The Illustrated X-Lapsed - Powers of X #1 (2019)

Powers of X #1 (September, 2019)
“The Last Dream of Professor X”
Writer - Jonathan Hickman
Art - R.B. Silva
Colors - Marte Gracia
Letters - VC’s Clayton Cowles
Design - Tom Muller
Edits - Bissa, White, Cebulski
Cover Price: $5.99 US
Release Date: July 31, 2019

Here we are again... my attempt at making X-Lapsed a "multimedia" endeavor, to which you might say: Surely, this is a waste of your time.

To which I'd reply: Yes, you're probably right -- and don't call me Sh... waitasec, actually, maybe DO call me Shirley -- I bet more people (or people at all) would give a rat's ass about this place if I went by that!

IXL Disclaimer: These bits are straight outta my original X-Lapsed scripts... which is to say, they're chock-full of theories on stuff that's already been long answered, proven or disproven. Please keep that in mind when reading that these were my original hot-takes and thoughts. Still feel free to send in your "ackshully"s though, I need all the engagement I can get!

--

We open with a page featuring four “ages” of sorts. X to the 0th Power is YEAR ONE - The Dream. X to the 1st Power is YEAR TEN - The World. X to the 2nd Power is YEAR 100 - The War. X to the 3rd Power is YEAR 1,000 - Ascension. So… these are the “Powers of X” then? I gotta say, I may diverge a bit from the wide X-Base here, but… when we start getting into the wayyy far flung future… I kinda check out. Gimme not so distant future… or not so distant past, and I’m down.  But, 100 and 1000 years into the future?  This is gonna be a toughie.

We pop back to X to the 0th… Year One. We’re in the middle of that festival from the beginning of Chrono Trigger… when a familiar young woman approaches Charles Xavier, who is lounging on a park bench watching the festivities. They share some sorta flirtatious conversation. She talks about a fortune teller she’d just seen… and we can see three tarot-esque cards. One is the Magician, featuring a sword-wielding intangible girl stepping through a wall. One is the Tower, which depicts… well, a tower. The third is The Devil, with what looks like a red-skinned Nightcrawler.

Moira notes Charles’ happiness, and he reveals that he’d just had the most wonderful dream… about a better world, and what part he will play in it. Moira tells him that dreams ain’t dreams… if they’re real. This triggers a bit of suspicion in the Prof… and he asks if they’ve ever met. She invites him to read her mind.

After the credits page...s, because we need two, we shift to X to the 1st Power, which is evidently Year Ten. So… everything that’s happened to this point since X-Men #1 in 1963 has occurred in a single decade?  Hmm… I’m never a fan of pin-pointing dates inside a clustered chronology… regardless of how good a story might be, I worry that something like THIS will be a sticking point for me. I’m a weird dude, remember… I’m easily lost in the weeds.

Anyhoo, it’s X to the one-th, and we’re on Krakoa. Mystique and Toad are here to deliver that data they’d stolen from Damage Control in House of X #1... Before handing the goods over to Magneto, however, she tries holding him up to make some more demands. This is overheard by Charles, who kinda calls her out for it… suggesting that helping her fellow mutant should be all the reward she needs. He gets it though… because, even he has more demands... ya see, everyone involved in this new better mutant world has gotta do their part, and pull their weight, “pay dues” and what not. He takes the thumbdrive and… uh, sticks it into some Krakoan vegetation?

Next stop, X to the 2nd… Year 100. Annnnnd, looking at this Evangelion-looking thing on this page, I’m already beginning to glaze over. We’re in the midst of a war, it seems… between mutants and something called the Man-Machine Supremacy. This is… gonna be tough… I already don’t care. EVA Unit 1 and an associate who looks like a future Hellfire Club soldier are stood over what I can only assume is a dead mutant… who looks a lot like Elixir from the New X-Men. We found out that Elixir is an Omega Level Mutant last issue… so, maybe he could live 100 years?  I dunno...

It’s a good thing we’re living in the age of the Marvel Wiki! I find out this fella is actually called Percival… and yeah, he dead. We’ve got the remaining three of this foursome of X-Men: Rasputin IV… who I believe is the sword-wielding intangible girl from that first tarot card. Her skin looks metallic, and she’s got the Soul Sword… so, perhaps she’s an amalgamation of Kitty, Colossus, and Magik? We are going to find out that these X-Men were “bred” by Mr. Sinister on Mars… so, it might stand to reason there was some genetic tinkering. There’s Cardinal, who is the red Nightcrawler-looking character from the third tarot card.  Looks to be a blend of Kurt and maybe Rachel? Finally, there’s Cylobel… a machine who joined the mutant resistance, I guess?  She’s got a “black brain” which renders her unreadable. She kind of looks like a female version of the Teen Titans baddie Psimon.

While EVA Unit one and the Future Hellfire Soldier acost Cylobel, Cardinal plants a black seed of Krakoa in the ground. Rasputin unleashes the Soul Sword and attempts to save Cylobel -- unfortunately for her… machines ain’t got no souls. Backup baddies arrive, which makes the odds rather insurmountable for Rasputin. Cylobel demands Rasputin leave her behind and save herself... begrudgingly, she does just that.

We get an info page that is actually helpful in explaining the Sinister Breeding Program “Chimera”. Turns out, I wasn’t too far off in my assumption of Rasputin’s Chimera-makeup... she’s part Kitty and either Colossus or Magik (it just says Rasputin)… but, also Quentin Quire, Unus the Untouchable, and X-23. Now, there are multiple generations of this Breeding dealie… which feels like three too many… because, man, this is a lot of info to dump on us. There’s talk of suicide and singularity… which, I dunno… feels like maybe that Evangelion we just saw wasn’t an accident?  Feels a little End of Evangelion here…

Cylobel is taken to the Tower of Nimrod the Lesser… whiiiiiich looks a whole heckuva lot like the Tower on the Tarot card. Nimrod is seated on a throne looking like a great big marshmallow. Next to him is a woman he refers to as Omega… who might be Karima Whatsherface?  I dunno. Nimrod glibly apologizes to Cylobel… who, was originally a “hound” created to track down mutants, Cylobel defected and went against her programming. Nimrod refers to her as a “bad idea” and suggests that bad ideas die a bad death. Cylobel swears that she’ll win out in the end… which Nimrod finds pretty adorable. He actually says “That’s the spirit!”

