Who is man enough to stop the terrifying Lava Men?!?

With me skipping last week's comics, I thought it was time for some catch-up. Since the last issue of my marvel subscription to X-Men: First Class came in, that sounded appropriate enough.

X-Men: First Class #14

by Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz

This is the end of the two-part Machine Man arc, in which Machine Man is a temporary X-Man. With the original cast of Marvel Girl, Cyclops, Iceman and Beast (Angel is off in an island), he investigates the strange Lava Men, who -guess what?- attack the X-Men! Machine Man takes 'em down, though and they try to get to the source of the lava men.

The crux of the issue is at this point, because Machine Man has to confront his android face. This is a problem, since he's a robot designed to have human feelings, so he gets all "existential angst" on the Lava Men. Cue thoughtful ending reflecting on the nature of humanity.

I usually love First Class, but I've been feeling more "meh" about it. Nate Cosby usually does hilarious recap pages, but the one for this issue was just "meh." Jean hasn't really gotten a focus either, and I was reading First Class largely because it's the one where Jean is still alive.

Anyways, Colleen Coover does back-ups for First Class, and her artwork is always a treat. This time, it's a dialogue-less, four-page sequence featuring the X-Men reminiscing about Angel and missing him.

It's adorable.