Cyclops is free, and the X-Men prepare their final move for the future of Krakoa. Find out if they can finally beat Orchis in Fall of the House of X #3 by Marvel Comics!
FALL OF THE HOUSE OF X #3
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Lucas Werneck and Jethro Morales
Colorist: Bryan Valenza
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Editor: Jordan White
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: March 13th, 2024
Previously in X-Men: The mutants of Krakoa have been on the defensive since Orchis attacked them at the Hellfire Gala and spread anti-mutant rhetoric. The X-Men spent time gathering resources, recovering lost mutants, and preparing to wage war on Orchis. Now, Rogue and Gambit have rescued Manifold, Polaris has crippled Orchis’ space station, and Cyclops was freed by Dr. Alia Gregor, one of Orchis’ top scientists.
Fall of the House of X #3 starts with Juggernaut holding the line against Orchis, who is trying to kill Krakoa. While Juggernaut is nearly impossible to kill, the tree of Krakoa is a little different. Luckily for him, Gambit, Rogue, and Manifold have made it to Arakko on S.W.O.R.D. Station II. They then transport Apocalypse, the refugee mutants of Earth, and the mutants of Arakko into Earth orbit to provide backup to Juggernaut!
Meanwhile, Shadowkat and Emma Frost receive word of Doctor Stasis’s location. They arrive and find out where the missing Firestar is, and then Emma uses her powers to torture Stasis. Synch rescues Firestar, and Firestar arrives to incinerate the corpse of Stasis.
Finally, Cyclops and Dr. Gregor prepare to escape, and Alia realizes that Cyclops could have escaped whenever he wanted. He leads them to a spot where Magik is waiting for them. Magik teleports them to the moon, where they find Nimrod working on something that even Alia wasn’t aware of, with the plan to eradicate all life on Earth. Nimrod then kills Dr. Gregor before unleashing the next step in his plan.
It is relieving to read Fall of the House of X #3 and feel like the plot is finally starting to resolve. This event has been a hot mess, but I am determined to see it through. Cyclops is now free, and Doctor Stasis is now dead. This conclusion has been a little over the place, and some of the artwork and interpretation have felt odd, showing characters flying that don’t make sense. But to see progress made is like releasing a breath that I have held in for a while. Despite all that, I’m unsure of what I think about the Nimrod reveal. There are two forces at work here: Enigma, which has achieved Dominion status, and the fight against Orchis. The weird part is that Nimrod’s story doesn’t seem to gel with Enigma, which I was confident would be connected. So, however, they choose to resolve this comic, it will feel like a bit of a leap. That and I dislike that they killed Dr. Gregor in this manner. Her death is overshadowed by the death of Dr. Stasis and could have been placed in the next issue for a higher effect.
The art doesn’t seem as detailed as in previous issues, with the line work and shading not providing the same depth as other issues. Almost like the characters are flat compared to earlier works. Even with how dynamic mutant powers are, I didn’t engage with the art that much.
I enjoyed Fall of the House of X #3, but I also feel that I have lost my trust in this title and have been approaching the finale of this arc with a fair degree of caution. I want to see the rest of the series through, but the pacing of the books isn’t consistent, and the plot is confusing. However, this issue is more substantial than some of the previous issues. 3.5 out of 5 stars for Fall of the House of X #3.
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Fall of the House of X #3
Fall of the House of X #3 finally leads to the conclusion of Orchis versus Krakoa, and while that feels good, it has some questionable narrative decisions.
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Christopher Rondeau is a storyteller based in Tulsa, OK. Finding himself with little work, he ended up creating a job as a Game Master full time on the internet. Chris spends most of his days reading everything he can, writing bad fiction, and watching old Digimon cartoons with his daughter. Sometimes you can find him Dungeon Mastering a podcast or streaming on twitch. Recently, he has completed his Master's degree with a focus on collaborative storytelling. Find out more at https://rondeaucreator.com
1 Comment
You know, I loved 2019’s HoX/PoX as a reboot of the X-Men mythos, but it has just become a hot mess of convoluted storylines again. (I wanted to like the Sabertooth comic they put out, but I couldn’t) I really hated the annual fashion show they used to do, These events blur into each other and the plot motivations are hard to comprehend. Reading these books feels like an endurance test now, like they used to be before 2019.