Powers of X #1

House of X/Powers of X #2

by Jonathan Hickman, R.B. Silva (Artist)

FEAR THE FUTURE Superstar writer Jonathan Hickman (INFINTY, NEW AVENGERS, FF) continues his revolutionary new direction for the X-Men. Intertwining with HOUSE OF X, POWERS OF X reveals the secret past, present and future of mutantkind, changing the way you look at every X-Men story before and after. You do not want to miss the next seminal moment in the history of the X-Men!

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

46 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 31, 2019

About the author

Jonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for creating the Image Comics series The Nightly News, The Manhattan Projects and East of West, as well as working on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, FF, and S.H.I.E.L.D. titles. In 2012, Hickman ended his run on the Fantastic Four titles to write The Avengers and The New Avengers, as part the "Marvel NOW!" relaunch. In 2013, Hickman wrote a six-part miniseries, Infinity, plus Avengers tie-ins for Marvel Comics. In 2015, he wrote the crossover event Secret Wars. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Nicolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main character in the center of this cover, with Colossus' metallic complexion and Magik's soul sword, is Rasputin IV, a mutant chimera from the future and appears in the first issue of Powers of X, one of the twin series that mark the start of Jonathan Hickman era of X-Men. Both House of X and Powers of X are meant to be read together.

This issue gave the reader a glimpse of the future that laid ahead in the roadmap plotted by Hickman. It was both a bleak and interesting future.

Read as a single issue on the Comixology app. The collective review for the entire House of X/Powers of X storyline can be found on my review of House of X/Powers of X.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, one of the lingering questions from last week’s underwhelming House of X #1 was the meaning of the title – the “X” supposedly meant “ten” as in the Roman numeral. Right off the bat of Powers of X #1, Jonathan Hickman explains it, as well as the structure of his X-Men story: X0 is Year 1 (the past, or “classic” X-Men) and X1 is Year 10, which is the timeline House of X is set in – so that’s the meaning of the “ten”; House of X is X-Men Year 10. Ten years from when the X-Men were founded, in this timeline, I guess?

And then he continues, adding two more eras: X2/Year 100 and X3/Year 1000. A thousand years in the future?! That’s the out-there kinda story I was expecting to see from Hickman alright!

Like he did on his Avengers/New Avengers run, Hickman is telling his X-Men story in parallel across two titles – House of X and Powers of X. And, also similarly, one title is weaker than the other, which, going by this first issue, is definitely Powers of X.

Opening in Year 1, Xavier and Moira MacTaggert meet at a fair and have a strange mutant Tarot-themed convo; then onto Year 10 where we get the epilogue to Mystique and co’s heist from House of X #1 (the mutants aren’t quite as unified as they first seemed); then we spend the bulk of the story in Year 100.

Not that I’m against imaginative, ambitious storytelling but it seems that whenever superhero comics try to tell stories set in the far future, they ALWAYS suck! The writers seem to overreach by making concepts and ideas too obtuse and unnecessarily complicated and Hickman is no different. It’s ostensibly the generic X-Men setup: familiar mutants (in this case a Magik/Colossus hybrid) being hounded by Sentinels. And hounds. There are evil mutants up to evil shit too. Ho hum.

What’s worse is that this sequence is filled with blocks of uninteresting text-only info dumps relating the whatevs history of this new era. The issue closes on Year 1000 where I had no idea what was going on.

RB Silva’s art is pretty good but, despite the many timelines being introduced in this issue, the only one that’s actually intriguing remains the Year 10 story. Creepy helmet Xavier is an interesting cat and Wolverine seems to be up to something, both of which I want to read more of, more so than this bland futuristic guff.

As it is, Powers of X #1 is a disappointingly weak and unentertaining comic that doesn’t seem all that necessary to read alongside the slightly better House of X to understand the overall story.

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guess it is inevitable with the X-Men, Powers of X is going to be about the future, rest assure though, this is not some cheap gimmick like we've seen in previous series, I actually like this future, the characters are original, its nicely constructed and makes total sense. It was a really good idea to include written pages to deal with the exposition, feels like I'm reading a manual of this future, I much prefer it this way than to have characters almost breaking the fourth wall with blatant exposition.

Seems we're going to be reading stories from four distinct times, namely Xº X¹ X² X³, you can tell Hickman has a master plan for it all, its gonna be a struggle for me to have to wait for more issues, wish I could read the whole thing in one go.

A minor beef I have with the story though, Charles Xavier seems to be doing the exact same thing Scott did when he was possessed by the Phoenix force, he was also building a mutant utopia back then, yet he always had the opposition of Charles, so much he ended up getting killed for it... and now he's doing the same thing? He better give Cyke some recognition now, can't wait for their interaction.



Also, here's a suggestion to listen along the issue.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was actually more excited for this than house of X, but I have to say...this one didn't blow me away.

The start is interesting enough. Watching Xavier try to enjoy life was nice. Then a mysterious woman sits near him and we jump through various timelines of X-Men or mutants and what the future might hold. A new terrifying villain? X-Men that look like other X-Men might know and they might be their children? or grand children? Lots of mystery, set up, and...that's pretty much it.

