Preoccupied with… X-men #1

I cannot imagine a more daunting task than writing X-men #1 after the end of the Krakoan era, but this creative team’s first swing inspires hope and excitement in the face of that challenge. The book delivers strong on providing a hopeful direction for mutant solidarity in the fallout of the previous era. It showcases our main X-men team members, establishes their mission and motivations, and shows why this team needs to exist. There has to be someone out there trying to work together to build a better world for our people. No matter what, the X-men get their people home.

Addressing the elephant in the room, this book isn’t House of X #1, it was never going to be, and you shouldn’t want it to be. Open your mind and read the comic books on their own terms, the water is just fine! Instead of reinventing a reinvention of a reinvention of the wheel, this book offers a strong core premise. The X-men are here, the X-men are not going away, and the X-men are going to be Superheroes in a world that hates and fears them. This leaves us with an incredibly approachable first issue about the mutants who have seen paradise and “cant, won’t, go back” to a time before. 

Spoilers ahead in my X-men team first impressions:

Cyclops - I’m not used to him looking so young, but his energy was excellent in this issue. He stands tall and remains the figurehead for mutant solidarity. “Let’s get our people, X-men” is great and really sums up the purpose of this team. Stegman’s art really makes Scott “Down for the Cause” Summers look cool as hell.

Psylocke - Not an abundance of Kwannon this issue, but having read MacKay’s previous work and recent interviews I know she will get plenty of page time later in the run. I hope we get to see KwanJohn, because Hellions is a highlight of the previous era and their romance is one of the best of the decade. This team can make a psychic knife or katana look incredible, while maintaining continuity with previous eras through Kwannon’s Butterfly motif. 

Magik - She’s here and back to basics. The best thing I can say is that Stegman’s work drawing Venom, Absolute Carnage, and King In Black leave me incredibly excited for what he’ll do with Illyana in the future. 

Juggernaut - I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that the third Hellfire Gala X-men team didn’t come to fruition. It’s nice to see those faces throughout the new era (Dazzler in a solo, Prodigy in NYX, and Frenzy in X-Factor, etc) but we really did relegate that inventive team to a four issue mini-series that barely even featured Juggernaut! Cain deserves to get a chance on the team and his new design sporting a hand-carved X-logo looks great. He is taking a stance on the side of mutantdom, and I hope that means we’ll retain the heroic streak for him and his life-partner (read: Boyfriend) Black Tom.

Oya - YES! She’s here! I adored her energy in this book and am beyond excited to see her land on a mainline X-men team in the From The Ashes era. During her time with the Exiles in the Krakoan Era, Oya tests her mettle (puns intended) and makes a strong impression as a genuinely empathetic and forward-thinking superhero character. There is no better place for her than saving mutants along with the best to ever do it. If we’re lucky, she’ll end up a superstar who never has a romance subplot with Quentin.

Quentin Quire - Sniveling drug-encouraged fascist turned punk kid hero turned brain in a box used to do war crimes, Quentin has had a rough go of it recently. I enjoy the references to his many deaths and his use of the mutant stimulant Kick from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s New X-men, but there’s always going to be a part of me that wishes someone else might be in this spot. It is undeniably cute that Quentin Quire is the telepath that heard Logan’s loud thinking. Marte Gracia’s colors are doing him a ton of favors.

Xorn - Xorn has a star for a head and is another remnant of Morrison’s team with the X-men. Underutilized in recent years, I hope we can get some time to really get to know Xorn and his reasons for accepting Scott’s invitation.

Beast - Hank McCoy is the only member of the team to not see the Krakoan paradise firsthand. His actions in Ben Percy’s Wolverine and X-Force were part of Krakoa’s downfall and he has since been cloned with his memories from the 1970s. This bouncy, sesquipedalian, Hank McCoy is a breath of fresh air, even from someone who enjoyed Percy’s work with the character in the previous era. We’re all allowed to love Beast as a hero instead of as an antagonist, and the fourteen year old X-3 fan in me could not be happier. 

Glob - The X-men are in the business of building mutant solidarity, and you can’t do that without food, shelter, and kindness. Glob Herman is a phenomenal pick as a head of agriculture in your base of operations. Ed Brisson should be beyond happy that Glob’s chickens are providing eggs for the premiere mutant superhero team. This also rounds off a LONG list of characters, ideas, and themes pulled from New X-men. 

Magneto - Magneto is hot off character-defining work in Al Ewing’s S.W.O.R.D. / X-men Red / Resurrection of Magneto and has landed in a place that makes perfect sense for the character. After his death, he returns with a newly codified heroic focus on saving individuals as a path towards saving the world. The X-men’s old angry dragon is a perfect role for Magneto, because it allows him to continue to support the mutant solidarity movement without conceding anything to anyone. Magneto is hopefully settling into his role as a scary queer elder that, above all else, cares for his people. (If anyone who worked on this book reads this, Thank you so much <3)

Having read previous work from MacKay, I am absolutely certain this book will allow each of these characters to shine. If you have any worries about every character standing out, I implore you to check out MacKay’s Avengers. I don’t think that book is perfect, but the team shows a real ability to make each character stand apart as a unique and important member of the ensemble. Whether it be a mention of the team’s “Common knowledge pool” maintained by the telepaths or the rock, paper, scissors match between Magik and Juggernaut, this book is going to give you a vast supply of creative, clever, and sweet X-men team interactions and power use-cases. 

My only real concern arises during the police chief, Beast, and Magneto’s conversation near the end of the issue. The group discusses how the X-men team is mostly composed of white able-bodied straight people that can pass as non-mutants, while Beast, Xorn, and Glob (visible mutants) are all members of the home base staff. Beast discusses how the X-men are not hiding their ‘monsters’ at their base, and instead the X-men team is composed of people with battle-field relevant mutations. It seems that everyone is contributing the way that works best for their mutation. I appreciate the issue trying to tackle this subject, and I hope to see a more public-facing presence from non-passing mutants in the future; However, plenty of combat and superhero situations can be solved by people with visible mutations, and some of the most powerful mutants of all time would not pass as a member of human society. I am a little disappointed to see an X-men team this white and heteronormative after the broken promise of the incredibly diverse Third Hellfire Gala team. This is something I’ll keep an eye on in the future, because I do think these creators tend to care about representation in their work, but the acknowledgement in this first issue is a nice start. All that being said, the creators’ track records, the possibility of queer relationships (Magik + anyone, Juggernaut + Tom, etc), and the possible rise to stardom for Oya have me more excited than worried. 

Beginning your X-men era with a strong team foundation and a dedication to being superheroes for the marginalized is a great idea. X-men #1 makes a compelling case for this team’s existence, centers characters that are truly dedicated to helping mutant kind, and is exactly my kind of revolutionary superhero X-men title. It didn’t knock my socks off, but there’s a lot to love. I think this era is in good hands. I can’t wait to see what these X-men will be up against. I hope they survive the experience. 

Diana Preoccupied

X-men #1 (2024) and all characters within are not my property. This comic book’s creative time is:

Writer - Jed MacKay

Penciller - Ryan Stegman

Inker - J. P. Mayer

Colorist - Marte Gracia

Letterer - Clayton Cowles