Cylobel is prepared for questioning… or a “bath”, I guess. She is going to be dipped into a chamber of something called Femtofluid, where she will basically be rendered down to nothing more than raw data… which Nimrod can use to continue fighting against the mutants. More Evangelion sorta stuff, no?  It’s not quite LCL… but, it’s also not… not LCL! Cylobel is stuffed on in… and, I’m going to assume, dies.

Another info page… this time, it’s for the SalCen Khennil, “Sentinel Mutant Breeding Camps”. It’s here we learn a bit about the black-brained Hounds... the last of which were, for whatever reason, conditioned to be duplicitous?  Seems counter-productive, but what do I know? I guess that’s why Nimrod referred to Cylobel and her ilk as “bad ideas”?

We next pop over to the No-Place Hub… where Rasputin IV and Cardinal emerge from a Krakoan gateway. Does this mean that we’re going to be dealing with Krakoan Gateways forever more in X-Men comics?  I’m not sure how I feel about that. Anyway, they are greeted by… some familiar faces: Magneto, Xorn, Wolverine, and… Swamp Thing?  Maybe it’s Groot?  I hope it’s not Groot. Wolverine asks if Cylobel and Percival died for nothing… to which, Cardinal responds that “they’ve got it”... what “it” is, I dunno. Wolverine tells them that the “Old Man” is waiting… and, it looks like he will be until we get to the next issue…

Another info-page! The mutants are now living on something called Asteroid K… so, maybe Krakoa as an Asteroid? There are only eight of them left here… there are plenty more flung about the Shi’ar Space though.

Now… X to the Third - one-friggin-thousand years later. Ya know, it’s this kinda stuff that keeps me from reading the Legion of Super-Heroes… and these few pages feel like something that could very easily be in a Legion comic! I remember hearing rumors throughout the years that Hickman was going to do Legion for DC… I wonder, if that was true in the slightest, if he repurposed some of his ideas for this? Anyway, it’s here we meet… The Librarian. Hey, that’s the character Marv Wolfman created as a kid, right?  Well, no… this is a blue-skinned Legion reject who is wearing a sort of Cerebro helmet.

Looks like they data they are trying to retrieve is corrupted or just fading away. Worth noting, they’re in the archives of Nimrod the GREATER… so, uh… evolution or somethin’. The Librarian’s little Skeets-lookin' buddy pops in to take the blame for the loss of data… claiming that the integrity of those files was their responsibility. Looks like humanity and the like are no more in this far-flung future… but there is a sort of domed preserve nearby. The Librarian… maybe compares what they keep inside with dinosaur bones… like, as a reminder of what came before?

We wrap up with a look inside… and we see a pair of figures standing in the lush foliage. Now, lemme get lost in the scenery here… is this an Adam and Eve thing? Whoever they are, the Librarian is hopeful they never have dominion over the planet again…

--

I've pretty much stated all my thoughts about the issue during the synopsis, but for whatever's sake, I'll try and sum up my thoughts here:

Not a huge fan of stories taking place too far off from the present day. I feel like we lose touch with a lot of the "rules" of storytelling at that point... insofar as things feeling like they actually matter. If we can write about anywhen... why should we necessarily care about the present? Especially when so many things could be changed without really affecting much. I dunno, I'm sure I could better explain that sensation if I were a better writer. Fact is, I ain't.

Looking back, I'd forgotten that the Moira/Charles mindreading scene took place in this issue... I'd have bet money that it had occurred in House of X #2 -- the first of our big shoe-drop issues... but no! It actually happened here.

Let's briefly chat up some happenings:

In the present, Mystique and Toad arrive back to Krakoa with the data they'd retrieved from Damage Control. This scene is our first indication that Xavier has something Mystique wants... and, how she's going to be repeatedly used as a pawn while he dangles that carrot. Of course, out the other end of the Hickman run, we know what that is -- but, it's neat to see the seeds planted this early on.

The Chimera scenes were... ehh. I know by the end of our time in X-to-the-Second-Power, I do come around on the Chimeras, but -- then and now, this was kinda just there. The designs are pretty cool... and I dig the sassier Nimrod, but it still feels like something's missing. Also, the Evangelion units are a bit too derivative.

X-to-the-Third-Power -- still bores me to tears. This is the high-concept Hickmanny stuff I really couldn't care less about. These are the pages that, had I not been creating content (which, in hindsight probably would'a been for the best), I'd have skimmed or skipped these pages completely. They're dull, but are crammed full with enough impressive sounding words that I'm sure I'm in the minority in thinking this is anything but "genius".

Overall, Powers of X is definitely the lesser miniseries (in my opinion)... but, to get the full-picture of the status quo moving forward, it's still necessary. Maybe not required reading, as I think you could do well enough by just reading HoX... but, like I said - if you're interested in the bigger picture, ya need it.

The Illustrated X-Lapsed - House of X #1 (2019)

The Illustrated X-Lapsed

House of X #1 (September, 2019)
"The House that Xavier Built"
Writer - Jonathan Hickman
Art - Pepe Larraz
Inks - Marte Gracia
Letters - VC's Clayton Cowles
Design - Tom Muller
Edits - Bissa, White, Cebulski
Cover Price: $5.99
On-Sale: July 24, 2019

Trying something out today... let's see if it can float.

