As per their pilot issues, the titles are seen to be predominantly character-driven, with emphasis put on their lead characters’ interactions not just with one another but also with the rest of the world: in House of X we see the Mutants assert themselves as proud inheritors of the Earth in Powers of X we see their descendants engaging in what looks to be the comic book counterpart of a protracted revolutionary people’s war. Unlike most superhero comic titles which often jump straight into the whole boom-boom-pow at the get go, there is little to no bombastic action in Hickman’s new books.

As Hickman weaves its narrative through flashbacks to different points in X-Men history, we learn four key things: that Krakoa eventually fell that mutant supervillain and master geneticist Mister Sinister started breeding mutant chimeras that the villainous Man-Machine Supremacy led by Nimrod and Omega Sentinel eventually took over the Earth and that the remaining members of Homo Superior live on in outposts founded by the intergalactic Shi’Ar Empire in the depths of space.Ī panel from Powers of X #1 | IMAGE via MARVEL COMICS The main part of the first issue of Powers of X meanwhile, starts with four new mutants at the mercy of Sentinels. A panel from House of X #1 | IMAGE via MARVEL COMICS A panel from House of X #1 | IMAGE via MARVEL COMICS Straightforward in its narrative, House of X #1 sees the newly-resurrected Professor Xavier establishing a new world order of sorts for Mutantkind: the mutant island Krakoa is now a peaceful Eden-esque stronghold for the resurgent Mutant population, its flowers the basis for three new superdrugs Xavier is marketing to governments willing to recognize its status as a new sovereign state. It’s an ambitious project, and Hickman, best known perhaps for his critically-acclaimed Infinity and Secret Wars crossover series on Marvel as well as his original creation East of West, looks to be more than well-equipped to take on the task. Planned as a way to “relaunch” the iconic franchise without rebooting its decades-spanning history, the two new intertwined titles revolve around Professor Charles Xavier’s new plans for the future of Homo Superior, with one title dealing with the present ( House of X) and the other - though set in the distant future - focused on new revelations about mutants in the past ( Powers of X). The covers for House of X #1 (left) and Powers of X #1 (right) | IMAGES via MARVEL COMICS Jonathan Hickman’s two new miniseries, House of X and Powers of X, aims to change all of that.

In the Marvel universe, Mutants have always had it rough: They’ve been hunted down by Mutant-hating Sentinels, they’ve been bombed and burned and lynched by Homo Sapien supremacists, they’ve been pitted against the Avengers and other superteams and in real-life, suffered through six horribly-made film adaptations, and had their books cancelled at various points in time.

Jonathan hickman x men