Knights of X #1 Review/Spoilers - Imperiled

[BobbysWorld]

7) Meggan - Honestly, I just hope that she gets a larger storyline than just bubbly plot-vehicle whose always vague and super-malleable powers are used to move the plot forward while she isn't developed much beyond that. So far, both here and in Excalibur, she's been narratively prominent but without much substance to that prominence....it hasn't really done anything to change or advance our understanding of her as a character. She's kinda just...there. And she's got so much more potential than that. Frankly, since her inception she's been so all over the place in terms of how her powers work and what her connection to Otherworld is and where the line between her mutant nature and her fairy nature lies....so it would be great if this book actually like...delved into any of that and gave the Meggan of the current era a more solid foundation or defining.

Also, not sure what to make of the fact that she just offhandedly mentioned oh Brian can watch Maggie while I'm going on this super dangerous mission where if I die I'll never come back the same, that's.....I mean, its kinda how Meggan is, but its also super cavalier and rushed, and correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it heavily implied at the last Hellfire Gala that she was pregnant again? Has that plot just been dropped and abandoned? Because she's a shapeshifter and magic, and timelines are so wonky as is that I can accept that for some plot handwavey reason or another, she's still not visibly pregnant, but would be nice to know if that's just not true and thus not relevant to this book at all, or if its a case where like no, she actually is pregnant, but it literally just hasn't come up yet because how Meggan talks about or acknowledges various things is....different than what most people would expect. Y'know?

8) Kylun - Now Kylun I'm actually hopeful to see what Howard does with him, because I think he's the kind of character that SHOULD be front and center in her cast, given her strengths. He's obscure and undefined enough that there's not really anything limiting her from making him into whatever she wants him to be....obviously yes he has existing characterization, but its a lot easier for her to reinvent and reshape him as needed or desired, than like....a character like Gambit. Plus he's a natural fit for this book thematically and tonally, has lots of history with Excalibur and Otherworld TO delve into if wanted, and I think this could be a great opportunity to really elevate his character profile and popularity. Also I'm excited to see what she does with his powers....on the surface, the power to recreate any sound he hears doesn't seem to be all that useful beyond a few parlor tricks centered around mimicry and voice throwing/sound projection.....but I can't help but notice now he's on the same team as Bei, who's mutant power is called the Doom Note. A literal SONIC weapon. Can Kylun theoretically duplicate her power by recreating the sound of it when she uses it as a weapon? Since the sound of it IS her weapon? Seems like that should work, IMO. Also, along the lines of mutant powers manifesting differently in Otherworld, I've always been curious if Kylun's power could be used to like, hack spells. Like could he duplicate the effects of a spell by recreating the audio of a spellcaster's voiced spell, so long as it didn't require any added gestures or ingredients, or with him able to duplicate the gestures or ingredients himself alongside it? Idk, idk, just saying, interesting possibilities there.

9) Mordred - He of course is the other big wildcard of the series....I'm not remotely surprised to see him here as all signs were pointing towards it, but I admit I wasn't expecting an Arbor Magna resurrection so much as just magical Otherworld stuff. But he's literally a blank slate possibility wise....this issue made a point to acknowledge that Otherworld's resurrection-effects are integral to this version of him, so nothing about his history or prior actions is actually guaranteed to say anything or predict anything about this version of him or how he'll behave. Frankly, I'll be surprised if he does end up betraying the team or becomes a villain, because that's not really even a plot twist per se? Like when you take a character who has historically been a villain, bring him back and say oh because of circumstances now he can be anything and its not guaranteed he'll be a villain.....there's no real plot twist in actually making him a villain again....that would simply be confirming one of the more reasonable expectations for his character. Like, its too obvious? Idk.

