I find that his original form looks very bizarre aesthetically. It’s true that many mutations look quite strange, but the size and shape of Hank as he first appeared never seemed quite plausible to my eyes. Even in the realm of comics that form stood out as particularly inhuman.

As for his ape form, that boils down to one simple factor: Logan hair. In that form Beast always seemed like a poor man’s deformed Logan, and that bothered me to no end.

When he developed into his feline form I found myself quite taken with the nobility that was inherent to the look. He seemed like a proud, majestic, noble creature; rather than as the deformed (in a negative way) thing that I perceived him as beforehand.

On a related note, I wish they’d change his color. Grey or white like his alternate future Sublime form would be preferable, to me. I’m so very tired of everyone being blue.

The only thing that held this issue back was the art, in my opinion. The Dodsons were definitely off their game. I’ve seen them draw Venom before in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man, and it looked absolutely nothing like that horse-faced monstrosity they portrayed here.

Not to mention the bizarre goofy grins the entire Dark X-Men team has in that one particular panel. It wasn’t a “We’re so badass” sort of grin, either. It seemed more like they were on prozac. So all in all, the gripes I have with the art mostly come down to the faces.