Immoral X-Men #1 Review: A Sinister Delight

Everything is Sinister much to Mister Sinister’s dismay within the pages of Immoral X-Men #1, the first installment of what is already a contender for the best-titled comic book of 2023. Replacing Immortal X-Men on Marvel’s release schedule, Immoral X-Men pulls double duty as it provides the next chapter in the “Sins of Sinister” crossover, picking up what the first issue of Storm and the Brotherhood of Mutants and Nightcrawlers put down while also feeling thematically in step with everything writer Kieron Gillen was doing on the Immortal X-Men ongoing series. As such, it is as solid as what came before it without necessarily transcending those standards.

Immoral X-Men follows the Quiet Council, which has been made Sinister through resurrection. It should be everything Sinister dreamed of, except it’s not. Injecting the Quiet Council with his genetics ensures there are still a handful of other beings on Earth as ambitious and powerful as he is, and they aren’t about to let him hold all of the power. Unfortunately, his Moira engine has gone missing, meaning he has no way to reset the timeline to his save point, and new threats are appearing on the horizon.

As with Immortal X-Men, Gillen structures this all through narration from one of the Quiet Council members, in this case, Emma Frost, though she shares the lead role with Sinister. In both cases, Gillen has the opportunity to show readers how unhinged these characters and others have become in this timeline, where they no longer possess any inhibitions or threats, at least on Earth, to their power. Telepaths with no moral restraint, scientists without remorse, and dominatrix-themed ex-supervillains without shame abound to delight in all the wrong ways.

Visually, Paco Medina provides stellar work that serves its purpose even if it doesn’t transcend Marvel’s house style, and he gets to draw some fun stuff here. The colors from the team of Jay David Ramos and Chris Sotomayor have a bit of an unnatural sheen to them, which is a common issue with Marvel’s comics these days, but they otherwise do the job.

As enjoyable as it is, the issue isn’t exactly breaking new ground. By now, Gillen’s take on Sinister—flamboyantly scatterbrained in a humorously deranged dandy sort of way—is familiar, and this issue is unlikely to convert anyone who hasn’t taken to that personification of the character by now. Likewise, it’s playing with familiar themes for anyone reading Immortal X-Men, looking at what people in power want and what they’ll do to get it. Only now, the gloves and masks are coming off, and there is little reason not to be brazen in power grabs.

Perhaps it’s because it so directly follows from where the Sins of Sinister one-shot left off, but it feels like an extension of that issue rather than something wholly new, and the plot feels more concerned with setting up threats to come. Perhaps Immoral X-Men will better define itself once 100 or 1000 years have passed, and the Sinister timeline becomes less recognizable as the familiar Marvel Universe.

But for now, this might as well be the next issue of Immortal X-Men. Which is still good, mind you. It simply feels less like an event. Anyone following Immortal X-Men up until now should consider this essential reading, and anyone following the “Sins of Sinister” story would do well to do the same. But the issue also stands up perfectly well on its own merits, a stellar story from a stellar creative team with, presumably, more to come. The “Sins of Sinister” event is shaping up nicely as it heads into its second act.

Published by Marvel Comics

On February 22, 2023

Written by Kieron Gillen

Art by Paco Medina

Inks by Walden Wong and Victor Olazaba

Colors by Jay David Ramos and Chris Sotomayor

Letters by Clayton Cowles

Cover by Leinil Francis Yu and Sunny Gho