Dead X-Men

Dead X-Men (2024) #1-4

by Steve Foxe, Jonas Scharf (Artist), Bernard Chang (Artist)

As the FALL OF X continues to rock the world of the X-Men, the most surprising team of mutant ever assembled will pay the ultimate price to save mutantkind!

Death was only the beginning! When the world turned against Krakoa, these five mutants lost their lives…but their mission as X-Men is just getting started. To preserve Xavier’s dream, they must accomplish the impossible — or die again trying! But who are the Dead X-Men?! And who has recruited them? As they leap across time and space in a last-ditch effort to prevent catastrophe, it turns out they’re not the only ones breaking through the fabric of reality! As this fearless five go places no one has gone before, a cloaked figure stalks them from the shadows…and nothing will survive if she reaches her goal!

COLLECTING: Dead X-Men (2024) 1-4

Genres: Comics, X Men, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2024

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not believe what happened to the new X-Men team at the Fall of X: Hellfire Gala, a team that finally featured (again) one of my favourites in Jubilee; months on the team are back together in this thinly-veiled money grabbing four comic book issue romp through defunct Sinister-generated-Moira timelines searching for any imprint of Moira's mind for the bigger battle ahead. Probably a should-read, so not a must-read for 'Fall of X' readers. Almost zero character growth and a plot so full of holes despite being deep in X-Men mythos. The only fun thing was the alternate realty X-Men team make-ups. A rounded down Two Star, 5.5 out of 12 read for me.

2026 read

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

What starts out as a story that appears baked into the fabric of Powers of X, it quickly becomes less than it attempts.

While it is novel to see the team so unceremoniously killed at the gala go on a important mission, and delve into a Moria story, if ultimately becomes window dressing to buy time, and ends up disappointing. I wish this book hit harder, or felt more pivotal, but idk if it's the editorial rush, or Foxe just not measuring up. Id probably be more forgiving if I read this digitally or wasn't following it month to month.

[Tor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This lineup deserves better.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prodigy, Frenzy, Jubilee, Dazzler, Cannonball, and Askani are the team put together for this book. Basically like a "What If?" Moira Mactaggart edition, the team jumps through different Moira timelines trying to stop a rogue part-robot Moira from stopping Xavier from his plan (see FHX/RPX). Overall, a fun ride, but not super important.
Recommend for completionists.

[Alex Sarll]

Prodigy, Jubilee, Frenzy, Dazzler and Cannonball were announced as the new X-Men team – then immediately massacred. Now they're back and bouncing through defunct timelines in pursuit of Moira(s), a plot which does have a nominal bearing on the core story in Rise Of The Powers Of X, but which you absolutely do not need to read to follow that. On top of which, it's overstuffed, entirely insular, and features a little too much dialogue where characters lampshade the impenetrability of the scenarios they're in. Despite all of which, and unlike too many of the subsidiary Fall miniseries, it is fun, and isn't that the main thing, really?

[Frédéric · Rating 1 out of 5]

As if the field of X-titles wasn't saturated enough, some genius on Marvel's staff thought:
"- What if we made a 4-part mini-series with no interest as such other than delaying the action and not even being self-contained? That would sell a lot more copies.
- Yeah, good idea, Bob. And to keep costs down, we'll use second-rate pencillers, that'll give us a better margin."

Fuckin' geniuses they are at Marvel, I'm telling you.

[Michael Church · Rating 2 out of 5]

As Connor Goldsmith often says on the Cerebro podcast, I’m just too gay to understand time travel.

The concept of this book was a home run for me at first. The X-Men who died at the Gala are given a mission and a chance to be in the spotlight. Unfortunately, the story is just not great, and it’s brought down by how disjointed FHX/RPX was in general.

First, where was Rachel when everything happened? How did she get safe after the gala? On one hand, we are told that Orchis is going to kill exponential humans for every mutant found on earth, but all we’ve seen is people successfully evading them or specific characters being taken to “reeducation centers” to be held prisoner and tortured. On top of that, they can’t communicate with the White Hot Room, where the Dead X-Men are based, but Rachel can just do it?

Then the actual story. They have to find an imprint of Moira’s mind for Xavier to scan? Wouldn’t he have been able to do that in the decades he knew her? Why did they need this direct confirmation? And the team choice was completely shoehorned in. Like I get it, but it was entirely a gimmick from the real world.

Then this other Moira just combines a bunch of fancy stuff (Xorn’s brain, vibranium, carbonadium, and the M’Kraan crystal) to jump between worlds with an axe. I don’t get how or what her goal was. It’s all kind of just supporting story for what Xavier is doing in Rise of the Powers of X, without being very convincing.

The art overall is fine, though there were some moments that stood out, but I am not sure who did them because there were so many artists on this book.