Anyone who knows me, the poor few, will know that, more often than not, I'm wracking my brain trying to think up ways to "zsusz" the numbers and audience on X-Lapsed (and here at the site). It's not easy being a one-man operation -- there's only so much time in the day, and -- since I'm also a fella with nigh-on cripplingly low self-esteem and anxiety (when blastin'!), it's difficult for me to be as active and engaging on the socials as I think I might need to be.

I try and keep the faith that hard work will eventually pay off... and that maybe, just maybe, one day I'll be shown half as much respect as the folks who "right-click, save as" four cover pics a day from Google Images and spam tag everybody they know to get "da likes". That's absurdly (and uncharacteristically) optimistic of me, innit? Snarky too!

X-Lapsed has been a, for lack of a better term, "passion project". I mean, in a year and a half, I've produced nearly 350 episodes of the thing... so, hopefully that's apparent. But... I know that listening to podcasts isn't something that everybody out there has the time nor interest to do. And so, in attempt to reach the folks who are more into receiving comics-commentary-content in a text-n-images format, I give to you The Illustrated X-Lapsed.

Will it work? Probably not. Will it last? I hope so, but no promises. Does this mean we're done with Dazzler? Nah, we got loads of Ali on the way... This is just something I'm trying out. Kinduva "Hail Mary" from yer humble host. Plus, I'm a bit interested in seeing how these early issues of the HoX/PoX era read, as at this point, we're out the other end of Hickman's run.

Note: These are adaptations of my actual X-Lapsed scripts... so, they're being written from a point of view that this is the first time I'm reading these books. I intend to keep my wild (and often wrong) theories intact. So, before you "Well, ackshully" me, please just keep that in mind. Oh, what am I saying -- I'll take ANY engagement I can get! Correct away!

--

We open with a prologue where Professor Xavier, wearing perhaps a Cerebro Helmet (?) is stood before a pretty gross-looking tree. Toward the roots of this gross tree are some… grosser pods. From them spring, I’m assuming mutants. Professor X greets them… calling them “his X-Men”. It may be worth noting, one of these newborns has what appears to be optic blasty powers? Could this be like a "Biblical" take on the Original Five?

Ugh

From here we get a few pages of timelapse, starting five months prior on Krakoa… then across the world and across the universe. The X-Men are planting some Krakoan Flowers. I’m going to guess this is the genesis of the Krakoa Gateways… or maybe the habitats we’re about to see?  Though, I could very easily be mistaken.

We settle in the “now”, at the Jerusalem Habitat. We’ve got a meeting of minds here, with several ambassadors from disparate nations having been called here by Professor X, who’d like to make them an offer they may not be able to refus. Apparently, there’re designer drugs… which promise to extend human life by five years, prevent mental illness, and act as an adaptive antibiotic. Thing is, Xavier’s got em… and he is only willing to share if he can come to terms with the governments of the world. He will only help those nations who recognize Krakoa's sovereignty. These Ambassadors seem to be split on whether or not this could be a workable arrangement.

Before we get too far, however, they are interrupted by the arrival of a pair of the Stepford Cuckoos… Esme and Sophie. I never thought I’d be so happy to see them… but, I know them… and I really need to see some familiar faces here! The humans are led up a flight of stairs where they are introduced to… Magneto! He apologizes, recognizing that he is a poor substitute for the man they expected to chat up… that being, Charles Xavier. He offers to give the folks a tour.

INFO PAGE! We get an info-graphic style page next that describes some of the Flowers of Krakoa… including those that can be utilized as miracle drugs for the humans, and those that can act as gateways for the mutants.

We shift scenes to the Graymalkin Habitat in Westchester… which I’m going to assume is the old Xavier School. There, Jean Grey is escorting some young mutants through one of the Krakoan Gateways... Including one with broccoli floret hair. We… or I learn here that only mutants can travel through them without “permission”. Humans can tag-along… but only if Krakoa says it’s cool.

As they step on through, word is sent to a Krakoan network “control center” of sorts. It’s pretty gross… it’s part animal, part vegetable… and has a whole lotta eyes. This desk is being manned by Cypher (with a Phalanxy Arm) and Sage. More familiar faces…

Jean and the broccoli boy arrive… and the tot is pretty wowed to see Professor Xavier and a “hairy guy” named Logan. In the nearby forest we see Charly and Wolverine hanging out… and the kids are like magnetically drawn to Logan. I haven’t “seen” Wolverine since his return from the dead… so, maybe he’s a kinder and gentler sort right now? I dunno… this whole thing feels very “off”... kind of like the first ten minutes of an episode of the Twilight Zone. I feel like I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop… things seem a little TOO perfect. It’s… uncomfortable.

INFO PAGE! Another info-graphic page follows, which gives us a map of Krakoa… and, I believe, places it somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

Next stop… Space! Agents Gregor Mendel arrive at a satellite… which appears to be full of agents of various Marvel organizations… SHIELD, AIM, some others… all of which make me yawn uncontrollably… a latter info-page will confirm some of that. This project is called Orchis. Omega Sentinel, Karima whatsherface is here… and, well, honestly a lot of this is going over my head.  Hopefully it clears up for me before long. Before leaving the satellite, we see that it’s surrounding a giant Sentinel (or maybe Master-Mold) head.

We pop back to Earth, and we join Mystique, Toad, and Sabretooth as they are pillaging the Damage Control offices. The mutants get what they’re looking for… which appears to be some data… and they split in the direction of the nearest Krakoa Gateway. Unfortunately for them, they are descended upon by the Fantastic Four. The Thing waylays Sabretooth just in time for us to shift scenes…

Back to Magneto’s magical mystery tour! They leave Jerusalem and arrive at a “hub” point, form which they can travel to a whole bunch of other habitats. One of the Ambassadors notes the strange language posted above the doorways… and is surprised that the mutants would go to such lengths. Magneto firmly states that they did so in order to create a distinct mutant culture. They pass through a door… maybe a few… because we see a smattering of locales over this page’a panels. We also see… Xorn?  Both of them?  Where did they come from?

