The Wow’s:
Villain Characterizations: Hickman gave us, in my humble opinion, the best version of Nathaniel Essex (Mister Sinister). Sinister reminded me of Orochimaru in the sense that he is extremely sassy and playful yet still retains that ever-present threat of violence. His sheer adoration of Magneto’s cape and the subsequent murder of the butler clone who didn’t suggest adding a cape to his attire was the the height of his eccentricity. Nimrod the Lesser stole the show in every scene that he was in. He had an unnerving child-like innocence about him. It’s rare for an AI villain to have a personality and standout but Nimrod is clearly exception. Professor X shed some of his pretense of piety and openly operates ruthlessly to accomplish his goals (specifically siring Legion to have a powerful weapon for his cause). Apocalypse also adapted for the change in status quo, he is surprisingly nurturing in some respects (his interaction with Krakoa itself and comforting the distressed Summoner) but continues to be ever-patient strategist.
Data Dump: I thoroughly enjoyed those data pages because they filled in the gaps and presented the crucial details that weren’t in the main narrative i.e. the Omega Mutant listing and the chimera genetic breakdown.
Chimeras: Rasputin and Cardinal were both compelling characters despite their limited screen time. It was interesting that humanity and mutandkind were in a genetic arms race and manufacturing test tube soldier for their war. I am surprised that they were actually desperate enough to trust Mister Sinister completely and allowed him to operate without any supervision.
Resurrection: The addition of resurrection puts every mutant back on the table as well as change the mentality of the average since they now theoretically have a near limitless amount of “Extra Lives”. I also loved that this was not an isolated X-Men specific event and had impact on cosmic Marvel (Mistress Death was gravely impacted by this development and 616 could have potentially be transformed in a Cancerverse with the potency of Death severely weakened.
Shine: Cypher and Goldballs, two of the most clowned characters in X-Men history became truly irreplaceable and invaluable to the overall success of their species. Cypher was key to transforming Krakoa into the paradise that it eventually became as well as devolve a unique language/cultural identity for its inhabitants. Goldball became a crucial factor in the resurrection process once the true purpose of his balls was discovered (wait… wait.. *get your mind out of the gutter* his golden balls are actually inert eggs).
The Bleh’s:
Mutant Hubris/Lack of Vision/Poor Choices: With full knowledge of all the hell Moira lived through to guarantee mutants a true safe haven, Xavier and Magneto have let their guard down. Those previous lives should have cemented the idea that humanity will never allow them to live a truly peaceful life. They always need to be alert and prepared for conflict. Krakoa is filled with mutants with heightened senses that could detect potential threats and others whose combat leaning abilities would make them ideal defenders yet none of them were utilized outside of Black Tom Their gross lack of foresight and arrogance allowed Xeno forces to succeed with their assassination attempt. Yet they continued to lack with security where allowed the Hordeculture aka Science Golden Girls to succeed with their initial schemes. Why on Earth, was Doug Ramsey, the mutant with the strongest connection to Krakoa, allowed to venture off into space? Why is Mystique and/or Copycat not used for espionage missions where their powers and overall skills would be most ideal?
The Wishlist:
Chimeras: I want to see the return of Rasputin and the Cardinal as well as Chimera combinations that actually made combat sense.
Allies: I am curious about the non-mutants like Longshot, Shatterstar, and Doop that associate with the X-Men. Are they allowed on Krakoa? Where are they now? I hope that this will be addressed in the future.
