Ever since the first issues of Immortal X-Men came out, Kieron Gillen and Lukas Werneck have given fans a book at the top of the highlight reel for the Krakoa era as a whole. Volume 2 of the title does not disappoint in the least. Immortal gives fans something we had been asking for ever since the era started: a look into the Quiet Council. These people were designed to be a mix of complicated mutants, most of which hate or distrust each other in their own ways, and yet they are responsible for making the decisions that will affect the whole island. The recipe for drama was delectable and Gillen certainly delivers on these dynamics and plots that highlight the complexity and agendas of each of the members of the Council.
Vol. 2 collects issues #7-10, and with Gillen at the helm, half of those issues happen to be tied to the events he was penning consecutively for this era. Judgment Day was an incredible event –perhaps the best since Empyre and Secret Wars before it — but issue #7 of Immortal was one of the weaker installments both in the event and of Immoral thus far. The good news is that “weaker” for Judgment Day and Immortal X-Men is still better than most comics on the shelf, so it’s hardly a bad issue. It’s Kurt centric and Lukas Werneck is such a talented artist that he really captures the exact kind of charming a guy like Nightcrawler is.
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The other issues are the real highlight of the volume that really showcase what makes Gillen such a great writer for this title. The formula of having each issue of Immortal center around one of the Quiet Council really shines here because he is able to put a microscope lens on each of these incredibly complex characters and what drives them. What’s more, each character’s spotlight issue truly does feel exactly like the characters themselves and it feels like a true look at them rather than a sanitized version of them. No issue makes this clearer than #10, Charles Xavier’s issue.
Irene and Raven are a highlight of the Krakoa era overall and Gillen’s take on them is so fascinating. Establishing Irene as this master manipulator is great – her long-running game of cat and mouse with Sinister is absolutely engrossing. Raven and Irene in this chess game of the centuries is such a great addition to X-Men lore and the way Irene constantly stomps on Essex’s plans is great. She has truly established herself as a powerhouse in X-Men lore and that’s an incredible feat for a character who has been dead for decades like she has. Ever since her return she’s been one of the best parts of the era as a whole and proof of what makes the concept behind it truly work — the way it expands the X-sandbox and adds to the lore in these fascinating ways that just make sense.
Sinister’s Sins of Sinister setup is good, though it would be a shame if so much of the Krakoa era was wasted on him alone instead of giving space and time to any of the other threats that challenge it. Immortal alone has set up so many moving pieces that say even the Council itself is a threat to Krakoa (especially the likes of those like Shaw who are more self motivated than anything) and to have Sinister be the biggest detractor feels disappointing. But that doesn’t make issue #9 bad by any means, nor does it mean Gillen isn’t delivering an intriguing story on his own. Once again, Lukas Werneck’s art is perfection here because Sinister looks so creepy and almost like the embodiment of evil itself –it’s exactly how that character should look. It’s what he is.
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Charles’ issue is tied to Sins of Sinister, but Gillen really dives into what makes him such a complicated character and all the facets of Charles that are both sinister and necessary in a way. Charles isn’t someone you can put in a box of “good” or “bad” but he is an extremely manipulative person who often does make objectively the wrong choice though he’s convinced himself its for the right reasons. He’s a grandstander and will martyr himself, though the narration isn’t wrong to say “well you could have much worse” because well…sure, we could have someone like Sinister, I guess. But this retroactively made me appreciate the original Claremont X-Treme X-Men so much more because I was reminded of Sage’s speech to Charles and how Ororo was a much better leader to her that made her realize how rewarding the job could be. The difference between them ultimately was that Charles will use people as pawns because he sees them as a means to an end but Ororo is the antithesis of that — she’ll do the right thing but won’t risk people or treat them as expendable. She’ll defy the odds to make the right thing happen without treating anyone as expendable.
Gillen really manages to paint what feels like an accurate picture of how Charles sees himself and justifies his misdeeds, delving into the complexity behind him that I think we often forget. Charles is so fun to hate because he’s so easy to hate, but Gillen manages to capture what feels like how Charles justifies his poor if not despicable choices while acknowledging that they are objectively just that. It’s the most complex look at Charles we have gotten in a minute and collectively, these issues really highlight of the magic of Immortal X-Men.
Immortal X-Men isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions or take a darker look at these characters and the island they created, and that’s what makes it so good. when House of X/Powers of X dropped I immediately noticed the sinister (no pun intended) undertones of some of those scenes, particularly involving Moira, Charles, and Erik and it always felt like the plot revolved around this concept of paradise being built on a foundation with rot. They reference snakes in the garden so often in those early issues and Immortal is finally a look at the snakes who are sometimes also running the garden. It’s great political intrigue and Werneck’s art is perfect to boot.
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