Frankly, there's so much more potential in him bucking the expectations for his character, going against the grain while dealing with peoples' understandable existing caution or wariness based on his past (or other versions of him)...and while its true that he has no real ties or investment in Krakoa or mutants as a whole, it seems like he's never really had any reason to before now, so I do think it could be really interesting to take this famous, well known character and have him be interested in exploring this new connection he has....especially since so much of his prior direction has been based on him being motivated by feelings of being outcast or viewed with suspicion from even his early childhood. Giving his character in particular a sense of community he's never had before could radically change him, just as much as Otherworld-affected resurrection itself. Also I'm very curious to see what his actual power is.....its hard to tell if the water in his egg was just supposed to be the water Meggan used in his resurrection, because it seemed a lot more than that....I'm wondering if maybe he's some kind of water elemental? Would fit thematically with Arthur and Mordred's connection to the Lady of the Lake, but honestly, his power could be anything. I do hope its something more interesting than just enhanced strength/warrior prowess. We have enough of that already between Shatterstar, Bei and Kylun....I hope Howard gives him something distinct.

10) Betsy - Finally, Betsy herself....I said I don't think Mordred's going to go rogue or betray the team, he's not the threat to watch out for IMO.....eyes on Betsy would be the best bet, I think. Not because of anything she's going to do herself, or because she can't be trusted or has shady intentions....but because of Roma. Now, Roma's a character with a lot of history, and traditionally, she's far more benevolent than her father, or even Saturnyne herself....but she is ambitious at times, perfectly capable of deception or manipulation, and she is still Fae, and they're not always all that trustworthy. But mostly, I'm focused on that page where she offers Betsy some champagne. How that page was framed suggests that panel, that act, was more significant than it might seem on the surface, and given how much focus Howard gave to the nature of fairy magic, fairy rules, all of that.....its worth noting, IMO, that a key component of fairy lore is that much like Persephone and the pomegranate seeds in the Underworld.....accepting food or drink from the Fae can get you trapped in Otherworld, or subject to their control.

Like, Howard made a point to state that Betsy had been drinking nothing but rainwater up until the point when she drank champagne that Roma deliberately offered her....and I think that's gonna become relevant in a big way. Might be it gives Roma some kind of magical leverage over Betsy that she intends to use to force or try and manipulate Betsy into helping her take back the Omniversal Throne from her father, rather than give it back to Saturnyne? Idk, idk....just saying, if there's a betrayal to watch out for in this book, I don't think its going to come from Mordred, I think its going to come from Roma.


Lastly, we know from solicits that the next couple of issues will take place in the Crooked Market, where Redroot is imprisoned, and I'm curious if that's going to come up here in this book, especially since Bei is in it, or if its only going to be followed up on at some future date in X-Men because of the hints Sunfire will be involved there. Seems weird for it not to be relevant to the next couple issues, given the Knights' mission statement is all about rescuing mutants in Otherworld, and I mean, Redroot is a mutant in need of rescue in Otherworld, but guess we'll see. Interested to see what kind of fight they get into with Mad Jim and how they get out of it, given his power levels, and of course I've been waiting forever for them to get on with the Mercator plot. Also will be good to see Death again, I've been waiting to see his plot followed up on, especially given Excalibur explicitly stated that when Otherworld went to war against the witchbreed, including Sevalith's vampires....Death would be on the side of the witchbreed, since, y'know, he is one.....so I'm curious what he's been up to ever since Sevalith officially sided with Merlin and Arthur, and whether he's still there and only covertly working against Merlin's forces, or if he's actively opposing them on his own.

[Nomura99]

That might've been Tini's best work in an X-Book. Really good first issue that focused and very straight forward with it's plot going forward. There's sill a couple of issues with pacing but overall this was a promising premiere. She's clearly more comfortable with Otherworld (helps she basically created the current version) as the last few chapters of Excalibur were a stop above the previous stories.

[Saithor]

Shogo going solo might be what's necessary to make him into an actual character and not an accessory.

Every time Siege Perilous shows up, it does something new. I'm not even sure what its powers are. Myth wise, it was Sir Galahad's chair, in the Marvel Universe its ?

