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X-Men: Age of Krakoa (Anthology Trades)
Reign of X, Vol. 9
Collects Hellions (2020) #11, Wolverine (2020) #11-12, New Mutants ( 2019) #18, S.W.O.R.D. (2020) #5, X-Factor (2020) #7.
Life and death stakes in the Reign of X! As Empath's misdeeds come back to haunt him, the Hellions are rocked by a battle years in the Psylocke vs. Betsy Braddock! Wolverine takes the fight to the vampire nation in a quest to stop Dracula's plot, but what sacrifices must he make for humans and mutants to see the next dawn? Meanwhile, some of the New Mutants are looking for love in all the wrong places! On Krakoa, Fabian Cortez and the Quiet Council discuss the rules of murder - but in space, the killings have already begun. And a dark force is secretly manipulating X-Factor's lives, just as a striking revelation about one of their deaths comes to light!
Life and death stakes in the Reign of X! As Empath's misdeeds come back to haunt him, the Hellions are rocked by a battle years in the Psylocke vs. Betsy Braddock! Wolverine takes the fight to the vampire nation in a quest to stop Dracula's plot, but what sacrifices must he make for humans and mutants to see the next dawn? Meanwhile, some of the New Mutants are looking for love in all the wrong places! On Krakoa, Fabian Cortez and the Quiet Council discuss the rules of murder - but in space, the killings have already begun. And a dark force is secretly manipulating X-Factor's lives, just as a striking revelation about one of their deaths comes to light!
151 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 23, 2022
15 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Zeb Wells
713 books74 followersZeb Wells is an American comic book writer known for his work at Marvel Comics, as well as his work on the animated TV series Robot Chicken.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 26, 2022
After a couple of flat volumes, a welcome surprise.
Hellions #11: Continuing the Sinister/Mastermind/Arcade arc from the last volume, this wasn't the welcome surprise. This was, at least, a resolution to a fortunately short disappointing storyline. There was some potential for this team when the book started but it's mostly been a drag, as I don't care about any of these characters except for Kwannon, and I only care about her when she's in the pages of Excalibur. 2/5*
Wolverine #11 & 12:: Speaking of storylines I wish would end. Vampires. Vampires in the X-Men universe have almost always been dull. There was a brief moment where the Dirty Bomb Vampire storyline had potential, but that was a decade ago, and it quickly fizzled out. I never want to read the word "Dracula" in the pages of an X-book again. 2/5*
This doesn't seem like it's going well, does it?
New Mutants #18: I have been super down on every X-related issue by Vita Ayala. I haven't enjoyed their story ideas, their pacing, their dialog. So where did this issue come from? It's leaps, bounds, and other cliches better than anything I've read by Ayala. I don't think the Karma twins storyline has been this interesting since the 80s. All of the character development that's been missing from both New Mutants and Children of the Atom by Vita Ayala, Vol. 1 is here in glorious color. Even the Scout/Shadow King/New Mutants interaction, while mildly hokey, is at least written with each character having their own dialogue and personality. Finally. Rod Reis's art has been the highlight of this book for the entire run. It's nice that there's finally a story worthy of showcasing his dynamic use of color. 4/5*
SWORD #5: From enhancing 80s characters to shining a spotlight on the early 90s, Fabien Cortez gets his moment to address the High Council about the whole Don't Murder Humans law, which he thinks is unfair. It's fun to watch them talk around the issue, good to see Amelia Vogt interacting with Professor X, and fun to see Jean Grey give Zero Fucks about Fabien's well-being. I wasn't invested in the whole background war/Brand origin story, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment. 4/5*
X-Factor #7: I felt like X-Factor spun its wheels for a couple of issues, which isn't great when we're only on issue #7, but this issue had a tight knot of excellent storylines: the investigation around Siryn's multiple deaths, Polaris's possession, Dakken and Aurora's relationship, Prodigy and Speed's research into when Prodigy died, Speed's fascination with Northstar, Northstar's preoccupation with everyone, there was a lot there, and it ends on a massive cliffhanger. 4/5*
Hellions #11: Continuing the Sinister/Mastermind/Arcade arc from the last volume, this wasn't the welcome surprise. This was, at least, a resolution to a fortunately short disappointing storyline. There was some potential for this team when the book started but it's mostly been a drag, as I don't care about any of these characters except for Kwannon, and I only care about her when she's in the pages of Excalibur. 2/5*
Wolverine #11 & 12:: Speaking of storylines I wish would end. Vampires. Vampires in the X-Men universe have almost always been dull. There was a brief moment where the Dirty Bomb Vampire storyline had potential, but that was a decade ago, and it quickly fizzled out. I never want to read the word "Dracula" in the pages of an X-book again. 2/5*
This doesn't seem like it's going well, does it?
