X-Men (2019-) #13 by Jonathan Hickman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When first introduced, Apocalypse was a mysterious character who obviously had a long and detailed history. Previous attempts to fill in that backstory have only served to make the character less interesting. What Hickman is doing here is weaving a tale of the secret history of Apocalypse, and, quite wonderfully, it’s adding to the mystery and wonder of Apocalypse and making him…interesting. Apocalypse has always been a bit of a one note villain, with his survival of the fittest mantra. But here, at last, he’s being given motivation for that mantra. A reason for testing mutants so that only the fittest survive, beyond just, “He thinks it’s a good idea.”
Far from being simply filler, this issue answers questions…or, rather, confirms our suspicions, while posing some more. We learn that Annihilation is very much just the helmet, which confirms that the person wearing that helmet is likely to be significant, and the best candidate for the wearer is Genesis, Apocalypse’s supposedly dead wife. But, equally, it could be Isca, Genesis’ sister and the sister-in-law of Apocalypse, who betrayed them all. This mystery feels significant, and the answer feels like it will be important…both for Apocalypse and the future of Krakoa.
It’s also important to remember that this is Apocalypse’s account of events. We are seeing and hearing everything from his point of view, through his recollections. It’s entirely possible, and extremely likely, that he’s an unreliable narrator. I anticipate us seeing these events from genesis’ point of view at some point, and for that to quite revelatory.
The art, by Mahmud Asrar, is superb, which is what we’ve come to expect from the whole X-line right now. The creators have been called on to conjure myriad new character designs and each one of them is interesting and unique. Part of me hopes that we see them return after this event is over, but part of me thinks that will ultimately dilute their impact.
Anyway, this is great stuff, and next week we hit the official half way point in this event, with X Of Swords: Stasis…and I can’t wait!
Random Ramblings Of A Ragamuffin 