Dawn of X- how is it to you so far?

[AbnormallyNormal]

I feel like it's not quite lived up to expectation, and a lot of it is "backsliding" into much more mainstream or familiar turf.

The concept of all mutantkind living together is not BRAND new, I mean post Decimation this essentially occurred. (And yes including "villains", also not a brand new idea).

The differences here seem to be this has much more a feeling of permanence to it, and of ... legitimacy I suppose.

I'm not a gargantuan fan of the whole metaphor to ethnic separatism in real life which somewhat vibes with this... and I do believe it's important to show mutants can still hang out with humans/aliens and all the rest, and there doesn't need to be like perpetual hostility. That's why I like all the details about trade, commerce, diplomacy, and all of that. Trying to show Krakoa isn't "a threat" to the world, just its own country. I can understand that much more. I still believe human friends, relatives, etc. of Krakoan mutants ought to be shown visiting them, that's important. (Or the Krakoans visit their non-mutant loved ones, either way).

The Quiet Council is an interesting concept leading to power dynamics and who is or isn't on it , and how authoritarian they behave. Frankly there hasn't exactly been ANYTHING along the promised "move to democracy" which was announced early on lol.

Some of the Council's decisions are highly suspect like The Pit itself even existing, putting Sabretooth in it for VERY minor "offenses". Creating Hellions squad and placing it under the direction of Essex. And so on.

Regarding former villains being part of Krakoa. This is a hugely controversial move by Hickman and lots of long-time more conservative fans are outraged over it. To me it's great. I've always felt the Hero/Villain dichotomy is FAR too clear and if you want to write characters with any kind of depth it has to get deconstructed and made more malleable or subjective.

I also think there is a lot of variety in terms of "villains" and some are a lot easier to integrate than others are. Some fit in much more with the ideals of Krakoa than others do. Etc.

But yeah I've been mostly disappointed with the books I've followed and especially Marauders has let me down considerably. I was looking forward to "the transformation of Kate Pryde" and "Hellfire Trading Company" being a sort of complex pragmatic tale. Instead we get a 1-dimensional cartoon Shaw, Emma presented as about as goody two shoes as humanly imaginable... and now Kate's initial interesting developments may be totally lost. Feels incredibly frustrating and like a waste to have read this book, unless it gets back to its premise.

XForce was ok but, again, placing the likes of Beast and Jean on an XForce team...? Is massive cognitive dissonance. Writing Wolverine as the moral voice of reason is beyond insane. The gruesome and gory aspects don't really work in a world where mutants revive although the things they do with mutants keeping themselves alive in a disfigured way to "have to struggle through" is somewhat compelling.

Fallen Angels was actually GREAT, its atmosphere and "vibe" fit extremely well with the Dawn of X, and I loved to get an intro to Kwannon in the role as Neo Psylocke. It's a pity it ended after 6 issues and it's also a pity 90% of X-fans massively misunderstood and don't appreciate it.

X-Men the flagship is solid although some of the issues so far feel far too much like "cul de sacs" narratively that won't tie into anything broader.

Excalibur I read issue 1 and then no more, it just didn't grab me. Maybe because I strongly object to "magic" in the MU generally and want it nowhere close to the more sci-fi mutant concept.

Haven't read the new Wolverine solo but heard some good things, might check it eventually.

New Cable solo issues 1 and 2 are "ok". Kind of funny, kind of wacky so far. Not too deep but we'll see where it goes. Not a fan of splicing in the Old Cable scenes, kind of dilutes the book and feels like fanservice to all the "traditionals" who can't accept a younger Nathan.

New Mutants I stopped reading the last few issues but it was HILARIOUS. This book is just funny. Especially the main artist the way they draw Roberto and how his facial expressions almost break the 4th wall. Just delightful. Do I think some of the cast doesn't belong here? Yes. Do I think some of the cast feel out of character/missing memories of their past? Yes. But it's fun overall.

