X-Men: Forever #1 Review: Attack and Dethrone God

As the "Fall of X" rages on and we approach the end of the Krakoan age, Marvel launches one last miniseries in X-Men: Forever #1 from writer Kieron Gillen, artist Luca Maresca, colorist Federico Blee, and letterer Clayton Cowles. The title may lead one to believe this story is a grand summation of the Krakoan era. It isn't, at least not yet, and maybe not at all. Instead, it's a continuation of Gillen's excellent work on Immortal X-Men, filling in some of the more involved plot beats of the Rise of the Powers of X and Fall of the House of X sagas that perhaps didn't lend themselves to the blockbuster storytelling style of an event comic.

If the title of X-Men: Forever refers to anything in this first issue, it may be the timeless threat the X-Men face, and by timeless, I mean outside of time. The issue follows two plots left unresolved in Immortal X-Men—Professor X sulking on Krakoa after the massacre at the Hellfire Gala and Mother Righteous' manipulation of the mutants trapped in the White Hot Room—as they converge into one. This group represents the mutants aware of Enigma, the Dominion that was once the original human Nathaniel Essex but who now looms over all creation. In this way, X-Men: Forever evolves from the religious imagery present throughout Immortal X-Men and, to a lesser extent, the Krakoan comics that preceded it. Where Magneto once proclaimed mutants the new gods of Earth, they now must kill one who has achieved true godhood (of a fashion) to survive.

 While not the comprehensive coda that some may have expected, Gillen has promised that X-Men: Forever will provide answers to long-lingering questions, and the debut issue delivers at least one or two, going back at least as far as the first pages of Immortal X-Men. The dialogue is a bit mechanical as it reintroduces certain characters and re-stacks some plot beats in case the "#1" on the cover attracts newcomers unaware of how far they've waded into the deep end, which has an unwieldy effect on the issue's pacing. Much of the plot involves absurdly powerful characters throwing haymaker strikes at each other. However, Gillen continues to excel at crafting sequences that shine a surprising light on certain characters (such as a brief appearance by Sebastian Shaw that adds an interesting wrinkle to his recent actions), intense foreshadowing (allusions to a certain fiery bird whose return always feels somewhat inevitable), or that inverts iconic moments in unexpected and delightful ways (like Professor X menacingly welcoming Mother Righteous to the X-Men after he's pinned her to a brick wall by her cape using cold iron blades).

But the same sequence shows some weaknesses in the artwork. Professor X places his hand on the brick wall behind Mother Righteous to brace his weight as he stares down at her, but his hand looks as if it is on a different physical plane, hovering in front of the wall rather than pressing against it. There's no weight or sense of contact to it, which may be a small detail to some but a supremely distracting one to a reader who notices.

Otherwise, the visuals are keeping with the look and tone set in Immortal X-Men, itself a shade removed from the baseline set in House of X. Some of the layouts seem to be reaching for a sense of motion they don't quite grasp, and the artwork continues the general trend within the X-Men line in recent years of being one more generation removed from, and a degree lesser than, the Pepe Larraz/Marte Gracia stylings that set such a high bar as the era began.

Immortal X-Men was one of the highlights of the latter half of the Krakoan era. X-Men: Forever continues its narrative, but trying to service the scale of the "Fall of X" meta-narrative means sacrificing some of the sharp focus on character that made Immortal captivating. It also, by nature, feels a bit like filling in the secondary plot, ensuring Rise of the Powers of X remains the main event. X-Men: Forever fills in the gaps, but doesn't try the larger narrative, at least not after one issue. Gillen manages to weave some memorable moments into the debut even as the strain of that larger narrative is felt. Despite all that, the core of what Gillen established in Immortal X-Men remains intact, and anyone who enjoyed that series is likely to find X-Men: Forever #1 a worthwhile read.

Published by Marvel Comics

On March 20, 2024

Written by Kieron Gillen

Art by Luca Maresca

Colors by Federico Blee

Letters by Clayton Cowles

Cover by Mark Brooks