Immoral X-Men #2
Krakoa is ascendant a hundred years in the future, but not everyone is happy in Immoral X-Men #2, by writer Kieron Gillen, artist Andrea Di Vito, colorist Jim Charalampidis, and letterer Clayton Cowles. This issue is full of surprises, taking readers on a ride from start to finish.
In the Year One Hundred, the Krakoan fleet, led by Hope and Exodus, battles the final armies of the Kree/Skrull alliance. They tear through their forces, with Exodus and Hope both taking the battlefield, using Chimera-based weapons to destroy the final resistance to their rule. In Earth Orbit, Sinister and the Quiet Council prepare their newest ship and its captain - Rasputin IV. Sinister promises them that Rasputin will be the perfect captain, spreading Krakoa’s rule throughout the universe. In his quarters, he’s met by Mother Righteous, who not only tells him the secret of Nathaniel Essex and why each of the Sinisters was trying to become a Dominion, but also gives him a book of secrets. On another mission, Hope is sent to the surface of a world to destroy it like she did the last one, but it’s a trick - the Quiet Council has decided that the former mutant messiah is more useful as a dead martyr than a living general, with Exodus presiding over her death. At the station, Sinister tells Rasputin that they must leave, that Krakoa is evil, and they have to find his Moira Machine to undo it all. They escape, ready to search the cosmos for salvation.
This is an excellent comic from start to finish, but it also shows the weaknesses of Sins of Sinister. Readers are thrown into these really great books, but each issue takes place so long from the last. As much as readers would like to spend time with the characters and situations, they only have one issue. So, while Gillen does an amazing job setting things up and paying them off in this issue, it leaves the reader wanting more. So many of the cool moments of SoS have been snapshots of things that would be better expanded upon. In some ways, it’s a huge problem with the way the story is structured. This is a wonderful story, but it too often feels like a tease.
Gillen does a brilliant job of giving readers exciting action and smart plot twists, and he definitely sells the premise. It’s interesting to see Sinister in this time period. He’s come to realize the mistake he’s made, and instead of playing the cheerful psycho who always has a plan hidden beneath it all, Gillen plays Sinister serious and regretful. It’s a huge change, and it works well. Seeing Rasputin is always cool, but that’s another problem with this story - this is basically just a tease. The chances that Rasputin will stay around after SoS are pretty small. This is a well-done issue, but there’s something that’s so very hollow about it at the center, like the rest of these SoS chapters.
Di Vito and Charalampidis give the issue some great art. Di Vito has long been a penciler who’s flown beneath the radar, but the work speaks for itself. His figure work is always perfect, his backgrounds are on point, and his action is always dynamic. This issue is no different, as everything, from the outer space stuff to the character acting, looks amazing. Spaceships are one of those areas where many an artist whiff it, but Di Vito doesn’t. Charalampidis’s colors make the whole thing pop.
Immoral X-Men #2 is pretty good, but it ultimately doesn’t matter. The nature of this story means that nothing that happens in this issue is going to stick, so it’s hard to really get invested in any of it. It’s very well done and entertaining, though, so that makes up for the yawning emptiness at its center.