Rise of the Powers of X has ended, and with it ends the 5-month string of X-Men events that spun out of the ending of all the remaining X-Men ongoing titles. The second to last domino has fallen, as we head into the very last issue of the Krakoan Age of X-Men with X-Men #35/700 coming June 5th, 2024.
This mini series is a mixed bag, and it REALLY bothers me because it is not an issue of writing, art, lettering, etc. The way the book is composed from issue 1 through 5 is masterful, and in a vacuum is a lot better than it will be credited for. Rather, the problem is that this series feels rushed. It’s so very clear that between Rise of the Powers of X, X-Men: Forever, Resurrection of Magneto, and even Sabretooth War Kieron Gillen, Al Ewing, and Victor LaValle definitely had so much more to say with the X-Men, but unfortunately we had to cut this final era short. That sucks, because those three produced some of the best X-Men work through this entire era, sans House of X/Powers of X, Hickman’s X-Men, and Hellions. You will definitely have a hard time finding a series better than what Gillen, Ewing, and LaValle have put out.
I read Rise of the Powers of X #5 and I just went “is that it?” This series takes us through the revelation of who the Dominion is, his plans on total domination and how the X-Men eventually defeat him. It’s simple, but it does tie everything that Jonathan Hickman has built up with Dominions and how they work, along with what Kieron Gillen, and Al Ewing to a small degree, had been cooking with Enigma/Nathaniel Essex being the big bad and still showing that AI in the wrong hands is absolutely terrifying. It wraps up Charles Xavier’s character arc and puts him in a place where he is public enemy #1 as he turns himself in because he caused a lot of carnage by “helping” Orchis to make himself a martyr for the X-Men to hide behind. It puts Xavier in an interesting spot, again, where a lot of his decisions made during this series were absolutely questionable and very much in a morally gray area, but he still ended up doing it for the greater good. Simultaneously, we also have a rebirthed Jean Grey with a new connection to the Phoenix Force that will be explored even further in her forthcoming solo series.
There is a lot of good in this issue. Enigma almost fools you into thinking all hope is lost, Jean Grey has one of her best moments in a VERY long time and is written incredibly well, Gillen balances all of the mutants he uses perfectly and it truly does feel like the final stand against Orchis and Enigma all throughout this book. Really, the final battle between Jean Grey, The Phoenix, and Enigma is done wonderfully, it’s a battle across time and space where Enigma changes things and Jean needs to correct them, one miss and the X-Men lose forever. It’s a wild goose chase as Phoenix is essentially chasing his remnants, and the only way for her to land a blow is to find him. Thankfully, Xavier convinces Moira to activate a signal in her 13 year old self so that Jean can find her instead since she is now a part of the Enigma system. I’m a little unsure of the full mechanics of this though, and like I said, with more time, this definitely could’ve been fleshed out, even an extra issue. Once Jean finds Enigma, she summons all of the X-Men with them all empowered by the Phoenix Force and they defeat Enigma. The issue ends with 13 year old Moira waiting for her powers to manifest as they usually do, but they don’t and she’s free. Personally, I don’t usually think a mini series should have more issues, a lot of the time it works for the length the team is given, however I can so clearly tell this could have been at least a 10 issue saga, and yet Gillen’s writing is so good that it doesn’t necessarily read like it, just that I can tell if he had more room, this would’ve felt more satisfying.
I’m really confused, I don’t know how I feel about Rise of the Powers of X. On one hand, Enigma, Xavier, the Phoenix, Jean Grey, and the use of the X-Men is so good, it feels epic on a certain level. On the other hand, I would’ve liked to have more and I want to know why it was cut short, outside of just sales if that’s the case. Immortal X-Men was an excellent series and for my money had been fighting tooth and nail with X-Men: Red as being the best X-Men ongoings since Inferno ended, and really both ended up being some of the best X-Men material we’ve ever gotten. I think what really holds Rise of the Powers of X back is the fact that it feels like it’s carrying the brunt of the weight of this era’s finale. Fall of the House of X is the biggest failure, and it’s a crime because the Xavier and Orchis subplot should have been in that book, because that would’ve made both books feel more balanced. If you really wanted to do a sequel to House of X/Powers of X, why not let Kieron Gillen do both of these books as well, and if he really wanted to do X-Men: Forever, don’t cut Immortal X-Men short, or straight up don’t release X-Men: Forever a month after Rise of the Powers of X starts when it’s supposed to fill in the gaps of what happens before the main plot of the book. Let creators finish their story.
I just don’t understand Marvel’s obsession with not allowing creators space to do what they set out to do, especially not setting that precedent at the onset of the series. If you’re unsure a series will be able to sustainably run as long as it needs to, ensure the creators know that because they are talented and competent enough to accommodate for that beforehand. When you do this while the series is running, it ends up causing creators to leave loose ends untied and make the finale feel not as satisfying as it should have been. In a lot of ways THIS makes the Krakoan era feel a little worse than it should. Don’t get me wrong, I still love this era of X-Men, and it’s up there with Claremont’s time on Uncanny X-Men, but because of what feels like poor editorial control or direction, I will always have this nagging feeling in the back of my head saying “what if ___ happened” or “what if ____ never happened.” I should not feel that way when you start a new era with Jonathan Hickman accompanied by Pepe Larraz, R.B. Silva, Marte Gracia, and Clayton Cowles operating together like a well oiled machine to produce one of the best comics ever. It promised so much, outside of story potential, and we’ll never get to know what could’ve been. It grinds my gears.
Anyways, for what it is, I still enjoyed this series a good amount, even with the artist change in the finale issue (another interesting choice to have for a 5 issue series), but Luciano Vecchio and David Curiel knock it out of the park, and they really do make their mark on the X-Men. Vecchio’s improvement as an artist has been wonderful to see, and I truly hope they get to work on the X-Men again.
Rise of the Powers of X is unfortunately a perfect example of the question “what if?” I wish it wasn’t that way. It puts such a sour taste in my mouth because the creators on this book are so wonderful, yet it just feels like editorial tremendously failed this. This should have been the finale of the Krakoan Era of X-Men. This should have been an epic cherry on top of what is a revolutionary sundae. Sadly it just doesn’t feel like it. It’s a loaded mini series that has so many plot points to juggle, and while they’re technically handled well, feels like it’s trying to fit in a very tight box that it doesn’t quite fit into. I recommend this if you enjoyed Immortal X-Men and the rest of the line going into the Fall of X era, and if want to see how we get to where X-Men #35/700 leaves us, but if you’ve been tuned out of X-Men for a while, just wait until From the Ashes launches. At this point, you probably stopped reading for a reason and this won’t change your mind.