X-Men '92: House of XCII

X-Men '92: House of XCII #1-5

by Steve Foxe, Salva Espin (Illustrator), Israel Silva (Colorist)

Everyone’s favorite ’90s incarnations of the X-Men have returned…but everything is different! Mutantkind is taking a huge leap forward by founding their own nation on the island of Krakoa, guided by Professor X, Magneto, and a mysterious long-lived woman who knows much more than she should. Mutantkind is ready to protect their new homeland from threats of all kinds…but if they knew the truth about the mutant whose secret power of resurrection was the key to it all, would they be so eager to sacrifice everything to defend their founders’ dream? That’s right — the ’90s X-Men are tackling the Krakoan Age thirty years early…and it’s not going to go the way you expect!

COLLECTING: X-Men '92: House of XCII (2022) 1-5

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

120 pages, Paperback

First published December 13, 2022

Reviews

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Fun concept. But it got stale as the series dragged on.

[Lenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

X-Men '92 is an attempted mashup of the beloved 1992 animated X-Men series (which I recently rewatched, it has aged excellently) with Hickman's Krakoa era, starting with House of X/Powers of X. But unfortunately, Foxe and team tries waaaaay too hard to wedge the former into the latter, so it's less a mashup and more a thin coat of paint on top of stories we've already seen, except those multi-volume events are now crammed into five issues. Since when is a "what if?" story required to tread the same ground? What's the point?

Foxe's dialogue pulls very easy references that will remind fans of the show, like Beast's literary quotes and Storm commanding the elements. And sure, there are a couple 90's references thrown in...but that's about it. Magneto and Xavier completely disappear into their Krakoan versions. There's nothing in the art style that's reminiscent of the animated series, aside from the costumes (except Rogue's hair, wtf?) and the women's over exaggerated hourglass figures (uuuuuugh) There isn't even an homage to the opening theme, a huge missed opportunity,

Replacing Jubilee with Moira was an interesting choice, but she's given nothing to do aside from explain her origin story, hide, and die. Replacing Rogue with Kitty was also pointless.

This could have been a nostalgic, memorable standalone with the creative freedom to take X-Men 92 in a new direction, but is instead a rehashed bore that contorts the '92 animated series almost beyond recognition. I sincerely hope the upcoming animated reboot runs in the opposite direction.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Marvel reuniu dois sucesso em um só. Ela vinha trazendo diversas releituras da animação X-Men'92 em quadrinhos, por uma dupla de roteiristas que deu um ar bastante infantil para essas histórias de um jeito que a animação não era. Então Steve Foxe entrou na jogada e fez uma bela homenagem/releitura da Era Krakoana dos X-Men só que usando apenas personagens que existiam lá em 1992 quando o desenho estreou. Assim temos uma versão animated das minisséries originais Poderes de X e Dinastia X só que neste universo, depois também temos o X De Espadas e o Baile de Gala do Clube do Inferno, em seguida temos Inferno de Krakoa. Só que não é Moira quem está no centro da coisa toda, é Jubileu! Sim, as dez vidas de Jubileu, acredite se quiser! E estava indo tudo muito bem, muito legal, até mesmo o Quinteto que Foxe criou é diferente e especial, o papel do Fera é muito melhor trabalhado que na X-Force, mas o final de como os X-Men e em especial Jubileu acabam salvando a realidade acaba sendo bem decepcionante e bem qualquer coisa para toda essa amarração bem feita. Mas que vale a leitura, isso vale!

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 4 out of 5]

The X-men Krakoa arc is probably the most interesting the X-men have been since Joss Whedon's Astonishing run. It may be controversial but it definitely dealt with a lot of new concepts as we finally got the well-run concept of a mutant nation examined without just blowing it up like they did Genosha, Asteroid M, Avalon, or whatever the hell they called the island in San Fransisco Bay.

