X-Men

Wrapping with Inferno #4, Hickman’s X-Men has drawn to a close, yet the Krakoa era has only just begun. New stories are kicking off and away from the central premise introduced in HoXPox, ushering in another chapter of X-History. There are many important elements of this run to discuss, which is a major reason why it has been widely reviewed and commented on by critics both within comics and in the larger entertainment sphere. From the resurrection protocols to Moira X to Nimrod and the Omega Sentinels, Dawn of X and then Reign of X hit the ground running and the X-Titles are showing no signs of slowing down.

One monumentally important element of the era has been bringing the villain Destiny back and reinstating her importance in both the franchise and Mystique’s life. While decades of subtext, film franchises, editorial mandates, and death have kept them apart, this run effectively brought the pair to the forefront as a couple for the first time in ways that could never have happened before. Among the many things this era has given its readers, perhaps no gift has been so sweet as the reunion between these two murder wives and the long-awaited continuation of their beautiful love story, all while pitting them against Moira X, Xavier, Magneto, and others.

Discussing elements of House of X/Powers of X, X-Men Vol. 5 #1-21, and Inferno #1-4 [Read more…] about I Have Awoken in a World that is Upside Down: Mystique & Destiny in Inferno

With the oversized concluding chapter of the four-part Inferno out Wednesday January 5, the Hickman era of X-Men has now ended—and what a stunning conclusion it was, with Hickman and a stellar team of artists managing to shock and satisfy in equal measure. Here we’ll look back at Hickman’s tenure as a whole, both as storyteller and as architect, to assess the revitalized line’s achievements—and its flaws—and above all, to recap the three radical changes inaugurated with the 2019 paradigm shift and how those big swings themselves have developed or even changed course since.

After a brief intro, I’ll run through: Hickman’s three core innovations to the franchise and then, having heaped much justified praise upon the man, we’ll look at the many things we didn’t get to see, and the very few that didn’t really work. The last stop is a brief look at what the end of Inferno #4 has promised us in no uncertain terms, as well as the architect’s own promise to all who have come to call Krakoa home—fan and creator alike.

Here at the start, though, I’ll include one of my favorite moments from Inferno #4, Emma’s moment—this is just so brilliantly earned:

[Read more…] about Always Additive: A Retrospective of Hickman’s Tenure as Architect of Krakoa