Uncanny X-Men #16
Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 4) #16 is one of the more narratively ambitious tie-in issues of the 2016–2017 IvX (Inhumans vs. X-Men) crossover event, expanding on the opening chess move of that war — Jean Grey's psychic imprisonment of Karnak — in ways the main miniseries did not have room to explore. The issue is notable for deepening Fantomex's arc with the Weapon Plus facility known as the World, effectively setting up a new status quo for the character that resonated with readers rooted in Grant Morrison's New X-Men lore. It also drew attention for being one of the clearest illustrations of the creative tension inherent in event tie-in publishing during the Marvel NOW!/post-Secret Wars era: a creative team with its own serialized story interrupted and redirected by event mandates, which critics and readers at the time frankly discussed as a structural challenge for Cullen Bunn's overall run.
ComicBooks.com Value
This exact issue on ebay
CGC 9.8 ▾ $79.99–$120 2 listings
Raw — NM ▾ $5.68–$8.37 2 listings
Raw / ungraded ▾ $1.49–$30 23 listings
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was written by Cullen Bunn, penciled by Edgar Salazar with inks by Ed Tadeo, colored by Nolan Woodard, lettered by Joe Caramagna, and edited by Daniel Ketchum, Chris Robinson, and Mark Paniccia, under editor-in-chief Axel Alonso. The cover was provided by Ken Lashley and Nolan Woodard, with an FOC date of November 23, 2016, and a release date of December 21, 2016, carrying a February 2017 cover date — a standard production rhythm for the era. The issue was part of Bunn's 19-issue volume of Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 4, 2016–2017), subtitled 'Superior,' which was set entirely against the backdrop of the Terrigen Mist crisis threatening mutant extinction; Bunn later acknowledged that of those 19 issues, a significant portion were consumed by event tie-in obligations (Apocalypse Wars and IvX), limiting how fully he could develop his own serial storylines.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Written by Cullen Bunn; art by Edgar Salazar (pencils) and Ed Tadeo (inks); colors by Nolan Woodard; cover by Ken Lashley and Nolan Woodard.
- Published December 21, 2016 (FOC: November 23, 2016), with a February 2017 cover date; 21 story pages; Rated T+.
- Tie-in to the Inhumans vs. X-Men (IvX) crossover event; picks up directly after IvX #1, showing Jean Grey (the time-displaced Marvel Girl) and the Stepford Cuckoos keeping Karnak mentally imprisoned in a fabricated psychic scenario while Karnak is physically held inside the World.
- A secondary plot thread returns to the World — the Weapon Plus time-manipulation facility introduced in Grant Morrison's New X-Men — where Fantomex, using Karnak's problem-solving abilities as a proxy channeled through the Cuckoo Irma, works to purge the Someday Corporation's infiltration of the World's systems and ultimately merges his own psyche with the facility.
- Karnak eventually finds the flaw in Jean Grey's mental trap and breaks free, escaping into the World to confront Fantomex directly — an outcome that carries into the IvX main narrative.
- Fantomex's absorption of the World into his own ego, id, and super-ego represents a significant character development for the Morrison-created mutant super-spy, setting up a changed status quo for him as the volume concludes.
- The issue was later collected in the trade paperback Uncanny X-Men: Superior Vol. 4 — IVX (ISBN 9781302905255), which collects Uncanny X-Men (2016) #16–19 and Annual #1.
- The series ran 19 issues total (Vol. 4, 2016–2017), with Bunn noting that six of those 19 issues were devoted to event tie-ins (Apocalypse Wars and IvX), compressing his original serialized story arcs.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Uncanny X-Men: Superior #4 (2017)
Key issues in Uncanny X-Men
Variants (1)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.