New Team, Who Dis? In X-Men #1

X-Men #1 brings us closer to our new champions: Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Sunfire, Rogue, Wolverine, Synch, and Polaris. Brought to you by all-stars—writer Gerry Duggan, artist Pepe Larraz, and colorist Marte Gracia—the series evolves mutant storytelling with high-stakes heroics, deadly new threats, and fascinating new developments for mutantkind.

Tony Thornley: Hello again, Cori! I don’t think either of us quite saw this issue coming. This was the most superhero-y story the line has seen since Joss Whedon maybe? Maybe the Utopia era? Because of that, I feel like there’s a LOT to discuss in X-Men #1. What do you think?

Cori McCreery: It definitely took me by surprise, Tony. That said, I do love a big bombastic superhero story, and that’s what this was. Let’s dive in.

A Treehouse in New York

Tony: I love clever new superhero bases (maybe that was one of the things I liked the most about the concept of Krakoa). Naturally, that meant I adored the big, meaty opening scene in X-Men #1. It was one-part tour, one-part team bonding. And I have to say that Larraz and Gracia just make it look so incredibly gorgeous.

Cori: Yeah, the Treehouse is fantastic. It’s rooted (sorry) in the Krakoa era while also just being a fun concept to start. I think it’s funny Duggan is basically ignoring X-Men: Gold, who was also headquartered in the middle of New York City, and had to deal with the planning board, despite what Emma says in this issue. While I loved our brief tour and the tiny cutaway view, I wish we’d gotten a data page to showcase the layout of the building. I’m an absolute sucker for base diagrams. Also, does it seem weird to you to honor someone’s sacrifice in a culture that can now resurrect people on a whim? Why hasn’t John been brought back yet? 

Tony: I actually liked that because it’s a plot point I’ve been curious about for a long time. Does the world at large know about the Five and their work? It was kind of hinted at in HOXPOX that they didn’t and has been danced around ever since. Hell, it’s one of the plot points I wondered about explicitly with the ending of X-Factor #10 last week! Did Magneto kill the Scarlet Witch to prove she was a mutant and out the resurrection process to the world?

Here it seems pretty explicit.

The world doesn’t know mutants are immortal. How big of a game-changer could that be for the entire era?

Nosy Journalists

Cori: Well, I certainly don’t think it will be long because our old pal from Daredevil, Ben Urich, is poking around the Treehouse and asking some pretty pointed questions. While his op-ed about the Treehouse is encouragingly supportive of mutants, the pointed questions about Jumbo Carnation seem to hint he may be the first human to crack this whole thing wide open. One has to wonder, if humanity finds out that mutants are essentially immortal, what are they going to do?

Tony: Definitely, and if this issue is any indication, the move back to New York is both a good and bad thing for the team (and probably an all-around good thing for us). Ben Urich as the first element of the larger Marvel Universe the team encounters in the series, feels strangely appropriate. It’s low-key and grounded. Ben, however, has ties to virtually the entire Marvel Universe, especially to Daredevil (as mentioned) and Spider-Man. It’s like having a Spider-Man guest-starring in the first issue of a licensed 80’s comic. By that, I mean it provides X-Men #1 a solid centering in the Marvel Universe without beating the reader over the head with it.

I remember an issue of Superman where Clark says Perry White is a good enough investigative journalist he’d be able to figure out Clark Kent is Superman if he hadn’t already. Ben Urich is that level of journalist in the Marvel Universe. This reminds me of Robbie Robertson, but I don’t think this scene would have been this effective with Robbie in Ben’s place.

Do I think he’s going to out the resurrections? No. I believe we’ll see another conversation between Ben and Scott like this one. Out of all the plotlines Duggan sets up in X-Men #1, this might be the one I like the most.

Cori: That moment was actually in Loeb’s Superman/Batman, and it’s with the added caveat of Jim Gordon being too good of a detective not to know who Bruce is, and that getting Clark to think about just how good of a reporter Perry is. It’s one of my favorite moments of that series because, like this moment here, it grounds the superheroes in a bit more of reality.

