As the Krakoa era of X-books slowly withers away, its promise and potential squandered by Marvel’s decision to reboot the franchise, each new issue has been a harder pill to swallow for many fans as the X books get less and less ambitious, slowly dropping intriguing storylines in order to firmly place the “toys back in the toybox.” After reading this week’s Dead X-Men #1, however, I am pleasantly surprised to report that not all is lost, as Steve Foxe, Jonas Scharf, Bernard Chang and Vincenzo Carratù manage to deliver an incredibly satisfying first issue, which reminds me of the bursting creativity seen in the early days of Krakoa and satisfyingly pulls on strings many fans likely thought were long lost. Following the shocking events at last year’s Hellfire Gala, in which the entire newly elected X-team (save for Juggernaut) was killed, we finally get to see this new team in action, and their mission is a doozy.
Spinning directly out of Gillen and Silva’s story in this month’s Rise of the Powers of X, the newly re-animated X-Men must go through the many time lines found in Sinister’s engine to find a version of Moira from the post-Inferno de-powering event, but before she turned herself into a maniacal robot in the pages of X Lives/Deaths. With a plot like that, it’s clear that Dead X-Men is not for the casual fan, but rather seems to serve as a way to reward those who have stuck with the journey all these years, pulling from every single corner of the X-universe.
Opening with a bang, our team finds themselves in a timeline where Magik’s demonic persona could not be subdued, leading to a world in ruin. By opening the issue with this mysterious setting, Foxe effectively (and quickly, the world is only seen for two pages) hooks readers while also rewarding those longtime fans by finally paying off the tease of a Darkchilde run world seen by Destiny in the pages of Immortal X-Men. The ruins of this awful new world are drawn by Scharf (the first of this issue’s 3 artists), and it’s a testament to the quality of his art that even after only two pages of seeing this world, I was already sucked in and dying for a whole series to take place in it. But, just as I got comfortable, Foxe keeps the issue’s momentum going strong by pulling the characters out of the Magik timeline, in which Moira is nowhere to be found. Quickly thrown into the White Hot Room, the fast pace nature of this issue continues with a sharp switch of artists to Bernard Chang, who gorgeously illustrates the face of Rachel Summers, literally appearing in a burning bush. Chang’s detailed fire, coupled with the amazing color work of Frank Martin (who is firing on all cylinders this whole issue, uniting all three artists with his colors) makes for a really powerful panel that truly stuck on my head, the intensity of this mission is made so clear by Rachel’s almost biblical appearance. The mystery of who else Xavier could be working with, given to us by Gillen in Rise of the Powers of X is also answered here, as it becomes clear Summers is crucial to his entire plan, serving as the de-facto, albeit absent, leader of the Dead X-Men.
Again, without much warning, the team and readers are thrown into another new timeline, this one a reference to possible events in X-Men Red, and the book takes on a whole new life. Now, Foxe is essentially writing a cosmic sci-fi story, showing us a world in which Orbis Stellaris won and Abigail Brand’s team of barely surviving X-Men is the last force against him. This awesome genre switch is telegraphed perfectly with Carratù stepping in as this issue’s third artist, who imbues a chaotic, action packed, fun sense of adventure into each of his lines. As the issue turns into a giant sci-fi battle, Foxe restores the grand cosmic scale that Hickman heavily focused on, delivering one of the better X-stories set in space in recent years. The back half of the book sees our team fight Stellaris, and in the process find Moira, actually completing their mission within the first issue, a clever reversal from what one would expect.
It remains to be seen what will happen next, but Dead X-Men #1 is a successful romp through multiple times, genres, and stories – a truly ambitious X-book that clearly has a lot more to say, and makes a bold case as an essential book in the current X-line.