By Zack Quaintance — Way of X #1 hit today, largely expanding upon plot threads first dropped by Jonathan Hickman and co. in X-Men #7, the Crucible issue. We get (understandably) Nightcrawler as the central character, undergoing as he is a journey of faith. Nightcrawler is one of the most overtly religious X-Men, perhaps the most overtly religious among the most prominent and long-running Marvel mutants.

Nightcrawler’s father is a demon (I think that’s still cannon), and at various times in his history he has been a priest (and then not a priest…because it was all an illusion…because comics). Whatever the status of Nightcrawler’s religious background, he’s almost always depicted as a devout Catholic. So, religion is of course hovering all around Way of X #1. But friends? I think the intersection of super-powered mutants and faith is the least interesting part of this comic.

That’s a very personal take, of course, but that’s just how I felt. The Crucible concept remains interesting to me, the idea of de-powered mutants having to die in order to subsequently be resurrected with their powers…so on Krakoa a ceremony has built up around that. But I never found the religious implications of any of this compelling. Or at least not enough to rate anywhere near the top things I’m thinking about or paying attention to in the new Krakoa era.

And while this may sound a bit counterintuitive, I don’t think the creative team in Way of X #1 is all that interested in the religious implications of the new mutant immortality utopia either. In fact, part of the plot has to do with NIghtcrawler not being clever enough (by his own admission) to develop a suitable religious structure or faith for Krakoa, and I 100 percent took this as an admission by the creators that they’d basically failed to do the same.

However. None of that makes Way of X #1 a bad or flawed comic. Quite the contrary. The book keeps the religious elements around just enough as to not seem like a bait and switch, presenting and interesting set of who the hell knows developments that I found intriguing and satisfying. The real star of this issue is the idea of the Patchwork Man, a boogey man (or is it?) of sorts that has started to appear to some of the (mostly younger) mutants upon resurrection. It plays to something I think about a lot — no matter how rewarding or comfortable one’s life becomes, there’s no escaping the looming dread, the sense that you need to do more to avoid catastrophe, the Patchwork Man for your own utopia.

To me that was the most compelling idea in Way of X #1, and it made for an excellent comic. It’s a bit reductive of me to break everything this comic is trying to do down into that notion of with even the best achievements comes an instinct that it’s not good enough, but that’s where I connected most strongly with this book, one of the most personal of the new X-Men entries to date. Your own connection may vary, there are plenty of points here to find one, though.

This book also made me think about the X-Men line as a whole, and how thoroughly the auxiliary series have explored so many of the questions seeded by the landmark House of X / Powers of X series. There’s still a big one hanging out there (Moira! Moira! Moira!), but Way of X may even have us headed more in that direction as well…

Overall: A relentlessly-smart comic that just might subvert your expectations for what this series is really about. Way of X #1 is yet another additive and well-executed edition to a thriving line of X-Men comics. 9.0/10

REVIEW: Way of X #1

Way of X #1
Writer: Si Spurrier
Artist: Bob Quinn
Colorist: Java Tartaglia
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel Comics
THE WAY TO THE FUTURE OF X!Mutantkind has built a new Eden... but there are serpents in this garden. Some mutants struggle to fit in. Some mutants turn to violence and death. And the children whisper of the Patchwork Man, singing in their hearts...Only one mutant senses the looming shadows. Snared by questions of death, law and love, only NIGHTCRAWLER can fight for the soul of Krakoa. Only he - and the curious crew he assembles - can help mutants defeat their inner-darkness and find a new way to live. The WAY OF X. SI SPURRIER (X-MEN LEGACY) and BOB QUINN (CAPTAIN AMERICA) push the frontiers of Krakoa in this unmissable entry into the bold new REIGN OF X.
Price: $4.99
Buy It Here: Way of X #1

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.