It's thing is supposed to be it lets someone walk through it into a new life, changed in some way typically. No idea what it does now. I thought Mordred once used it to try and take over the world but that was the Ebony Crown.

Which oh boy it's going to interesting if Spurrier pulls the trigger on Jacks being a mutant and she encounters him on Krakoa.

"Who...why is Mordred here?"

"Oh, he's a mutant. And the new rightful ruler of Camelot. One of Mutantkind's greatest allies!"

"Me and Dane had to prevent him from weaponizing the world's misery and depression to take it over less than a year ago! He killed me!"

"Well, I mean you're alive..and even if you did stay dead you're a mutant so you would have come back anyway!"

I am going to laugh my ass off if they do pursue this angle because Curse of the Ebony Blade literally was about how the way Arthur treated Mordred was completely unfair, but it doesn't give Mordred the right to do what he did either so...we'll see what Howard does. But after Apocalypse and Selene under her pen Im not optimistic.

[Saithor]

9) Mordred - He of course is the other big wildcard of the series....I'm not remotely surprised to see him here as all signs were pointing towards it, but I admit I wasn't expecting an Arbor Magna resurrection so much as just magical Otherworld stuff. But he's literally a blank slate possibility wise....this issue made a point to acknowledge that Otherworld's resurrection-effects are integral to this version of him, so nothing about his history or prior actions is actually guaranteed to say anything or predict anything about this version of him or how he'll behave. Frankly, I'll be surprised if he does end up betraying the team or becomes a villain, because that's not really even a plot twist per se? Like when you take a character who has historically been a villain, bring him back and say oh because of circumstances now he can be anything and its not guaranteed he'll be a villain.....there's no real plot twist in actually making him a villain again....that would simply be confirming one of the more reasonable expectations for his character. Like, its too obvious? Idk.

Literally the only way to fast track his redemption. Which fair if they use it but I'm going to roll my eyes if between him and Gorgon they suddenly fixate on the idea that if they have a controversial mutant in the ranks all they need for instant redemption is to toss them into the Otherworld and have Betsy go executioner on them.

[Sandmans_Raven]

2) Gambit - Have to agree with everyone who thinks he's being wasted, and it'll be more of a surprise if he's NOT the character who dies during the Quest than if he is. Even then, I don't think that has to be a dealbreaker, Otherworld deaths are basically a huge wildcard now and there's tons of ways that Gambit dying and coming back could be spun to do interesting things with his character, but the problem is, Howard's not really attempted to do anything interesting with his character as is, and thus the prospect of him dying seems like her taking advantage of a character reset button that lets her turn him into anything she wants him to be and is interested in writing, rather than the character he already was and has no seeming real interest in writing. And that's something that fans of his character have every reason to be wary of and like....not interested in. You don't have to reinvent characters you don't like just to make them something you personally would be interested in, when you can instead just like....not use them, and find a different character you like more to use in their place.

You took the words right out of my mouth and wrote them way clearer than my frustrated brain could allow me right now.

[BobbysWorld]

Literally the only way to fast track his redemption. Which fair if they use it but I'm going to roll my eyes if between him and Gorgon they suddenly fixate on the idea that if they have a controversial mutant in the ranks all they need for instant redemption is to toss them into the Otherworld and have Betsy go executioner on them.

Oh that's completely valid, but my stance is just like....I consider that the lesser of two evils, if its either that or just not acknowledging the worst shit a character has done, y'know? Like, it might be a convenient, lazy way to take a traditional villain and reinvent them as a more heroic character, but at least it exists as an explanation rather than just forever dancing around the subject of past misdeeds without ever actually addressing them at all.

[Devaishwarya]

This left me...apathetic.

