House of X - 01 Or How the mutants got their groove back *spoilers*

[jpmst17]

Great Issue indeed. I do think it's important to add that

spoilers:

At the beggining, it's Jean and Cyclops who is seen emerging from the pod. It's quite important since it implied that it's a sort of reboot for them and the mutants. And it's probably linked to Xavier and Krakoa

end of spoilers

that isn't confirmed

[maxi_miceli]

That's one of my questions. I didn't get the impression that these were dead mutants coming out of the cocoon but instead new versions of seemingly Scott and Jean (and others). Xavier's pod people if you will. The fact his eye has that ruby power sig coming out read as , "This is Scott Summers" to me. So I disagree with the OP that these are dead mutants and they have new bodies being made for them (I don't know where that was stated or implied as it wasn't in the book) but instead NEW bodies for existing mutants made by Krakoa.

There is something amazing, yet creepy at the same time happening in this book. I am very excited for this. I am also VERY excited to see how (and if at all) this affects the other lines given the shear amount of world-building that is happening.

Also interesting that Karima has been turned back into an android/Sentinel given that she was reverted back to being human in Wood's run.

The pods could also have been used to alter their bodies, if they have drugs for humans that extend their lives and heal them imagine what they could have done for mutants, I doubt very much that at least it didn't do all of those things, perhaps to a much larger degree, like really extending their lives

[salarta]

Let's see how the overall CBR X-Community rates the issue! I've added a poll; interested in the results.

Thanks! Results will be interesting.

[Tank]

I liked this and it was a good jump start to the XMen. It’s going to be hard going to Leinel Yu’s scratchy, stiff artwork after Pepe Larraz’s gorgeous work.

[KusaSan_Snd]

No, sorry, I have no problem with fun theories, but it is not clear enough at all that this is Scott and Jean coming from pods for you to keep telling people that.

Because you need other hint than : Red head + Glowing red eyes + "To Me My X-Men" (and not all the mutants are X-Men" + First two page with the next page being "Five moth ago" etc...

Do you need to have a This is Scott and this is Jean arrow in the pannel ?

[phoenixzero23]

I believe the people on those pods were scott and jean.
Besides Scott lost an eye on Rosenberg's run ( which wasn't ignored like some were expecting) and he seems okay now. It is the easiest and fastest explanation

[pandafarmer]

Because you need other hint than : Red head + Glowing red eyes + "To Me My X-Men" (and not all the mutants are X-Men" + First two page with the next page being "Five moth ago" etc...

Do you need to have a This is Scott and this is Jean arrow in the pannel ?

It may be outwardly obvious, but really this IS Hickman we're talking about...

[spirit2011]

Because you need other hint than : Red head + Glowing red eyes + "To Me My X-Men" (and not all the mutants are X-Men" + First two page with the next page being "Five moth ago" etc...

Do you need to have a This is Scott and this is Jean arrow in the pannel ?

I think it was very obvious. And it felt a bit like Eve and Adam

[loke13]

The whole setting makes me hope we'll see the Salvadore family again.
Like, how does it work if they want to settle in Krakoa? IIRC only Beak and Tito are still mutants. Angel and the other children are humans.

And what about Prodigy and the other mutants who lost their powers during M-day?
And the close allies/long time friends like Shatterstar or Broo?

It's actually pretty clever what Hickman has done if he's using Krakoa to bring back dead X-Men characters. I wouldn't be surprised if Krakoa can restart the X-gene too.

[rward777]

The first story of the all new X-men was their fight against Krakoa. And it is in Krakoa that this new era opens. And it is a new era, if Marvel has the intention to back what Hickman is doing when he leaves.

We open with Xavier, his portable cerebro helmet on, in a vegetal chamber. Several people emerge from pods the plant is generating. “To me my X-men” says Xavier. These may be the dead mutants that will show up through the issue, with Krakoa growing them new bodies. It is not clear if Xavier is giving them their memories back, or if Krakoa had them stored somehow. This is not explained, but it opens a lot of incredible questions. What is Krakoa? Could it have always been a manifestation of the mutant communal mind? A mutant collective unconcious, if you will?. This actually has old roots in the Marvel Universe, what with the Uni mind. But the first mutants to come out of the Pod are a redhead woman and a man with glowing eyes, So maybe this is a full rebirth of the mutant race. We do not yet know.

Then we start a sequence. Colossus picks up a flower in Krakoa, Storm carries it to Westchester. Nightcrawler plants it in the Moon, Armor in Mars, Kitty in Washington, Beast in the Savage land… and the Cuckoos, the full ensemble, with Esme and Sophie back, in Jerusalem.

The flowers are one of several boons Krakoa has offered to mutantkind, as a chart helpfully explains us. They can be used to grow “habitats” which act as embassies around the world, and gateways that link two places. Being a mutant or being with one of them is required for the portals to work, as Krakoa is sentient and can tell the difference. The network hub is in the original location of the island who walks, in the middle of the Pacific. And it is here where the new mutant nation has settled.

Back in Jerusalem the Cuckoos greet several UN representatives and ambassadors. Hate writing that word. They are here to discuss the offer Xavier has made to humanity in the name of mutantkind. Two miracle drugs, produced also from Krakoa. One extends the human lifespan for five years, the other is a mutant antibiotic. What he asked in return, was amnesty for all mutants and the other nations to recognize them as one. The world is divided on the issue, as it is an offer each country must accept or refuse on its own. The group expects to see Xavier, but Magneto is there instead in his new rol as an ambassador.

