Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Artist: Leinil Francis Yu

Publisher: Marvel Comics





It’s the ‘Dawn of X’, and this is where it all truly begins. Jonathan Hickman’s ‘House of X’ and ‘Powers of X’ was an incredible ride. A retcon but not quite a retcon, a story about nature versus nurture, a new beginning for our merry mutants. Things are different, they are now a nation and all mutants are welcome. So where do we go from here? ‘X-Men’ is the first book in the ‘Dawn of X’ lineup, and is our first steps into the new world Hickman has crafted for us.



So where does ‘X-Men’ fit into all of this? This issue seems to pick up right after the last issue of ‘Powers of X’ for the most part. There is a little bit of a time jump, our team has been hard at work and this first issue of ‘X-Men’ picks up right in the middle of a mission. We get to see more of our team in action, then the issue changes tone and slows down a bit, focusing more on the characters and their relationships.



I had to read this issue twice, as at first it felt very different from the intensity ‘House of X’ and ‘Powers of X’ brought us. This issue though felt a lot more dry and lacking that same intensity. The best thing about an X-Men book is the fact that it is a mix of superhero action and soap opera drama. Some of the dialogue was cheesy and at some points a little stiff. That’s not to say that this is not a good issue, because it was, this series just shifts in tone and it took a second read to be on board with that.



Hickman packs so much into this over-sized first issue. There are so many small moments that may seem insignificant at first, but you know they are teases for future things to come, and some of them could be big. This issue is also separated somewhat into two parts, the superhero action and then the soap opera. This issue really could have been two separate issues with how different the first half and the second half felt from each other. A lot of the cheesiness I felt came from the second half, with several of the jokes just not landing. The stiffness was more from the first half but more centered around one specific character. This series though is advertised as a one and done, so we will get a lot of different characters getting some spotlight, and so that may help with it finding its groove. One of the biggest things that this issue got me wondering is if we will see a school of some sort. Things still seem a big hectic and unorganized on Krakoa, and so I wonder how training all these new mutants will look like? Will they just be citizens or will they be trained as possible future X-Men?



I loved seeing Leinil Francis Yu’s art and was a lot of fun to see someone else’s take on Krakoa and this new world for the X-Men. With all of the soap opera drama in the second part of this issue he still managed to keep it exciting and fun.



Overall this wasn’t what I was expecting for a first issue, but it was still an exciting and entertaining read. There is a lot being set up even in this first issue and laying the groundwork for the other ‘Dawn of X’ titles. If you enjoyed ‘House of X’ and ‘Powers of X’ then you will want to pick this one up.