One of the ambassadors turns the subject to the military… and how, the mutants newfound ability to travel anywhere they damned well please really changes the world dynamic. Magneto assures him that this ability isn’t an instrument of war. The human ain’t buyin’ it… and, if I’m being honest, if Magneto said that to me, I’m not sure I would either. Magneto plainly states that there’s never been a mutant war… which, I mean… I guess is technically true. The Ambassadors are growing impatient and would really like to finally go to Krakoa. Magneto tells them that both, they don’t need to… and anyway, Man ain’t welcome there in the first place The Ambassadors know Xavier’s terms… all they want is their little slice of the planet.  Humanity is more than welcome to the rest of it.

Back with the Fantastic Four… Mystique and Toad are able to make their way through a gateway… but poor Sabretooth just bounces off. The Fantastic Four take their captive… and all looks to be fine and dandy. Then… Cyclops emerges from the Gateway. He greets Ben, congratulates him on his recent nuptials… and gets down to bidness with Reed. He asks for Sabretooth to be released over to him. Reed... ain’t feelin’ it. Scott brings up the whole mutant amnesty thing… which, I tell ya, sounds like a really bad idea… especially when it comes to someone like Sabretooth. Reed won’t turn Vic over… and Cyclops isn’t really looking for an argument. And so, much to his chagrin, he leaves Sabretooth in their custody. Before leaving back through the gateway, however… Cyclops makes mention of Franklin Richards… and tells Sue and Reed that, whenever he’s “ready” there’s family waiting for him on Krakoa... Which… I absolutely love! I’ve been waiting for there to be some sort of conflict between the Fantastic Four and the X-Men over Franklin for awhile now... even back during the build-up to “The Twelve”... I was SURE Franklin was going to factor in (mostly because they said he would… but, whattayagonna do?).

Another INFO PAGE!… this time classifying Omega Level Mutants, which includes li’l Franklin… and a whole bunch of mutants I could’ve sworn were long dead. Another reminder that stakes, as we knew them, no longer exist.

Back to Jerusalem… The Ambassadors take a sidebar to discuss the situation. Esme… or the other one, reveals that these Ambassadors are all “plants”, and goes on to call them all out. She also reveals that one of em is packin’ heat… and so, Magneto takes care of the pistol the way only he can. The Ambassador says it’s just for “protection”... to which, Magneto asserts that “that’s how it starts”. He’s not wrong…

We wrap with Magneto telling the Ambassadors that they’ve got New Gods (not those New Gods)… annnnnd, that’s where we end up for today!

--

[2020 Thoughts]

This was VERY dense… and made me feel even denser! I am intrigued… hopefully intrigued enough to continue my way through. I really enjoyed the art. The whole thing felt familiar… yet not.

I feel uncomfortable… kind of like when you miss a sneeze.  There’s just a buzzing in my head. The Space bit with the Master Mold was kind of over my head... hell, I couldn’t swear to any of what I said during the synopsis!

I feel like with stories like this, we… or I, tend to get too lost in the weeds. I spent a lot of my time reading this (for the fourth or fifth time) trying to look for symbolism… where, perhaps there wasn’t any? Like, were the sorta religious bits intentional?  Were they there for people LIKE ME who tends to get lost in the scenery?  Will it all pay off?

Not sure.  I guess we’ll see where this goes…

[2022 Thoughts]

If you listen to X-Lapsed, especially more recent episodes, you'll likely be tired of... well, you'll be tired of a lot of my nonsense and repetition... but, in particular, you might be tired of me talking about how, at some point, the original "mission statement" of the Krakoan Era appeared to have been usurped... and, "softened".

I talk a lot about the discomfort I felt in reading these earliest issues of the Era. How, everything seemed a little bit too ideal. It didn't pass the "smell test", because... if you ask me -- it wasn't supposed to. I feel like we were expected to feel uncomfortable -- we were supposed to assume that there was something sinister and nefarious bubbling just under the surface. That very much feels like the intended direction here, doesn't it? The mutants, for all intents (and to oversimplify)... appear to have "won". We know it's not ever going to be that easy... and there's always another shoe yet to drop -- but, the way this issue kicked off this era... it was incredibly well done. We also don't yet have the context of the era -- we don't know that the theme going forward is the concept that the mutants never win.

In reading this first issue back, with everything we now know -- the juxtaposition is pretty wild... and again, so well done. I definitely feel like I missed out in not x-periencing this as it was hitting the shelves in real-time, as I'm sure theories were hot, heavy, and completely off the wall. That said, I am very much looking forward to revisiting my own old theories to see how well they line up with reality.

Now, hopefully I'm just a tad bit less "dense" than I was back in 2020 when I first sat down with this... well, when I first tried to make sense of this, anyway. I have absolutely no insider knowledge... my own fellow X-Men content creators don't have much time or use for me, much less the actual pros at Marvel -- so, please take all of my theorizing (then and now) as nothing more than uneducated "hot takes". I'll probably definitely "project" what I feel the creators were wanting to do... but, please, don't take any'a that as gospel.

I'd love to hear your recollections of the early HoX/PoX era, whether this is your first... of fiftieth time reading it/about it -- if you're willing to share, please do! If you know anybody who might be wanting to discuss these books, please -- let 'em know about X-Lapsed! Thanks for reading!