X-Factor only one issue very hard to weigh in much, but it's a "mystery detective" approach, more slow going, about the mutant revival scheme Krakoa has. We will see, the team assembled makes LITTLE sense to me but maybe the reasoning behind this group will be more clear as it goes on.

Hellions oddly enough is probably my 2nd favorite entry after Fallen Angels. This book does what XForce failed - give us an actual "Kill Squad" which is allowed to be morally reprehensible. Lots of dark humor so far and a VERY impressive Madelyne Pryor. Don't love trying to turn Greycrow into the hero but :shrug:. Havok's presence feels very strange and shoehorned in so we'll see how that goes. Kwannon here feels just like Betsy and that is a MAJOR problem. But overall very very very entertaining book.


Haven't really read Empyre, and Swords of X feels pointless right now but I may check out some of either/both event depending on what I hear. Also barely read any of "4X" or whatever , the FF/XMen crossover, and I heard it was bungled horribly anyway.

Ok: is it weird Nightcrawler, Angel are not in a book? It definitely is.

My main thing with Dawn of X as you may surmise from my forum avatar and signature is the underlying idea Moira is not all she's cracked up to be, and sort of waiting for the things to begin getting exposed or unraveled. I feel Mystique's efforts to revive Destiny are pretty much "The Core Plot" of Dawn of X in a lot of ways despite it only getting attention in like, two issues so far.

I love how Dawn of X is an attempt at a more science-fiction/sociological approach to X-Lore. But like I said I feel many of the individual series are missing the mark and not fully living up to the potential. And the crossovers just feel "off".

[9th.]

I love it, it's keeping my interest enough to follow multiple titles religiously. The only things I don't care for are Excalibur, it's weird because Excalibur was one of the titles I was most looking forwards too due to the cast and "mutant magic" but it never really clicked for me. Oh and I don't care for Cable either but I've never really been a huge fan anyway.

Edit: Oh and I was highly disappointed in Xmen/FF as well.

[Muffinman]

The concept and new status quo for the x-men is awesome. I am very much enjoying x-force and marauders. The start of x-factor was pretty great but it is still very new.

Then there is Excalibur and boy is it terrible. It is a shame because I love the cast. The book is beautiful looking but terribly written.

[Imago]

Dawn of X is now busy for quite some time.

How do you feel about the current status of the X-books?

I must admit I love the Krakoa idea, that all mutants live on a nation of their own (I always loved the Utopia era as well), the downside is that most of the big villains, like Apocalypse, Sinister, Selene, Exodus, Mystique and so on, are no longer a threat.

Loving that they brought back the Children of the Vault, though that story seems to lay still now (sadkly) do not really like a lot of the new villains. Not caring much about most of the new villains. The Russions and Xeno seem barely a serious threat to me and are barely developed.

The fact that old time mutants are back in action, like Empath, Cece Reyes, Sage and Rictor, I really really love.

I do not like the open sex relation ships between Logan-Jean-Scott and Emma,not at all and it seems so out of character. Speaking of which, many X-Men seem to be written out of character. No one seems to doubt the current status and it seems like some are just not themselves.

I love that some deceades heroes and villains, like Synch, original Hellions, Tempo and so on are brought back and adore that there is finally a way for depowered mutants to get their powers back, even loving the fact to how to do that I love. But,... the death means nothing anymore status, I do not like. Killing of at least one character per issue (X-Force) is not appealing at all.

Like the idea of the X of Swords crossover. Looking forward to it and I am still hoping for the X-Corps series of course.

Well, you pretty much summed up my feelings about Dawn of X.

Love the new focus on the X-Men, i like Krakoa and how the mutants has finally come together and i'm enjoying most of the books like Marauders, X-Force, New Mutants, Wolverine and Hellions are all very entertaining.
But my main problem is that like what you said, some characters are behaving so out of character that at this point i wouldn't be surprised if they dig up a hole in Krakoa and find the real X-Men all tied up there.... And to be honest i find it odd that no that many people are complaining about this. I mean i get it we're all happy that the X-Men are in the Spotlight again but still....

