The quick-step march to the end of the Krakoan era continues as Doug Ramsey returns, Mystique and Destiny hash things out, and Hope prepares to do some “messiah stuff” in X-Men Forever #3, written by Kieron Gillen, drawn by Luca Maresca, colored by Federico Blee and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Austin Gorton: It feels like only yesterday that we were escaping the White Hot Room via plant-birth, but here we are again (OK, it was like two weeks ago, but still, everything about this storyline is happening super fast).
Tony Thornley: Legit, it’s one week between this issue and the next (which we’ll try to cover later this week). IT’S TOO FAST.
I do have my Nightcrawler figure standing next to my keyboard though. For luck.
Full (Narrative) House
Austin: So like everything else in “Fall of X,” X-Men Forever #3 feels like it’s cramming about six or seven issues of plot development into one. But it turns out Kieron Gillen is pretty good at this stuff. There’s an interesting structure to this issue, with a specific character or characters coming into focus briefly before passing the baton off to someone else and exiting the stage. We open on the return of Doug, which segues to the semi-redemption of Sebastian Shaw, which leads into the whole Nightcrawler/Mystique/Destiny info-dump, which leads to Hope and, finally, to Enigma.
It’s still A LOT of story and a lot of telling instead of showing, but by limiting how often the focus shifts and not cutting back and forth between concurrent events, Gillen makes it all feel a little meatier.
Tony: It’s really kind of an A, B, C plot structure with a few bits of chaos thrown in. I really don’t think anyone BUT Gillen would be able to pull it off this well. It’s still a very readable issue, even if it’s SO MUCH that I had to reread it a couple times.
Austin: Doug’s return (after getting “eaten” by Krakoa in Immortal X-Men #13) was one of those lingering plot points I was eager to see addressed, and then got forgotten a bit in all the “Sinister is Doug” misdirection. In the end, I guess there wasn’t more to Krakoa’s actions, other than the vague idea that it sensed all of this coming (which begs the question of why it didn’t do more to stop itself getting hauled away by Orchis and needing to be rescued by Juggernaut). The little fakeout with the binary code here — where it seems like the secret code Shaw had written into the Sentinels attacking Krakoa to make them vulnerable didn’t work only for it turn out that Doug just misspoke — was amusing and well-executed, but hardly seems a worthy payoff to the mystery.
Tony: I feel like that’s emblematic of a lot of stuff in this last gasp of the Krakoan era. While the previous phases of Krakoa threw as much at the wall as this phase did, they at least had the room to pay them off (and in many, but not all, cases, did). Here, they need to sprint to wrap things up, and are doing their best not to leave anything TOO major dangling. I mean, hell, the Shaw sequence seems to entirely be “let’s give him his powers back just so the next stories don’t have to explain it.”
If it hadn’t already been confirmed, it could be exceedingly obvious that this is editorial dictate, and I just hate that.
Austin: I know everything at this point is being incredibly rushed, but I continue to struggle with the art here. Certainly, it’s technically adequate; for the most part, I’m able to follow the action, the big moments are big, characters seem on-model. But it still looks rushed. The opening double-page splash as Doug emerges into a Krakoa under siege should be jaw dropping, but I’m distracted by all the loosely sketched figures. When Apocalypse, of all characters, is presented as a visual afterthought, there’s problems. The art gets the job done, but does little to elevate the story it’s telling.
Tony: It’s exactly what we feared: The conclusion of everything is turning into a chaotic cameo-fest, and I think it’s going to result in a ton of problems.
Darkholme Family Matters
Austin: From Doug to Shaw, X-Men Forever #3 transitions into the Nightcrawler/Mystique/ Destiny plot point. I’ll be honest: I’m still not 100% sure what Mystique is pissed at Destiny for. I get that Destiny had her knowledge of Nightcrawler being their child purged from her memory (while Mystique didn’t), and now she has those memories (but not the emotional connection to them) back. And that Mystique is mad that Destiny wrote about it (in code) in her diaries. So is Mystique just mad that Destiny left herself a reminder?
Tony: Raven hasn’t been herself since the Hellfire Gala. Here it reads as Gillen giving his take on what that should have been like, instead of the hysteria Si Spurrier gave her in Uncanny Spider-Man. You make a great point, though. Is Raven the problem here? Or is it the entire retcon and they’re just trying to do backflips to straighten it all out before Krakoa falls?
Austin: For the most part though, this reads light on new information and heavy on recap — or, at least, setup for the upcoming X-Men Wedding Special and/or wrap-up of this particular plotline. Did anything here jump out at you as particularly revelatory or resonant to what else is going in the book?
Tony: Honestly, the only thing I liked about this sequence was Kurt confiscating Raven’s weapons. That was the panel of the issue, and elevated it just a touch overall. Otherwise, it’s a plot that I think suffers horribly from the rush that’s really giving the rest of these issues such low marks.
