Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Art: R.B. Silva, Marte Garcia, VC’s Clayton Cowles, and Tom Muller

Price: $4.99

Release Date: September 25th, 2019

After last week’s HOUSE OF X #5, readers witness the “Resurrection Machine” bring back our X-heroes that daringly died stopping Mother Mold in space. However, this resurrection process is no mere machine; it’s five mutants working in conjunction with Charles Xavier/Cerebro to clone and recreate any mutant that perishes. Moreover, the Professor has built an alliance with some of the most ruthless adversaries the X-world has ever seen. This can’t be good! Nevertheless, the mutants are attempting diplomacy, Xavier’s Krakoan cult begins to blossom, and deals are made with demons from the past. But, how will these choices NOW impact the future? Let’s find out in this week’s all-new POWERS OF X # 5 by Jonathan Hickman.

The magic of Hickman is how he doesn’t ignore the trivial details and nuances entangled within his stories and compositions. The first three-quarters of this week’s tale concentrated on the culmination of Xavier, Moira, and Magneto’s agenda, which is the creation of a world where mutants can live without fear of oppression or scrutiny. Throughout those pages, Hickman thoroughly arranges a detailed account of the how, when, where, and why behind this new “ Dawn” of the X-Men as well as mutantkind.

Furthermore, Hickman is placing breadcrumbs for future comics throughout his X-Men run and dangling them within this week’s narrative. He’s sparking ideas of what might go wrong with this plan from the beginning. What might happen if the mutant genes, as well as their mind “codes” aren’t backed up properly? What would happen if the wrong mind united with the wrong husk? What would happen if the “cloning” process was interrupted? Could someone rewrite/ override one of these “clones”? Could extra abilities be added through this resurrection process? And, could two minds and two mutants accidentally be ”alive” at the same time? Furthermore, are these husks real people with real souls? Readers, we all know $&@$ is going to hit the fan and these questions were placed throughout the issue so readers will have concerns for the future. This reviewer, for one, cannot wait!

Moreover, Hickman is placing these nuggets into the reader’s minds so we can further speculate, as well as expect, these suspicions to emerge in the future instead of coming out of thin air. This is clearly what renders Hickman as such a phenomenal writer. He composes mysteries and places clues throughout his narratives. Hickman makes each page significant and doesn’t leave gaps for readers to fill in the blanks. His stories may be complicated at times but the pieces eventually come together.

Speaking of complicated, the hardest, and most frustrating facet of the series to date is still the Year 1000 storyline. This analyst is still bewildered as to what exactly is transpiring with the Phalanx, these future blue people, the Librarian, and now this Hive, techno-organic mind that can traverse the cosmos through singularities/ wormholes/ black holes. Readers, the Year 1000 narrative is some heavy $&@$! So, read it with caution. With two issues to go, this critic is overly optimistic that answers will arrive. However, dollars to donuts, fans will not find these answers until the very last RED issue, which is POWERS OF X #6. Granted, this reviewer has some inklings as to what is occurring within this portion of the storyline. However, these ideas are only inferences.

That said, this critic finds the Phalanx process of cultivating massive hive minds into a black hole intriguingly suspicious. Why? Readers should remember the moment Xorn removed his mask and released his singularity a couple of issues ago. It very well could have been feasible that the library of knowledge already created by Nimrod at that time was also assimilated into the wormhole and somehow established the very first Titan, which eventually grew into the Phalanx. Point is; could the X-Men be responsible for the creation of this techno-organic species that assimilates the cosmos?

FINAL THOUGHTS

Hickman fires on all cylinders once again. Each issue, as well as the series in general, has been fast-paced and filled with so much information enabling fans to make numerous attempts and speculations as to the direction of this new “Dawn” of the X-Men. This issue itself wasn’t filled with action. However, it was filled with insight, creativity, and drove home a guiding purpose that was fulfilling. Readers will thoroughly enjoy the Year 1 and Year 10 storyline but may still leave the issue scratching their head at the Year 1000 narrative. Fans will find parts of the comic extremely heavy. But, rest assured that all of your questions will be answered within the last two issues of the series. If you haven’t been reading POWERS OF X or HOUSE OF X, what have you been reading? Go pick this up already!

9.3/10