Review: ‘X-Men Forever’ #1 Dances Between The Raindrops

As Krakoa ends, the X-Men have a lot to contend with, with tons of moving pieces. In X-Men Forever, we get glimpses of those pieces.

Kieron Gillen, Luca Maresca, Federico Blee, and Clayton Cowles reveal the plan that may save all mutantkind.

Decades ago, Irene Adler saw a vision of a god that existed outside of time and space. Every moment for mutants since then has been building up to stopping it. While the X-Men battle Orchis, Charles Xavier forms his own team of X-Men to stop the Dominion and save the universe.

Normally filling in the gaps stories can be a bit of a slog. They make you wonder why the deleted scenes weren’t just part of the main story. It can even be something irritating that shows too much. That’s not really the case with X-Men Forever.

Here, we get Gillen at his best. He’s presenting big ideas, and developing some unique concepts that enhance the story he’s telling with Rise of the Powers of X. He gives the key plots within the story the same sort of weight as the little details that are sometimes disposable. Gillen makes them all feel like we need to see it to get the whole story, whether it’s a character beat or just a moment to give what we’ve already seen more depth.

Maresca is able to balance what the script asks for really well. He uses a rough line to add to the more emotional beats, while he continually is shifting the  point of view to keep even the slower moments engaging. I found myself pausing and taking in what he put on the page as I read, especially with Blee’s colors.

X-Men Forever #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.