Austin: I did enjoy Mystique pushing back against Destiny’s constant “omniscient protection,” her refusal to let Mystique go certain places or do certain things in the name of her safety (in this case, it’s go find the seemingly turncoat Xavier to get him to restore Destiny’s emotional memories). “Your love is a cage” is a great line. It’s appreciated seeing Mystique push back against Destiny a bit, especially given how far she went to bring her back. I am definitely “Team Mystique + Destiny 4 EVA,” but I am also “Team Complex Relationships are more interesting and engaging,” so I hope Gillen (or someone) has the room to explore this a bit more in the future.
Tony: Yeah, if the Wedding Special wasn’t on the horizon, I think I’d actually be kind of angry about this plotline and where it leaves us. There’s fertile story territory here, so here’s hoping.
Hope’s in Charge
Austin: For most of the Krakoan era, Hope was kind of off on the margins — an important part of The Five, but not active in a lot of stories. Gillen changed that with Immortal X-Men, and if we had any doubt before, X-Men Forever #3 seems to cement the idea that Hope is going to play a key role in the endgame of this larger arc/era. Also, it seems pretty clear she’s going to die in the process.
Tony: Hope being the most important character to stay behind in the White Hot Room sure pointed that way last issue. This issue sure doesn’t contradict that perception. She’s running through Atlantic Krakoa, trying to help the Phoenix ascend(?), and yeah, the foreshadowing (especially with the conclusion of the issue) strongly implies she’s about to die.
Austin: I have not been reading Fabian Nicieza’s Cable miniseries, in part because it sounded like it was mostly disconnected from whatever else was going on in “Fall of X.” Any idea if it set up his brief appearance here, or if that was just something Gillen did to give a little emotional pop to this part of the issue?
Tony: I read only the final issue, and it ended with both Cables jumping into the final fight with the Sentinels. Nothing to do with this moment, which is a shame. Cable saluting his daughter in what is obviously her final fight is such a fantastic moment.
Austin: Agreed. Wish it was a little less random and passive, but again, there’s only so many pages left to tell this story, apparently.
Meanwhile, Legion as Hope’s BFG is just a delightful bit of comic bookery. I’m glad Legion hasn’t been forgotten and will (seemingly) play a role in the climax.
Tony: OK, yes, but also was he ever implied to be the sword over in Uncanny Spider-Man? I thought he was the white Bamf, not the Hopesword. But then, I guess that shows how half-baked a lot of the ideas that Spurrier put on paper for Nightcrawler really were. Also, it definitely seems to be the No. 1 least likely major character development from this era to ever show back up.
Austin: Honestly, I had the same thoughts you did about Legion and Uncanny Spider-Man, but decided just to roll with it ‘cuz it was such a fun moment.
Finally, we get the issue-ending cliffhanger, as we jump back in time to see Mister Sinister in Alaska nine months before Hope’s birth, talking to Hope’s mother. Only, this isn’t “our” Mister Sinister, it’s Enigma (the first time, I believe, we’ve seen him/it in something approximating a human form). Enigma can’t see what’s happening in the White Hot Room (because it exists outside space and time), but he can see the people on Krakoa interacting with the people inside it, and he has sussed out what Hope is trying to do.
Tony: So what’s he going to do/has done? Go back to the moment of her conception and try to undo her? I don’t think he’s trying to KILL Hope. He’s trying to transform her into a manifestation of him. Which … there’s an ick to it, but it at least makes Enigma a more active participant in the final battle, no?
Austin: Given this is Gillen, and the way Sinister (and his/Enigma’s influence) has more or less served as the overarching antagonist of his Immortal X-Men run (going all the way back to the opening pages of the series), I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Enigma trying to do what Sinister did to the Sinister Four, implant his genetic “essence” into Hope so as to subtly and eventually overtly take control of her. If so, it’ll serve as a fitting conclusion to this chapter of Gillen’s X-Men work.
X-Traneous Thoughts
- This may just be down to the circumstances of where the narrative is at, but given that this is meant to be the wrap-up of Gillen’s Immortal X-Men, in which each issue focused on a specific member of the Quiet Council, it’s kind of fun that each of the “focal point” characters in X-Men Forever #3 was a member of the council at one point.
- Both last issue and this one concluded with Hope marching off to hunt down Phoenix, gun in hand, only in this one she’s traded up for a bigger gun. Is that repetition frustrating or brilliant? You decide! (It’s Hope Summers, of course it’s brilliant.)
- The Cable moment bugs me. Nathan wouldn’t just stand idly by waving at his daughter. He would go full Butch and Sundance with her. I guess that’s more of what the obviously rushed plot did to us.
Buy X-Men Forever #3 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
Austin Gorton also reviews older issues of X-Men at the Real Gentlemen of Leisure website, co-hosts the A Very Special episode podcast, and likes Star Wars. He lives outside Minneapolis, where sometimes, it is not cold. Follow him on Twitter @AustinGorton
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.