X-Lapsed, Episode 300 - X-Men: The Seeds of Tomorrow (2019)

X-Lapsed, Episode Three Hundred

X-Men: The Seeds of Tomorrow
Hickman's X-Men Revealed ~or~
House of X/Powers of X Free Preview #1 (September, 2019)
Writer - Jonathan Hickman
Art - Pepe Larraz, R.B. Silva, Mark Brooks
Colors - Marte Gracia
Letters - VC's Clayton Cowles
Edits - Jordan D. White, C.B. Cebulski
Cover Price: FREE
On-Shelves: July 17, 2019

Celebrating THREE-HUNDRED Episodes of X-Lapsed... and SIX-YEARS of DAILY content at Chris is on Infinite Earths, by taking a look into the past -- to the very seeds of the era I've dedicated thousands of hours to over the past couple of years - the 2019 House of X/Powers of X Free Preview!

In addition to our hindsight-fueled look at "What's to Come" in the X-Men Universe, I also chat a bit about how we got to where we are... and do a full-on "State of the Union" chatting up all of the books we've covered to this point.

Plus: Great Mailbag and a Stuffed Voice Mailbox!  It's near two-hours of me talking to myself... you don't wanna miss it!

--

https://www.patreon.com/xlapsed

X-Lapsed Voicemail: 623-396-5375 (or, 623-396-JERK)

Twitter: @acecomics / Instagram: @90sxmen

weirdcomicshistory@gmail.com

chrisandreggie.podbean.com

The All-New, All-Different chrisisoninfiniteearths.com

facebook.com/groups/90sxmen

Sales of X, Part 0 - pre-HoXPoX

Hey, howsitgoin' everybody!

As discussed on X-Lapsed, I'm kicking off our deep-dive on X-Book sales figures since the HoXPoX era rocked the family of books into our new status quo.  After this initial installment, I'm planning on making this a Patreon exclusive, not because I think it's particularly special... I just don't assume that it's content that everyone's going to be all that interested in.  Maybe I'll find out that I'm wrong?  You tell me!  I aim to please!

Now, rather than start with the July, 2019 sales charts - and the launch of House of X and Powers of X #1, we're going to go back to January, 2019.  This marks the start of the second-half of the "Rosenberg run" (Uncanny X-Men v.5), and also the launch of the Age of X-Man "crossovent".  I feel like beginning here might give us some salesy "context" to view the health of the X-Books as they were preparing to head into the Hickman/Krakoan Era.

This installment is going to be a longer one than what will become the "norm" for this type of thing, as we're going to cover seven entire months (in relative brevity) to see just how far gone X-Books sales were before the Summer of X.  And, hoo boy, they were not hot.

Let's begin with a look at January, 2019:

The top selling X-Book of January, 2019 was Return of Wolverine #4, shipping 58,560 copies and ranking in at the 17th highest selling comic of the month.

That was followed by four issues of the flagship Uncanny X-Men (vol.5).  Issues 8, 9, 10 and Annual #1 (which wrapped up the Disassembled arc and explained the Return of Cyclops, respectively) shipped 51,292 & 46,566 & 52,365 & 41,700 copies.  Uncanny X-Men as a title shipped 191,923 copies.  Uncanny Ranked at positions 21 (#10), 23 (#8), 29 (#9), and 36 (Annual #1).

The Uncanny X-Men Annual was nudged down just a notch below Age of X-Man: Alpha #1, the one-shot that would kick off the Age of X-Man crossovent... which, we'll be talking about quite a bit over the course of this article. AoX:Alpha shipped 42,022 copies and ranked in at the 35th best selling book of the month.

With the return of one Wolverine, we kinda had to get rid of the other... and so, Dead Man Logan was a thing.  Dead Man Logan #3 shipped 31,113 copies, and ranked as the 68th highest selling book in January.  While on the subject of clawed characters, there was also the X-23 ongoing.  Issue #8 of that book shipped 25,980 copies (86th highest seller).

Other X-Ongoings included a smattering of team and solo books.  Let's start with X-Force (vol.5) #2, which shipped 32,420 copies (Ranking 64).  Domino's solo series wraps up with its 10th issue... which lotsa folks appear to have checked out on.  19,655 copies shipped... 112th highest seller.  The Gambit and Rogue ongoing, Mr and Mrs X rolled on, with its 7th issue shipping 17,864 copies (Rank 119).  Iceman shipped his last issue (vol.4 - #5)... and a pathetic 9,800 copies (Rank 191).  Sliding even further down, Exiles (volume... whatever it was) wrapped up its run with it's 12th issue by shipping 9,645 copies (Rank 199).

There was one miniseries listed for this month... the penultimate issue of the Shatterstar solo.  This shipped 9,752 copies, and ranked in at the 195th highest seller of the month.

For an "at-a-glance" for January:

In sum, the X-Books shipped 448,734 copies between the 14 issues Marvel put out that month.

February, 2019:

In February, the flagship regained its top spot among the X-Family of books... and we launched a bunch of Age of X-Man minis that... it would appear as though, very few people actually bothered with.  At the end of this piece, we'll go track many of these "series by series".

So, let's start with the Uncannys.  Issue #11, which kicked off the post-Dissassembled "Rosenberg run", shipped 66,962 copies.  Issue #12 shipped even more - 68,636 copies (position 9 and 7 on the list of highest selling books for the month!)  An increase of 12-14k from last month's numbers!  Between the two issues of Uncanny, the title shipped a respectable 135,598 copies.

From here, the Return of Wolverine #5 actually exceeded the numbers of #4 - by less than 1k... but, still - higher is better!  #5 shipped 59,313 copies (17th highest seller).  Wolverine's just barely back, and he's already getting a second miniseries... Wolverine: Infinity Watch, which shipped 61,123 copies of its first issue, making it the 14th Highest Seller for Feb!  Dead Man Logan continues along, dropping very slightly to a shipment of 30,497 copies.  It was the 58th highest seller.  X-23 #9 holds firm at 25,845 copies shipped, and a ranking of 70.  Very steady sales to this point on the claw-corner of the X-Verse!

