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".