The X-Men have entered a new phase of the Krakoa Era for the franchise as Jonathan Hickman concluded his run on the X-Men franchise, for now. That has left other creators to take on the mantle of where the X-Men franchise will go next. One of the writers that Marvel has brought onto the X-Men franchise is Kieron Gillen to write the Quiet Council-centric title, Immortal X-Men. This isn’t Gillen’s first time working on an X-Men comic book. Before Immortal X-Men, Gillen worked on several titles including Uncanny X-Men. Returning to the franchise when the X-Men are now much different from when he last worked on an X-title it’ll be interesting to see what Gillen has planned. Let’s find out with Immortal X-Men #1.
Creative Team
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Lucas Werneck
Colorist: David Curiel
Synopsis
While checking on his database Mr. Sinister is reminded that something is going down that he knows he should act surprised about.
Later, during the latest Quiet Council meeting Magneto announces he is stepping down from his seat on the council and retiring to Arakko. Emma Frost waste no time in getting everyone to agree that Magneto should have no say in his successor on the Quiet Council.
The Quiet Council then spend time hearing out pitches from Angel, Penance, Gorgon, Vulcan, Agent Brand, and Beast about taking Magneto’s previous seat but aren’t sold on any of them.
Alone, Exodus reaches out to Hope Summers to compliment her on all she has done to live up to being the mutant messiah. Knowing Exodus wants something Hope ask what is he looking for from her.
Later, Selene Gallio makes a pitch to the Quiet Council about why with her life force draining powers and magic abilities she can fill the hole left behind by Apocalypse, bringing up how she could accomplish what would take years for the Five together to do by bringing those who died on Genosha in one day.
Hope Summers interrupts by saying she wants the empty seat to represent The Five on the Quiet Council. She reminds the rest of the Quiet Council its been The Five that have kept Krakoa together and they need representation which is why she wants the seat. Hope concludes her pitch by saying that if they deny her request the Quiet Council are more likely to become even less popular with mutants.
The Quiet Council holds a vote for Hope’s membership. Emma Frost, Mystique, Sebastian Shaw, Kate Pryde, and Exodus all vote Yes while Charles Xavier, Colossus, Storm, Destiny, and Nightcrawler all vote No. As the deciding vote Mr. Sinister initially votes No but after seeing Hope almost lose the voting, which goes against his plans, he votes Yes in order to give Hope the Autumn seat left by Magneto.
Later, Xavier tells Selene the results to the voting. Unhappy with the results Selene tells Xavier the Quiet Council will have to live with the consequences of their decision by summoning a monster to Krakoa.
While Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus immediately spring into action Mr. Sinister sneaks away to his secret lab. Mr. Sinister then prepares the clones of Moira MacTaggert that he has created to find the conclusion to what he is looking for. End of issue.
Review
If you had any concerns about the X-Men franchise suffering without Jonathan Hickman’s direction for the continued Krakoa direction Immortal X-Men #1 will wipe all concerns away. This comic book reads like a mission statement for the entire line that you should trust all the creative teams on the new line-up of X-Men comics. It was not an easy task but Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck accomplish and then some.
Opening Immortal X-Men #1 by establishing Mr. Sinister as the narrator for at least this first issue was a brilliant move. Mr. Sinister has such a fascinating outlook on everything as he is so sure of all the plans he has in the works. Even when things don’t go as planned, which we see with the Hope Summers voting, Mr. Sinister snakes his way around getting Hope on the Quiet Council as he wanted. The important part for the writing for Mr. Sinister was that Gillen never lost track that we are reading the character’s narration. At no point does Gillen break the fourth wall to take over as the narrator. Mr. Sinister’s voice is consistent throughout Immortal X-Men #1 that you never lose the fact we are reading his perspective on how the story in this comic book is unfolding.
This also works to open the door for an important narrative element for Immortal X-Men being about the entire Quiet Council. This is not to be a vehicle for one or two characters. It is to put over the entire Quiet Council. By going with Mr. Sinister as the first Quiet Council member to be spotlighted in this way we get a glimpse at the possibilities Gillen has by shifting narrators depending on the story with the other Quiet Council members.
Most importantly we see how while Moira MacTaggert isn’t on Krakoa her presence is still being felt. And not just as a possible enemy to Krakoa, as established over in the X Deaths and X Lives of Wolverine event. Here we see that Mr. Sinister was not only aware of Moira MacTaggert previous lives but is using Moira’s previous powers to further his own goals by creating several clones of her. That final page with the various Moira clones is as game changing of an ending for a first issue of a new ongoing series that you can get. There are so many questions created by this final page that should get all X-Men fans even more hyped for not only Immortal X-Men but the entire franchise.
Outside of Mr. Sinister, the other big focus of Immortal X-Men #1 was Magneto’s exit from the Quiet Council. Gillen does an excellent job covering the fallout of the Inferno event to have Magneto’s announcement not met with any resistance. Instead, we see how once again Emma Frost continues to step up by reminding both Magneto and Charles Xavier that they’ve lost a lot of trust within the Quiet Council. She does not mince any words that no one except Xavier feels for Magneto in this moment. It is a reality check that comes hard and fast at Magneto as they all vote for him to lose all power within the Quiet Council immediately.
Magneto stepping down also looks to have an impact on Xavier. Because while he votes along with the rest of the Quiet Council to not let Magneto have a say in the new member of the Quiet Council it was done with some trepidation. We see this as when voting for Hope Summers he is on the opposite side of the results. Its all just further evidence that Xavier has lost a lot of his power and influence in Krakoa. Which does put into question how he plans to regain some of the trust he has lost after the Inferno event.
The entire voting is also nicely built around why Hope Summers should have the seat on the Quiet Council. Gillen shows that while Hope hasn’t been a focal point during the Krakoa Era she has gone through a lot of character growth in the background. That growth as she has been the leader of The Five is shown here as she confidently makes her case for taking Magneto’s seat on the Quiet Council. What makes Hope now being on the Quiet Council even more interesting is that she shares the Autumn sector along with Xavier and Destiny. This is the part of the Quiet Council that has seen the biggest change as Xavier no longer has his two biggest allies in Apocalypse and Magneto. Which could lead to Hope and Destiny having much more power within the Quiet Council even though they are the two newest members.
Lucas Werneck brought it with his strong, consistent artwork throughout Immortal X-Men #1. He nails how there was supposed to be this sense of gravitas with this issue that was incredibly dialogue heavy. There were many important developments in all the talking and inner monologuing that took place. Werneck got over that importance with how he drew every character expression and the way characters carried themselves physically. It really showed the importance of art even in dialogue heavy comic books as so much more weight is given to what characters are saying by the way they are drawn.
Final Thoughts
Immortal X-Men #1 is a great example of how to start a new series off on the highest of notes. Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck waste no time in using the fallout from Inferno to provide a strong narrative focused comic book. Every page of Immortal X-Men had a sense of importance that made the final page have an even greater impact to the reader. This is definitely a must read for X-Men fans.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10