Let's talk ongoings... all two of 'em!  X-Force (vol. 5) #3 shipped 26,809 copies, dropping over 20% from January.  It was the 66th highest seller for the month.  Mr and Mrs X #8 is down to 16,513 copies shipped (#105 for the month).  Rather than start a whole new paragraph, let's throw the final issue of the Shatterstar mini in here... #5 shipped 8,514 copies - this is definitely our "basement" number for this study, ain't no (first-run) X-Books shipping any fewer than that!  I tell ya what... if you want an actual "rare" book... try and grab yourself a copy of Shatterstar #5!  Get that sucker CGC slabbed!

Enter Now... Age of X-Man.  Ooh boy, this is not going to be a fun number-crunch.  Personally, I've only read a smattering of these things... and was saving them for some sort of audio project down the line, so I can't really speak to their quality.  I know the few that I read, I... kinda enjoyed?  It's a weird story... definitely won't be for everyone.  That said... let's talk numbers!

AoXM kicked off four mini-series... and shipped four #1 issues in February.  Before I "came back" to Marvel and the X-Books, I assumed that AoXM was going to be like Age of Apocalypse, where they'd actually put the regular ongoings on hiatus for a few months.  When I realized that wasn't the case, I started to really feel bad for the creators who were tossed on these minis!  And again, that's no indictment on the quality of their work... just an appreciation of the realities of the random comics enthusiast's interest level and budget allowance.

Okay, enough vamping... of the four AoXM launches, the arguable "flagship" of the crossovent, Marvelous X-Men edged out the rest, shipping 42,021 copies.  Not a bad number... but, just wait.  The remaining three books, Amazing Nightcrawler, Nextgen, and X-Tremists shipped 32,180 + 32,059 + 30,737 copies respectfully.  Altogether, the AoXM "line" shipped 136,997 copies... which, I suppose Marvel might look at as a success.  Again though, just wait!

For an "at a glance" look at February, 2019:

In sum, the X-Books shipped 501,209 copies between the 13 issues Marvel put out.  The Age of X-Man definitely facilitated a marginal amount of growth (10-11%).

March, 2021:

March kept the flagship book(s) in the top spot among the X-Books... and since the Return of Wolverine ended last month, it's a pretty wide gap between Uncanny and the rest!  That doesn't mean that Uncanny's sales are all that great, however...

The flagship got three issues this month, though in fairness, we should only consider two of them "legit".  Uncanny X-Men (vol.5) #13-14 shipped 50,430 and 48,840 copies respectfully (dropping +/-30%).  They were the 20th and 23rd highest sellers for the month.  The third "Uncanny" book was the curious Uncanny X-Men: Winter's End #1, which was basically where Sina Grace was able to wrap up the canned Iceman "ongoing".  The "uncanny" branding and name value damn near tripled the shipped numbers from Iceman (vol.4) #5... 27,714 copies (67th highest shipper).  I know I only grabbed it because of its title!

Let's hit up the Claw-Corner.  Wolverine: Infinity Watch #2 shipped 34,018 copies (45 for the month), Dead Man Logan finally dipped under 30k with its 5th issue, shipping 28,295 copies.  X-23 somehow sidesteps the usual limp toward cancellation, issue #10 shipped 26,638 - not a huge gain from #9... but, a gain all the same!

Ongoings - X-Force (vol.5) shipped two issues in March.  Issues #4 and 5 shipped 25,984 and 24,847 copies each... which is, less than ideal. Speaking of which, Mr and Mrs X, shipped 16,069 copies with it's 9th issue (only three to go... and it would appear as though the few readers who have held on to this point know it!).  Domino may have had her "ongoing" cancelled with January's issue... but, here's another (hot)shot at giving her a brand-new #1!  Domino: Hotshots #1 shipped 34,980 copies... which is a bit more than I'd have expected.  Let's see if it holds up, yes?

Ya ready fer Age of X-Man?  Yeah, me neither... but, let's do da t'ing.  Prisoner X #1 tops the charts for this weird little corner of the X-World, shipping 29,006.  So yeah, the TOP selling Age of X-Man book (and a #1 to boot!) still can't break 30k?  That's not a good sign.  Apocalypse and the X-Tracts #1 shipped 27,895 copies... likely only thanks to the #1 on its cover.  Last month's top AoXM book, Marvelous X-Men saw a nearly 50% attrition with its second outing... 22,371 copies from 42,021 in March!  You think these numbers are bad?  Well, other three AoXM books didn't even manage to break 20k!  Amazing Nightcrawler #2 shipped 19,400... Nextgen #2 shipped 18,950... and X-Tremists #2 shipped 19,015.  Not a great sign for the second... of six months!

Here's the "at a glance" for March, 2019:

In sum, the X-Books shipped 454, 452 copies between the 16 issues Marvel put out.  That there's not a great trend setting in.  Though, part of me wonders if the HoXPoX future had already been announced by this point... as something like that would definitely speak to these levels of (relative) attrition.

April:

April sees more of a gradual sales decline... making me consider that, yeah... Marvel almost definitely already announced the reboot/relaunch/rewhatever that was coming our way in July.

Uncanny once again tops the list of X-Books... which, ya know... same as it ever was, right?  Once again, Marvel put out three Uncannys... two of which we might consider "legit", the other... LGY# notwithstanding, we might not.  Of the legits, we've got vol. 5 #15-16, which shipped 48,162 and 48,160 copies respectfully (wow, only two copies less from 15 to 16???).  The other one is War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men #1... which is a rather curious one.  War of the Realms was (one of) the big Marvel crossover event(s) of 2019... and for the X-Men tie-in, Marvel decided to be big jerks and actually put the Uncanny X-Men LGY#ing on the miniseries!  Thanks, dicks!  In any event, WotR:UXM #1 shipped 31,940 copies... so, it probably didn't work as well as Marvel would've liked.  I still bought em all (as back-issues), but I'm a sick, sad individual.  Don't be like me.

