X-Men (2019) #1-7

X-Men #1-7

Originally released in 2019

Written by Jonathan Hickman

Art by Leinil Francis Yu (#1-4, 7), R.B. Silva (#5), Matteo Buffagni (#6)

Hickman's run on the X-Men kicked off with a pair of mini-series that established a new status quo for the X-Men, House of X and Powers of X.  In it, Xavier, Magneto, and Moira MacTaggert (who, after decades of being a normal human who was affiliated with the X-Men, was revealed to be a mutant with the power to redo her life every time she dies with knowledge of her previous lives) set up the living island of Krakoa as a nation-state for mutants, complete with its own language and laws.

Those series also set up an organization called Orchis that is dedicated to killing all mutants, made up of scientists from SHIELD, AIM, Alpha Flight, Hydra, and various other heroic and villainous organizations. (all of the characters involved are new, though; I assume the SHIELD and Alpha Flight representatives are rogue elements, since having Nick Fury or Maria Hill involved in a plot to genocide mutantkind would be a point of no return for them)

Orchis is building Sentinels and working with Omega Sentinel despite this historically being proven to be a phenomenally bad idea. (since Sentinels are basically guaranteed to turn against humanity sooner or later) Orchis comes across as ultra-conservatives, longing for a past golden age that never existed and so obsessed with looking backwards that they're willing to devolve themselves if it improves their chances of surviving mutants even slightly.

I've seen that people have problems with the Krakoa era of X-Men and wish for a return to the status quo. While I like the Krakoa status quo, the first issue does treat the X-Men's new way of life as being unsettling at times.  Treating mutants as though they're like gods to humanity is behaviour that I'd expect from Apocalypse or Magneto, but even Storm and Cyclops treat mutants as being superior.

In a nice change of pace from what I've come to expect from modern comics, each issue tells a self-contained story.  There are overarching plot points, but it's not like it takes six issues to cover a single event.  Threats like Hordeculture, octogenarian gardeners, are brought up and fended off in the same issue, though there's always the threat of their return.

The relationship between mutants and humanity have changed quite a bit as a result of Krakoa becoming a mutant nation in more ways than one. Mutants are offering miracle cures to nations that respect their sovereignty, but they require regular treatments to be effective.  Other nations don't like this, and plot to have Krakoa's leaders killed during an economic meeting.

When their leaders include Xavier, Magneto, and Apocalypse, this obviously does not go well for the would-be assassins, but the sheer arrogance and openness of the attempt speaks volumes.

When the attempt is prevented, it's clear that this is not the first time since Krakoa's founding that humans have tried to kill Xavier (despite it being enshrined in Krakoa's laws that they can't kill humans), and it won't be the last either.

One issue has Darwin (who can adapt to any situation), Synch (who can copy Darwin), and Wolverine (Laura Kinney) sent into a dimension used to upgrade humans into mutant-killers, where time is vastly accelerated.  As of these issues, they still haven't come out, though they'll almost certainly be changed by the experience when they do.

Issue 6 focuses on Mystique as a darker side of Krakoan society is shown.  As she secretly explores an Orchis base, she discovers that they're building Nimrod, some kind of super-Sentinel.  She had the chance to assassinate its creator, and Magneto says that she should have - Krakoan laws may say that mutants can't kill humans, but the leaders are willing to twist or ignore the laws in certain cases.

However, Mystique has been carrying out these covert operations in hopes of receiving a reward that has been constantly been denied to her - the revival of her wife Destiny.  Moira MacTaggert has been very strict about two kinds of mutants not being part of the revival process - clones and precognitives.  That last rule seems like it's in place purely to screw Mystique over, though it might hint at darker motives behind Krakoa's founding.

Issue 7 deals with a ritual called the Crucible, which was put into place to address a major problem in mutant society.  If the resurrection process used on Krakoa can bring back mutants with their powers intact, what's to stop the millions of mutants who were depowered by the Scarlet Witch from dying to restore their powers?

The process they set up to prevent this is a brutal one, boiling down to Apocalypse more or less publicly executing the former mutant in question.  It's a test of their resolve - to see if they're willing to get their powers back no matter how painful it might be - but it's still tough to watch as a behemoth pummeling a powerless child.

Krakoa is definitely a wildly different era for the X-Men compared to what came before.  Mutantkind is more confident, operating openly rather than sticking to the shadows, but the threat of Sentinels seems more organized than before - rather than a few lone crackpots like Bolivar Trask, a concentrated effort is made to build mutant-killing machines no matter the cost, whether that's financially or in terms of lives. The situation is rapidly escalating on all sides, and these issues make it seems like mutants have reached a tipping point.