We switch to Westchester, where Jean Grey and Banshee are moving a new group of mutants to Krakoa. Which feels like home. Wolverine is playing with some random kids, and Jean tears up a bit when Xavier welcomes her home. Watching them all we find Cypher, with an unexplained Warlock arm, and Sage. We are told Cypher has created a language with Krakoa.

Of course, humanity is not watching this sitting on its collective hands. We learn of the existence of the Orchid Protocol. An initiative funded with the black funds of countries around the world, and where each big spy group has a finger (STRIKE, SHIELD, AIM…). They were watching mutant activity with three points of concern: Population, Finances and Territory. They did not expect mutantkind to recover after Genosha, but the number of active mutants has being growing exponentially since. Xavier buying a big pharma company and the apparition of Krakoa Island nation has scared them into action. They have a nasty surprise waiting for the X-men orbiting around the sun, and they seem to have Karima Shapandar under their thrall.

We switch again to Mystique, Creed and Toad (who is now a hacker!) stealing something from the Damage Control offices. It is there where all the recovered technology from Stark and Richard is stored. The implication is that they are acting on behalf of Krakoa, and Sabretooth has no trouble with killing some guards along the way. When they are on they way out, they are intercepted by the fantastic four. A brief fight ensues, and the mutants flee to the Washington gateway to Krakoa -As Richards expected, which is subtly disquieting-. There Mystique and Toad flee through the portal, but Creed cannot go thought. At first it seems Krakoa rejected him, but it is actually the invisible woman. Out of the Gateway comes Cyclops, and he chats casually with the four before demanding Sabretooth back, eluding to the Amnesty.

This is a bit weird, because the Amnesty is not yet in place, and even if it were, an Amnesty does not mean carte blanche forever, just the pardon of past crimes. Unless this one does, I guess.

After a bit of back and forth, Cyclops agrees to leave Sabes to them. He will retrieve him later, by other means. He leaves, not without making two statements. One, mutants are done with being hated and feared. Enough is enough, and now they have their own home and their own terms. Two, Franklin is welcome whenever he decides to join is (mutant) family in Krakoa. His human family is conflicted and concerned.

We close with Magneto, Mindee and the UN group. This sequence is great through all the comic. Magneto explains them that mutants are creating their own culture, with their own language telepathically imprinted on them. Humans are not welcome in Krakoa. Mindee discovers that all the “ambassadors” are actually spies from one interest or the other. A brief confrontation with one of them ensues, but Magneto expected something like that. The comic closes with Magneto message for humanity, delivered in Jerusalem for extra resonance. “You have new gods now”.

The art on this is stellar. The artist has a blast with Magneto, which feels like a force of nature. It all feels believable, and real. Even the big ass space station orbiting the sun.

But! Of course the important stuff here are all the changes. Right of the bat.

Can mutants even die anymore? If Krakoa is storing their minds when they “die” they could come back from anything. This reminds me a bit to the Cylons in Battlestar Galactica. Hopefully there will be some limits to this. In BSG the Cylons had to be close to one of their “Relays” (space stations that acted like the cloud, but for minds) for it to work. But given that Vulcan, who died in Shi’ar space is also back, that does not seem to be problem here.

The boons of Krakoa. Among the flowers of Krakoa there is one that produces “no place”. Somewhere outside the conscience of the island, a tumor in Krakoa. Ominous. If Krakoa reflects the mutant mind, what does this mean?

A new classification for Omegas that finally makes sense.

The mutants are now a force to reckon with in the planet. This can work as a setting, as Black Panther has been doing this for years with Wakanda.

An idea present with Morrison comes back: Science expects mutants to replace humanity within twenty years. This feels a bit like the time in Ultimate X-men were the mutants were building their own homeland. But this feels bigger and bolder than both. Mutants are no longer worried with or about humans, and are trying to see how far they can go.

I am tired of writing and this is already a mega review! Is this new era here to stay? Will Marvel burn Krakoa in ten years? Who knows! But this looks like is going to be an amazing run. We will have to pray to our mutant gods.
(Sorry about the probably numerous grammatical faults.)

Ops, thanks mod, I should have definetly added the spoilers thing.

Is this the x men version of the Parker Industries storyline?

[ThePhoenix]

I believe the people on those pods were scott and jean.
Besides Scott lost an eye on Rosenberg's run ( which wasn't ignored like some were expecting) and he seems okay now. It is the easiest and fastest explanation

Maybe you are right but we can not be 100% sure...

[ExodusCloak]

So Xavier put them in cacoons healed Cyclops but he still needs to wear a visor. And if it's psychological then he can take that plant. Doesn't make sense

Also why would Jean need to be in a pod. I think that women had brown hair.

[Soulsword323]

So, so good. Loved all the thought and detail put into this. I can't wait to see what happens next, and to read this again.

[Punch Dimension.]

So Xavier put them in cacoons healed Cyclops but he still needs to wear a visor. And if it's psychological then he can take that plant. Doesn't make sense

Also why would Jean need to be in a pod. I think that women had brown hair.

He wears the visor because its iconic. Let's not be pedantic.

Also the plant only cures human neurological issues, as explained in the data issues.

[Snoop Dogg]

Why yes, I absolutely would want read a comic that's just mutant Designated Survivor.