[davetvs]

I'm loving it. Other than Excalibur which perpetually feels like a waste of its cast, the new status quo is exciting, we're getting panel time for characters who've been long ignored or relegated to the sidelines, and the caliber of the books is for the most part very high. I'm even enjoying Kid Cable's solo, which I didn't expect. The polyamory doesn't bother me at all, it's fun and a good way to get rid of the endless love triangle dynamics between Scott/Jean/Logan and Jean/Scott/Emma. It really does feel new life has been breathed into the X-Men franchise after years of stagnation. I'm here for it.

[ericng]

Dawn of X is a good idea with Krakoa as their homeland but I don't like the resurrection bit. It makes death pointless in this new age.

Eg. Writers can make Quentin die so many times and resurrect so many times without any repercussion.

There should be a penalty for dying like loss of power, loss of memory or whatever loss.

Most of the titles are good except for New Mutants, sad to say.

[EndangeredSpecies]

I'm absolutely loving the X-Men line since House of X/Powers of X. I really believe the X-Men are at their best when a writer comes in with a vision of his/her own, or at least some notion of the over-arching story he/she wants to tell. With Hickman, I get the impression that he knows exactly how he wants to conclude his plot, and he is slowly building towards a spectacular climax. Furthermore, I think there are so many interesting subplots at play in the x-books at the moment.

From Moira, Erik, and Xavier presenting Krakoa as paradise on earth to the others, while knowing the whole enterprise is ultimately doomed; to a disgruntled Mystique plotting away in the background to revive Destiny at all costs. Not to mention the tension between various members of the Quiet Council; each pursuing agendas of their own.

In addition to all of the above, I really rate Orchis as villains. They're not the first shadowy cabal of human extremists to feature in the x-books, but their level of organisation and the lengths they're willing to go to make them seem like a formidable threat e.g. recruiting personnel from Aim/Hydra, building a "Doomsday" device (Mothermold) that they themselves feel threatened by (to the extent that they chose build it in close proximity to the Sun, lest it ever turn on humanity). The scale of their plans really help portray them as a serious threat to Mutantkind, lending credibility to the idea that their very survival is contingent on defeating Orchis.

Coincidentally, the raid on the Forge was one of the most exciting action sequences to ever feature in the x-books (in my humble opinion). I'd love to see some form of that sequence make the big screen someday.

[Kitty&Piotr<3]

It's fine. I don't care for the "all mutants hate humans now" vibe. That bit, to me, is kinda corny and doesn't really gel with the characters. Same with the Jean/Logan/Scott thing: corny, not really based in the existing character histories. Would rather they just stop being mired in nostalgia entirely and do the Jean/Logan ship. Let the new happen. Speaking of new, the book concepts are actually all pretty traditional now, which is fine, but I thought we had a bit more length of "we've never seen this before" rope left. Speaking of the books, they are about on par with ResurrXion. I've dropped the main book already and Excalibur is terrible, despite Marcus To being a god. We need a new take on the young mutants concept, or really an old one, since New X-Men did this before: a serious X-Men book with high stakes and drama, but featuring newer characters. I've just never been one for a comedy book.

Rogue and Gambit being not important at all isn't fun. Find something for them to do, they're fun characters.

I hate that Honey Badger and X-23 have pretty much disappeared. Yes, I know where X-23 is. Guess we wait for that plot to come into focus.

On the villains being able to hang out on Krakoa: I get it, but I think erasing the interpersonal histories is a mistake. Jean is really sitting at a bar with Apocalypse and Sinister, drinking Long Island Iced Teas? C'mon. That's really silly and if a less hyped-up writer had done that, more people would call it silly.



