I am not sure why the book took the time to 'fight' the Spider-Alien. The book could have had an equal foothold if they had just gone into the woods, stayed at the cabin, and left. They chose to discover the Spider-Alien. Why? It's Christmas. Have the kids go out, learn MORE about each other. The kids learning that the aliens worship trees is silly. We know that already. Instead, discuss between the kids. Build some bridges. Sadly, after two issues, I don't think I can name one new character name. Ugh. However, the cover is cool in retrospect.
Lord of the jungle
We are getting to a corner, here. I'm not saying that we're TURNING the corner, mind you. But the book is gradually coming out of the doldrums that surrounded it. The authors are trying now to avoid the explanations of the hokey sciences - things that are just too far beyond what poor Stan can muster. I found myself not paying attention to any of the hokey science in the book anymore - I guess that this is a turn upward. I wasn't too offended that a super-crazy world was underneath Antarctica, AND the people there spoke broken English.
Bottom line
X-Men is getting better. Harbinger is going nowhere.