Sins of Sinister #1 - Review/Spoilers

[JB]

It begins.
(It's a giant-sized issue so this is a giant-sized recap.)

Opening caption reads: +10 years.

Sinister is in The Hatchery as several bodies emerge from eggs. "To me, my me's" he says with a smirk.

Caption: +0 years.

Sinister is screaming as he's being pulled down into the Pit, with Xavier, Emma, Exodus, and Hope standing over him. Then, he's gone. Xavier says having a monster among them was a mistake, and that this has to be a new age for Krakoa.

Picking up from the end of Immortal #10, Xavier is looking in the mirror. Emma approaches, asking what he's doing. He's admiring himself and feels so free as he lets his red diamond be revealed. Emma joins him and reveals her red diamond but says they must keep it "oh, so hush-hush." Exodus and Hope approach, Hope saying they need to stay camouflaged for now until they pull the trigger. "And then it's head shots for the whole #@&*! planet." Exodus says, "One step at a time, my messiah. First tomorrow... let's put on a good show."

The QC is meeting and Xavier is speaking, saying with Sinister finally gone they must reconsider their program. Nightcrawler mentions that "Mother and Irene" have disappeared and the council is looking sparse. Xavier says he suspects they left because they grasp the nature of the new age. There's no room for unreformed villains. He says they will fill the seats soon enough, but that they need to share more with the humans, including working towards total access to immortality! Emma pretends to be against this (putting on a show), saying they need to bring the Genoshans back first. Xavier says they will but they need not rush, it's more important to ensure they actually have the time to bring them back. They need humanity invested in Krakoa's success and by offering them resurrection access, they'll be greatly invested. Exodus pretends to be against this, Hope says "Really? Even if I thought it was a damn good idea?" Exodus says let's hear from the rest of the council.

Storm sees the wisdom in the idea but wonders if they can actually manage it. Kate agrees saying they would have to figure out how to increase the resurrection rate and find a way to harvest everyone's brain patterns. Xavier suggests that Forge can pick up where Sinister left off regarding the DNA, and Emma says the Cuckoos can handle the extra psychic workload of taking human imprints. Though they'll likely be resistant to such a job, Emma is confident she and Xavier can convince them.

Caption: +1 year.

Journalist Ben Urich is walking through what looks like Times Square, billboards above flashing "X-Mas". (The hyphen is a diamond). He enters J. Jonah Jameson's office, thanking JJJ for meeting with him in secrecy. JJJ says Ben is looking kinda rough, unshaven and what not. Ben opens up a small briefcase and pulls out what looks like an injection gone with a needle on the end and a green liquid inside. He grabs J's arm and pokes him with it. He checks the results and is relieved that JJJ hasn't been compromised. JJJ is like wtf are you doing? The mutants have offered a limited X-Gene to humanity and Ben says this gift is a Trojan Horse. He has found out through his investigations that if someone has the gene they can be taken over at any time. The gene also pushes people's worst impulses. Countless people including politicians have taken it. Ben says he has evidence of this, and that even without the X-gene, Krakoan telepaths are at work. They're taking over the world with smiles on their faces. JJJ says he's shocked... shocked to think Ben believed that the test gun would actually reveal the tampering. J's red diamond is now visible. The test was released to lure out the paranoid-yet-correct people like Ben who were suspicious. A group of thugs enter and drag Ben away.

Forge is tinkering with a machine, a weapon, Emma, Xavier, Exodus, and Hope watching. Emma asks "what's the deniability like? Can this be traced to us?" Forge says no in his arrogant way, his red diamond showing. He says once they pull the trigger of this weapon, Krakoa will be reduced to a drooling vegetable. Emma says they'll also take the opportunity to take Doug out, that she'll prompt Hank when it's time. Forge asks who would like to kill Krakoa. Hope is more than excited to do it, to headshot a whole island from orbit. She presses the button and Krakoa is zapped. Doug, alone in the QC chamber, tries communicating with Krakoa but it's not responding. Wolverine sneaks up and murders Doug, stabbing him from behind, claws coming out of his chest.

