By Zack Quaintance — If last month’s Planet-Sized X-Men #1 was liftoff for the next phase of the Krakoa Era, this week’s X-Men #1 is, perhaps, the concept finding its cruising altitude. It’s also a relatively familiar concept when evaluated against the rest of the Krakoa Era concepts. Since the landmark House of X/Powers of X series in 2019, we’ve seen these comics turn the flagship X-Men title into an anthology of sorts, while at the same time launching new concepts entirely born of the ideas in those books, from X-Corp to the repurposing of X-Factor, to Hellions turning into Sassy Sinister’s Striketeam (en route to being the best book of this line).

In X-Men #1, we get what we’ve almost always gotten from X-Men: a superhero team of mutants that also dabble in stemming threats to broader humankind. For the past two years or so, there really hasn’t been a team of X-Men, not one with a defined roster. There have been teams sent to do various things as microstories built out different pieces of the Krakoa concept (often en route to launching a new title, tying into a larger event, or lining up some pieces for later), but there hasn’t been a distinct X-Men squad with a concrete roster going on adventures spread across story arcs. This comic through its first issue (and the way it’s been marketed) seems very much poised to change that.

With all that in mind, I must admit here to having an almost involuntary tendency to want to call this idea played out. But you know what? It really isn’t. Establishing a firm team of X-Men now in the wake of mutantkinds giant move from Planet-Sized X-Men (space, baby!), is organic, born from the shared trajectory of the entire line that was sent into motion in House of X/Powers of X. And it’s also being done in a way that speaks to touches within that ongoing story. The team isn’t based from a school upstate. No, they have prime real estate in Manhattan, upon which they’ve grown a headquarters as a Krakoa-looking tree house. That’s all great, and the overall lineup of X-Men here is just fine, with mileage inherently due to vary based on who your own long-time favorites are.

As an individual issue, the execution of this one is closer to being just fine than remarkable in most ways. It’s nice to see Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia on art, evoking as that does thoughts and feelings from the era’s launch with HoX/PoX. They do fine work, made even better by the duo having illustrated some (if not most) of the landmark moments of this era so far. And the story in this book does seem to put a bigger villain in play, as well as some other threads to be explored later, around the idea that humankind is just now catching on that the mutants have discovered a path for themselves to immortality.

What didn’t quite work so well for me was the whole mutant mech battle thing. It’s the type of over-the-top flashing single issue conflict that feels totally empty. You know from the start the heroes will triumph (which, of course they will, but the trick is convincingly teasing that they might not), and you know nothing of all that much consequence is in play here. It’s just X-Men good, whatever this monster thing is bad, now can we please get back to moving the bigger story. If this era of X-Men wasn’t so consistently driven by higher concepts, it would have been easier to sit back and enjoy the flashy ride.

Still, this is a fine way to bring an X-Men team to the new Krakoa Era, incorporating a more familiar concept and status quo for these heroes into the forward-looking ongoing story lines.

Overall: A good and proper X-Men team makes its return in X-Men #1, and while the overall Krakoa era storyline is really humming, this issue is mostly exciting as a hint at things to come, rather than as something strong and entertaining on its own merits. 8.0/10

REVIEW: X-Men #1

X-Men #1
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Pepe Larraz
Colorist: Marte Gracia
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel Comics
THESE X-MEN ARE... FEARLESS! The heroes of Krakoa are here to save the planet! Things might be complicated between the nation of Krakoa and the rest of the world, but to the X-MEN, things are simple — you do what’s right, you protect those who need protecting and you save the world we all share. Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Sunfire, Rogue, Wolverine, Synch and Polaris are the chosen champions of mutantkind, and they will not shrink from any battle for their home planet. Writer Gerry Duggan (MARAUDERS, DEADPOOL, UNCANNY AVENGERS) reteams with superstar artist Pepe Larraz (HOUSE OF X, X OF SWORDS, UNCANNY AVENGERS) to chart the course of the X-Men in a world of the Reign of X!
Price: $4.99
More Info: X-Men #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.