Since the founding of Krakoa as the new mutant nation the X-Men have expanded in ways where they are no longer just superheroes. We’ve seen them become traders, detectives, space force, and much more. Now Krakoa is going to be going corporate as Tini Howard and Alberto Foche launch X-Corp. This new company based on Krakoa will be led by Warren Worthington III and Monet St. Croix. Let’s see exactly this company on Krakoa is all about with X-Corp #1.
Writer: Tini Howard
Artist: Alberto Foche
Colorist: Sunny Gho
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Warren Worthington (Angel) and Monet St. Croix (Penance) film a promotional video with Sofía Mantega (Wind Dancer) as the director going over the technological and scientific advances that X-Corp strive to take.
Warren and Monet then go to meet Charles Xavier at the Krakoa Council Chamber. They talk about the business deals they’ve been working on though Xavier wonders if they are launching X-Corp to quickly. Warren and Monet believe in the products X-Corp aims to produce and distribute. Xavier then suggest X-Corp have a board of directors made up of five people. Monet already has ideas for that but gets a call that she must take.
Over in Mumbai, Penance saves Trinary from getting caught hacking the Indian Mutant Defense Force security. Penance then offers Trinary a position in X-Corp’s board of directors, which Trinary accepts.
While walking the streets Penance has Trinary do some work for her by interfacing with the new X-Corp headquarters. Trinary immediately finds 417 instance of vicious malware and suggests they monitor for the next malware that appears to track the origin that is likely human.
Over at Angra dos Reis, Brazil, Warren meets up with Jean-Pierre Kol (CEO of Noblesse Pharmaceuticals) at a horse racetrack. Kol tries to get Warren to bring down the previously negotiated price that Noblesse Pharmaceuticals agreed to with Xavier. Warren says that won’t happen. Hearing this Kol hands Warren a letter from his lawyers.
Elsewhere Monet meets up with Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man) in the Savage Land Flower Processing Facility. Monet quickly figures out which is the prime Jamie and recruits him for work she is in the middle of. She reveals that she wants Jamie to be part of X-Corp. Jamie is hesitant as he has grown comfortable with his current work. Monet calls out how Jamie is leaving things unprotected and walks off. Hearing this Jamie can’t help but follow Monet, leaving his duplicates to manage the flower facility.
At X-Corp’s flying headquarters Monet contacts Warren to tell him that Trinary found the ransomware and believes Kol is behind it by aiming for the Savage Land Flower Processing Facility. Monet ends up losing her control of her psychic link with Warren before they can finish their conversation.
Back in Angra dos Reis, Warren tries to tell Monet about Kol taking evidence they violated United Nations rule and that they may have to shut down the Savage Land in preparation. Warren realizes his communication has been cut to Monet so he goes back to his meeting with Kol.
Back on X-Corp’s headquarters Monet makes the executive decision for them to go meet up with Warren, leaving the Savage Lands behind, by using the flying capabilities of the headquarters that is linked to the Krakoan gates.
Over in Angra dos Reis, Kol is confident he will win the case at the United Nations and cause Krakoa’s wealth to plummet. Warren says that they will overcome Kol’s greed by being good people.
We then see the Savage Land Flower Processing Facility explode by Kol’s ransomeware attack. This makes Kol confident of his victory over Krakoa.
The X-Corp headquarters suddenly appears in Angra dos Reis much to Kol’s surprise. Kol quickly recovers from the shock and tries to turn the media against X-Corp while commanding the military to kill Warren.
Warren flies through all the gun fire and is able to get to the X-Corp headquarters without taking damage. Monet reveals that with the unveiling of the X-Corp headquarters that the media is focused on this rather than the Savage Land Flower Facility destruction.
It is then shown that X-Corporation is garnering all the headlines with positive reception over the unveiling of their headquarters in Brazil. End of issue.
The Good: Tini Howard did exactly what was needed to put over an entire series based around a company that is run in Krakoa with X-Corp #1. There is an understanding of what the goals of this series are. Now if those goals are what fans of the X-Men are looking for will be up to the reader.
Where X-Corp #1 works best is in how Howard establishes Warren Worthington and Monet St. Croix as co-leads in this series. A lot of time is spent on showing how both these characters are needed to balance out the direction for X-Corporation. With Monet she is looking at this as a pure businessperson as she has control over what direction X-Corporation will take. Then we have Warren who we see being more of a man of the people type with the way we see him talk business. This firmly establishes both of them as co-leads that need each other to balance each other out.
Monet in particular stood out most with how she was all about not wasting time getting X-Corporation established. She is shown to understand everything that it takes to make the launch successful and won’t even let Charles Xavier trying to second guess things. Monet knows what she is doing and her confidence shows with how quickly Xavier gets on her side by moving on into how setting up a board of directors will help with X-Corporation’s launch. Having Monet take this idea and run with it herself as we see her handpick the board of directors, instead of having Xavier try to do it, was a good power move to further establish her in the CEO role of X-Corporation.
Bringing in Trinary and Multiple Man to be two members of the X-Corporation board of directors was a good choice as Howard uses Monet’s history for these decisions. Both Trinary and Multiple Man are people that Monet has grown close to as previous teammates on X-Men: Red and X-Factor, respectively. Having people that she knows well helps in furthering what Monet’s vision for X-Corporation is. Which makes how she makes many executive decisions that lead to X-Corporation making a major public launch that is well received work well.
In the process Howard is also able to establish the roles both Trinary and Multiple Man will serve in the future for this X-Corp series. With Trinary we are shown how she will be the tech expert that is desperately needed by not just X-Corp but Krakoa as a whole. Then with Multiple Man, Howard takes the time to show how Jamie has dedicated himself to work at the Savage Land Flower Facility. This new role for Jamie is a great way to expand on the character so we do see him taking the next steps in his life.
Angel is also developed well in X-Corp #1 as we see how he has a handle of how to talk business. Though the conversation with Jean-Pierre Kol does not go as planned Angel never loses his cool. Even when surprised by Kol’s actions and threats Angel quickly recovers to make sure he is always in business mode.
Jean-Pierre Kol as the antagonist in X-Corp #1 nicely sets up what kind of opposition that X-Corporation will be up against moving forward. It’s been clear since Charles Xavier proclamation about Krakoa as a nation to the world during House of X and Powers of X that not everyone is behind it. The major businesses all around the world in particular don’t seem to like the mutants using their resources to enter various markets. Jean-Pierre Kol acts as representative of the attitude many large business have with what Krakoa is doing. How much more X-Corp delves into this aspect of what Krakoa is doing to establish themselves as a power in the world will be interesting to see develop over time.
Alberto Foche artwork is solid throughout X-Corp #1. When given the chance to show off Penance, Angel, Trinary, and Multiple Man’s powers he does a good job getting over how unique they are. The artwork also makes the launch of X-Corporation come across as a major spectacle the entire world is watching at the same time. It helps make X-Corporation’s debut a strong one that would understandably get all the media’s attention.
The Bad: X-Corp is not a series that will be for everyone. This is not a traditional superhero series as it’s mission statement is based more around the business and politics being run on Krakoa. While there is certainly some action in X-Corp #1 that isn’t the driving force of the story. It is all about X-Corp as a business and the characters running it. So this won’t be a series for those looking for more traditional superhero stories.
Overall: X-Corp #1 is a solid debut issue for the latest series to launch in the X-Men franchise. While not a traditional superhero comic there are a lot of intriguing elements that fans of the current direction fo the X-Men will enjoy. Tini Howard and Alberto Foche do a very good job in establishing Penance and Angel as co-leads in this series while also developing the opposition that X-Corporation will be facing all around the world
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