Previously on Reviews of X: The mutants may have finally been pushed way too far, way too many times, and it looks like they’re about to push back. But first, something sinister this way comes in Powers of X #4. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Powers of X #4: Something Sinister
Story: Jonathan Hickman
Art: R.B. Silva
Colors: Marte Gracia
Letters: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel
A Professor and a Master of Magnetism Walk Into a Bar Sinister
Moira X’s plan, whatever it is, chugs along with Year One Professor X and Magneto going to Bar Sinister to recruit Mister Sinister and his sinister endeavors in the area of sinister genetics. We have seen the results of mutantdom trusting Sinister in Year One Hundred, so it would be interesting to see how they’ll do things differently in this timeline.
Hickman perfectly captures the Charles and Erik good cop, bad cop dynamic that we’ve seen in the movies but never really saw a lot of in the comics. And then it turns out both of them are bad cops. I love it.
I usually don’t like slow burn storytelling in comics, but I find it fascinating that this whole Year One secret origin thing shows how different factors in Moira X’s plan are slowly coalescing.
Plus, like Nimrod the Lesser from Year One Hundred, Mister Sinister is refreshingly delightful. This is the most fun I’ve had reading something with Mister Sinister in it since… never? OK, maybe Kieron Gillen’s run on Uncanny X-Men, just because I’m partial to that Utopia/Extinction Team era.
Also, I am definitely here for a fictional mutant gossip rag being run by a sassy Mister Sinister. Spilling secrets to resolve dangling plot threads or to tease upcoming storylines is something I would read regularly, especially if it’s Sinister who’s spilling the tea. Do it, Marvel! You human cowards!
Okkara the One Land
In Year Ten, we see a flashback of how Professor X started to work with Krakoa with the help of traditionally super lame mutant Doug Ramsey a.k.a. Cypher.
This is definitely the most interesting version of Cypher I’ve ever seen. Usually, he’s either a useless bland character in the background or he’s dead.
Thanks to Cypher, we finally learn something new about Krakoa. Turns out it’s just one half of a piece of land known as Okkara which was torn into two by the Twilight Sword, which kind of looks like Magik’s Soul Sword.
There’s a whole origin story involving Krakoa, what seems to be a demon invasion from Limbo, and Apocalypse and his OG Four Horsemen. It may seem out of place now, but I’m sure we’re going to pick up this story some other time. It’s Checkov’s Living Island.
Will You Ascend?
From a Year One saucy stopover at Bar Sinister and a Year Ten non-vacation trip to Krakoa, we go to a Year One Thousand… something? An assessment for ascension? I don’t know. This part of the whole HoX PoX story is the weakest, but it still inspires curiosity.
IN CONCLUSION
One of the things I love about HoX PoX is how Hickman shows that most X-Men characters, including villains and C-list satellite X-Men, can be great if written properly.
This issue takes us down from the recent action-packed issues and slows down the story a bit, but I’ve found a new appreciation for Sinister and Cypher. Plus, The Red Diamond gag is a great use of the design pages. Another solid entry in this X-cellent HoX PoX series.
Powers of X #4 is available now wherever fine comic books are sold.
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