Dark X-Men: The Mercy Crown

Dark X-Men (2023) #1-5

by Steve Foxe, Jonas Scharf (Illustrator), Nelson Dániel (Illustrator)

The mutant villain known as the Goblin Queen forms her own team of dark X-Men!

Following the explosive events of the Hellfire Gala, Madelyne Pryor realizes the world needs the X-Men now more than ever. Havok and Gambit have served on the team before…but never one that looks like this! And how does young mutant Carmen Cruz, A.K.A. Gimmick, fall under the Goblin Queen’s sway? Find out in the most horrific installment of the X-Men saga yet!

Genres: Comics, X Men, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

168 pages, Paperback

Published July 9, 2024

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thing about these X-Men spinoff series that bugs me the most is that they consistently take a bunch of D-List or marginal characters for a "What the Hell, why not?" spin, storywise with such a great chance to help people (or at least me) care about them more and almost invariably fumble the ball.

Am I any closer to wanting more stories with Maggot? Emplate? Azazel? or even the headliner herself, Madelyne Pryor (whichever version this was)? Not in the slightest. And the villains were even more forgettable, demonstrated by the fact I can't remember their names. (Maybe one was Kroll? Or Krug? Meh, who cares.)

So why the 3 stars, then? Well, my inner 13-year old is always shamefully pleased by the return of a bit of underboob in his X-Men comics, and we need to be kind to him, too.


OK in actuality they updated Maddie's costume to be a little more, em, supportive, but when the character's only real defining trait is still traipsing about even less clad than Emma Frost what was even the point?

[Sophia · Rating 2 out of 5]

They should have given Alex his little loincloth back

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75
Kind of a disappointing end that didn't seem to really matter. Would have liked more character development for some of the other characters.

[Alex Sarll]

There's a subgenre of X-Men comics I always enjoy, ones where Havok, AKA "Cyclops' fail-bro", can't understand why he's on a team where all the other members, but definitely not him, are fuck-ups and freaks. This time, it's headed by his lover/keeper Madelyne Pryor, at whose bloodlust he ineffectually cavils ("Maddie, I thought we talked about doing things less violently..."), and filled out with the likes of Emplate, Azazel and Zero – not even the sort of 'reformed' villains who were integral parts of Krakoa, but the creeps and monsters who, even before the Fall, drifted to Maddie's infernal embassy as a less restrictive home. And now, with Orchis ascendant and mutants hunted more than ever, she tries to marshal these misfits into a search and rescue operation. From hearing "To me, my X-Men!" called by a scythe-wielding witch-queen in an outfit Xavier could never carry off, to seeing a team so fucked that even Maggott quits, it's all thoroughly entertaining. Yes, there are probably too many moving parts for only five issues; the idea of roguish Gambit unsettled at ending up as the model of respectability by default doesn't get enough space to fully sing, nor the comic potential of having a knock-off of a knock-off as the antagonist. So even within its subgenre, it's not on the level of Hellions. But I greatly enjoyed its commitment to the bit, right down to all the chapters having titles borrowed from Nick Cave songs (and I'm not talking, like, Joy from the new album).

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series has been just a little bit of a mess. It just felt all over the place. It has such a great premise too. The Queen of Limbo is harboring mutants because she has an embassy in NYC that can’t be touched without a war declaration. It just felt like they didn’t do enough with it and the relationship between Madelyn and Havok has always been so weird and toxic to me. It was nice to see Carmen again though. She’s definitely one of my favorite new additions to the X-Men world. But the allies are building for the Fall of X. The remaining mutants on Earth will be joined by the mutants of Arrako, the armies of Limbo, whatever Stark is cooking up, Thor and the Asgardians and probably a lot of the heroes we know and love.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like this roster. I thought the art was fine. But it was SO intensely boring. Pryor gets a little development, but everyone else has so little going on that it just feels like this didn’t go anywhere. I feel like character deaths are either there to be shocking or to have thematic meaning, and this volume has a few that don’t do the latter and barely, if even, accomplish the former. This just seems like an island of misfire toys issue, which should be its charm but is actually to its detriment. I usually try to say more, but hooboy that seems like it.

Ok wait I have more. The Mercy Crown…why does it matter? Do they ever meaningfully use it? I guess it takes them to a few mutants but…nothing really comes of any of that. Also shoehorning in Feint or whoever that is from that weird offshoot mutant group just…feels very out of place here given those were meant to be a bit more lighthearted than whatever this is going for.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, I think it is time to let Madelyne Prior go for a bit. Inferno and Dark Web weren't bad stories, but they weren't fantastic either. I feel the same about Dark X-Men.
The team is kind of cool (Goblin Queen, Havok, Gambit, Maggott, Azazel, Emplate, Archangel and Albert) but they never really work as a team, except when helping new member Gimmick/Feint. Fighting a more demonic version of Madelyne also feels a little lazy to be honest.
The one shining moment in the whole Volume falls back to it's subtitle. The Mercy Crown is a kind of a Cerebro, but it tracks souls instead of thoughts. Just a really cool idea as a backup, as well as used for any potential future plans.
Overall, not a bad read, but pretty skippable.