However, does it work with the X-men of the Animated Series who dwell in a much softer and nicer universe? Not really. Jubilee replaces Moira McTaggert, Orchis is handled by Bolivar Trask (who is dating Lady Deathstrike), and Professor Xavier keeps Jubilee's survival secret. We also have Apocalypse being sorta-redeemed, which is something that I never approve of.

On the other hand, the art is great and it actually distills roughly five years of Krakoan wackiness into a coherent arc. The ending was good too.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Take the popular 90's X-Men cartoon, mash it up with the current Krakoan era X-Men and you get this 'What If?' style miniseries...

It definitely leans heavy into 90s schtick. There's ads and info dumps that are very 90s. That can be a help and a hinderance. It IS fun to see different spin on Arakko/Krakoa and the Hellfire Gala. It's not quite as campy as the 90s cartoon is remembered to be, but it's still a fun bit of fluff.

Bonus: All your 90's era favorites...Adam-X, Fabian Cortez, the entire MLF squad
Bonus Bonus: No Moira McTaggert! That role has been recast and given to someone much more explosive.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of the 90s X-Men animated series, so this definitely caught my eye.

1st issue= 4 stars (comic read on 4/13)
2nd issue= 3 stars (comic read on 6/3-6/4)
3rd issue= 4 stars (comic read on 8/5)
4th issue= 4 stars (comic read on 8/18)
5th issue= 3 stars (comic read on 9/14)

Overall rating 4 stars

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s like HoX PoX was the decompressed version of this. You get to read the story in a few hours instead of years.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the X-Men animated TV series from the early-to-mid-1990s, (I still remember it to this day having seen it many times and seeing all episodes) and this was very interesting as a follow-up, yet it kinda lost charm along the way. I don't know if it was me, it got to a bigger, nicer...but just sorta died off later on. When I was enjoying this at first, I was expecting a major finish and a grand finale, but nothing ever came. I do remember loving the X-Men first time round, but with this I'm not so sure. I thought this would be a continuation of the classic TV series, but it doesn't almost seem like it. It's more like a sequel to the old HB action cartoons that were around way back when. Which is kinda cool, but confusing if you're not up with the latest X-Men shenanigans. It ends with obvious sequels in mind, though, like X-Men '96 most recently, so I'm sure we'll see more. There are just so many superheroes of the 20th century recognized on film and television being brought to life in comix and graphic novels now, at least the X-Men aren't trying to escape from a military installation complex or whatever the usual story is. The story got a bit muddled halfway through if ya ask me. Like the result from that, and I won't say so I don't ruin it, should have been a bigger, more awesome story point than it was? But maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm just stupid. Either way though, aside from the artwork and other visuals, it seemed to drift off as it progressed. Don't let that put you off, though, because this is a very interesting follow-up to one of the most important animated shows ever, and well worth a look. It's not a reimagined or revised version of the source material at all, so it's not like what you may have read before.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's time for the 90's X-Men, straight out of the cartoon, to get their own version of the recent events of the current X-Books. Here are some comparisons to point out:
- Instead of Moira MacTaggert being the mutant who has the resurrection power that leads to the creation of the nation of Krakoa, it's Jubilee. (Considering that she was the character that was supposed to be the one we identified with in the cartoon, this is kind of hilarious!)
- The Marauders are led by Rogue, and are Iceman, Rictor, Shatterstar, Northstar, and a few others. Gambit is told he doesn't have to worry about Rogue because all the guys on the team have no sexual interest in women. LOL
- The "X of Swords" Tournament is held in Polemachus, not Otherworld, and the characters fighting for Arakko are Arkon, Juggernaut, Eric the Red, Ms Marvel, Sauron, Lady Deathstrike, Arcade, A brood (which is revealed to be hollowed and made mech by Deadpool, and War, Pestilence and Famine.
- Hilariously, the voted on team of X-Men has Random on it! Even a character comments on the random nature of having Random. LOL (This is incredibly funny for me! IYKYK)

The book ends with it being a story that sets up the beginning of the animated series, so I really loved its closed nature. So much nostalgia and mesh with the modern. I really appreciated this.