New Mutants #18: I have been super down on every X-related issue by Vita Ayala. I haven't enjoyed their story ideas, their pacing, their dialog. So where did this issue come from? It's leaps, bounds, and other cliches better than anything I've read by Ayala. I don't think the Karma twins storyline has been this interesting since the 80s. All of the character development that's been missing from both New Mutants and Children of the Atom by Vita Ayala, Vol. 1 is here in glorious color. Even the Scout/Shadow King/New Mutants interaction, while mildly hokey, is at least written with each character having their own dialogue and personality. Finally. Rod Reis's art has been the highlight of this book for the entire run. It's nice that there's finally a story worthy of showcasing his dynamic use of color. 4/5*
SWORD #5: From enhancing 80s characters to shining a spotlight on the early 90s, Fabien Cortez gets his moment to address the High Council about the whole Don't Murder Humans law, which he thinks is unfair. It's fun to watch them talk around the issue, good to see Amelia Vogt interacting with Professor X, and fun to see Jean Grey give Zero Fucks about Fabien's well-being. I wasn't invested in the whole background war/Brand origin story, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment. 4/5*
X-Factor #7: I felt like X-Factor spun its wheels for a couple of issues, which isn't great when we're only on issue #7, but this issue had a tight knot of excellent storylines: the investigation around Siryn's multiple deaths, Polaris's possession, Dakken and Aurora's relationship, Prodigy and Speed's research into when Prodigy died, Speed's fascination with Northstar, Northstar's preoccupation with everyone, there was a lot there, and it ends on a massive cliffhanger. 4/5*
March 12, 2022
Largely just continues the storylines from previous issues of Hellions, Wolverine, New Mutants, SWORD, and X-Factor. For me, Wolverine's issues are the low point, because I just don't care about the vampire plot. I did like how that was seemingly resolved, in a way that could only work because of how Krakoa operates. I enjoyed all the other issues, but for me I had the most fun watching Fabian Cortez get the hearing he thought he wanted in SWORD. No idea if it'll go anywhere, but it was pretty satisfying to read.
March 4, 2025
evil husbands bully a naked man (and also hellions and new mutants continues being so so good)
Read
February 17, 2025Hellions: Sinister being in charge the whole time was satisfying and it was a pretty fun arc
Wolverine: hunting vampires will always be a little goofy but it's a pulling together of various plot elements at the end
New Mutants: I thought I knew what was going on with Karma and her brother but the fact he didn't get resurrected proved me wrong lol. I still find the crucible stupid and barbaric
Sword: this is weird. It feels like a pivot from the end of the last issue. It's cringy to watch all these powerful mutants punching down
X-factor: glad we could resolve the Excalibur possession story so we could have a different mutant possessed by a different force here lol
Wolverine: hunting vampires will always be a little goofy but it's a pulling together of various plot elements at the end
New Mutants: I thought I knew what was going on with Karma and her brother but the fact he didn't get resurrected proved me wrong lol. I still find the crucible stupid and barbaric
Sword: this is weird. It feels like a pivot from the end of the last issue. It's cringy to watch all these powerful mutants punching down
X-factor: glad we could resolve the Excalibur possession story so we could have a different mutant possessed by a different force here lol
March 20, 2022
Hellions - reread. Still two thumbs up.
Wolverine - reread. Fun, continuation of the Vampire storyline.
New Mutants - skipped this. No longer reading this title.
SWORD - I'm really starting to dig this title. Everything with Cortes was incredible. Funny to see him put down, and Magneto proving once again that he is king. Also shows to what length Brand will go to.
X-Factor - Eh. The conversation between Tommy and Northstar was really good. There's too much jumping back and forth; tired of the idea behind what's going on with Siryn.
Wolverine - reread. Fun, continuation of the Vampire storyline.
New Mutants - skipped this. No longer reading this title.
SWORD - I'm really starting to dig this title. Everything with Cortes was incredible. Funny to see him put down, and Magneto proving once again that he is king. Also shows to what length Brand will go to.
