The Dawning of the Age of X

Part II: And also Apocalypse in a suit

Last week we discussed how Jonathan Hickman established a new status quo for the X-Men line of books with House of X and Powers of X. Now let’s take a look at what that new status quo looked like in practice.

First and foremost, this new “Dawn of X” began with the launch of six new series: X-Men written by Hickman with art by Leinil Yu, New Mutants co-written by Hickman and Ed Brisson with art by Rod Reis and Flaviano, Excalibur written by Tini Howard with art by Marcus To, Marauders written by Gerry Duggan with art by Matteo Lolli, X-Force written by Ben Percy with art by Josh Cassara, and Fallen Angels written by Bryan Hill with art by Szymon Kudranski. Hickman would also serve as “Head of X” for the line which was essentially a showrunner type of position to guide the overall narrative and themes of the line. Additional titles would later be added as part of the “Dawn of X” rollout including Wolverine by Ben Percy and Adam Kubert, Hellions by Zeb Wells and Stephen Segovia, X-Factor by Leah Williams and David Baldeon, and Cable by Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto. Vita Ayala would also eventually take over writing duties for New Mutants. Each of these new series would touch on a different part of Krakoan life in this new mutant order: New Mutants focused on the generation of mutants from the original New Mutants series as well as the original Generation X series, Excalibur focused on the world of mutant magic from an anthropological standpoint, Marauders was a pirate book that dealt with exporting Krakoan drugs and providing safe passage for new mutants to Krakoa, X-Force focused on Krakoan defense and intelligence gathering, Fallen Angels dealt with characters who felt like outsiders making a new way for themselves (particularly Psylocke), Hellions focused on characters who struggled to exist in this new society, X-Factor established the way resurrection protocols were investigated, and Wolverine and Cable dealt with…Wolverine (Logan) and Cable (the teen one). There was also a series of one-shots written by Jonathan Hickman with various artists called Giant-Size X-Men.

Spoiler alert: Kate Pryde is the Red Queen.

X-Men being the flagship book served as a bit of an anthology series where Hickman could address specific aspects of Krakoan society or a specific threat facing that society, and that will be the focus of this week’s piece. One aspect of that society that wasn’t discussed in the previous post was the governmental structure of Krakoa. The above graphic provides excellent supplemental detail, but the key point is that the primary governing body that essentially serves as all branches of government is the Quiet Council. While all members were ostensibly equal in power (one vote per sitting council member), those in the Autumn branch are the de facto heads of state who go out and handle foreign policy engagements with other heads of state. This is best exemplified in X-Men #4 from Hickman and Yu when Xavier, Magneto, and Apocalypse travel to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

More like En Sabah Brrrrrr, am I right?!

The three heads of state (in their finely tailored suits) are accompanied by two of their Great Captains in Cyclops and Gorgon for protection as they meet with humanity’s global leaders. I should note that this is a real forum held annually in Davos in the real world (the next meeting coming in just a few days at the time of this writing), so this blend of superhero comics and real world politics is certainly not common. It makes the following discussions that take place all the more compelling. The world leaders in attendance are talking down to their Krakoan counterparts and clearly don’t take them seriously.

I would immediately piss my pants if Apocalypse said this to me.

In fact, the American in attendance has brought a strike team with the intent of assassinating the Krakoans if it felt like things were not going as he wanted. They are promptly and efficiently dealt with by Cyclops and Gorgon while Magneto delivers one of the greatest speeches in comic book history. It is especially relevant to the world we inhabit today. To paraphrase the beginning of his speech, Magneto tells those in attendance that the days of grand gestures from super powered mutants such as himself are over. He no longer needs to try and commandeer nuclear weapons or reverse the polarity of the poles to combat the oppression of his people. He (and his fellow Krakoan heads of state) have seen how global economics are the real weapons that nations wield. Paraphrasing this next part just won’t do it justice, so here is the quote in full:

I’ve seen what you do here.