Strong recommend.

[Alex Sarll]

Krakoa redone in the style of the nineties X-Men cartoon; it's exactly the sort of insular project Marvel would never have countenanced during the Bill Jemas years. But if you are familiar with the component parts, the clever little twists and gags are a hoot, and I say that as someone who wasn't even really into the cartoon. Obviously you lose stuff, not least the mutant fuckfest culture which is hardly age-appropriate to the bit, but the compression really suits some parts of the story - done in a single issue, X Of Swords almost doesn't drag! And of course being a miniseries means that, unlike the original, it can end (though it's interesting how parts of that ending seem to foreshadow current events in Sins Of Sinister). The ideas of how Hickman's data pages might have looked on a Saturday morning 30 years ago are a delight, and just wait until you see who's got the Moira role:
"So we better hope that dorkwad loser Trask didn't contact his bogus buddies in time. It's all tropical fun and rad Dazzler concerts right now, but if Orchis gets up and running our little mutant paradise is, like, totally doomed."

[David Edmonds · Rating 2 out of 5]

This idea behind this is really cool: A What If...? style story that takes the Krakoan Age and moves it into the early 90s. It moves quickly thru all the beats of the initial Hickman run, from the founding of Krakoa as a nation, to the Inner Circle Gala, to the creation of Asteroid X, a variation of the X of Swords event, and culminating in a version of the Inferno event. All of this would have really worked for me, except for the art. The 90s had a *distinct* style, with the likes of Jim Lee, Marc Silvestri, Whilce Portacio, & Rob Liefeld at the artistic helms of the X-books of the day, and I when I heard the announcement for this book, I had certain expectations for what the series would look like, and this is where the entire idea falls apart. It's not that Salva Espin's art is bad, not in the slightest, but it does *not* have any of the feel of the 90s. In addition, the graphic design choices made in the book look more 80s to me than 90s. Overall, a great idea that does not hold up to the X-era it is supposed to be emulating.

[Bruno Coriolano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review – X-Men ‘92 #4 (Panini Comics)
⭐ 5/5

X-Men ‘92 #4 foi uma leitura que me surpreendeu muito. Nesta edição, os mutantes dão um passo gigantesco e absolutamente decisivo com a fundação de sua própria nação: a ilha de Krakoa. Tudo isso acontece sob a orientação do Professor Xavier, de Magneto e de uma misteriosa mulher que já viveu mais do que deveria — e sabe mais do que qualquer um imagina.

Ver os X-Men da década de 1990 iniciarem a era Krakoana com trinta anos de antecedência é empolgante e, ao mesmo tempo, instigante. Afinal, o que poderia dar errado? A resposta, como sempre, é: absolutamente tudo foge do esperado. E é exatamente isso que torna a história tão divertida de acompanhar.

Gostei muito da inserção de novos personagens, da forma dinâmica como a história é contada e da sensação de fechamento que este quarto volume entrega. Se essa realmente é a conclusão da saga, foi um encerramento digno da versão favorita de tantos fãs dos Mutantes X-Men.

Nota: 5⭐

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun to see the cartoon X-Men back in action, and retelling the events of the Krakoa saga to this point through their lens is definitely an interesting concept. Where it started to fall apart for me is that this is a speedrun, covering every single major event on Krakoa in just five issues. It means there's absolutely no time for the characters to be anything other than static, cardboard cutouts of themselves. There's also no time for any event to actually get interesting. The entire X of Swords thing is covered in about half of an issue, for example. But it did make me nostalgic for the cartoon, and the recasting of the Moira role was actually quite interesting.

[Craig · Rating 1 out of 5]

Baffling, utterly pointless story that attempts to merge the X-Men cartoon with recent events from the X-titles, such as the founding of Krakoa, the Swords debacle, and the first X-gala. I don't know what the writer/artists are thinking here, nor the editors at Marvel. It almost seems like a "What If?" story, but never turns into one, really. The few changes don't make a lot of difference or a lot of sense: Jubilee is substituted for Moira McTaggert, Rogue leads the Marauders instead of Kitty Pryde, etc. Why? I kept asking myself as I read. Why?