I will always miss Krakoa, but because of the incredibly cohesive early stories, not the mess of how it ended.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun concept within a context representative of what people have complained about comic books for years. This is by no means a standalone story. This is a part of the Rise of the Powers of X storyline, which is part of the Fall of X storyline that's actually the last arc of the Krakoan Age of the X-Men comics. Yeah, that's a lot. If you ignore the bigger picture, it almost feels like a new X-Calibre storyline because jumping from timeline to timeline presents different variations of the X-Men. (Amusingly, in one timeline Cyclops is married to Psylocke, proving that in every reality Cyclops needs to latch onto a telepath.) So, it was fun. Plus every issue was named after a different Bjork song.

However, four issues was not enough. The book seemed rushed to get through everything. The fourth issue in particular seemed particularly wonky. It starts by immediately removing the characters from the timeline they spent only the last few pages on in issue three, then providing a weird explanation for things, and then also having a weird two-page spread that you read by turning the book 90-degrees that disrupts the flow of everything going on for character exposition -- that can just as well be skipped because the pages before and after it flow together quite perfectly. It just didn't make sense to me.

This is one of those reads where I come away saying that I like it but I also don't like it.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm getting real tired of the X-Men being a puzzle that you have to figure out how to read (and I've been reading all the books week to week). It starts off real strong with a team of X-Men trying to go back in Moira's first timeline to stop her. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, just skip the whole Krakoan era of X-Men instead of trying to understand it. By the end you'll need a map that looks like an FBI team trying to put together the pieces of a vast conspiracy on a cork board with multiple spools of yarn connecting a nest of dots all over the thing.) With a crazy Moira following the team through the various timelines screwing with every one of her past timelines. Then you begin to realize that this is all tied in to what's happening in both Rise and Fall of the Powers of X. That's when I began to get really mad, because none of these comics can stand on their own. This is a 4 issue miniseries. It should be its own story. It shouldn't need to explain multiple times about what is going on in two other miniseries. Grr. And you wonder why people constantly complain about how the X-Men is too complicated? This is why. This is coming from a reader who has been reading the X-Men on the reg since the 80s.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remember those mutants that got voted into the new X-Men team just as the Hellfire Gala got obliterated by Orchis? Yeah, they're back - and it's up to them to travel across Moira's timelines and find a weak spot that Professor Xavier can exploit to make sure all the horrible things they've been fighting to prevent don't come to pass.

This was good fun actually. A proper companion piece of Fall/Rise, just as much as X-Men Forever if not more so, honestly. The team have a good dynamic, there's a clear mission (even if it's a little messy in terms of the grander scheme of things), and the premise fits neatly between the pages of the larger plot that's going on elsewhere. It does have one of those 'you need to read this book to find out how it ends!' types of endings, but that's to be expected, honestly.

The artwork's a bit of a jam session, with each issue having two or three artists since each one takes a different timeline. It works well enough, though some of the styles are a little too samey to really stand out from one another.

Dead X-Men proves that everything happens for a reason - sometimes you just have to wait a sec to work out what it is.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unexpectedly essential tie-in to the Fall of X! Dead X-Men stars the X-Men team that was anointed then killed during the latest Hellfire Gala. They've been tasked by Rachel (who is floating in No-Space with Professor X, see FoHX/RoHX) with gathering info about Moira by time-traveling to the many timelines she created for Sinister (see Sins of Sinister).

As you might now guess, Dead X-Men requires you to be pretty widely read in the X-verse. I was lost more than a few times, and I've read basically every book in the series. Nonetheless, Dead X-Men is propulsive enough to keep you engaged and, after the initial tie-in stuff, goes on its own adventure to kill a rogue Moira clone.

I think I would have liked the book more if I read it mid-FoHX/RoHX. It really does drop you right into the action, no preamble. Recommended as a key tie-in, less recommended as a standalone.

[Travis Duke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Convoluted to all hell, can X-Men calm down a bit. So the aftermath of downfall of Krakoa and it is just a maze of a story. We have a resurrected X-Men team that is sent to follow Moria timelines that were in conjunction with Sinister and his clones, did I get that right? X-men is my fav marvel team but it is just a mess.
So anyways this X-Men team is going back to Moria's 10 lives looking for a different Moria.. yeah... ok, while they are trying to also protect Mysterium that is in Prodigy. Meanwhile Rachael is battling in the white room, which I cant remember what that is, but she is sending this X-Men team on their missions... oh and Charles is also hunting a different Moria all together. I wont even mention all the other X-men teams they encounter... yikes. I try to stay up to date on X-men but they are making it pretty hard. Forget a casual reader... they would have mind meltdown...

By the end I got what was happening but it is just too messy, too much time travel and the such, too many players, just too much.

[Andrew Alvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly did not know what to expect from this, I have been out of the loop of the X-Men comics for so long did not know really what the heck was going on.
All I will say though that I liked the team line up, though I was unfamiliar with a couple of them and the revelation that Moira McTaggart is no longer simply just a long time X-Men ally but someone much deeper, possibly sinister, threw me quite a bit.

