Immortal X-Men #3
As Destiny has a multitude of visions, Mystique’s perfidy is revealed to the Quiet Council in Immortal X-Men #3, by writer Kieron Gillen, artist Lucas Werneck, colorist Dijjo Lima, and letterer Clayton Cowles. Gillen pulls a Hickman in this issue but does it in his own inimitable way.
This one is simple to summarize. Destiny is having a vision fit, both thinking back to when she met Mystique and how their life, along with her first death, enabled Krakoa and seeing a variety of futures. As that’s happening, the Quiet Council meets to tell Hope the island’s secrets, which brings up the Cerebro helmet Hope got from Mystique posing as Xavier, which leads to Sinister revealing he gave Destiny’s DNA to Mystique posing as Magneto. Before all hell breaks loose, Destiny arrives with a warning about the future, diverting fire from her wife. Later, she begins writing her visions, knowing the heartbreak of the future.
Gillen gives this issue a House Of X #2 feel, in that it deals with multiple futures in a way. However, he does it mostly with the writing because he doesn’t have the page count to show each one. Readers only get to see one, but that one is definitely interesting, and it leads to Destiny learning why all of her visions are ending the way they do–Sinister cloned Moira. This little bit of knowledge and the power it gives her inform her actions later in the comic.
All of that is great, but what really makes this comic sing is Destiny thinking about her and Mystique. Mystique was Destiny’s first nexus, and coming out of the closet and loving her changed Destiny’s life forever. It gives the book an emotional core that House Of X #2 never really had; Mystique and Destiny’s love is the most important element in her life, and it even laid the seeds for Krakoa, as Destiny allowed herself to die so she and Mystique wouldn’t kill Moira. Gillen once again kills it with this issue, something that is becoming common in this book.
Werneck and Lima are still a great art team. Werneck’s figure work is so good, and his character acting is on point, something that is very important for the Destiny and Mystique scenes. The last page is a heartbreaker, as Destiny reveals the one thing all of her visions have in common, and his pencils wonderfully capture the moment. Lima’s colors are pitch-perfect for his pencils and really make them that much better.
Immortal X-Men #3 is fantastic. Gillen does an HoX #2 riff but invests it with heart that the original doesn’t have. It works wonderfully for the story and shows the many futures of Krakoa. Werneck and Lima make a wonderful art team with some great standout pages. Immortal X-Men continues to dominate the X-books when it comes to quality.
