Marauders #1 was released on 10/23/2019. — **Marauders #1** was released on 10/23/2019.

By Zack Quaintance — I’m going to be blunt here, folks — never did I think I’d be reading an X-Men pirate comic written by Gerry Duggan. And I especially didn’t think I’d be excited to read that comic. And I especially especially didn’t think I’d finish the first issue and want to read more issues of that comic. Yet, here we are.

Why, you may wonder, does all this seem so unlikely to me? Well, for starters X-Men-plus-pirates is a pretty absurd mash-up. Mutants have long been depicted in these comics as so powerful that they would never really need a boat, preferring instead to fly under their own power or use the private jets that have long been a staple of transportation for Marvel’s merry mutants or use spaceships or something. Second, I’ve spent the past I don’t know how many years sticking mainly to the most prominent X-Men titles, keeping tabs on the them but even then keeping the books on the backburner due to a mix of tired concepts and visceral lack of support from the publisher (X-Men Red and a few other exceptions aside). Third, I haven’t really read much of Gerry Duggan’s work, flying as it does a bit under the radar at Marvel.

So, yes, this comic had a pretty unlikely journey to my eyeballs, but you know what? I actually liked it quite a bit, for what it was — an additive auxiliary title within an interesting new status quo for some of superhero comics’ all-time best characters. This isn’t one of the main titles of the new X-Men era, and that’s fine — it’s not trying to be. This is a comic that I suspect will fit nicely within this line of books, many of which seem deliberately conceived to explore the ramifications of the world that was so expertly built by writer Jonathan Hickman and co. in the weekly alternating series, House of X and Powers of X.

The part of that world this book explores is really thoughtful and interesting. It essentially posits that just because mutantkind has finally set up a workable nation from within which it can exist largely free of persecution alongside humans, doesn’t mean that every last mutant on the planet will be able to physically get themselves to that nation. To assume as much is reductive, nice but not really realistic. Sure, Krakoa makes it so that there are teleportation gates throughout the planet that can take users directly to its shores, but there are also obstacles that stand in the way of mutants trying to use those gates, the vast majority of which are geo-political in nature.

My 20,000-foot view of Marauders #1 is that this is actually a very smart comic grown from a super goofy (and quite fun) concept, and it’s one that like all of the new touches in this 2019 X-Men revival seeds potential for seemingly dozens of new stories and angles. In addition to that, the creative team here has put together a thoroughly entertaining comic book.

It’s just a well done first issue, plain and simple. Beware some light spoilers here, but we start off with Kitty Pryde discovering that for some mysterious reason, she cannot enter the portals to Krakoa...so she must sail there. It’s a great start, one that gives us a mystery to propel things along and also establishes this as a character-driven comic that, while technically a team book, is all about the journey we’re on with Kitty Pryde. A lot great small moments grow from this, including an absolutely hilarious new relationship between Wolverine and Kitty, and a running joke about how outdated her name has become (and how difficult it can be to get your friends and family to call you by a grown-up name).

I was also quite impressed by the visuals here. Matteo Lolli’s linework is clean as all get out, and the Federico Blee colors give this X-Men plus pirates comic the often playful tone it calls for. There’s one page that stands out to me as particularly excellent graphic sequential storytelling, and it’s one that also gives readers a clear idea of what makes Kitty Pryde such a great character by illustrating the versatility of her powerset, something I think past creators in this franchise have long struggled with. Check it out below (although really, this is actually part of a three-page sequence that gets the point across)…

Finally, I should note that while I’ve really hit the point hard here that this is an adventure story on the lighter side, there are really smart and layered ideas in this book too. The sailing around the world concept to collect mutants without access to Krakoa portals is used in a way that incorporates shadowy bank accounts and massive global enterprises with agendas, foreshadowing that some of the inevitable conflict within this shiny new X-Men era may grow from real-world problems, too.

Overall: A great start to the auxiliary Dawn of X line of titles, Marauders #1 is a character-driven comic that subtly works in nuanced explorations of the new X-Men status quo. Feel free to set sail with great enthusiasm here. 9.0/10

Marauders #1
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Matteo Lolli
Colorist: Federico Blee
Letterer: Cory Petit
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $4.99

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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.