Threats From All Sides

Cori: Not only is Urich about to suss out resurrection; it seems one of the many threats coming at the X-Men will soon arrive, along with a complete conspiracy board. When we first see the individual in question, they are in total shadow. However, from the narration boxes, I fully expect them to be Kevin Heng from the cold open of the issue. Do you agree?

Tony: Yes! That shadowy figure sure seemed to be Kevin to me. I liked the undercurrent of the various threats the team is facing. First, we had Kevin Heng/Feilong in the prologue, who gets beaten to Mars by the mutants by a matter of minutes (or days)? It sure seemed like it wasn’t much since he had a rocket on the launchpad. Second, we get the significant threat of the issue! What do you think that giant Evangelion-looking-techno-monster was? Could it be the Phalanx?

Cori: I don’t think it’s the Phalanx. Not yet. I think that’s a thread we won’t see in the pages of X-Men but in the pages of S.W.O.R.D. or whatever Hickman gets up to after Inferno. I think the techno monster (as beautifully illustrated by Larraz and Gracia) was the first salvo from the gamblers. The gambling scene astonished me the most about the issue. In no way did I expect this plot development, nor the character find of 2021: Cordyceps Jones! 

Tony: Oh, the gamblers! Look, my favorite two Star Wars scenes are the Cantina and Jabba’s Palace. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, I love every scene set in Quark’s, owned by a Ferengi of the same name. For as many problems as the Kelvin-verse Trek movies have, showing the Federation’s diversity is not one of them. It’s one of my favorite elements of the series. So, it should not be surprising that I loved the scene for how damn weird it is. Honestly, the more Marvel gives Larraz scenes of “Hey, there’s a bunch of weird aliens or monsters, just go nuts,” the happier I’ll be!

If Duggan doesn’t do an arc on Gameworld soon, I’ll be sad. Re-reading the issue, though, yes you’re 100% right, the techno monster came from Gameworld, but it still gave me a bit of a vibe of the Annihilation Conquest version of the Phalanx. So I’m curious.

And Cordyceps Jones is fantastic, a sentient fungus that lives in the bones of a dead cosmonaut? That’s cool as hell. Cordyceps are a genus of fungus that include 600 different parasitic fungal species. Yes, they’re the zombie fungus you’ve heard of in the news.

Cori: Honestly, the more Marvel gives Larraz period, the better. He’s one of my favorite artists of the moment, and this book is a perfect fit for him. This allows both him and Duggan to play to their strengths and just put out a good over-the-top superhero book. It’s what the X-line has been missing, and I think it’s fun to allow the X-Men to just be that again for a while. It seems like that’s what X-Men #1 is aiming for.

Let the other X-books continue the big Krakoa threads, let this book be the superhero book in the vein of Morrison’s JLA. Big epic fights interspersed with good character moments while building up a great team dynamic. This was pretty much exactly what I wanted in the first issue of this series, even if I didn’t really know that going in.

Tony: I was glad to see that too. The big fight is a blast and looks gorgeous. More importantly, it sets the tone for the series. It’s a welcome addition to the line as it acts as a bridge between Krakoa and the main Marvel publishing line. And hey, seeing all these characters, especially Everett Thomas, take center stage is exciting.

X-Traneous Thoughts

• Loved the rough, clunky design of X-Bot, as well as its fate!
• Go, Go X-Rangers! 
• Who did it better? Scott Snyder with the Justice League Megazord in Dark Nights: Metal #1 or Gerry Duggan here with the X-Zord? 
• Oh hai there Herbert Wyndham. Don’t think we didn’t notice you
• Love Lorna needing to have her coffee
• Krakoan Reads: Kansas

Cori McCreery

Yes, it's Cori McCreery—strange visitor from DC fandom who came to Xavier Files with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal critics. Cori, who can leap tall buildings in a single bound, race a speeding bullet to its target, bend steel in her bare hands, and who, also works as an editor for a great Eisner winning website, Women Write About Comics, fights a never-ending battle for truth and justice.

Tony Thornley

Tony Thornley is a geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, X-Men guru, autism daddy, amateur novelist and all around awesome guy. He’s also very humble. Follow him @brawl2099.bsky.social.