The latest X-Men crossover event got off to a rough start with Gerry Duggan and Lucas Werneck’s Fall of the House of X #1. Now it is Kieron Gillen and R.B. Silva to help kickstart this new X-Men event to have an overall good first month with Rise of the Powers of X #1. Whereas the other series is set in the present, Rise of the Powers of X is promoted to be taking place in the future. With it showing us a possible X-Men future, we could get a lot of development of how the story will get resolved in this series. How will Rise of the Powers of X #1 continue the end of the Krakoa Era? Let’s find out.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: R.B. Silva
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
SOLICITATION
“THE FIGHT FOR KRAKOA HAS BEEN LOST! Ten years ago, the mutants returned from their exile to try and reclaim the Earth from the forces of Orchis. They failed. Now, within the victorious Orchis with their gauntlet choking the world, Nimrod and Omega Sentinel put their plan within a plan into action. They are to summon their binary god to consume everything in their accession. All that stands between them is the X-Men.
What can they do? They’re the X-Men. They’ll find a way. That’s their power. So begins a story beyond time and space, with the rise of powers beyond our petty human intelligence. From writer Kieron Gillen (IMMORTAL X-MEN, UNCANNY X-MEN) and artist R.B. Silva (POWERS OF X, CAPTAIN AMERICA: SYMBOL OF TRUTH) comes half of the story that will bring the Krakoa Age to its conclusion!” – Marvel Comics
REVIEW
When it comes to being a spectacle Rise of the Powers of X #1 accomplishes what Fall of the House of X #1 did not fully capture. Right away there are clear major stakes that as the reader you feel. More importantly, you get to see how desperately the X-Men are fighting for survival against the overwhelming threat of Orchis.
With Rise of the Powers of X #1 taking place ten years in the future Kieron Gillen and R.B. Silva can maximize how bad things have become for mutants as Orchis continues to rise in power. There are a lot of callbacks to the worst timelines we saw in the Moira X story from Hickman’s House of X/Powers of X story. Here we get a full issue of that and in the process, Gillen can bring together many narratives that have played out during the Fall of X story.
One of these stories that as a reader of the X-Men titles is the opening scene with Mystique and Gambit. We’ve seen since Gambit and Rogue got married that Mystique and Destiny have not been big fans of their son-in-law. But while that has been the present time can change many things. That is the case with at least Mystique and Gambit as in the midst of war against Orchis they are watching each other’s backs. It makes their sacrifice to get the surviving X-Men the information they need an even more powerful moment.
The sacrifice Mystique, Gambit, and Emma Frost are shown making is made stronger by how much Nimrod and Omega Sentinel relished in their victory. Their attitude extended into where Orchis is at in this future that’s presented. Orchis has all but exterminated the mutants and accomplished all their goals. That leading them to feel they are ready to become something greater than God is what their endgame was heading towards. Establishing this makes everything that occurred in Rise of the Powers of X #1 feel like where Fall of X was leading towards if things stayed the same.
But as we’ve seen with so many dark futures the mutants will fight until there is no one left. They will continue to work as the X-Men with hope for the survival of those who remain. Synch playing the old Xavier-mentor role as he has almost exhausted his powers was a cool continuation of his character’s rise as a leader. The remaining X-Men, Kamala Khan, and Krakoa merged Captain Krakoa, a zombified Shadowcat, Wolverine, and an A.I. Iron Man do have a “make do with what we got” team.
Developing Orchis and X-Men in this way elevates the final battle to feel like the end. Whatever has gone down in this future this final fight is what it was all building towards. Even if their numbers are small there is a plan made by Synch and others that can still give them hope to win, which led to the cool moment of him using the last of his power to use Apocalypse’s powers.
Hitting those notes led to the reveal of Rasputin IV working with Charles Xavier and Cypher brought things back to not just Fall of X but also House of X/Powers of X. Specifically when it comes to how we learn that Rasputin IV, Xavier, and Cypher have targeted Doctor Stasis and Mister Sinister’s other clones as a way to end things. This all leading back to them concluding that they have to go back to stopping Moira MacTaggert from having her mutant power activating goes back to what started the Krakoa Era. There is now the game changer that now gives Fall of the House of X and Rise of the Powers of X the feeling that the end of the Krakoa Era we’ve been teased about is here.
All of the writing is further cemented by the strong artwork by R.B. Silva. Silva as the artist keeps up the style established for the entire Krakoa Era. Everything comes off as a pay off to everything that has been built during this period. That goes for both the X-Men and Orchis sides of the story. All of the members of Orchis radiate the confidence of victory you expect. That is complimented by the X-Men all having appearances of having made so many sacrifices with hope of ultimately saving the day. That all culminates in an intense final battle that Silva captures very well.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Rise of the Powers of X #1 hits on what a story for the end of a major era for a franchise should feel like should begin. Kieron Gillen and R.B. Silva give weight to everything that we’ve seen go down during even before Fall of X. With that the end of the Krakoa Era does feel like it will get a satisfying ending. That is all we can hope for from the start to an event that’s the culmination of stories and character arcs developed over several years.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10