Cyclops declares war.
A fan-favorite mutant returns only to be the first victim of a plague as a new Inhuman is born.
Death of X #1 is here with a twist.
After months of speculation about the fate of Cyclops, the dead mutant is not who I was expecting and leaves X-fans with burning questions as we march to IVX: Inhumans vs. X-Men.
With Death of X, writers Jeff Lemire and Charles Soule reveal what happened in the eight months following the end of Secret Wars and the beginning of the All-New, All-Different Marvel Now. In Lemire’s Extraordinary X-Men, we learned the Terrigen Mists were deadly to mutants, Storm’s team rescued mutants from the toxic clouds and took them to X-Haven in Limbo. Beast was allied with Medusa in Soule’s Uncanny Inhumans searching for a cure. Storm, Beast, Medusa and others referred the death of Cyclops after he attacked the Inhumans. No one has mentioned his former lover and co-leader Emma Frost.
The new four-part limited series finally reveals what happened in those missing months, promises to show what happened to Scott and Emma, and set the stage for IvX.
Before we break down this week’s shocking first chapter and our burning questions here’s a SPOILER ALERT!
If you have not read Death of X #1 yet stop reading now.
Seriously.
OK.
Here it comes.
In a tale of new teams on two islands, we see death and rebirth as Terrigen stalks the globe.
Cyclops and his team (Emma, Iceman, Magik, Goldballs, Stepford Cuckoos) are the first to discover the deadly impact of Terrigen and find its first victim. They’re answering a distress call from Jamie Madrox on Muir Island. The creative team paint an intense frightening scene as the mutants land on the mist covered island unaware of the danger when the find a bloody body covered in boils, then go over a hill to find a valley of corpses. Duplicates of Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man lay out like a mass grave. The original Jamie warns Scott that the Terrigen Mist did this before he dies in his arms. Knowing they’re all exposed, Scott and Emma send to team to the Blackbird while they go back in the lab to call Beast for help. Cyclops collapses but recovers.
You may remember back in Jonathan Hickman’s Infinity, Black Bolt set off the Terrigen Bomb and destroyed Attilan in his battle with Thanos. The controlled ritual of Terrigenesis (where young Inhumans were exposed to the Terrigen Crystals to unlock their potential and transform) was suddenly a massive floating cloud affecting any human with Inhuman DNA inside.
A furious Cyclops blames the Inhumans for unleashing this threat and not warning the mutants. Scott vows to protect his people.
On the other side of the world, Crystal’s Uncanny Inhumans (Gorgon, Flint, Naja, Iso, Grid) fly to Japan justs as the Mist begins to envelope a town. One massive cocoon is formed. Crystal’s team fights off a Hydra squad from seizing the unborn NuHuman. Crystal welcomes the powerful new Inhuman and declares how they will protect their own no matter what.
Cyclops is angry. He’s justified.
Sentinels. The Legacy Virus, M-Day/Decimation.
Mutants have survived all-out assaults from enemies human, robotic and genetic. Scott is a controversial leader but look what he’s seen happen to his people? After averting extinction so many times before, how could he accept mutants being wiped out to make way for the rise of another race? Yes, I’m a “Cyke Was Right” believer.
Here are the big burning questions:
Did Black Bolt or other Royal Family members know of the threat to mutants from Terrigen?
If so, why didn’t they warn the mutants or are they prepared to let mutants die or leave the planet in order to reach Black Bolt’s endgame?
Why Madrox? When we last saw Jamie he was living a happy quiet life on a farm with Layla Miller in Peter David’s X-Factor finale. Why would Jamie return to Muir Island? Did Jamie and Laylay break up? Too bad we can’t ask Layla since she “knows stuff.”
Will Jamie’s death mean a reunion of the cast of X-Factor like Banshee, Longshot, Strong Guy, Rictor and Shatterstar? Monet is part of Magneto’s Uncanny X-Men team but has not referenced Jamie’s death – does she know?
Who else knows about the tragedy on Muir Island? Was it covered up?
In Extraordinary X-Men, Mister Sinister appeared to have Scott’s dead body– is it really him?
Iceman is now with Storm’s team but what about Goldballs (Fabio) and the Cuckoos? Are they victims of the Mist?
Where’s Emma Frost? No one has even mentioned Emma in any X-book. Did she die with Scott, did she escape, is she plotting revenge or a strategy to save mutants that will play in this series of IVX?
Remember Son of M? When Scarlet Witch declared, “No More Mutants” her brother stolen Terrigen Crystals in an effort to save re-power de-powered mutants. (Quicksilver was once married to Crystal and they have a daughter so that’s how he knew the Inhuman secrets.) Exposure to the Crystals didn’t work then. Since then Pietro and Wanda learned they are not mutants or Magneto’s children but instead products of the High Evolutionary’s experiments. Could one of the twins’ DNA or Luna (Crystal and Pietro’s) daughter hold a genetic secret to saving mutants?
Death of X continues with three more issues before IVX begins.
By Editor