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Rating: 
Summary: Not as bad as it is said to be
Review: Chuck Austen's run on Uncanny X-Men is definitely something you'll either love or hate, but I don't think that this storyarc deserves all the one star reviews it has garnered here. The Draco collects a prologue and a following six issue storyarc as long time X-Man Nightcrawler's past and origin is revealed. I don't want to ruin the surprises, but the opening prologue as we see Mystique do the unthinkable is worth picking this book up for alone. What follows is Nightcrawler, along with a group of teleporting and portal opening mutants whom all resemble each other, fleeing to a mysterious island (that was featured in Uncanny X-Men: Holy War) with Havok, Iceman, Archangel, Wolverine, Husk, and Jubilee not far behind. Meanwhile, Juggernaut and Northstar travel up north to see Sammy in a subplot, while Professor X finally finds out why Polaris has been in homicidal mode recently. Austen's storytelling isn't as bad as it is made out to be, but the man has always been a better artist than a storyteller. The art (mainly done by Philip Tan) is more of an acquired taste as well, but it is pretty solid for the most part. All in all, The Draco isn't a bad book at all, just don't expect anything too special.
Rating:
Summary: Not as bad as it is said to be
Review: Chuck Austen's run on Uncanny X-Men is definitely something you'll either love or hate, but I don't think that this storyarc deserves all the one star reviews it has garnered here. The Draco collects a prologue and a following six issue storyarc as long time X-Man Nightcrawler's past and origin is revealed. I don't want to ruin the surprises, but the opening prologue as we see Mystique do the unthinkable is worth picking this book up for alone. What follows is Nightcrawler, along with a group of teleporting and portal opening mutants whom all resemble each other, fleeing to a mysterious island (that was featured in Uncanny X-Men: Holy War) with Havok, Iceman, Archangel, Wolverine, Husk, and Jubilee not far behind. Meanwhile, Juggernaut and Northstar travel up north to see Sammy in a subplot, while Professor X finally finds out why Polaris has been in homicidal mode recently. Austen's storytelling isn't as bad as it is made out to be, but the man has always been a better artist than a storyteller. The art (mainly done by Philip Tan) is more of an acquired taste as well, but it is pretty solid for the most part. All in all, The Draco isn't a bad book at all, just don't expect anything too special.
Rating: 
Summary: Sucks
Review: I have all the issues and its not worth buying the trade paperback, the art is inconsistant and the storyline is horrific. Don't support Chuck Austen and this atrocity!
Rating:
Summary: Chuck Austen = Horrible Writer
Review: I will keep this short and simple. As a reader of countless X-Men stories, I have never run up against such a horrible writer as Chuck Austen. I don't know if he has naked pictures of the Marvel brass or what, but I just can't imagine why he would get the chance to destroy one of thier best comics. Stories that go nowhere. Character development that ignores the past. AWFUL plot lines... I could go on and on.Save your money. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING WITH CHUCK AUSTEN ON IT!
Rating:
Summary: Chuck Austen = Horrible Writer
Review: I will keep this short and simple. As a reader of countless X-Men stories, I have never run up against such a horrible writer as Chuck Austen. I don't know if he has naked pictures of the Marvel brass or what, but I just can't imagine why he would get the chance to destroy one of thier best comics. Stories that go nowhere. Character development that ignores the past. AWFUL plot lines... I could go on and on. Save your money. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING WITH CHUCK AUSTEN ON IT!
Rating:
Summary: Chuck Austen is the worst X-men writer in history.