Emma broadcasts a psychic message out to the world, telling them that Orchis has attacked Krakoa with a huge EMC attack. That it has killed the living island and wiped the banks of all the psychic imprints. She says that though the mutants have a mystical method to bring back their own (the Waiting Room), they can no longer resurrect humans. She announces to the world that they will be acting against Orchis immediately.

The Avengers, Fantastic Four, and some X-Men (Storm, Jean, Exodus, Cyclops) attack the Orchis Forge and destroy it. Reed, Tony, and Forge worked together to create a virus to kill Nimrod and it works (it looks like Moira gets away). Captain America tells Cyclops that he wishes humanity had seen Orchis as the danger they really were earlier. Scott says maybe this disaster will encourage more people to take the X-gene. In fact, he considers the Avengers honorary X-Men now. He suggests that Cap take the gene. "Captain America... mutant." Caps agrees.

Forge tinkers with the now drooling Krakoa and releases Sinister from the Pit. Xavier informs him that Krakoa is dead and the Earth is compromised. Sinister is delighted to say the least and he's excited to watch the show closer up. He teleports away to his base, under Muir Island. Recording himself, we learn that he buried a copy of himself, "and some extra spice", in every DNA sample. Despite their best geneticists going over the samples, Krakoa's mutants were unable to detect it. Every time someone died they would be compromised. It was a perfect plan except it didn't work.

Data page outlining Sinister's original plan:



The problem was Hope. Her participation in the resurrections somehow "fixed" his meddling so he was unable to compromise anyone. He realized he had to compromise her by killing her, along with a critical mass of other council members to carry out his plans while he was in the Pit. He says the X-Men have beaten him so many times but now they are mine. That they are him now.

He commences his 5-year plan and this is where things move fast as Sinister is essentially taking adversaries off the board.

Precogs learn that Thanos will be attacking Earth again so Juggernaut is used to destroy him, being used as a bullet through space and time. Juggernaut is lost forever.

Doom attempts to recruit Namor to form a resistance against Krakoa, but Namor is already compromised and kills him. Doom is replaced by a clone who is under mutant control. However a sole Doombot, claiming the mantle of Doom, has been reportedly sighted working with the few remaining Orchis cells.

Due to fake rumors of another Eternal attack, Krakoa and Arakko go to war with the Eternals. The Arakkii release Uranos who destroys his own people.

Considered too dangerous to be left alive, Reed Richards is targeted and Thing is compromised and used to kill him. They, Sue and Johnny are on a spaceship and it is said they are lost in space.

With most of the human members of the Avengers compromised, they start going crazy and partake in increasingly extreme and malevolent actions. This climaxes in a war after Captain America takes over the US government after killing the President. The X-Men defeat the Avengers and the mutants are hailed as Earth's mightiest heroes.

Caption: +5 years

The QC is meeting and Storm has a matter she needs to broach. Hank, Namor, and Magik have filled the empty seats. Storm is becoming increasingly disillusioned with their work. Though there is bright light in what they're doing, the shadows it casts are dark. Xavier asks her to be specific and she says they would be there all day if she went down the list of questionable omens. One of which is that she heard all the Spirits of Vengeance have left the Earth. The Arakkii mystics say they are petrified. But she wants to concentrate on one thing at the moment, pointing to Kurt and saying he's an imposter! "WHERE IS KURT? WHERE IS MY FRIEND?!"

Storm is surprised to see Sinister appear with the real Nightcrawler, in his beastly form, on a leash. Sinister mentions that he's unable to mess with Kurt's genes thus far. Storm grows angry, saying Sinister should be in the Pit, that this is an abomination. Sinister says, "Yeah, you got me. Or rather... you've got us." The council stands, staring at Ororo who is in the middle. Sinister says that Ororo has always made things hard. That deleting herself from the resurrection protocols meant they couldn't just kill her and compromise her. He says psychic meddling is risky but Ororo leaves them no other option. These panels speak for themselves.

[JB]

Sinister says with Ororo gone, he should take her seat. Everyone agrees.

Shaw becomes Krakoa's emissary to the various Hell realms. This allows Krakoa to make a deal with Muspelhelm that allows Magik to borrow "a certain sword" that she uses to propel Asgard (where Thor has fled) far away from Midgard.

"No more Wanda. Just in case." Wanda is killed.