Now, that was a lot of negative, but I said this era has been fine. So here is what I do like:


The set piece of Krakoa, the portal flowers, the different landscapes/unique paradises on the island, the relative position of power that the X-Men have in the world; all of that is cool as hell. I liked the mutant hogwarts aesthetic and this is that but way better. X-Men Land is a weird and magical place, as it should be. Love it.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that you can't kill characters off for good to try to sell a basic story. That should have been a thing a long, long time ago. It's ok to see our heroes make it out of a sticky situation yet again. That's comics. Thank you, The Five.



I love the Council. These men and women have been through a lot. There should be group leadership. Glad 2 of my top 3 are on it. It was frankly a masterstroke to not put my 3rd fave, Wolverine, on it.

I love Wolverine and Jean casually boning: Adults having fun. Hopefully no stupid time-travel kids. Pure excellence.

There are some fun books: The latest was a down issue, but besides that one X-Force has been gold. Marauders really dropped the ball on the Kitty mystery, but it's a fun little action/adventure book. Hellions looks to be pretty fun from the first couple of issues. Wolverine is cool enough, even if the latest issue was very much a stereotypical Logan story.


All-in-all, I rate it at "it's fine". I'm about where I was with ResurrXion: some pretty good (AN Wolverine, Red, Blue, GenX, Jean Grey, X-Force, Marauders, Hellions), some bad (Guggenheimer and Tini), and some I just don't care for or are meh (Cable, Weapon X, Astonishing, New Mutants, Cable again, that book they stuck Vita with).

[rhaenylis]

some positive points:

+ the very principle of mutants living in Krakoa

+ X-Men, X-Factor, Hellions and New Mutants are excellent

+ marvel comics FINALLY stopped demonizing Scott

+ the principle of the great captains is very nice, I can't wait to see them do meetings

+ the friendship between Scott and Illyana is always so refreshing

+ the chemistry between Scott and Logan works really well

+ it's great to have Petra and Sway interacting with Vulcan

+ Madelyne Freaking Pryor is back !!!!!

+ Lorna is finally respected

+ Tini is finally making progress with Excalibur and Rictor's exploitation is interesting

some negative points :

- The Quiet Council is unbearable. Even the characters I loved the most like Ororo are getting way too haughty (she's supposed to represent the needs of the people but blames Scott for not wanting to hand Havok over to Sinister ???). I really hope Hickman will continue in the vein of corrupt politicians

- Marauders is one of the worst books, along with Fallen Angels. I loved Duggan's work with the Uncanny Avengers, but I find he mishandled the idea of ​​Marauders as a team book too badly. Kitty and Emma are absolutely everywhere, Bishop steps in once or twice, Bobby, Pyro and Storm are extras. Literally.

- Kurt is terribly underused. Even in his own Giant-Size, he was less important than Magik, Doug, or Lady Mastermind.

- Kid Cable isn't boring but OG Cable was way better

[MYCMTSC]

The Quiet Council, the Five, X-Factor Investigations, and the Hellfire Trading Company (except for some of the bizarre choices like Bishop and Callisto) are some of my favorite parts of Dawn of X. Love seeing different groups, outside of yet more field X-Men, function as the beating heart of a mutant society.

More pls!

[danielsan52]

I want to see more known mutants and less unknown green person with horns in background.

[brandnewfan]

The teams don't feel that different really.

And I wish the Academy X students were back in their own title again. Hellion, Elixir, Anole, Mercury, Surge, Rockslide, etc. Such a shame that they were dumped way back when and never really brought up again in any serious way.

[Tank]

Dropped it all. Tbh havent really missed these xmen at all.

[lowfyr]

Love it. Finally moving past the usual stuff that happened the last years alone is worth it, but all this new stuff is great.

[Wolverine12]

Love it. Fallen Angels was the only disappointment in the batch. X-Men started slow but then took off. Wolverine and X-Force have been the best of the bunch. Excalibur and Marauders are both solid. I can’t wait to see what the big theme is going to be as Hickman usually has a long term plan.