Review: Powers of X #1 (of 6)
One of the things that that many of the creators of the X-Men have been good at for such a long time, is their long term strategy. Ever since Chris Claremont and John Byrne took us to the Days of Future Past in Uncanny X-Men #141, the future has looked bleak for the mutants; a vibe that was carried over to the one season of the Wolverine and the X-Men cartoon and of course, spurred the movie bearing the original comics name. Now with Jonathon Hickman revamping, rebooting or re-X-ing(?) the merry mutants, we get to see his version of the those days of both future and past.
This book is as much a companion piece for House of X as it is it’s own story. From the outset, there are familiar characters from the meeting of Moira and Charles, all the way to the little hints and tips of what could almost be. From there, it’s jump forward time and we get to see what sort of world the current Krakoa situation may well cause.
Jonathan Hickman is certainly showing his writing chops as he is dealing with various timelines and projections, whilst also keeping the reader, mainly, in the dark and keeping them interested. As the two books are entwined, the plot has to cover 12 not the aforementioned 6 issues. How successful Hickman’s jigsaw approach will be, depends on how the books fare at the end of their arc’s . Throw in the fact that the Preview requirements mean that the end of the books may end up being lame ducks. Still, Hickman, a fan favourite, has shown that he has auspicious designs in play.
Also along for the ride is artist R.B. Silva on pencils. Silva’s art has a fine line quality, reminiscent of Adam Hughes, maybe without the larger panels. With there being a lot of action going on, Silva has to contend with various camera angles and smaller panels. Silva’s panel work is fantastic, changing pace from the carnivals scenes to the future. Add in the pages linked into House of X and Silva displays a wide ranges. Silva is joined by Adriano Di Benedetto as the pair ink Silva’ s own pencils. I assume that this is a time saving exercise; the end product rarely differs between the two. The inclusion of colorist Marte Gracia and letterer Clayton Cowles maintains the overall look from the House #1 and again the font used by Cowles is a tad difficult to read.
The format of this book may seem a bit more of a hard sell than the “present day” book, inclusions of the former notwithstanding. Between the two books, Hickman has crafted his own version of the X-universe that is waiting for us all to explore.
Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Written by; Jonathan Hickman
Art by; R.B. Silva & Adriano Di Benedetto
Colors by; Marte Gracia
Letters by; Clayton Cowles
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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