[Michael Church · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was probably closer to 3 stars, but I rounded up to 4 because I feel like this book had so much potential. I don’t know if it was always planned for just 5 issues, or if they cut it down for some reason. If it had been longer, I think I would have really liked it. It felt like Steve Foxe had some strong ideas for what he wanted to do with some of these characters. They just didn’t have enough time to get fleshed out.

I really liked Maddie and Alex. I’m just a little tired of only seeing them get further traumatized without getting many real wins. Unfortunately, this still follows in that vein, but I like it. I just wish I knew what was happening with Alex by the end of the book. Plus I think it was a complete waste of Archangel as a character. I think the only book he really got to do anything in during Krakoa was X-Corp? Which, honestly, left a lot to be desired, but he didn’t even have a speaking part in this. Azazel and Emplate similarly don’t get any resolution or explanation. Zero, Albert, and Elsie-Dee are completely extraneous to the plot, in my opinion.

I could’ve really enjoyed seeing this team follow its mission statement to help the remaining mutants. It suffers the same issue as the other miniseries in Fall of X. Nothing was allowed to really blossom, no matter how promising the seeds. Narratively, the idea of Orchis killing all these people and vilifying the mutants just happened too quickly and was accepted so readily. I know that matches the real world, it’s just so disheartening to see it play out with so little conflict on the page. We keep getting told that this is happening over the course of months, but the stories are all so short that it feels very narrow in scale.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Steve Foxe and Jonas Scharf unleash the wild side with their collected miniseries Dark X-Men: The Mercy Crown. With the Krakoa paradise in shambles, mutants are again hunted for being different. Only this time, they have a new set of X-Men to protect them. Operating out of the New York embassy for Limbo, Madelyne Pryor has turned her sovereignty into a sanctuary for the less-human looking members of the mutant community. After teaming with Gambit and Maggott to rescue a young girl from Orchis, Maddie’s team comes under fire from a demonic incarnation of herself from the multiverse. The ragtag team of repulsive recruits must determine if they are even fit to carry on the legacy of the X-Men name. Steve Foxe puts a host of characters and plots into a blender and hits purée to craft this assemblage. While seeing long lost mutants back on the page is a treat, the haphazard tale does not justify their few cameo panels. The only real characterization that occurs comes from Ben Reilly, who refuses to join the bigots in Orchis just because a few mutants took him down during Dark Web. Jonas Scharf has a muddy style that works best with the odder aspects of the book, but highlights issues trying to depict the everyday and mundane. Dark X-Men: The Mercy Crown was a fun idea that unfortunately needed to be put down out of mercy for its shortcomings.

[Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

To me, my (Limbo) X-Men...

This is just...weird. We've got a weird team trying to do superhero things. Can Limbo help protect the surviving mutants of Earth? What could go wrong?

The team?
- Azazel (Papa to Nightcrawler. Don't ask.)
- Emplate (brother to Monet/Penance; indebted to Azazel)
- Gambit (dat Cajun t'ief)
- Gimmick (from 'Children of the Atom' now codenamed, Feint)
- Kenji Uedo (from way back in 'Generation: Hope'; named Zero -looks like organic goo)
- Havok (in 'love' with Madelyn, but look up how many times he's been killed around her)
- Maggot (he's blue; it's a long story)

With guest appearances by...
- Elsie Dee and Albert (seen all over the Wolverine comics years ago)
- Chasm (empty of memories, used to be Ben Reilly. Locked up in Limbo because of ..badness)
- Archangel (two issues...just read it. WTF happened??)

-----
I guess you have to fill the people in on the popular characters they know. This one is just...odd. It could get a bump up because it doesn't include any of the (heavily leaned on) Wolverine vs Beast that some titles we skewing towards

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark X-Men was a pretty fun concept, though it'll almost certainly be discarded with the end of the Krakoan era. Post-Hellfire Gala, Madelyne Pryor uses the Limbo embassy to create a safe space for mutant refugees. Because of who she is though (mostly evil, sorta good), the only mutants who turn up are the villainous or witless (or both!).

This makes for a fun team-up volume, even if it ultimately goes nowhere and has a few too many moving parts. Madelyne seizes the opportunity to form a sorta-Krakoa, taking her new team out into the world to collect left-behind mutants. But even these mutants don't always want to join her weird team.

