X-Men #1 Review

Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Artist: Lenil Francis Yu

Rating: 5 of 8

X-Men #1

Though there's a decent amount of things I liked in Hickman's Powers and House of X, there's also a extensive amount I have problems with. Chief among them is the feeling that very little, if anything, can threaten the X-Men, or Mutants in general. Now, various groups who used to oppose each other are now united in order to survive and share a home on the quasi-island, Krakoa.

Because of this, the team and their race have a lot less credible threat. They have scientists, who they've defeated and Sentinels, which they can easily destroy given the range of powers available on Krakoa. As well as this, Krakoa's got a series of defenses, while one group of Mutants have the ability to bring their recent dead back to life. 

With all of this combined, there's a lot less reason to worry about our protagonists than before. On top of that, characters like Cyclops and Storm come off less likable than they usually do, like her line ''or 

surrender and ask for unearned mercy''. It just doesn't seem like something she'd say. 

Earlier, she says ''Suicide bombs and serving the greater good are always the last refuge of a conquered people'', which feels ominous and a bit more threatening than I'd expect from a hero. Later on, when Scott's talking to Polaris, a lot of his dialogue doesn't sound like him ''my god, I loved that. I had waited my whole life for that''. Shortly after that, talking about his son, ''he was my son - of my blood. Like me'', which felt unnecessary, as he'd already said he's his son, so didn't need to repeat it.

I do love the way Magneto looks, with his all white armour and at the Orchis Forge, Yu gives us a really nice image, glowing with orange, while flying vehicles head towards it. There's also a fairly striking moment showing those Orchis have lost, indicating loss on both sides, which is welcome. There's a good moment of humour between Wolverine and Vulcan, above, which I liked, though I'm not sure rare steak lovers'll like it ;)

Though I was let down by the issue, I'll still check out the other new X-titles releasing over the next few weeks and I hope with the different creative talent involved, they'll bring some enjoyable reads that not only stand out from each other, but also what started this new era off.