Next up is an oddity... the "sold-out" Major X #1 and 2.  And yeah, I've tossed quotes around the phrase sold-out.  This was one of the many, many Marvel launches where a 2nd-4th printing was announced before the first print even hit shelves.  I wasn't even going to include this in our study... but, eh... what the hell, right?  #1 shipped 43,071... wow, did Comichron forget to include the "2" before that figure?  You'd think this was a quarter-million seller from how folks talked about it!  Major X #2 dropped down to 28,152.  Yikes, a 35% drop in the same month!  Get them 5th printing Peach Momoko variants out stat!  Ahem, sorry about that... told myself I wouldn't editorialize during this... but, I'm about three hours in at this point, and I gotta keep myself entertained.

Okay, Claw Corner... all of the Wolverine family books are now under 30k.  Wolverine: Infinity Watch #3 shipped 27,722 copies, Dead Man Logan shipped just a few hundred less at 27,206.  X-23's penultimate issue drops around 2k copies, shipping 24,281 copies.

Ongoings and et-cetera!  X-Force (vol.5) #6 continues its decline... threatening to dip below 20k before its 10th and final issue.  #6 shipped 23,627 copies.  Mr and Mrs X continues to exist... barely.  #10 shipped 15,627 copies.  Finally, Domino: Hotshots' second issue shipped a painful 18,963 copies... woof, a +/-45% drop.  Which, if I'm being honest... sounds more right than the 35k it launched with.

Age of X-Man!  Hold on to yer hats.  None of the six AoXM minis managed to break 20k... and half of them threaten to dip under 15k!  Marvelous X-Men reclaims its top spot (faint praise indeed) with it's third issue.  18,079 copies shipped.  MXM narrowly beats out, Prisoner X #2, which shipped 17,983.  Apocalypse and the X-Tracts #2 shipped 17,258 copies.  Amazing Nightcrawler #3 shipped 16,572... X-Tremists #3 shipped 16,032... last and least, Nextgen #3 shipped 15,987.  The Age of X-Man books shipped in sum... 101,821 copies.  Again, that's 100k books Marvel wouldn't have sold otherwise... so, maybe it's still considered a win?

Here's the at-a-glance for April, 2019:

In sum, the X-Books shipped 438,732 copies between the 17 issues Marvel put out.  Not looking great, and we're not even at rock-bottom yet for our X-Family.

May:

Pretty much more of the same in May... just less readers all around.  Folks have seemingly abandoned this X-Era, and are content biding their time until the arrival of the soon-to-be-former Head of X!  The Uncanny's are holding firm... but, that's to be expected.  That's definitely the "habit" book of this era.  Let's get into the weeds...

Three Uncanny books... two legit, one War of the Realms tie-in.  Issues 17-18 of vol. 5 lose about 6k copies each, shipping out 42,677 and 42,713 respectively.  The War of the Realms cash-in lost near 1/3 of its readership with its second issue, only shipping 23,490 copies.

Claw Corner continues to limp toward its wrap up.  All three books are solidly under 30k now.  Dead Man Logan #7 leads the pack, shipping 27,169 copies.  Wolverine: Infinity Watch #4 shipped 25,822 copies... and the 12th and final issue of X-23 shipped 21,622 copies.  It says something for ol' X-23 that it didn't dip under 20k!

Ongoings and et-cetera... Major X #3 rebounds a bit, shipping 31,477 copies... buuuut, then #4 only shipped 27,713.  I don't understand that at all.  Mr and Mrs X's 11th and penultimate issue shipped 15,120 copies... kinda holding firm around that 15k mark.  X-Force (vol.5) put out two issues, #7-8... and with #8, it finally dips under 20k.  They shipped 20,119 and 19,617 copies respectfully.  Domino: Hotshots continues to bleed out... shipping 15,120 copies.  It's almost like people don't WANT a Domino solo series?  Huh, go figure...

Age of X-Man!  Woof... all six titles are teetering at the 15k mark, with three falling even below that!  Marvelous X-Men #4 holds its stranglehold over the rest of the "line", shipping a mighty 16,260 copies.  From there, Prisoner X #3 and Amazing Nightcrawler #4 ship 15,581 and 15,539 respectfully.  Then... we're sub-15k, with Apocalypse & the X-Tracts #3 (14,887), Nextgen #4 (14,967), and last/least X-Tremists #4 (14,832).  Altogether, AoXM shipped 92,066 copies.  I can't begin to pretend to know Marvel's bottom-line, but, you gotta assume there comes a point where numbers are so low that they actually lose money on this sort of thing?

Here's the at-a-glance for our "penultimate" pre-HoXPoX month...

In sum, the X-Books shipped 405,582 copies between the 18 issues Marvel put out in May.

June:

Our final pre-HoXPoX month is... definitely the most painful we're going to see this year.  Gotta wonder how much of this is due to people walking away to wait for the Head of X... or, how many just walked away because they didn't like the direction of the Rosenberg and Company era?  I suppose it really doesn't matter, does it?  Anyway, let's do it...

Uncanny (vol.5) begins to wrap itself up... it's actually not going to end until July, the same month as HoX and PoX #1.  It would appear as though there's a bit of curiosity here with the flagship.  Perhaps folks think this will segue into Hickman's grand plan.  Suckers.  Anyway, #19 shipped 51,920 copies, #20 shipped 41,199 copies.  The War of the Realms cash-in holds firm at 22,506 copies for its third and final ish.