It's almost a hoot, mostly entertaining, and ultimately fairly inconsequential. I'll give it good marks, though, for swinging for the fences in those post-Hellfire Gala era.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of the Fall of X comics have been wheel-spinning without any plot progresses. Perhaps Dark X-Men is, but it places such a strong focus on characterization that you don't even care. This is a terrific look at some of the darker X-Men, feeling almost like a continuation of Hellions.

I mean, there's a plot here, about finding mutants and helping them out and offering them asylum in the Limbo Embassy. But that scarcely matters. There's a more interesting plot about an alternate-universe Maddy, giving her a chance to be a villain again.

But it's the characters that really shine, especially Maddy and the possibly-dead Havoc. I'd love to see more of these characters in the future, but unfortunately I find it unlikely in the largely lukewater "From the Ashes" era.

[Kaz]

This was... fine? Always love a Maddie centered story, and I was excited to see a character return from Children of the Atom. But like Realm of X, the payoff wasn't fulfilling, and it felt like another series where they stuck some cool characters together but the overall plot wasn't going anywhere. It might have been interesting to witness Maddie fighting another version of herself, devoid of mutant powers (and therefore devoid of parts of Jean, too?) but it was over in three pages and had no satisfying outcome.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the Fall Of X in full swing, Madelyne Pryor recruits a team of misfits to rescue as many mutants as she can, and take the fight to Orchis.

This has echoes of the Hellions book I really enjoyed - characters that you don't expect to be impressive impress you, and unexpected heroes rise from the crowd. I like the journey that Maddy's been on recently, and this is the next step of that. Also, Havok is whipped, and it's always funny. Summers boys' and redheads, man.

Not an essential part of the Fall of X, but a worthwhile one.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

After the Fall of X, Some random X-Men go to Madelaine Pryor, now that there is a Limbo Embassy in NYC after the events of Dark Web. There's not a lot of story here and most of the characters other than Madelaine don't get much screen time. I'm honestly not sure why they made this series given the lack of direction here. This could have been much more interesting. I do like Jonas Scharf's art.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't been a fan of Madeline Pryor and her inclusion in recent Spider-Man stories, particularly since it was largely played for humor. But here, she's opened her Limbo embassy as a safe haven for mutants and the story is much darker. And it largely works. Some good stuff here, coupled with decent art. And it suggests Pryor could be a potential and believable threat again someday if she decides to turn to the dark side.

[Louis Skye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why have Angel on the cover and dispose of him in issue 1? Also, will nobody address how icky it is for Havok and Madelyne to be together? I kind of just prefer when Maddy is full bad—otherwise Alex seems like an idiot if he’s okay with her violence. Weird. Art was a bit all over the place, as well.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit messy—what this book does well is explore what happens to the Limbo Embassy following the 3rd Hellfire Gala. What the book does less adeptly is provide meaningful character development for its core cast. The antagonist, without going into spoilers, also feels like an odd choice even if the character’s presences raises new questions about Limbo’s place in the Multiverse.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am here my queen! All will bow down before the Goblin Queen and Limbo. Madelyne Pryor will be all of our saviors.

But really, it was cool to see what she's up to after being handed the crown to Limbo. I feel like the story could've been stronger but I just wanted to see more of her and I hope we do get to see much, much more of her in the future.

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

Clumsy, confusing art and a story that is a sequel to two different crossovers featuring a trio of b-level characters and two dozen more obscure mutants, there is not much going for this story. For completionists only

[Travis Duke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I read this a month or two back but forgot review it, I wonder why. Well know I remember, it was sub par. Another spin off series that was lackluster. I remember the goblin queen and Jean storyline being just OK at best.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the ashes of Krakoa, Madelyne Pryor leads a nontraditional X-Men of monsters and villains to save what they can. It's great to see favorite characters like Gambit, Havok, and Emplate in this chapter of the X-Men's history, and some of continuity-mined creeps like Azazel and Zero are great fun.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really into this because it scratched the itch Zeb Well's Hellions left behind, but it doesn't feel as satisfying. There's some plot threads that go unresolved and the ending... just happens. But I still enjoyed my time with this series.

[Andres Pasten · Rating 2 out of 5]

Solo relleno, pero agradable de leer

[kam · Rating 5 out of 5]

maddie pryor you’ll always be famous :(

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting threads but the story sorta punts the ending. Feels like the downfall of this mini-series structure of Fall of X

[Vitor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.
Madelyne Pryor is great on this story. The art is phenomrnon and several characters make great cameos here.

[Camilo Vasquez · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is better than fine, but I liked the art better. It's worth reading if you are an X fan and are following the fall, but it´s not outstanding.

[Rafael Suleiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good graphic novel.

[Nate Deprey · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I didn't love some of the unresolved stuff at the end of this series and the questions it didn't bother asking I'm always ready for five issues of Maddie Pryor vamping and Dark X-Men delivered that big time!