Leverage people with debt. Make them pay to be healthy and whole. Make them pay to be educated. Make them pay you interest so they can live.

Then when you own them, you control them. I have seen what you do.

And now we will do the same…

…but better.

Better versions of a better life. Better drugs for a longer, healthier existence.

And then we will take the money—the outrageous sums of money you will give us because it also means more wealth for you—and we will invest it.

We will buy your banks. We will buy your schools. We will buy your media. We will buy your politicians.

And then, when we have bought all the rest, we will buy you—because you have taught us that everything has a price. And we are happy to pay.

Then, when we have this influence—we will use it. We will make sure that the wrong sort of people—and you know who—no longer have any economic power.

We will not allow them inside our institutions, because it’s important they do not have anywhere to peddle their dangerous, outdated ideas.

And that is how it will end. Like a fire with no oxygen.

Mic drop.

It’s hard to overstate just what a game changer this moment is in the history of comic books (and X-Men comics in particular). This is mutantkind telling the world that everything has changed. They will no longer be bullied. They will no longer put up with the constant threats of genocide. They are seizing the moment by the throat, and they will win. There is an excellent podcast from Elana Levin, Spencer Ackerman, and Jamelle Bouie that breaks this down from a real world socioeconomic perspective better than I could ever hope, but the key takeaway is that this is an example of the oppressed seizing the apparatus of the oppressors and turning it against them. It’s a brilliant choice for Hickman to pursue this route, and Yu (with colors by Sunny Gho and inks by Gerry Alanguilan) illustrates it both beautifully and ominously.

Other issues are tackled throughout this series. Some are of a more traditional comic book nature (threats from villains like Nimrod and the Children of the Vault), and some are issues of a political and cultural nature (creating a cultural scapegoat and putting new cultural/religious practices in place).

Two of these issues perfectly intertwine in X-Men #7 (again from Hickman, Yu, and Gho). An issue plaguing mutantkind for years (in publication history) was when millions of mutants were depowered by Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch. Wanda had canonically been a mutant and the daughter of Magneto dating all the way back to the 1960s. That changed in the 2010s when Marvel decided to bring her into the Avengers film franchise while simultaneously sticking it to 20th Century Fox who had the film rights for all mutant characters by having her not really being a mutant and not being Magneto’s daughter. This presented an interesting dilemma for the X-Men line of comics: how would a mutant nation-state that grants citizenship to all mutants handle mutants who had their powers stripped away by Wanda? Also, what would Wanda’s relationship be to such a nation-state?

The second question is easier to answer: she is treated as a cultural bogeyman to be demonized and vilified by the populace. She is referred to as the “Pretender” by other mutants, and stories are passed down to mutant children (primarily by Exodus) almost as dark fairytales or campfire horror stories. The other question is more complicated. It is established that any mutant who has had their powers stripped from them by Wanda is still granted citizenship on Krakoa. The tricky part is what to do for any mutant who wishes to die and be resurrected with their powers. It would be chaos if millions of mutants committed suicide in an attempt to be reborn whole. It would be years before all of them would make it through the resurrection protocols, and how would they be prioritized? The solution to this problem was Crucible.

Crucible is a ceremonial practice by which a depowered mutant can choose to fight Apocalypse one-on-one to the death with the only weapon allowed being a sword (Apocalypse gets to use a ridiculously giant sword though). The ceremony is held before an audience in the style of old Roman gladiatorial combat. When the mutant is killed, they are moved to the top of the resurrection queues and brought back with their powers. It is a brutal, heartbreaking, but ultimately rewarding practice for the mutant involved. Some have also read this as a trans allegory. I am in no way qualified to speak to this reading, but my friend Ali Selby has done so elegantly. I highly recommend reading her incredible essay.

This is the perfect stopping point for this week’s piece as the next chapter in this run on the X-Men line is a massive twenty-two part event that involves many swords and even more magic. Check back next week as we raise our swords to “X of Swords.”