Review: I've never known the X-men to be in such horrificly boring, not to mention incredibly stupid stories as The Draco. In fact, the same can be said for just about any Chuck Austen penned story arc to date. In this story, Chuck Austen easily throws out Nightcrawler's true character and replaces it with his own nonsensical swill and prooves once again that he is the one man capable of sullying the legend of the X-Men, over, and over, and over again. Perhaps if the artists had something good to work with, the pages might actually look good for a change, as opposed to the continuously uninspired artwork of the two manga-heavy pencilers currently on the book. Don't let the one star fool you. If I had my way, this book would get zero stars.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible but not quite as bad as Dominant Species
Review: Popular opinion says that Draco is Chuck Austens worst Uncanny XMen arc, which is saying alot since his whole run has been terrible. But the truth of the matter, according to me at least, is Dominant Species is his worst. Draco tries to explore the character of Nightcrawler, but it ends up marring the character and never really going anywhere. Turns out Nightcrawler is the son of Mystique and what we are led to believe is Satan, but who actually is an ancient mutant (yet another prehistoric mutant) who the "character" of Satan was based on. Ok, if you can get past the trappings of judeo-christian mythology, which never translates well when used in popular fiction in the first place, the story degenerates to the Satan character trapping the X-Men in his dimension (again another skewed take on the concept of Hell) and forcing them to sit at his dinning room table for, what, 3 or 4 issues worth of bad dialogue? Its anticlimactic, nonsensical and holds the title as the second worst arc (so far) in Chuck Austen's offensively bad run on Uncanny X-Men. If you want to read good X-Men stories go read some of Grant Morrison's New X-men books, or go read Essential X-Men 1 and 2. This crap by Chuck Austen gives the X-Men brand a bad name.
Rating:
Summary: Truly horrible
Review: The main flaw with this story--and it's a big one-- is that the plot, fundamentally, is impossible. Bear with me.
Azazel is trapped in a dimension other than the 616 universe. So he goes to the 616 universe, mates with human women, goes back to his dimension, bides his time, and finally brings them all to his dimension using some convoluted teleportation spell.
And therein lies the gaping plot hole. If he can't leave the dimension, then his plan to get back to Earth can't involve travelling to Earth or the whole thing is unnecessary.
And even worse is the dialogue.
And even worse is Philip Tan's bizarre fusion of realism and manga. Watch him deform nearly everybody. Really, this guy draws like a twelve-year old.
Worst of all, this one has lasting effects on the X-books.
Rating:
Summary: Sucks
Review: This volume covers "Uncanny X-Men" 428-434. Philip Tan did the art except for the prologue, which was drawn by Sean Phillips, and the conclusion,which was drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa. I'm willing to give the writing a star because there were scenes I liked, but as for Mr. Tan's art... Aside from Mr. Tan's cross-hatching making characters look as if they fought some cats and the cats won, the rough look of many panels, and what appear to be a lot of little ink splatters, there are too many panels where I couldn't quite make out what I was supposed to be seeing. Mr. Miyazawa's nice, clear art comes as a relief. The prologue is about Mystique and how she came to be Kurt's mother. It's not a happy story. Then we return to the Xavier Institute in the present. The main story involves Nightcrawler and the secret of La Isle des Demonas. Yes, that's the island that Alex, Lorna, and Kurt visited in UNCANNY X-MEN: HOLY WAR. I'm not going to bother to complain about possible continuity problems with Mystique, because if you don't read her comic, you won't notice. The main story is almost as idiotic as the "Holy War" storyline. Given what our guest villain, Azazel, claims, he and his people should have been from Mesopotamia, not off the coast of Florida. They're evil nasty types who enjoy murder and torture. Cringe for the X-Men who face them, for they mostly act as if they were the idiots who run into Lovecraft's Evil Old Recluses instead of sensible superheroes. (On the other hand, it's fitting that Iceman gets the cover of this book because of the interesting way he turns the tables on one of Azazel's minions.) There are no good fathers in this book if you don't count Professor Xavier, father figure to the X-Men. Azazel has no right to expect any Father's Day cards from his sons. If what Lorna tells us about Magneto is true, shame