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

A charming and quick 90s style recap of the last two years of Krakoa, even if it can come off derivative to some. Half the enjoyment is seeing background touches or material of the era, so if you have no love for it that will hampen your enjoyment. It's harmless to me, and I theroughly enjoyed the XoS and Gala rep issues. Clever stuff, even if it's built off the backbone of other more involved writers.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collects X-Men '92: House of XCII issues #1-5

Like so many people of my age, "X-Men: The Animated Series" was a favorite and formative show for me as a child. Because of that, I decided to check this book out. I had read Jonathan Hickman's "House of X" and "Powers of X" series, and a lot of what came after in his "X-Men" run, so I understood a lot of the inside jokes. The only problem is that I was hoping this would be a lot more interesting.

Final rating = 3.5 stars

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun concept for a book. They filtered the totally bonkers storyline of House of X through the lens of where the X-Men were back in the 90's. That's not just the very popular aesthetic they had back then but also minor inspirations from Age of Apocalypse. It would have been really cool to see this story go past 5 issues. Then again, it would just become an ongoing retelling of a storyline that is still running today.

[Willow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very fun and appropriately silly. The choice of Moira X stand-in is excellent. The info page interludes are aggressively '90s with some proper cute, tongue-in-cheek, descriptions of characters that I appreciated a lot.

Overall a great alt-universe pastiche of the Hickman era from HoX/PoX through Inferno.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a "What If?" story about what if the X-Men cartoon entered the Krakoan era back in the 90's. An interesting idea that really didn't go anywhere new. A few characters were swapped out with ones that were popular in the cartoon but it's still almost the same story as the actual X-Men story that has happened so far. Seems like a missed opportunity.

[Desmond Killian · Rating 4 out of 5]

... wherein Foxe and Espin build the first Krakoan Age using only parts from the nineties X-Men TV show. And they actually manage to get really far! Among other things, they hit:

the Master Mold satellite raid
X of Swords
Amenth resurrections
the 1st Hellfire Gala
the evil Beast arc over in X-Force
Inferno

Such a creative writing exercise! And that name is hilarious. 4/5

[Julia Pika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hank McCoy and his war crimes...

I think this book focused too much on the modern aspects of comics and not enough merging it with '92. There were too many mutants to focus on and too many storylines...they really should've just cut most of them out to focus on a few.

Didn't like the plot with Jubilee, either.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really liked this! It was a kooky combination of the 90's Animated Series and the Krakoan age of the X-men going on currently. I wasn't sure how it would work but I think it was pretty successful and at the same time a bit weird.

[Trevor Dailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read if you're a fan of the X-Men '92 Animated Series. A reader's digest version of the Hickman era, that changes enough to not feel like a total retread. The writing is decent and the art is vibrant. Not terribly original but not offensive. A little better than average.

[M Pereira · Rating 5 out of 5]

The age of Krakoa is an interesting X Men storyline. Great Deadpool cameo to ground in this 'what if' version of the 90s x men to tie to 616. Some really interesting and different character development here. The ending doesn't resolve as such but ends with hope.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mashup of the 90s Animated Series and Jonathan Hickman's Krakoan-era X-Men, this story does neither justice. The faux ads and bonus features were all much more fun and interesting than the actual story being presented.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than the actual House of X. It's a fun parody with a clever amalgamation of the '90s, the cartoon, and several different recent X-Men storylines.

[Tim Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just another fun romp with familiar characters. No serious takes to worry about just some simple entertainment.

[Bryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s a neat idea in concept, but these are two flavors that just do not mix — at least not in this version.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never been super big into X-Men, but I appreciate the focus on Jubilee and would love to see more of her story.

[Ma'Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was much better than I expected it to be, so I'm giving it a full 4 stars even though it's pretty light, fluffy fare.