The Westchester school becomes a Sinister factory. The first generation of chimeras come to be, splicing two X-Genes into one body. The waste and pollution created by the process will soon tumble life expectancies across the eastern seaboard.



Sinister is now walking through Times Square, a WANTED image of Storm plastered on the various screens. He observes a man at one of the X-Gene clinics, trying to warn the crowd that the Westchester lab is poisoning the world. He continues to observe as the crowd move in to attack the well-meaning man, who is grabbed by a Spider-Man/Nightcrawler hybrid and taken away. Sinister is pleased.

Another QC meeting where Xavier announces that their hold on the world is such that they no longer need to hide their red diamonds. Emma says diamonds are always in fashion. Hope brings up a few problems: what's left of Orchis is still out there, agitating. The attack on Mars didn't get Storm. And she's heard from Cable that the rest of space is all riled up. She says the grand empires of the galaxy will be coming for them sooner or later, unless they "tool up" and go to them first. Sinister says not to worry about that, that they should focus all of their efforts into science. Emma wants to vote on it and hands go up when she asks who wants to prepare for a little space war. Sinister is starting to realize that his creations are starting to go rogue. He also noticed that they've been meddling with his work apparently. They have their own ambitions and desires. Xavier says they can all work together... "assuming we can all prove ourselves useful." Sinister pretends to be fine with this and walks out. But he's thinking he gave them too long of a leash. He decides it's time to reset the timeline before pissed-off aliens attack the planet. He tries to teleport to his secret lab but the teleporter won't work. He's forced to enter physically, moving through various security measures he himself created. He finally reaches his lab only to learn...

[Rift]

Note: After the X-Men defeated the Avengers, they instilled Hellion as the new president of America.

[JB]

Note: After the X-Men defeated the Avengers, they instilled Hellion as the new president of America.

I knew I was going to miss some details. Thank you Rift!

[sunofdarkchild]

This is the best start to an X-Men event since at least X of Swords Creation, if not HOXPOX itself.

[Exodus]

"No more Wanda. Just in case." Wanda is killed.

I'm probably a sick person...but I really enjoyed seeing this image on twitter....

I haven't read the comic yet but it sounds absolutely AMAZING! Very Age of Apocalypse-y.

[Triniking1234]

You had me at "Steve Rogers killed Joe Biden", Jben.

[JB]

"No more Wanda. Just in case." Wanda is killed.

I'm probably a sick person...but I really enjoyed seeing this image on twitter....

I haven't read the comic yet but it sounds absolutely AMAZING! Very Age of Apocalypse-y.

Ngl, I kinda liked the image too.

This is the best start to an X-Men event since at least X of Swords Creation, if not HOXPOX itself.

Agreed. It’s absolutely nuts and has me totally interested in what happens next. And we haven’t even seen the other 3 Sinister’s yet.

You had me at "Steve Rogers killed Joe Biden", Jben.

Omg LOL

[Alex_Of_X]

"Gloat"

Perfection. More so because OG Sinister isn't far-seeing enough to imagine a world infected by him as something that would choose to crush him. I'm excited to see him squirm as the walls close in.

Interesting to see which heroes are still standing. Are we to believe that Wall-crawler is the original Spider-man having gotten the X-gene transplant, or just another vat-grown chimera? How's Otherworld doing?

Very, very excited to find out just how wrong things will go

[davetvs]

This is the best start to an X-Men event since at least X of Swords Creation, if not HOXPOX itself.

Agreed. I was like, whew. Storm was the MVP, I'm most invested in her journey over the course of the event so far.

[JB]

I love how they’re taking out the likes of Thanos, the Eternals, the whole of Asgard yet Storm is over here dodging them like Neo and bullets.

[davetvs]

So much for "Kieron Gillen hates Storm and will never use her in any substantive capacity." I can't believe the stans could mislead me so.

[Krakoa]

You had me at "Steve Rogers killed Joe Biden", Jben.

To be fair, that sequence was set a few years down the road so it coulda been anyone.

[Will Evans]

So Namor, Beast and Magik took the other seats. Interesting.
I wonder how Mikhail controlling Colossus let this all happen though.

[Exodus]

So much for "Kieron Gillen hates Storm and will never use her in any substantive capacity." I can't believe the stans could mislead me so.

...or it is his response to the online comments.