 
The Verdict: 
This is an okay comic overall but it's nothing special. The story is pretty interesting and it finishes on a strong note and if done right the next issue could be a lot of fun. At the same time I don't feel like i'm reading a must have comic, it's missing that x-factor (PUN INTENDED) to make this above average. If you like the art work then you'll probably like this book a lot more then me, so you might want to add an extra point to the score. I think the best thing I can say is, if you're reading Astonishing X-Men then this feels like a filler story before we hopefully get something more interesting. If you're looking to get into this title then don't start here, go pack up the first trade. 3 out of 5.