There's way too much happening...and very little focus, which is typical, because Tini just cannot juggle a hundred different plots and sub-plots at once.
And...
I strongly dislike the way Quinn draws faces. His figure work is merely okies, serviceable, his backgrounds are detailed enough, his designs are meh, but...ALL the faces...why? (that panel of Rachel posted is a good example of what and why...wtf are her mouth and eyes doing in relation to the emotion she's tryin to express?)

Everything...writing art and colours...just falls very flat. I knew I wouldn't care for it despite the premise, and this first issue just proved my gut instinct correct.

[Jwyatt]

I'm so upset. Julio and Shatterstar are not wearing pants, yet you didn't include any pictures. My day is ruined forever.

I really like your idea about Shogo going through the Siege Perilous, though. Especially if it leads to a permanent change. If he's a little older, then maybe Jubes won't have to stay in Mom Mode all the time.

It's the law. Toddlers have to be artificially aged up, and Tiny doesn't want a fine.

[Jwyatt]

Deleted panel of the 'Knights' seeing the Siege Perilous:

917a95e5f3b924dc79c24a34080256b302a8d725.jpg

[pkingdom]

I really, really hope they don't use this to age Shogo up, but I'm not optimistic. Jubilee being a mom made her even more relatable to me than she already was, and 'aging up children into teens/young adults' is such a huge go-to for hack writers. I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate it. I hated it when it happened to Jonathen Kent recently, and I hate it if it happens here.

Reviving Mordred is just.....ugh. I guess it doesn't matter how big of an unrepentant monster you are. As long as you don't specifically target mutants, you can get a free pass.

Its a holdover from Excalibur, but I still don't understand the 'why' behind everything. Why this specific anti-mutant heel turn from Merlin? Why was there a war between Morgan and Saturnyne? Why are we supposed to be rooting for Saturnyne at all here? Why should we even be rooting for the protagonists here? Is it meant to be clever that our protagonists are trying to overthrow the rightful ruler of this plane (for the second time) by reviving their feared and ancient enemy for help, or does it just prove the point of Merlin and Arthur that mutants = bad?

[JB]

7) 10) Betsy - Finally, Betsy herself....I said I don't think Mordred's going to go rogue or betray the team, he's not the threat to watch out for IMO.....eyes on Betsy would be the best bet, I think. Not because of anything she's going to do herself, or because she can't be trusted or has shady intentions....but because of Roma. Now, Roma's a character with a lot of history, and traditionally, she's far more benevolent than her father, or even Saturnyne herself....but she is ambitious at times, perfectly capable of deception or manipulation, and she is still Fae, and they're not always all that trustworthy. But mostly, I'm focused on that page where she offers Betsy some champagne. How that page was framed suggests that panel, that act, was more significant than it might seem on the surface, and given how much focus Howard gave to the nature of fairy magic, fairy rules, all of that.....its worth noting, IMO, that a key component of fairy lore is that much like Persephone and the pomegranate seeds in the Underworld.....accepting food or drink from the Fae can get you trapped in Otherworld, or subject to their control.

Like, Howard made a point to state that Betsy had been drinking nothing but rainwater up until the point when she drank champagne that Roma deliberately offered her....and I think that's gonna become relevant in a big way. Might be it gives Roma some kind of magical leverage over Betsy that she intends to use to force or try and manipulate Betsy into helping her take back the Omniversal Throne from her father, rather than give it back to Saturnyne? Idk, idk....just saying, if there's a betrayal to watch out for in this book, I don't think its going to come from Mordred, I think its going to come from Roma.


