Death, Thy Name Is Xavier: Reviewing ‘Rise Of The Powers Of X’ #4

Who could have guessed that the era of mutant societal growth and prosperity would end so messily? Honestly, most people that are familiar with comic books and the ways that things tend to happen probably saw it coming.

Drama, rebirth, and a bunch of other messy things go down in Rise Of The Powers Of X #4, the penultimate chapter in this story. It’s brought to vivid life by Kieron Gillen, R.B. Silva, David Curiel, and Clayton Cowles.

No lie, there is a lot that I still am not clear on in this issue. I read through it numerous times, as well as it’s sort of companion comic X-Men Forever #2, and it’s still that joke meme of things flying right over my head.

In some respects, that’s not a bad thing. I’m not one of those that needs all my entertainment choices to spell everything out to me, holding my hand till the end. Sometimes I like a bit of confusion or work to get to the crux of things. Unfortunately, the issue here is that the whole of the Krakoa-concluding experience is confusing and inconsistent.

Note: A bunch of Xavier shitty behaviors, or “spoilers,” are ahead.

Xavier, as already established through decades and recent reviews, sure is a jerk. Really though, there are words of a harder edge that should be used for the character, as his whole deal tends to be existing as the worst around. Of course, we saw this coming at the end of the last issue, where he shot Rachel, and then over in Fall Of The House Of X #4 his full apparent heel turn was revealed.

Would have been nice if that moment in FOTHOX had matched the one here. As the contents of that issues data page didn’t even match the actual conversation that happened here. It continues to point to the idea that even though there is clearly a plan, the execution of things is very hodge podge in the line. At this point, no matter what Marvel says, there is no way I can be convinced that Krakoa’s end was not sped up because Kevin Feige or whoever else wanted a closer to “status quo” relaunched X-Line.

I say this because not only are the issues timelines themselves rushed (piling up on one another schedule wise) but the organization is lacking. This is an era that began and continued for quite a while with obvious planned connections, that easily bled from book to book like gentle waves. Right now, it’s like being bombarded by violent waves coming from various sources in competition. Tonally this series and FOTHOX could not be further from one another if they tried (actually they probably could, but still). Companion books that might as well be happening at different eras, they are that separated.

Essentially Xavier becomes everything he supposedly stood against. He’s now the “Ultimate Sentinel,” as he claims, helping Orchis to wipe out humanity and its resistance, in order to martyr himself to give mutants a tiny chance. A chance to live in a zoo preserve of the AIs (which we sort of saw in Powers Of X).

What makes it even a tiny bit compelling is, unlike the wanton murders in FOTHOX and X-Men, he feels horrible about doing it even if he has not a single qualm about doing these things right away. Allowing Orchis agents who won’t comply with AI to be wiped out, mentally impairing world leaders, giving nuclear codes to the AIs and more.

Everything here is gorgeous, because of course it is. When you have Silva, one of the definitive artists of this era, onboard there is no way it can’t be. No matter how much some of the events confused or were unexpected, they were gorgeous. That splash page of the mutants being ‘reborn’ through flowers on Krakoa (even with a mistake in a character that appeared there) was so damn stunning. Print it out, frame it, and stare at it lovingly on my wall sort of stunning.

Silva just has an eye for how to turn anything, even simple moments of conversation, into lush deep vibrant situations. Giving characters a tangible weight and feeling, letting their presence and emotions wash over them and the audience. Creating backdrops that allow the spaces to feel realistic no matter how out of this world fantastical they might be. Our love for these characters makes them ‘real’ to us in many ways, and an artist like Silva capitalizes on that wonderfully.

Adding Curiel’s color palate to those visuals just takes them to a whole other level. Dancing gorgeously on that line between natural/neutral and vibrant, letting certain elements dazzle us with their liveliness. While other bits retain that tangible state I mentioned previously.

All of it swirls and comes together in a way that allows these spaces to feel even deeper than expected. From the No-Place highly lit outside our realm elements to those of the far lusher natural Krakoan areas.

Sprinkled through this all are the bits of dialogue and captions, just brimming with emotional and personality energies. Cowles can tap into all of this so simply, letting the words flow as he orchestrates. Popping in some colors, bolds, changes to bubbles, and more that can turn a simple textual moment into something bigger. Allowing us to hear the struggle in Xavier’s words at times, even as we want to spit on this terrible man.

Rise Of The Powers Of X #4 is now available from Marvel Comics.