Pour One Out For Krakoa: State Of The X-Line

The age of Krakoa is over. Well, that’s not true, there are months to go, but it feels over.

We’re still living through the Fall Of X, but after that fall, things will get back up with the dual-running Fall Of The House Of X and Rise Of The Powers Of X minis to kick off 2024. A bunch of other minis are mixed in there too. But at the end of the day, the time left on the Krakoa clock is far closer to zero than it’s ever been.

How it will all end isn’t known at this point, as there are those aforementioned books still to come. What we do know is that it is ending. All the language in the promos centering around this makes sure to point to this being the end of the Krakoa Era. “But Scott,” you might be saying, “eras of comics end all the time and often it just means they slide right into the next status quo/set of creators/editor/etc.” To that, I would say you are correct, but this case appears to be different.

Yes, many books tend to slide from one status quo to the next with little fanfare other than that surrounding the new creative team and their direction. Hulk, Avengers, Fantastic Four, and more have all undergone recent status quo shift relaunches that don’t inherently ignore or put a defined end stamp to the before. At the same time, those announcements rarely ever make a huge deal out of the previous run ending with such final-sounding pronouncements.

Sure, they announce the title’s ending and want you to turn up for the final issue, but it’s not trumpeted as the true end of all things. Here we’re hearing “end of the Krakoa era” over and over. Krakoa itself is a living being but also a nation/society. The end of it would imply this is more than just rolling into the next status quo that maybe builds off a bit of the before. Ending Krakoa means ending it.

In his own newsletter, incoming X-Editor and long-time Marvel editor Tom Brevoort points to a complete overhaul of the X-Line. A rebuild of sorts trying to connect all the things and shuffle characters and other bits. There is also a whole bit pointing at fans that want Storm to keep her more Black woman-friendly hair of this era rather than go back to white people-inspired hair of the past. Stating that it’s not really a concern of Brevoort’s at all.

Perhaps not fair to point at that in particular, but for fans of this era that finally had a lot of representation on and off the page that’s not a great start.

It’s not just the incoming editor though that points to things being the true end of Krakoa. Current editor Jordan White pointed to the same thing in the 223^rd edition of AIPT’s X-Men Monday column. There White said: “Tom has never edited X-Men, and a great way to shake X-Men up to try to get something new out of it is to give it to somebody who’s never done it before, and who has a different point of view on it.”

Sounds pretty much like a full-on clean slate situation if I’ve ever heard one before.

With each announcement, turn of phrase, and ending proclamation it feels like another nail being added to the coffin. If the morning is to begin, perhaps it’s not wrong to at least hit the open bar and start a bit early.

Look, as a member of several real-life marginalized groups, watching a franchise built on being a metaphor for those real-life groups torn from a space of thriving thrown back to struggling isn’t a good feeling. In many ways, it might even confirm the thought of many that Marvel capitalizes on that metaphor without actually addressing or using it in any understanding or helpful way.

Essentially lip service of sorts.

This is a criticism that was muted quite a bit during Krakoa for various reasons, both on and off the page. Chief among them was the fact that a significant portion of the creators behind the pages were members of those groups. Not just the usual white heterosexual cisgender males tapped for these jobs. Unfortunately, a lot of that diverse guidance began to shift as many of the individuals in that room left not just the line but mostly the company too. Finding space over at the distinguished competition or elsewhere.

Perhaps the new line will tap into that same sort of idea, actually getting diversity of thought, experience, and societal space. I’m not going to put any money down on that because Marvel seems to be in a real talent crunch currently. In the sense that a ton of the up-and-coming folks they were leaning on have all dipped out. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of great creators still on board. The fact that so many who were primed for bigger roles are gone is not a small matter.

I’m an open-minded person, and I’ll wait to see what Brevoort and company have to announce before I fully write things off. At the same time, anything less than mutants still having society and being able to thrive will be a hard-ass sale.

Reality is far too heavy with marginalized groups having every bit of progress and life ripped away from them. At this point, not really something I need to see celebrated in the fiction that I love.

I’ve been an X-Men fan since day one and will remain one, but perhaps 2024 might be the perfect time for a break. Sometimes, no matter how much you love something, time away will do you both good. In that time away you might even realize that the love is gone and it’s time to move on.

Here’s hoping the spark remains. Otherwise, it’s time to hit up the comic book version of Tinder and start swiping.

In the meantime, pouring one out for you Krakoa.

For Arakko formerly Mars.

For the blue dads and the captains.

For the crucibles, circuits, and waiting rooms.

For the Quiet Councils, votes, galas, and fashion.

One for polyamory, beach parties, and true society.

Krakoa. We hardly knew you and you will be missed.