We may have lost X-23 last month, but we still have three Wolvie books this month (because, of course we do!).  The Wolverine: Exit Wounds one-shot, which saw Larry Hama return to tell a forgettable story, shipped 39,359 copies.  Dead Man Logan #8 shipped 26,302 copies, and Wolverine: Infinity Watch wraps up its run, shipping 24,236 copies of its fifth and final issue.

Ongoings and et-cetera... X-Force (vol.5) released it's 9th and penultimate issue, shipping 19,482 copies.  Mr and Mrs X wraps up its run, and finally dips below the dreaded 15k mark, shipping 14,802 copies.  Major X holds firm to the sub-30k slot he's been in for most of his run.  The final two issues shipped 28,641 and 27,114 copies each.  Domino: Hotshots #4 shipped 14,911.

Age of X-Man's penultimate month as a thing sees 5/6ths of its family of titles dip under 15k.  The only title to avoid it is, the arguable "flagship"... Marvelous X-Men #5 just barely eked past 15k, shipping 15,488.  The other five books?  It's hardly even worth listing them... but, here we go... in alphabetical order, because why the hell not?  Amazing Nightcrawler #5 (14,549), Apocalypse & the X-Tracts #4 (14,030), Nextgen #5 (14,045), Prisoner X #4 (14,550), and X-Tremists #5 (14,202).  I warned ya that these numbers were gonna get depressing... at least I think I did... I feel like I started writing this like three days ago.  Altogerher, the AoXM books shipped 86,864 copies in June.

Here's the at-a-glance for the last month of books before the Krakoan Era!

In sum, the X-Titles shipped 397,340 copies between the 17 issues Marvel put out in June.

July!

Huh... well, there's a curious line graph, innit?  Wonder what might've happened in July, 2019?

Okay, so... let's get the big stuff outta the way.  This was the month that saw the launch of the two series that were one... or whatever they called it.  House of X and Powers of X is what I'm saying.  And, not only were they the top X-Books of the month... they were actually the top two comics overall for the month!  House of X #1 shipped 185,630 copies while Powers of X #1 shipped just a bit less, 167,840 copies.

Now, over to our unseated flagship... Uncanny X-Men.  Volume 5 wraps up with its two last issues.  Issue #21 shipped 47,931 copies, while the 22nd and final shipped 51,606 copies.  Man, remember when a volume of Uncanny lasted longer than 22 issues?  Yeah, me neither.

Ongoings and et-ceteras... we're definitely in dustbin mode here, just clearing the board.  Dead Man Logan enters the home stretch, #9 shipped 25,656 copies.  X-Force wraps up its fifth volume... issue #10 shipped 18,492 copies.  Ouch.  Domino: Hotshots mercifully ends its run, shipping 13,915 copies with its fifth and final ish.  Yeesh, give it another couple months, and it'd make those Shatterstar numbers look good!  Finally, and here's a weird one for ya... Marvel released a Giant-Size X-Statix #1, which sadly, only shipped 18,312 copies.  Still can't believe we're going to be seeing this series continue this coming February (2022) in The X-Cellent!

Last... and least, The Age of X-Man finally limps past the finish-line.  The last two issues of the remaining two minis did about as well as we'd expect.  Apocalypse & the X-Tracts #5 shipped 13,080, while Prisoner X #5 shipped 13,959.  The big wrap up in Age of X-Man: Omega #1 shipped 21,882 copies.  Ouch.  That's like less than half what Alpha shipped.  That must've stung a bit.

Anyway, here's the at-a-glance for the first month of our brave new era!

In sum, the X-Books shipped 578,303 copies between the 11 issues Marvel released in July.  That's... really not much of a surprise, is it?

-----

Let's go a bit deeper into the weeds, and take a look at a couple of items a bit more closely.  First, we'll study the trends of the flagship... then, we'll get to the unfortunate business of x-amining the ill-fated Age of X-Man crossovent.

We'll start with the flagship.  Uncanny X-Men shipped 15 issues during the first seven months of 2019.  In addition, there was an Annual, the Winter's End one-shot, and the War of the Realms three-part miniseries.  I've also included the first issues of House of X and Powers of X to this chart, as I suppose it supplanted the run as the "flagship" of the line for the few months that it ran.

As we can see, Uncanny was pretty good about holding firm.  It wasn't blowing up the charts by any means, but it wasn't necessarily bleeding readers either!  The one-shots, and minis probably benefitted from getting the "Uncanny" branding... though, I still feel like that's a pretty dirty trick from Marvel.  The Uncanny "family" shipped a total of 906,799 copies before HoXPoX set in.

Have you ever seen an uglier chart than this?  Can't really read the numbers on it, it's so jumbled... but, I mean - does it really matter?  Age of X-Man devolved into an arc that... very few people seemed to want.  And a reminder here... these numbers we're dealing with, as much as Marvel (and DC... and the rest) don't want us to realize... are the SHIPPED numbers.  These numbers do NOT account for how many copies actual people (that is, not poor retailers) traded actual money for.  Now, I missed out of Age of X-Man when it was coming out.  Ya know where I bought about 90% of my AoXM run?  Yup, 50¢ bins!  Sad numbers here.  Had these series' gone on another issue or two, I have very little doubt they'd have dipped into under 10k.

Welp, I think I've squeezed just about as much as I can out of the first half of 2019.  Data overload, plus (and especially) use of a wildly unresponsive blogging platform, have caused this piece to come out about a week and a half later than I'd hoped.  I thank you all for reading this far... if'n ya have.

I'm planning on future sales studies (month-by-month... nothing as grand as this), to appear at the X-Lapsed Patreon - again, not because I feel like they're all that special... I just don't think there's a whole lot of interest!  If I'm wrong, please let me know!