Over in the pages of Marvel’s current publishing line, it’s always a ton of fun to check in on the shifting Mutant landscape in “Immortal X-Men.” “Immortal X-Men” has largely focused on fleshing out the modern politics of Mutants. This year in “Immortal X-Men,” the comic book helped set the stage for major X-Men stories like ‘Fall of X’ and ‘Sins of Sinister.’ Even though author Kieron Gillen has been working with so many large event comics, “Immortal X-Men” never loses sight of key characters like Professor Xavier or Mystique. Let’s go ahead and see how some major events impacted the X-Men this year in “Immortal X-Men!”
Who’s this by?
“Immortal X-Men” is written by Kieron Gillen. Gillen has a long history with the House of Ideas extending to a background in “Young Avengers”, “X-Men”, “Iron Man” and even more comic book series. Gillen also had a previous run on the “X-Men” property long before the era of Krakoa. It’s awe-inspiring to see that Gillen and artist Lucas Werneck are still holding strong as the creative across “Immortal X-Men” with the rapidly changing comics landscape.
Artist Lucas Werneck is a fantastic artist having contributed to “Immortal X-Men” since the very beginning alongside writer Kieron Gillen. Werneck was named in one of the 2023 Class of Stormbreakers. The Stormbreakers are up-and-coming artists at Marvel who tend to draw important stories. According to Marvel’s Stormbreaker story, Werneck started working in comics in 2019 and has contributed to publishers like Marvel Comics, Boom Studios, and DC Comics.
What’s it all about?
“Immortal X-Men” is centered around the endless resetting of the stage for Marvel’s Mutants. The X-Men have been attacked by foreign invaders countless times including “Judgment Day” and ‘Fall of X.’ “Immortal X-Men” explores the smaller character-based moments surrounding these stories to make the X-Men feel like a living, breathing comic book property. “Immortal X-Men” is also a character-first narrative, exploring small details for X-Men like Destiny and Exodus.
What makes it so great?
To me the biggest aspect that makes “Immortal X-Men” so much fun is how it utilizes different status quos to completely change the direction of the comic book series. For most of “Immortal X-Men”‘s publication the series has taken place in Krakoa. Now with the ‘Fall of X’ status quo, the Mutants are spreading their wings in much different directions. I also really enjoyed how closely “Immortal X-Men” utilized stories like ‘Fall of X’ and ‘Sins of Sinister’ to off-shoot with Marvel’s editorial and bring in additional elements to X-Men comics. Despite the fact that “Immortal X-Men” ties in to so many other comic book series, it really feels like this comic book has a unique and cohesive direction. While Gillen’s plots have changed the narrative dramatically, the emphasis on individuals like Sebastian Shaw have been a mainstay in the series that makes “Immortal X-Men” feel distinctive from other comic book titles. At this point, Gillen has also stuck with characters like Exodus and Hope through countless scenarios in order to deliver the most comprehensive characterization possible.
Artist Lucas Werneck does a phenomenal job portraying emotion in a visceral way. Werneck always lends a beautiful subtext to the lines of Selene’s facial expressions and tense body language. In recent issues, Professor Xavier has fallen back into the spotlight. The way Werneck illustrates Xavier’s sobering face and patchy beard lends the pathos towards his characterization that Gillen is trying to unlock. In addition, Emma Frost is a hero that is portrayed with great nuance over in “Immortal X-Men.” When the Mutants returned in the post-‘Sins of Sinister’ comic book story line, Werneck used the expansion of Krakoa to portray the sinister undertone of the issue through the visuals of the comic book alone. Werneck uses strong, sour facial expressions for antagonists like Mystique and Sebastian Shaw that contrast beautifully with what Rasputin IV brought to the table. Werneck utilizes incredibly strong page layouts and panel bleeds to capture the subtlety in emotion for characters like Exodus in the series. The shading and mysterious nature that Werneck lends to the surroundings of Mother Righteous help make Gillen’s scripts appear to be even more dynamic. In issue, #14 the way Righteous appears from a mystical element from Shaw is portrayed in a mysterious, engaging manner with a rounded line and subtle use of negative space.
Continued belowOver the past few issues of “Immortal X-Men,” Gillen has also seemingly taking a liking to the mysterious Mother Righteous who is a clone of the late wife of Nathaniel Essex. Werneck lends tremendous facial expressions towards her personality, even showing Mother Righteous losing the upper hand in select scenes throughout the story. “Immortal X-Men” has also featured strong characterization towards the couple of Destiny and Mystique. During the ‘Fall of X’ story, it has felt like Gillen and Werneck are attempting to deconstruct the relationship they spent such a long time building up. Watching the writing of “Immortal X-Men” build up to tense scenes across the relationships of Mystique and Destiny this year in “Immortal X-Men” has been nothing short of harrowing. Gillen and Werneck are able to weave so much subtext into these long-running relationships.
How can you read it?
You can purchase “Immortal X-Men” monthly from Marvel Comics wherever finer issues are sold. “Immortal X-Men” Vol 1 by Kieron Gillen was released on December 6, 2022. Marvel’s X-Men books are still among some of my favorite comics in the entire line! So far, ‘Fall of X’ has been a creative success for the franchise, lending unique scenarios across several X-Men titles. Don’t miss the exploration of Mutant Politics in “Immortal X-Men” by Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck!
