By Rebecca Gault — Victor Creed is in hell. That’s the opening gambit of Sabretooth #1, and what an opening it is. As someone who is familiar with Victor LaValle’s prose writing, his fingerprints are all over this issue from the start. That only spells good things going forward. LaValle has a sharp, well-honed narrative voice and it is very clear from the start that the writer here has a distinct thematic concern that he cares to explore in this mini.

Krakoa is a groundbreaking new endeavor for the X-Men line, but it’s not one that is above reproach, including in-universe. The idea of a mutant paradise sounds wonderful in theory, but Sabretooth exposes the hypocrisy at the heart of it. For a place so concerned with amnesty — with Sinister on the council and Mastermind walking free — there are terrible consequences for breaking their laws.

LaValle is concerned with the carceral solutions put in place on Krakoa. It’s certainly a good concern to have; the Pit should ring out as a falsehood within this idyllic paradise and an indication that there will always be fallibility in a government — and especially in one that was not elected democratically. This opening issue is meditative and introspective — giving an unexpected but not unwelcome insight into Sabretooth’s psyche. The data pages in particular shine here, with LaValle’s writing taking center stage in a more conventional prosaic form.

Creed’s voice is precise and distinctive, brutal in a way that only Sabretooth could be. Yet, in positioning him as our protagonist, against those we have come to consider heroes, we reckon with what it is like to be faced with a calculated strike team designed to take you down. It’s not the most flattering look for the X-Men.

Naturally though, there is always brutality within Sabretooth’s story. In those moments, Leonard Kirk’s art stands out most. In large-scale group shots, Kirk’s detailing gets lost a little, but, when it comes to the gore and body horror that Sabretooth inflicts, there is something visceral in the pencil strokes. It’s thematically appropriate, gruesome in a way that sticks with you, even after you’ve finished the issue.

Sabretooth carves his own space in Krakoan society and becomes the haunting specter of the island, constructing his power as something demonic and infernal. This is where the issue benefits most from its introspective structure. Sabretooth is afforded a great deal of depth and consideration here that takes up the majority of the page space; a necessary concession in order to get the audience sufficiently invested in a character who, in cultural consciousness, has only ever been seen as an animalistic villain.

The end of the issue promises a reckoning for the people who put Creed in the pit — and those who are guilty by association in his mind. It’s an excellent way to pose the question that LaValle seems to be getting at; do the actions of an individual excuse the conditions of the carceral state?

It’s not a question that is going to have a clear cut answer but it is certainly impressive for LaValle to pitch it at all.

Overall: Sabretooth #1 is an introspective look at Victor Creed’s psyche that tees up some of the most difficult questions posed by the new nation state of Krakoa, all handled deftly by a very talented writer. 9.5/10

REVIEW: Sabretooth #1

Sabretooth #1
Writer: Victor LaValle
Artist: Leonard Kirk
Colorist: Rain Beredo
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Victor Creed was the first recipient of Krakoan justice in the pages of HOUSE OF X…
…the first to break the laws of Krakoa…
…and the first to be exiled into the pit beneath the island.
In January 2022, he returns in SABRETOOTH #1.
Written by acclaimed fiction author Victor LaValle, SABRETOOTH unveils what Creed has been up to…and it’s not what you expect!
Price: $4.99
Buy It Digitally: Sabretooth #1

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Rebecca is a literature student by day, a freelance writer by night, and a comics fan always. She is a big fan of everything superheroic and horrific. Right now, she can be found on Twitter at @phoenixfcrce.