The art by and large was good but when artists changed every couple of pages, you notice a drop in quality and though I am no artist by any stretch of the imagination, I would have much preferred a bit more detail consistency due fewer artists working over the four issues of this graphic novel.

I will say this though, landing here at this point has made me consider looking up the storylines that will tie together with this to get a better understanding of what the heck is going on with the broader Krakoa storyline.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I…don’t understand how this meaningfully connects back to the mainline series. I know this version of the X-Men show back up to ferry Jean to No-Land or The White-Hot Room, but how they were resurrected and how they had any impact on Xavier interacting with Moira in her tenth life is…wildly unclear to me. Other than Orbis failing to transcend to be a Dominion, I really couldn’t tell you what else of consequence happens in this run, and I think as a test case for this new class of X-Men, it maybe shows why that team with their particular assortment of powers and personalities was never going to be all that compelling (just give me a Prodigy standalone series…he’s the one I’m most interested in coming out of this, for whatever that’s worth).

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to mess up the end of a HUGE run of comics in 3 easy steps...

1. Gather a group of unassuming X-Men and resurrect them by unknown means. (Start your engine!)
2. Reintroduce timelines that aren't vital to the story and are essentially dead ends.
3. Change the purpose of the team around issue 3 of a 4 issue run. Chaos ensues!
4. Explain what the characters hope to accomplish and the obstacles IN A DIFFERENT COMIC!!

===
These are all characters I love, and they were all done dirty in this series. Yet again, there's a fair chunk of story that's just narrative. It's written as notes or other content and breaks up the story (and keeps the characters from monologuing for forever)

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am fairly ambivalent about this volume.

It makes great use of the lore of Krakoa: Moria's lives, the Moria engine, the Sinister clones. It also feels like it's important: maybe it sets up Professor X's actions in the main comic. Maybe it leads into more.But simultaneously the interweaving with the main story is super awkward. And I'm not convinced that being able to travel through Moria's past lives doesn't devalue the whole idea of a universal reset. I'd almost like that to be forever forgotten.

So: meh?

[Louis Skye · Rating 3 out of 5]

How are these dead X-Men alive? Which book did that happen in? So, why after the initial mission, do they keep going to more Moira lives? They leave a mess and have no clue what they’re doing.

But this book felt more X-Men than a lot of Krakoa, so I actually enjoyed myself. The problem is trying to figure out what to read and when. It’s just so many books and volumes. I can’t keep track and so I miss parts of the story.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think it makes TOO much sense based on established stories, but it's a lot of fun to see a team made of the new X-Men chosen and killed in the last Hellfire Gala to hop around the parts of Moira X's lives not detailed in the masterpiece House of X/Powers of X. It ties in to the big finale of Rise of Powers of X, but it's not essential. I suggest a light skim, enjoying the action but not getting bogged down in the mechanics.

[Mel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tommy to his uncle pietro: yeah so someone murdered my boyfriend and now I’m just trying to make sure non of the rest of my friends and family are killed
Pietro: you should hunt down who killed him and make them pay
David: *resurrected without cell service trying to prevent Charles from shooting a child*

[Cassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't really seem like it justified its existence! *shrug* No offense to Steve Foxe or the creative team who were doing the best with the status quo they had to work with, but it was a late addition to pad out the Fall of X roster and sell some more X-Men books. I liked these characters and there were a few moments I enjoyed but overall not a memorable or necessary read.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting book, firmly enmeshed in the continuity of 5 years of X-Men stories, plus additional ones on top, making for a dense and messy read if you are not a true believer. However, it has more purpose and connection to the main plot than several other books of this Fall of X era so It's got that going for it

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of really confusing. Moira living ten lives has always been lost on me. The whole creation of Krakoa only vaguely makes sense to me. So anything that touches that is just 🤯 but in a bad way. I’ve never really liked Xavier but this whole age has really solidified that for me.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned nothing except that is okay to let apocalypse hang with you but to kill a kid who has had lives 10 lives and grows up to be a genocidal maniac is inexcusable.

On a real note, this felt like all action and little character. It could have been worse.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some more essential detail filled in, as the new team of X-Men from the last Gala are resurrected to fight Moira and Charles Xavier's plans to stop the ascension of the Dominion. Art is quite variable from one issue to the next, but I guess that's part of the plan with the various timelines, etc.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was surprisingly solid. It has to reckon with overly arch Moria, but the team do well with the hand they were dealt.

[Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating issues 1-4

[Andres Pasten · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poco se entiende...

[Matthew Randell · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't bad but it has no business being a separate title.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

what an abrupt non-ending! wait.. why isn't this whole team actually dead again?

moira is such a weirdo :(

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 stars