X-Factor - Eh. The conversation between Tommy and Northstar was really good. There's too much jumping back and forth; tired of the idea behind what's going on with Siryn.
August 10, 2022
Hellions - I was surprised at how this arc ended and I really enjoyed the interplay between characters. Super fun.
Wolverine -We finally get back to the story of the vampires who want Wolverine blood to become daywalkers. A little dark, but that's just the tone of this comic.
New Mutants - I don't fully understand thee context behind Karma's brother, but this was a pretty powerful issue.
SWORD - We're repositioning pieces on the board before we get to another arc, I guess.
X-Factor - Another setup book. Interesting but not enthralling.
Wolverine -We finally get back to the story of the vampires who want Wolverine blood to become daywalkers. A little dark, but that's just the tone of this comic.
New Mutants - I don't fully understand thee context behind Karma's brother, but this was a pretty powerful issue.
SWORD - We're repositioning pieces on the board before we get to another arc, I guess.
X-Factor - Another setup book. Interesting but not enthralling.
April 29, 2025
Muy sólido. Me gustó especialmente New Mutants por su toque dramático y emotivo así como por su buena dosis de juventud y cotidianidad mutante. S.W.O.R.D. también me gustó pero más por el Consejo Siliente que por los personajes recurrentes de esta serie. Hellions estuvo bien y me dejó con muchas preguntas, como siempre acostumbran sus números. Wolverine tuvo algunos momentos interesantes pero creo que ha tenido mejores números anteriormente.
March 27, 2022
Zeb Wells continues to serve glam-rock villainy at its most twisted and fabulous, cementing this iteration of Sinister as probably the very best. Some questionable decision making with respect to Cortez makes you wonder at the arrogance Krakoa has engendered in our band of heroes, as if, for all the preaching, lessons from history are truly never learned. Excited to be inching toward the Gala!
August 16, 2022
4/5
Quite satisfying. It continued each story line beautifully. Hellion and wolverine did indeed took right and interesting turns.
It's safe to say that after few flat feeling volumes this felt really good to get into.
Quite satisfying. It continued each story line beautifully. Hellion and wolverine did indeed took right and interesting turns.
It's safe to say that after few flat feeling volumes this felt really good to get into.
December 19, 2022
Hellions (2020) 11 - 3.5/5
Wolverine (2020) 11-12 - 4/5 (this is cool I just wish it didn't go by so fast and there was some clarity with the story)
New Mutants ( 2019) 18 - 4/5
S.W.O.R.D. (2020) 5 - 3.5/5
X-Factor (2020) 7 - 4/5
Wolverine (2020) 11-12 - 4/5 (this is cool I just wish it didn't go by so fast and there was some clarity with the story)
New Mutants ( 2019) 18 - 4/5
S.W.O.R.D. (2020) 5 - 3.5/5
X-Factor (2020) 7 - 4/5
December 27, 2022
I tore through this volume for multiple reasons: 1) there were exciting things happening 2) some of my personal favorites (Psylocke!) appeared 3) and the ending had me speed-reading, holding my breath, and hurrying to the next volume!
January 4, 2023
Wolverine fights vampires and I'm now in love with Northstar, and love Prodigy and Speed's relationship!
TW for aftermath of torture, blood, mentions of murder, mind control/possession, kidnapping, violence.
TW for aftermath of torture, blood, mentions of murder, mind control/possession, kidnapping, violence.
March 20, 2022
I'm really glad that the vampire arc in Wolverine is finally at a close. The rest of these offerings were generally okay, with New Mutants being the stand-out for me.
July 30, 2022
I do enjoy coffee and a Saturday morning with these X volumes that combine all the books.
Still so many unanswered questions.
New Mutants worked a little better for me today.
Still so many unanswered questions.
New Mutants worked a little better for me today.
November 10, 2022
Magneto and Charles antagonize and humiliate another fairly powerful mutant in front of the Quiet Council. That surely will never come back to bite them in the ass.
May 2, 2023
Hellions didn't end Arcade vs. Mastermind in a satisfying way. Wolverine vs. vampires is kinda fun since they just want his blood and he can't die. Bored with straight Daken.
October 21, 2024
Lots of story lines chugging along and a lot of meh.
February 19, 2025
Mostly a positive things to say about this volume, except for SWORD and X-Factor.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews