When the Krakoa run of X-Men started with House of X/Powers of X I was fully on board, I thought it was an incredible re-contextualization of the X-Men mythos and also a great time to hop on as a new reader. But as Hickman went hands-off on the follow-up books they got worse and worse, and the conclusion to the Krakoa era was a disaster (though I agree that it needed to end).
I haven't really kept up with the post-Krakoa books, but from what I've seen on Twitter and Youtube it doesn't look too promising. If there's a good current X-Men book please let me know though.
Krakoa really went weird with the "Everyone you know is Mr. Sinister" plot. Hickman is really amazing at setting up a fun premise and setting, like I'd imagine he's an incredible DM if he plays TTRPG's, but it's rare that anyone capitalizes on it.
Secret Wars and last years
G.O.D.S. both setup these large sandboxes, for example, that no one else seemed eager to play in.
The post-Krakoan X-line feels *slow*. It's odd, what with Marvel launching a dozen or so new books; Normally that many new #1 issues go hand in hand with a new big event (like Krakoa had been) or they're aiming for a fresh new direction....which is kind of the case, but most of the books are directly talking about the fallout from Krakoa, the characters grappling with losing their home. Consequently, it doesn't feel like a clean break in a meaningful sense.
(Actually, I'm feeling a touch long-winded, apologies but here I go)
X-Men - Ryan Stegman provides exciting action layouts but the book feels completely adrift, this is the "core" team led by Cyclops, but writer Jed MacKay is struggling to make
X-Men standout from what's come before. Pretty much recycled 90's plots and characterization so far. (I believe MacKay is *also* the
Avengers writer currently, and I hate to be too negative but the guy hasn't turned out anything worth reading yet.)
X-Force - Maybe the worst of them so far, Forge builds a crystal ball of sorts that warns him of world-ending catastrophes, and if that sounds like Hickman's
New Avengers dilemma, it is!...but with bland character writing, and a constant feeling that nothing matters. The big threats are uninteresting, and the stakes are "stop that thing, my gadget said it's bad". I really can't recommend this one less. (I do like the artist, Marcus To, but the character designs and uniforms are the definition of forgettable.)
X-Factor - I don't know what's going wrong on this one. Writer Mark Russel is responsible for
The Flintstones, an incredibly funny comic, and several others besides. The guy's been hilarious and interesting on other books, but here he's doing a poor man's
X-Statix knockoff. If you haven't read it,
X-Statix was a mean little spin-off of X-Force, taking original characters and and killing and maiming theem for fame and fortune with a reality TV twist. For something that came out in 2001, it was pretty ahead of it's time! Today's
X-Factor doesn't have nearly the ambition or satirical edge of it's inspiration, and feels like one more "new take" on Cyclop's brother Havok, who I swear gets a completely new personality every two years.
Dazzler - A mini-series that already wrapped up, not much to say here except they wrote out songs and musical performances for a comic book. I love it when music gets rolled into action to save the day, like Macross, but maybe it would have been better in a medium with sound?
NYX - This one's interesting, an inner city group of young mutants, headlined by Kamala Khan, that offers a more nuanced look at post-Krakoan life that your typical superhero shenganigans.
NYX takes a harder look at racism than just "the robots are coming", but it's more than a little bogged down by continuity; we're talking character histories from
New X-Men, the previous
NYX, Mojo, the Morlocks...it might not be very accessible.
Phoenix - Jean Grey takes her phenomenal cosmic power on a cosmic road trip, being a fiery benevolent deity to planets she passes. This ones aiming to be a cosmic book of sorts, but so far it's just the trappings of space and Thanos-adjacent characters, there's nothing new or exciting. I hate that my main takeaway is "Cyclops gets to go moon-hopping with his scumbag space pirate dad, now it's Jean's turn", but that's exactly what the book feels like. We don't often see Jean interacting with her father-in-law, it feels like there should be a better story with more emotional stakes in here somewhere.
Wolverine - Writer Saladin Ahmed's telling a bit of a throwback story with Logan here, with the character retreating to Canada to cope with the end of Krakoa/all that crazy bullshit with Sabretooth recently. It's low key, but there's a new-ish character that's added some drama and given Logan someone to relate to and look after, actual emotional stakes. Really not half bad, I'm just worried the new villain they're building up to might be a bit....stupid. We'll see, I'm probably being paranoid.
Exceptional X-Men - Maybe the best slow burn of the bunch if they can stick a landing, Eve Ewing has focused this book on Kitty Pride and her need to get out of "the life." Her career as a superhero took a really murderous turn at the end of Krakoa, and she's done being an "out" mutant, as she can blend in. Naturally she can't help her better self getting involved for young mutants in her town though, and she steadily falls into a mentor role. There's been a lot of time spent getting invested in the characters and Kitty's new life, here's hoping there's some real sparks when the rug gets pulled.
Sentinels - This one's actually kinda great, much darker in tone than the other books. A group of experimental human cyborgs with Sentinel tech are working for the government to round up potentially dangerous mutants, criminals who'd been enjoying the protection of Krakoan amnesty. All of the lead characters are dying, the tech is extremely unsafe, and each issue has been a deep dive into a team member. Just a mini-series though, should be over shortly as it crosses over with....
Mystique - ...the much weaker book of the two. This one's a bit of a callback to Brian K. Vaughns solo series with Mystique as a secret agent for Xavier, but where that book had a sense of adventure and Vaughns excellent character writing, writer and artist Declan Shalvey has opted for grim, morose, and self-serious. One of the weakest books so far.
Uncanny X-Men - The strongest book so far! I'm always in the bag for Gail Simone's writing, and her Rogue and Gambit are fantastic here, anchoring a new team of sorts with four young new mutants. If X-Men is the professional team, this one's the "family", which has always been the kind of soap opera waters these characters have swum best in. Also, Gambit hustles a dragon god in like the second issue, which is the kind of nonsense I love in my comics.
Storm, Psylocke, Magik, Laura Kinney: Wolverine - Not enough issues to really make an opinion yet, but none of these characters have had a real standout solo book before, so hopes are high! My only complaint is Marvel setting that last book up to fail from the start, just call her
Wolverine and make Logan's book
Logan. People know who he is, how many people know Laura Kinney?
Not the highest batting average, just my opinions of course, but I figure half these books get cancelled within a year. That's comics though, new books almost never stick around, good or bad.
So I've finished The Last Ronin two days ago and I think I'll either read The Killing Joke (for the first time in 15 years) or go for Watchmen.
Never a bad time to read Watchmen, is this the first time?