I wanted to love this. There's some cool moments and solid art, but nothing really got me that excited to read the next. Good but not great. A 3 out of 5.

[Emily Duncan]

w t f wtf wtf

[Kingtchalla83 · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Powers of X" is divided into four timlines:

x0 - The Dream (year one),
x1 - The World (year ten),
x2 - The War (year one hundred),
x3 - Ascension (year one thousand).
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Each epoch explores a mindblowing chain of events stemming from Charles Xaiver's dream for mutants prompting him to found Krakoa. Hickman is essentially rewriting years of canon history. "House of X" seems to cover x1 (present) and "Powers of X" will fill in the gaps, this is just a guess.
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The writing is unlike anything that's been produced for the franchise in years. Hickman shows the effects of catastrophic events in each period and cleverly builds the world with "official" documents dumping information between each transition. I'm not sure what the final destination is, but the journey is sure exciting.
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Stand out moments:
-Rasputin (I need every piece of available info on this new character. She's a total bada**, boasting 5 mutant abilities.)
- Mister Sinister's Breeding Program
- The SalCen Khennil
- The mutant population size
- Black seed (teased in House of X)
- The initial scene with Charles
- Professor X needs to be renamed el jefe
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars

[Etienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was good!! Part of this dual series from Hickman, this one is presented from various time period and has a very science-fiction vibe to it, which is often bring to the game by this author. Lot of things, not much action, but deeper then most comic and something that would need the bigger picture to put a fair judgement but I'm truly in this series and can't wait for next week to continue on!

[RG · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a little different to House of X. It has multiple time lines. Its got a lot of history. I feel like this one will be build with more issues.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hickman continues to build this new landscape we are traversing through and its so good. He lays out 4 time lines that I’m guessing we will be weaving thru. All of which highly intrigues me. It’s really a great story telling idea hickman uses by having the diagrams and note pages to show you what’s going on. The idea of Mister Sinister and other entities experimenting and creating different factions of mutants and seeing some of them in action was so dope. Plus of course in both issues so far the art has been absolutely stunning. This going to be one hell of a ride.

[Jacob Mendelsohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah even bigger and weirder than House of X, it's companion series. Without going through every little detail, Powers of X appears to be about the effects of the events from House of X on the future. Time travel shenanigans is familiar ground for an X-men comic but the way it's tied in here feels more significant given how impactful House of X feels. for example, its only mentioned off hand how Sinister attempted to affect the past to save Krokoa. It's a case where I think Hickman's dossier pages really shine. They read like a history book that allow a grander tapestry to be weaved within the main story. I really liked Silva's art here, the expressions he gives characters are great. I especially appreciated what was done with Nimrod.

A little speculation about what is going on. I don't think its Xavier under the helmet in what would be modern day. At this point I'm fairly certain almost all of the X-Men are Krakoan clones and its most likely the Maker (evil reed richards) under the guise of the Xavier.

[Henry Blackwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT.

What the hell is going on?
Whatever is going on, I’m liking it!
I don’t feel like commenting whack theories of what’s happening next or what this means for the X-Men because we’re a long way from the finish line and I had no idea it would go in this direction when I read issue 1 of House of X either. Having said that, I’m so interested to see where this goes and I’m loving where it’s going right now.

I also loved Hickman’s little commentary on ‘keeping a record of things’ at the end. It seemed like a pointed message at Marvel and it’s awesome because it’s the most popular book for marvel right now so everybody that loves comics is seeing it. And it is a big and really cool message to be making early.

I also find it funny/brave/cool that Hickman is flat out ignoring anything that happened after Morrison’s New X-Men run.. which... I don’t blame him it’s sucked for years.

[Monsour · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Power X. Jonathan Hickman is trying to fix the clusterfuck of a story hence we call "X men Future Story Arcs".

We all know how shitty the time travel plot of the X-Men Saga. They go to the future/past yadayadayada they stop the bad guy and everything that bad happen is now gone. That's mostly how writers do it on Xmen for the past decade or so. But now Hickman is reaching further in the timeline so he can clean this stuff permanently.

[Mr. Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

The X-Men haven’t been this good since Matt Frickin’ Fraction.

[Chris Wakefield · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an ambitious book. Hickman is building such an incredible and vast world. It sets you up for a lot of story to be told. Enjoyed the art and the characters were cool.

[Derek Neveu · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading House of X 1, Powers of X 1 was kind of a snooze fest.

[Tym · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art isn’t quite as amazing as House of X #1 but still great stuff, I really enjoy the look into different timelines, Hickman pulls it off with style and finesse.

[MannyLikesPie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
She is so cool, blue flame ghost rider?

[Mikey Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

the future seems dark. Rasputin, the devil, wolverine, and others are all living in the remnants of war, and there are less than 10,000 mutants left.

