The fight for Krakoa has been lost, and now, ten years in the future, Orchis summons their god to ascend. Check out what happens in Rise of the Powers of X #1 by Marvel Comics!

RISE OF THE POWERS OF X #1

Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: R.B. Silva
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Jordan White
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $5.99
Release Date: January 10th, 2023 

Previously in Rise of the Powers of X: Ten years ago, Orchis attacked Krakoa and won. Every attempt by mutantkind to come back from their fall has failed. Still, the X-Men fight on.

Rise of the Powers of X #1 starts with the death of Emma Frost and the sacrifice of both Mystique and Gambit. All this to get the location of Mister Sinister to prevent the rise of a Dominion. Wolverine, Synch, Captain Krakoa (who is Kamala Khan), Shadowtiger (Kate Pryde who consumed a Death Seed), and Iron Man (an A.I. of Tony Stark who is dead in his final suit) prepare for an attack on Phobos and are one-by-one wiped out by Nimrod and Orchis but not before Wolverine kills Sinister. Despite that, Doctor Stasis can activate Dominion just as Rasputin IV kills him. Unfortunately, Enigma, the original Nathaniel Essex, can take Dominion, and this reality ends.

Back in the present, Charles Xavier, Rasputin IV, and Cypher discuss the failure of this timeline. Enigma used Moira’s power to create all these timelines to ascend to Dominion, and now he knows the order of events needed to make it a reality. So, Xavier reveals his backup plan: kill Moira in the past before she got her powers and ensure that Krakoa never existed.

I’m overwhelmed by Rise of the Powers of X #1. I like Kieron Gillen’s writing, and the depth of his ideas is something that will constantly engage and inspire me. The idea that Enigma somehow used the Moira Engine to create timelines to attempt to reach godhood is fascinating. But the layers get more and more complex as mutants feel less and less humane. All the characters of this timeline don’t feel like they have any humanity left. What Charles is trying to do, in the scheme of things, is basically kill a child before she is evil or before she can be used for evil. And that is a hard theme to grapple with, almost feeling like mutant-kind is becoming what Orchis claims they are. All this leads to what could be a reset button where these evil actions don’t exist through some odd-time paradox. Is this a good story? Yes, but with the limited page number of comics, I feel like we lose a bit of nuance on a difficult philosophical thought.

The art, though, is very well-designed, and I like the details on each page. But what steals the show is the use of colors and how it brings out various images on the page. Going from red to orange to green, all of these changes the emotive state of the page. Good work here.

I don’t like the idea of killing Moira. That is a hard plot point to grasp, and ultimately, I hope it fails. But I am so invested in the story and what is going to happen next that I await the next issue in the Fall of X storyline. Can’t wait to see what I find out next week. Rise of the Powers of X #1 is a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

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Rise of the Powers of X #1

83%

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Still Interesting

Rise of the Powers of X #1 tells a complex storyline that dehumanizes the X-Men to be something that Orchis and mankind would fear.

• Writing

  8
• Art

  7
• Coloring

  10
• User Ratings (2 Votes)
  8.8