It’s been nearly six years since I last picked up a new X-Men comic with any real consistency. The last series I read with any regularity featuring the merry mutants was Jason Aaron‘s Wolverine and the X-Men. Which apparently ended around six years ago. It’s fair to say that I’m a little out of touch with that side of the Marvel Universe (though I have been following both Old Man Logan and Dead Man Logan, but those series didn’t really involve the X-Men as much as a team book would). More than a little, honestly. A lot has happened in the six years I’ve been away, and since I barely pay attention to solicitations I have missed most of it.

But with Johnathan Hickman steering the X-Men in a new direction with last week’s House Of X #1 I thought this might be a good time to start reading X-Men comics again.

But how easy is it to jump back in relatively blind after more than half a decade away? Join me, and I’ll tell you.

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Expect spoilers as I try to make sense of the comic.

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I’ve been deliberately going into these comics completely blind. I’ve ignore any and all solicitations beyond knowing that House/Powers Of X is replacing all current ongoing X-Books and setting up the next decade or so of X-Men stories going forward (if the change is well received, if not I’d expect another event in a few years to reestablish the status quo). That being said, I’ve no idea if the future depicted in this comic has been visited before in previous issues of X-Men or one of the many off shoots.

Once again I have questions. Although this time it’s primarily just one; how old is Magneto, anyway? If we’re to assume that he is one of the very few comic book characters whose origin remains unchanged in terms of the year – and honestly, with his time in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II being such an important pillar of his character, there’s no way Marvel could rewrite that to reimagine the origin in a more recent time – then how the fuck is he still looking like he’s only in his late 50’s or so? Does his magnetism powers slow his aging? Is he immortal? A clone? Or is this one of those things we just ignore because Magneto is one of the most complex and interesting characters in comics?

Other than that, the comic reads almost as if it’s a condensed story taking place over three periods (ten, a hundred and a thousand years in the future). There’s also a prologue of sorts with a bald Xavier (which answers my question from last week as to whether he has hair) set more or less in the recent past and a brief moment in the same time frame as House of X #1. What this does, for me at least, is leave the comic largely forgettable as we don’t really get as much time with the newer characters as I would have hoped for. Unlike the excitement I felt after House Of X #1, Powers Of X #1 left me feeling a touch flat. Is it essential reading to the story? It’s far too early to tell, and I don’t want to lead you down the garden path until we’ve got more context.

Now despite the book having its struggles in the memorability department, I still enjoyed it. The introduction and conclusion of a huge conflict between humanity, mutants and machines is perhaps the primary focal point in this comic, though there’s also the constant railing against who you were expected to be that simmers just beneath the surface.

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Just as in the previous issue covered in this column, Powers Of X #1 also includes some handy dandy exposition pages that come almost immediately after you’ve read the pages that’ll make you wonder what the future terms mean. It’s a great way to add in some additional information without over burdening the dialogue with information for the readers.

As far as being able to get into the comic as someone who hasn’t been around the X-Men in over half a decade (I feel old), it was about as easy as jumping into any first issue that’s effectively the second part of a story. The hidden code within the pages (it can be decoded if you have the time or the google skills) also adds a nice interactive element to the series.

Once again, the artists are on point. R.B. Silva is the artist and is joined on inking by Adriano Di Benedetto and colour artist Marte Gracia. The trio are solid, giving the comic and each time period within a unique visual flavour that comes together to form a perfect pecan pie (there’s no reason I chose pecan other than for alliteration).

Although my personal highlight of the overarching story so far is below, there are quite a few moments that’ll have you grinning ear to ear; Rasputin’s charge, Wolverine calling somebody else old despite the white hair on his chin and Cardinal simply being Cardinal.

“You see I know how you humans love your symbolism, almost as much as you love you religion. And I wanted you – I needed you – to understand… you have new gods now.”

Magneto, House Of X, #1 p.47.

Powers Of X #1 is a pretty good comic – it is one that’s almost worth the elevated price of admission (at regular price this’d be absolutely worth it). As it is, it’s still worth a read; especially if you’re an X-Fan , new or old, who wants to know what’s going to happen in the company’s future.

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Will I understand next week’s installment in the saga, House Of X #2? Do I regret skipping six years of X-Books? Am I ever going to find out how Xavier is walking again*?

We might find out next week. We might not.

Marvel provided a FREE copy for review purposes, but I read the comic in print from my LCS.

*The answer is yes, but it made no sense when two of my friends told me individually last week, but it basically boils down to “comics being comics” which I’ve kind of accepted with an air of nonchalance.