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Post by Johnny Smith on Jul 26, 2019 3:58:12 GMT
House of X #1 is here!
My one line review: “It is very Hickman.”
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Post by chap22 on Jul 26, 2019 17:06:50 GMT
Yeah, it's definitely very Hickman. Whew. As to be expected, there's a lot to unpack here. My personal highlights/key thoughts:
I'll start by saying that Larraz just absolutely KILLS it on the art. You can pretty easily pick out a lot of his heavy influences, yet he still makes it his own and in this book it is simply phenomenal. Gorgeous stuff throughout.
Hickman does a little bit better job here than I've complained of him doing in the past about seeming to care for established character personalities. It's still not his strong suit, but in this issue Magneto feels like Magneto, the Cuckoos feel like the Cuckoos, Jean I think feels like Jean (but it was a small, walk-and-talk bit so it's hard to really say), Scott in a very limited sample feels like Scott (still a total dick)...but those are the only ones I could tell because they're the only ones who really got any speaking parts to speak of. It was much more about laying out his new status quo and visiting new outside-perspective characters, which played to Hickman's strengths.
Hickman also does a great job of just jumping right in and carrying the story in a way that I don't feel super-lost, even though I haven't read an X-book in a couple years and have no idea how Cyclops is back, how Jean is back, why Magneto's back with the X-Men, where the teen X-Men are, etc.
All the Krakoa stuff and what Xavier & co. are using it for is super-fun. Typical Hickman "Big Ideas" flying around everywhere, and it's great.
That said, I won't spoil what it is for anybody who hasn't read it yet, but the new characters and the stuff going on out in space in response to Xavier and the Krakoa stuff honestly may be my favorite part of the issue. Don't really know why, except for maybe because...
My one big complaint about the issue (and I suspect this complaint may be rapidly done away with over the course of this mini as we see more of it unfold) is that the X-Men, in this limited amount of space in which so much shit gets thrown at us, feel like the bad guys. Not so much in what they're doing (although plenty of that stuff is RIFE with possibility to be corrupted or stolen or exploited or what have you) but in how they're doing it and their whole attitude towards it. The one line in the whole issue I most felt myself agreeing with was an ambassador's question to Magneto about "You know what you sound like, don't you?" And it seemed very telling to me that it was Magneto who was the one there to answer it, and I think it's also very telling that Xavier looks reminiscent of the Maker (another Hickman fave) and the only time we really see the Prof in this issue is the super-creepy first scene with whatever the hell that is that's going on there. It's a weird feeling book, as the mutants are certainly justified in the actions they're taking, and none of what we see in here outside of Mystique, Sabretooth, and Toad are even bad acts, yet the way everyone talks and the sort of mysterious use and reference to (and even-moreso-than-usual reverance for) Xavier throughout all has, to me at least, slightly (or more than slightly in some cases) sinister undertones. Which is I think a fantastic way to write this story to get readers interested and keep them on their toes...but is not something I want to see long-term.
But all that said, man, it's a great start. Can't way to see how this intertwines with Powers of X and where this all leads us.
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Post by Grayson on Jul 26, 2019 18:02:52 GMT
have no idea how Cyclops is back, how Jean is back, why Magneto's back with the X-Men, where the teen X-Men are, etc. : We have a Kid Cable now who didn't think that it was right that his father died the way that he died, so he set up an elaborate series of events using time travel, in which he called in a favor that was owed Scott, for an inventor to create a device that would essentially harness Phoenix Energy every time a Phoenix event occurred on or near Earth. They implanted this device in Scott's corpse and bingo bango, the greatest member and leader of the mutant race has return in mutantkind's darkest hour. Jean: I could give you a similar explanation as Scott's but we all know that the long and short of it is the Phoenix, so...the Phoenix.  Magneto: Erik made a deal with X-Man at the end of Age of X-Man but it seems highly convoluted so we'll just say...reasons. Teen X-Men: Unlike Dr. Sam Beckett, the Teen X-Men finally made the jump home, thanks Kid Cable. He had to kill Old Cable along the way though and I'm pretty sure that they cut off Mimic's wing and grafted them to Warren's body too. So...yay... Also, I really want to give this a shot, so I'm thinking of picking up the single issue this weekend to see what all the hub bub is about. |
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Post by chap22 on Jul 26, 2019 18:15:09 GMT
Scott: We have a Kid Cable now who didn't think that it was right that his father died the way that he died, so he set up an elaborate series of events using time travel, in which he called in a favor that was owed Scott, for an inventor to create a device that would essentially harness Phoenix Energy every time a Phoenix event occurred on or near Earth. They implanted this device in Scott's corpse and bingo bango, the greatest member and leader of the mutant race has return in mutantkind's darkest hour. Jean: I could give you a similar explanation as Scott's but we all know that the long and short of it is the Phoenix, so...the Phoenix. Magneto: Erik made a deal with X-Man at the end of Age of X-Man but it seems highly convoluted so we'll just say...reasons. Teen X-Men: Unlike Dr. Sam Beckett, the Teen X-Men finally made the jump home, thanks Kid Cable. He had to kill Old Cable along the way though and I'm pretty sure that they cut off Mimic's wing and grafted them to Warren's body too. So...yay... Also, I really want to give this a shot, so I'm thinking of picking up the single issue this weekend to see what all the hub bub is about.
Good God. It was all absolutely as X-Men as I expected it to be.  |
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Post by chap22 on Jul 26, 2019 18:16:44 GMT
Also, I really want to give this a shot, so I'm thinking of picking up the single issue this weekend to see what all the hub bub is about. You should be pleased. Your boy Slim is written 1000% totally in-character, as he's a total prick d-bag to the First Family. |
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Post by Grayson on Jul 26, 2019 18:26:32 GMT
You should be pleased. Your boy Slim is written 1000% totally in-character, as he's a total prick d-bag to the First Family. The Fantastic Four?! They probably deserved it though, especially Reed. |
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Post by chap22 on Jul 26, 2019 19:29:24 GMT
You should be pleased. Your boy Slim is written 1000% totally in-character, as he's a total prick d-bag to the First Family. The Fantastic Four?! They probably deserved it though, especially Reed. He was a dick to Sue. Sue!! Shameful. |
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Post by Grayson on Jul 26, 2019 20:31:52 GMT
He was a dick to Sue. Sue!! Shameful. Well, to be fair, the Fantastic Four were essentially in charge of the ENTIRE multiverse and yet someone the prime Marvel Universe was still an extremely shitty place for mutants...so... |
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Post by juancena on Jul 26, 2019 21:07:21 GMT
About dang time someone put this thread up!
Interesting first issue. Judging from their behavior, it would seem to appear that Prof. X and the X-Men are being controlled by someone or something.
My theory: The X-Men and other Mutants are being controlled via Krakoa's vegetation (which was turning Scott and Jean into Pod People early on in the issue), and the drugs created for humans would be used to control them in the future.
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Post by glaeken on Jul 26, 2019 23:38:40 GMT
The Fantastic Four?! They probably deserved it though, especially Reed. He was a dick to Sue. Sue!! Shameful. He is so over blondes. |
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Post by Johnny Smith on Jul 27, 2019 3:31:50 GMT
{Spoiler} ![]()  Also why is Damage Control collecting all of these weapons? |
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Post by Johnny Smith on Jul 27, 2019 3:51:12 GMT
 All five Cuckoos are in this issue. Sophie and Esme were killed off during the Morrison New X-Men run. |
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Post by glaeken on Jul 27, 2019 13:32:28 GMT
All five Cuckoos are in this issue. Sophie and Esme were killed off during the Morrison New X-Men run. Just more negating Morrison's run. But, if it prevents the return of Xorn, that's not a bad thing. |
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Post by chap22 on Jul 27, 2019 14:22:00 GMT
All five Cuckoos are in this issue. Sophie and Esme were killed off during the Morrison New X-Men run. Just more negating Morrison's run. But, if it prevents the return of Xorn, that's not a bad thing. Pretty sure I saw Xorn (or a reasonable facsimile/lookalike) in there too. |
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Post by Johnny Smith on Jul 27, 2019 23:38:29 GMT
Just more negating Morrison's run. But, if it prevents the return of Xorn, that's not a bad thing. Pretty sure I saw Xorn (or a reasonable facsimile/lookalike) in there too. Both of the Xorn brothers appear in a scene |
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