X-Men (2024) #1 Review

“The dream is dead. So, what now?”

That’s a direct quote from Jed MacKay, writer of X-Men (2024) #1, the first new X-Book to come out of the new era known as “From the Ashes”, led by X-Conductor Tom Breevort. It’s the question he asked himself as he tried to figure out what an X-Men book looks like in a post-Krakoa world.

We’ve all had similar questions too, I assume. Where do you go from something as revolutionary as Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, R.B. Silva, and Marte Gracia’s House of X/Powers of X? But then you think about the “Fall of X”, the final era of Krakoa, an era that, even with the gold it had, still couldn’t provide an ending that quite matched up to what that beginning was. Personally speaking, in ways I was disappointed, heartbroken too. 

To be truthful, even the lead up to “From the Ashes” didn’t leave me with too much promise, at least initially. I didn’t buy into the whole “they’ll reset everything to the 90’s” paranoia, but it was more of a, “Truly, where do you go from Krakoa?” However, slowly they kept revealing the creative teams for all these titles, and even if the initial premises didn’t grab me, the teams certainly did. 

One of those was obviously, X-Men.

The lineup was obviously a huge part – I love Cyclops, I love Magneto, I love Magik, I love Psylocke, but more than that was the all-star team of Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman. Jed MacKay’s been one of the shining stars of Marvel’s current lineup, writing some all time favourites like Black Cat and Moon Knight, and even other cool books like Avengers and Doctor Strange. To me, he’s the modern day equivalent of what Brian Michael Bendis was to Marvel back in the 2000s (a topic I will expand on in my Blood Hunt review, so I digress), which meant that him being on X-Men was exciting. Ryan Stegman is a hell of an artist, whose art is so obviously inspired by 90s comics art, but with his own spin, incorporating a more slightly blocky feel with extreme kineticism, and that had me very interested in buying in.

Did it work out?

I like to think so.

X-Men (2024) #1 is a brilliant start that juggles being a jumping in point for new readers, while also making sure old readers don’t feel alienated. There was a lot of fear going in that Krakoa would be “ignored,” but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Rather, to me, it’s the right way of doing a new era on a title. There’s references to Krakoa era stories all throughout, but none of it  will leave you confused if you haven’t read them. Rather, it walks the fine line of telling you just enough to keep the ball rolling, but also holding enough back so that you’re left to go back and read those books from the Krakoa era if you’re so inclined.

Before going into the story though, let’s talk about the cover. It’s the new X-Men team standing and staring right at the reader, with their leader Cyclops in front, drawing a line in the sand with his optic blasts while a mutant lies on the ground behind him. It’s making a statement that’s immediately building off of what X-Men #700 promised – that even with Krakoa leaving, whoever’s left would be there to protect the mutants that didn’t go, and that’s them showing it. 

The story in the issue itself is split into two different perspectives that serve two purposes. The first is Beast giving the chief of the Merle Police Department, Paula Robbins, a tour of the new facilities. The other is Cyclops leading the team in combat. This works, because it not only sets up the team and the dynamics, but also helps establish the X-Men’s base of operations and their new status quo.

Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, and Marte Gracia really excel in bringing this story to life. As I said previously, Stegman’s an extremely kinetic artist, but he’s also very expressive. JP Mayer’s inks add a layer on top of that, and then Marte Gracia comes in with his signature finish as a veteran on X-Books since House of X/Powers of X to give it a brand new, distinct look compared to the Krakoa era. Clayton Cowles’ lettering is also phenomenal, always working in tandem with the art and never against it, to really make it all come together.

Jed MacKay’s writing is also obviously key to the whole ordeal. One of the best things he does in this issue aside from setting up the character dynamics and the world is really sell Beast’s reset to his pre-fascist self, and he justifies it pretty well here. Furthermore, he really manages to drive in the idea that not everyone’s going to be the same, and that some will live on with the dream while others will maybe try new things. This iteration of X-Men is about living on with the dream, and trying to do better because of it. MacKay really excels in making us sympathize with the idea that mutants would hold some level of contempt towards humans, through everyone involved, but especially Magneto, Beast, and Cyclops, who from a characterization angle bears a resemblance to his Matt Fraction and Kieron Gillen era self, which rules.

Of course, if you’re going into it expecting something as revolutionary as House of X/Powers of X, which many people will compare it to, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. But it’s good to temper those expectations and remind yourself that this book is not that. It’s not meant to radically re-define the X-Men, it’s meant to explore the X-Men in a world since that, and with that in mind…

I’m happy to say that X-Men (2024) #1 is indeed – pretty great! I’m not that surprised that I enjoyed it, given how much I like the creative team, but I am surprised at how well it managed to really pull me into From the Ashes. Can’t wait for what’s next!