[Omar · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.7 good. A good issue after the qst hosue of X. Not as good but still has the great writing and is just great over all. A must read. Hickman has greatv wrotong in the comic and the art is good too. The time changes was just too much for me forcing it down to a 4 star comic level.

[Aisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I..I'm so lost??

[Roman Colombo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic. Read my full review at Comic Years.

[Helloisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una de las lecturas más interesantes que he leído últimamente.

[Damián Lima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Si el número #1 de House of X era complejo y con una narración cargada, este comienzo de Powers of X es directamente un delirio, lleva hasta el extremo esa misma complejidad.

La historia de Power of X se narra separada en cuatro líneas temporales, cada una asociada a una “potencia” (proveniente del concepto matemático de elevar un número “X” a una potencia, que en inglés tiene el doble sentido de ser al mismo tiempo “poder” y “potencia”).

En X0 tenemos el “año uno”, el primer presente, que con respecto a la trama principal narrada en House of X es en verdad el pasado: el momento en que Charles Xavier tiene un sueño sobre todos los mutantes. Sus encuentros con Moira MacTaggert lo cambiarán todo.

En X1 nos ubicamos en el año diez, que vendría a ser el verdadero presente de la narración, el momento en que se ha establecido la nación mutante de Krakoa y se continúa con la narración de lo que ocurre en House of X. Charles Xavier, con ese “cerebro” gigante en forma de casco que nunca se saca de la cabeza, en alianza con Magneto para construir un refugio mutante.

En X2 viajamos al año cien, un futuro de ciencia ficción en el que las máquinas parecen dominar el mundo, lideradas por Nimrod, en el que el programa de cría de mutantes de Siniestro ha dado como resultado la mezcla de genes y de poderes en mutantes llamados “Quimeras”: vemos a una increíble y muy diferente Illyana Rasputin con varios poderes combinados, y a un grupo de ocho mutantes sobrevivientes a la destrucción, entre los que se cuentan Wolverine, Magneto y Krakoa.

Finalmente, en X3, volamos hacia mil años en el futuro, un mundo que es pura locura de ciencia ficción, donde ya no parecen haber mutantes, donde hay máquinas, un ser de color azulado llamado “Bibliotecario” y algo llamado “La Reserva”, historia en la cual deberán pasar unos cuantos números para empezar a entender lo que pasa.

Más adelante, además de tener que lidiar con estas cuatro series temporales, la cosa se complejizará aún más.

[Tawfek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't help but wonder what scenarios did I possibly miss?!
This is a fucking dream come true for me, reading the future of the X-Men and again, it seems that their future is annihilation, bloody hell, peaceful co-existence is just too much to ask for, when you are different than what humans call normal.
I have a good plan though, what if I read one old X-Men issue, each 2 issues of this new run? That way I get closer to finishing the horrible run of Chuck Austin, and get to more pleasant to read runs eventually?
Because whatever happens in this restart of the series, they will skip over certain events, that helped shape the 100 years or the 1000 years period, or even the present period of the x-men.
Being the completionist that I am, I can't skip anything sadly!
Cardinal reminded me of nightcrawler, Rasputin reminded me of Colossus, I wonder since we have her does that mean we don't have a Colossus?
So Yeah I will read this slower, but it's for the greater good!

[⛧⸸ dennis ⸸⛧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously, this series is so detailed and I love the way it's told - how after each scene there are pages explaining an aspect of the world we can learn at this point. I can already tell it's going to be really interesting and satisfying to reread this once I discover everything.

I swear though, that's some VERY inspired writing. Like I really do believe this is the best-written comic series I've read so far - I hope that doesn't change, since it is the beginning (and I had the same thoughts of Batman: White Knight before reading the 2nd volume of that story) but in any case, at least this is still one of the strongest starts of the series I've read.

[Julie Rocha · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2,5/5) Ok, this was too confusing. I ended up watching a video explaining it (with full spoilers for the series, because it’s been to long since it’s been out,’and now that I finally picked it up I don’t want to dnf it, so you do what you got to do) and still had a hard time keeping up with the comings and goings. Not only does this go through multiple timelines, it goes through multiple versions of the universe. But I think I can get it now. If I ever do a re-read of this series though, I’m definitely picking up the chronological order.

(X Dynasty 2/12)

[Alejandro Orradre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Combinándose con Dinastía de X, esta línea de la mini-saga con la que Hickman se estrena con los mutantes es un viaje continuo entre pasado, presente y futuro: con cada salto se nos revela qué le espera a la Patrulla-X y lo maravilloso que será leerlo todo.

[Powerman61 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Power of X(2019) #1

So far the storyline is dull not what I was expecting.
Hopefully the action will pick up. Sometimes the story
within a story doesn't work. The artwork was average at best.

[Craig Schorling · Rating 3 out of 5]

This issue was a bit slower and not as exciting. I still appreciate Hickman putting enough detail in it for someone like me to understand most of what is happening. The art was really great at times.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comienzo de arco argumental, unión fascinante con House of X. De verdad, este momento mutante nos depara muuuchas sorpresas. Diafrutadlo