on him. Remember young Sammy Pare from UXM: HOPE, UXM: DOMINANT SPECIES, and UXM: HOLY WAR? His dad has no hope of winning Father of the Year, either. Unfortunately, the plot thread about the father of young Carter, son to school nurse Annie Ghazikhanian, gets dropped. Archangel, Havok, Husk, Iceman, Jubilee, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine are the X-Men who handle the Azazel plot. Fans of Abyss will get to meet him again. Xavier and Annie are present as we learn why Polaris has been so nasty lately. Mr. Xorn gets a cameo in that subplot. Juggernaut and Northstar get the Sammy subplot, which includes a few members of Alpha Flight. We even get to briefly meet the kitchen staff at Xavier's. I liked their scene. I also liked Juggernaut and Northstar's verbal sparring on their way to Vancouver. There's a scene between Kurt and Xavier that's rather sweet. For me, the book's highlight has nothing to do with the very ineptly written "Draco" storyline. It's a big argument between Xavier and Juggernaut where they actually talk [shout] about the roots of their former enmity. There's a revelation or two that fans of the stepbrothers will not want to miss. Fans of really bad stories or atrocious art will want to add DRACO to their collection. For the rest, the only reason to buy this book is its resolution of several subplots. Be prepared to grit your teeth a lot.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Writing and Worse Art, but has its Moments
Review: This volume covers "Uncanny X-Men" 428-434. Philip Tan did the art except for the prologue, which was drawn by Sean Phillips, and the conclusion,which was drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa. I'm willing to give the writing a star because there were scenes I liked, but as for Mr. Tan's art... Aside from Mr. Tan's cross-hatching making characters look as if they fought some cats and the cats won, the rough look of many panels, and what appear to be a lot of little ink splatters, there are too many panels where I couldn't quite make out what I was supposed to be seeing. Mr. Miyazawa's nice, clear art comes as a relief. The prologue is about Mystique and how she came to be Kurt's mother. It's not a happy story. Then we return to the Xavier Institute in the present. The main story involves Nightcrawler and the secret of La Isle des Demonas. Yes, that's the island that Alex, Lorna, and Kurt visited in UNCANNY X-MEN: HOLY WAR. I'm not going to bother to complain about possible continuity problems with Mystique, because if you don't read her comic, you won't notice. The main story is almost as idiotic as the "Holy War" storyline. Given what our guest villain, Azazel, claims, he and his people should have been from Mesopotamia, not off the coast of Florida. They're evil nasty types who enjoy murder and torture. Cringe for the X-Men who face them, for they mostly act as if they were the idiots who run into Lovecraft's Evil Old Recluses instead of sensible superheroes. (On the other hand, it's fitting that Iceman gets the cover of this book because of the interesting way he turns the tables on one of Azazel's minions.) There are no good fathers in this book if you don't count Professor Xavier, father figure to the X-Men. Azazel has no right to expect any Father's Day cards from his sons. If what Lorna tells us about Magneto is true, shame on him. Remember young Sammy Pare from UXM: HOPE, UXM: DOMINANT SPECIES, and UXM: HOLY WAR? His dad has no hope of winning Father of the Year, either. Unfortunately, the plot thread about the father of young Carter, son to school nurse Annie Ghazikhanian, gets dropped. Archangel, Havok, Husk, Iceman, Jubilee, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine are the X-Men who handle the Azazel plot. Fans of Abyss will get to meet him again. Xavier and Annie are present as we learn why Polaris has been so nasty lately. Mr. Xorn gets a cameo in that subplot. Juggernaut and Northstar get the Sammy subplot, which includes a few members of Alpha Flight. We even get to briefly meet the kitchen staff at Xavier's. I liked their scene. I also liked Juggernaut and Northstar's verbal sparring on their way to Vancouver. There's a scene between Kurt and Xavier that's rather sweet. For me, the book's highlight has nothing to do with the very ineptly written "Draco" storyline. It's a big argument between Xavier and Juggernaut where they actually talk [shout] about the roots of their former enmity. There's a revelation or two that fans of the stepbrothers will not want to miss. Fans of really bad stories or atrocious art will want to add DRACO to their collection. For the rest, the only reason to buy this book is its resolution of several subplots. Be prepared to grit your teeth a lot.
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