Lastly, we know from solicits that the next couple of issues will take place in the Crooked Market, where Redroot is imprisoned, and I'm curious if that's going to come up here in this book, especially since Bei is in it, or if its only going to be followed up on at some future date in X-Men because of the hints Sunfire will be involved there. Seems weird for it not to be relevant to the next couple issues, given the Knights' mission statement is all about rescuing mutants in Otherworld, and I mean, Redroot is a mutant in need of rescue in Otherworld, but guess we'll see. Interested to see what kind of fight they get into with Mad Jim and how they get out of it, given his power levels, and of course I've been waiting forever for them to get on with the Mercator plot. Also will be good to see Death again, I've been waiting to see his plot followed up on, especially given Excalibur explicitly stated that when Otherworld went to war against the witchbreed, including Sevalith's vampires....Death would be on the side of the witchbreed, since, y'know, he is one.....so I'm curious what he's been up to ever since Sevalith officially sided with Merlin and Arthur, and whether he's still there and only covertly working against Merlin's forces, or if he's actively opposing them on his own.

Very interesting about the Fae, especially the "accepting food or drink from the Fae can get you trapped in Otherworld, or subject to their control." Roma is definitely making me suspicious, whether she's secretly working with Merlyn or using the current conflict to get back into the Citadel. She claimed some of her people were the first one's killed but her realm isn't occupied as the others are. Merlyn could of course simply be leaving her be but I believe there is more there. She was waiting for Betsy to approach her, imo.

I'm very much looking forward to how things play out in the Crooked Market and Mercator as well. And I can't believe I forgot about Death and what he said at the court. I'm ashamed.

[Spiderfan001]

This left me...apathetic.

There's way too much happening...and very little focus, which is typical, because Tini just cannot juggle a hundred different plots and sub-plots at once.
And...
I strongly dislike the way Quinn draws faces. His figure work is merely okies, serviceable, his backgrounds are detailed enough, his designs are meh, but...ALL the faces...why? (that panel of Rachel posted is a good example of what and why...wtf are her mouth and eyes doing in relation to the emotion she's tryin to express?)

Everything...writing art and colours...just falls very flat. I knew I wouldn't care for it despite the premise, and this first issue just proved my gut instinct correct.

Co-signed

Shame I was hoping they'd step it up

[danielsan52]

You actually came to mind as I was reading and I'm happy for you as it's been a while since we got this much Colin. This was indeed a great introduction for newer readers and I'm hoping for a budding bromance between him and Shatterstar.



I hope we see some cool stuff with his powers.

How is Kylun pronounced? Kai lun? Kai loon?

[CGAR]

This left me...apathetic.

There's way too much happening...and very little focus, which is typical, because Tini just cannot juggle a hundred different plots and sub-plots at once.
And...
I strongly dislike the way Quinn draws faces. His figure work is merely okies, serviceable, his backgrounds are detailed enough, his designs are meh, but...ALL the faces...why? (that panel of Rachel posted is a good example of what and why...wtf are her mouth and eyes doing in relation to the emotion she's tryin to express?)

Everything...writing art and colours...just falls very flat. I knew I wouldn't care for it despite the premise, and this first issue just proved my gut instinct correct.

Oh wow. Im surprised you didnt like it. You're usually one of the more positive voices for her.

I'm hoping this only last one arc.

I want Betsy and these characters involved with Krakoa. Not the UK or otherworld anymore.

[Jwyatt]

I really, really hope they don't use this to age Shogo up, but I'm not optimistic. Jubilee being a mom made her even more relatable to me than she already was, and 'aging up children into teens/young adults' is such a huge go-to for hack writers. I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate it. I hated it when it happened to Jonathen Kent recently, and I hate it if it happens here.

Reviving Mordred is just.....ugh. I guess it doesn't matter how big of an unrepentant monster you are. As long as you don't specifically target mutants, you can get a free pass.

Its a holdover from Excalibur, but I still don't understand the 'why' behind everything. Why this specific anti-mutant heel turn from Merlin? Why was there a war between Morgan and Saturnyne? Why are we supposed to be rooting for Saturnyne at all here? Why should we even be rooting for the protagonists here? Is it meant to be clever that our protagonists are trying to overthrow the rightful ruler of this plane (for the second time) by reviving their feared and ancient enemy for help, or does it just prove the point of Merlin and Arthur that mutants = bad?

IAWTP
10char