It’s been nearly six years since I last picked up a new X-Men comic. 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 this 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.

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

After more than six years away, there are I have questions. Not many, because not a whole lot really happens in this comic, but there’s a few things that left me scratching my head.

There are some things that are constant in comics, death has never been one of them. Well, other than it ever being final.

While the X-Men ignoring such pesky things as being dead has long become a trope in comics… I’m pretty sure Professor X, Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Banshee were dead the last time I picked up an X-Book – though there was Young Jean running around for a bit; did they sod off back in time or did they die? Anyway, I digress. My first question is not when these characters came back to life because I’d have been surprised if they didn’t, but rather when the hell did Xavier learn to walk again? Is his back healed, did he resurrect in a younger version of his own body? Is he secretly a clone of a long-dead Xavier? Or a Xavier from an alternate dimension?

I have no idea.

What does it say about comics that I am more surprised at a man formerly confined to a wheelchair being able to walk again than I am him being alive? Next thing you’ll be telling me that Charles Xavier has hair and my world will be blown apart.

House of X #1 opens with the X-Men planting flowers in various places in order to grow a plant that allows them to teleport back and forth from their current home that isn’t Utopia or the X-Mansion, no this time it’s the island of Krakoa, from which they’re trying to become a recognized nation which is a step up from a self-governed city/municipality that the X-Men used to have, but maybe a lateral step from when mutants ruled Genosha (before the massacres) and a literal and figurative step down from Magneto’s asteroid home I remember from years past.

In order to be recognized as a legitimate nation, Xavier is offering governments of the world three spectacular drugs to improve humanity. It’s a trade that some of the gathered ambassadors recognize as fair – more so because the benefits of getting the drugs outweigh any negatives from acknowledging a mutant nation. It makes sense, I suppose, and it’s a trade I would firmly make in their position if given the option. But before the ambassadors are given the option to accept or refuse the offer, Magneto, acting as the mutant envoy/ambassador, takes the humans on a tour of the various gateways the Krakoan flowers have activated. As one of the ambassadors points out, it’s a subtle reminder that the mutants can use these gateways to mobilize almost anywhere at a moment’s notice.

It also allows the artists to show off. Which isn’t a bad thing; whenever you read a comic if the art compliments the story then that’s always a good thing.

Anyway. Aside from Professor X being able to walk again (and not being dead) and Jean Grey also wearing her original costume (seriously, is it the original one or the young one? And if it’s the young one where are the other young X-Men?), there wasn’t a whole lot that threw me off when trying to get back into the X-Men. Their story was certainly more focused around the political ramifications of the X-Men declaring Krakoa an independent country – though I’m curious about their governing system, but that’s neither here nor there right now – and I have a feeling that it’s Magneto’s final lines in the book after showing the ambassadors Jerusalem that’ll set the stage going forward.

“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.

Man, I love that line. I especially love that it came from Magneto, who is possibly one of the most underrated characters in comics. House Of X #1 was a pretty easy comic to pick up and read, and though there are certain things I’m still left curious about (I refuse to Google anything), I’m sure I’ll be enlightened soon regarding how the hell Xavier can walk again.

Will I understand next week’s installment in the saga, Powers Of X #1? 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.

House of X #1 is bold and a fresh start to the X corner of the Marvel Universe. With that, it’s both a fresh start and a frustrating one. Written by Jonathan Hickman, House of X #1 is a new beginning for the X-Men. It’s a “bold” direction that feels like something we’ve seen before, multiple times, elsewhere.

Set at some point in time, the story is vague as far as that, mutants are united in a grand plan to stake their place in the world. They’ve declared themselves as a sovereign nation. Through a mix of their powers and the leadership of Professor X the issue is a planting of a flag as to the how, why, philosophy, and how the world reacts. It’s also out of left field. No other Marvel comic currently touches what should be a game-changing status-quo for the entire Marvel Universe.

And that’s part of the rub.

Hickman has shaken things up in a massive way as far as where Marvel’s mutants stand. Beyond some diplomats, we don’t really have much of a reaction from the world and other characters. A scene with the Fantastic Four projects as stand-ins for everyone. In any other year, this issue would likely be the beginning of a line-wide event.

And that’s the other thing. The how of this comic is something it feels like we’ve seen before also in a Hickman comic, Infinity. We’ve also seen the stance of a mutant nation numerous times in Genosha and Utopia and even the diplomatic and political ramifications of each. Hickman gives us a new direction with a remix of what’s come before. It feels new and been there done that.

New readers may have a different reading experience. Without personal history, the comic clearly lays things out explaining what’s going on and even providing handy infographics. It is both new reader friendly and could be frustrating for long term readers.

The art by Pepe Larraz is fantastic. Joining Larraz are Marte Gracia on color and Clayton Cowles on lettering. Together, subtle artistic choices deliver a tone that’s interesting with small details delivering lots of information. A smirk, body language, it all comes together to add to the story Hickman is weaving. The characters feel like the gods they are now acting like and there’s a sense of strength that has been missing for some time. This is embodied by Magneto whose scenes are pivotal in setting the status-quo and where things stand.

House of X #1 isn’t a bad comic. It’s also not quite a good comic either. House of X #1 is a hell of a deviation from releases just last week. It’s almost too bold with little progression from what has come before and such a jump that it leaves readers a bit confused. There isn’t an evolution to this point, it’s a clean break leaving too many questions unanswered. Maybe we’ll get those answers in Powers of X #1, the sister series to this one. Hickman generally sees his greatest writing strength as part of the big picture, not individual chapters. As is, this is both an exciting direction and a bit of a headscratcher.

Story: Jonathan Hickman Art: Pepe Larraz
Color: Marte Gracia Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Design: Tom Muller
Story: 7.5 Art: 8.35 Overall: 7.65 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review