Immortal X-Men

''Immortal X-Men'' is an American superhero comic book series written by Kieron Gillen and published by Marvel Comics, which followed the Quiet Council of Krakoa during the Krakoan Age.

Publication history

Writer-editor Jonathan Hickman and artist/co-plotter Pepe Larraz created the Quiet Council of Krakoa in ''House of X'' #6 (October 2019). The Council appeared in many comics in the Dawn of X and Reign of X relaunches, creating and enforcing the laws of Krakoa; prosecuting and delivering judgement on mutants accused of breaking those laws.

In March 2022, the council headlined ''Immortal X-Men'' as part of the Destiny of X relaunch. The series also served continuation of ''Inferno'' (vol. 2). It was written by Kieron Gillen and drawn by Lucas Werneck, building plot points for the event ''Sins of Sinister''. After being briefly transformed into the ''Immoral X-Men'' limited series during the event, Immortal X-Men continued from issue #11.

The series then continued during the Fall of X phase which started with third annual Hellfire Gala (July 2023) event; during this event, the nation of Krakoa was destroyed in a multi-prong attack by Orchis which seemingly killed most of the populace. Gillen explained that the "Quiet Council was ruined" by the end of issue #13 but the events of the Hellfire Gala prevent them from announcing their mistakes. During the Fall of X phase, Gillen wanted to continue following the thread of it being "too late" for the Quiet Council to confess or recover from the problems they created – "that's what the book is about; failure of leadership. It's about these 12 people collapsing in on themselves". He highlighted the tensions between Xavier, Shaw, and Selene as "half the plot" and

Then there's this whole separate plot about, "What does leadership mean, and can we have a better form of it? What is government? What do we owe each other? Why do we protect each other?"

In December 2023, Issue #18 concluded the series. The four issue limited series ''X-Men: Forever'' (March – May 2024) by Gillen and artist Luca Maresca continues the narrative of ''Immortal X-Men'' and resolves lingering questions. When these issues were collected as a trade paperback, it was released as the fifth ''Immortal X-Men'' volume. Gillen commented that the ''X-Men: The Wedding Special'' (May 2024) "is set between the incoming and outgoing administrations – I'm both giving a little after credit scene to my ''Immortal X-Men'' stories, and setting up what's coming next".

In July 2024, as part of the '' X-Men: From the Ashes'' relaunch, a new version of the Quiet Council debuted in ''NYX'' (vol. 2) #1. This iteration appeared in New York City and consisted of The Krakoan (formally Hellion), Empath and four of the Stepford Cuckoos.

Fictional team biography

Dawn & Reign of X

During the events of House of X, Moira MacTaggert (mutant with ability to be reborn with knowledge of her previous lives) propelled Professor X and Magneto to create the island of Krakoa into the sovereign homeland for mutants. They designed the Quiet Council and Moira kept herself as hidden partner. She used her memories of how mutant nations failed in other timelines to not repeat the same mistakes.

Unlike previous mutant nations of Genosha and Utopia, Krakoa invested heavily in developing and exporting medicine to the humans. Professor X and Magneto invited White Queen to join the council, along with her fellow Hellfire Club member Black King to facilitate Krakoa's economic activity. As per deal to join, White Queen also reserved the right to recruit a council member. White Queen requested Kate Pryde for the position of Red Queen. After accepting her offer, Kate took initially undetermined seat in the council, where she oversaw the Marauders’ efforts to rescue mutants who cannot freely travel to Krakoa.

Apocalypse also took his place among the council after promising to obey Krakoan law when Krakoa offered citizenship and amnesty to all of the world’s mutants.

The Quiet Council assembled for the first time after Krakoa’s recognition by United Nations to govern the mutant nation; establish and interpret its laws; and determine its official policies on a broad range of topics. The council established the three laws that govern the nation: do not harm humans, respect the sacred land of Krakoa, and make more mutants. After being judged by the council, any mutant guilty of breaking those laws is to be sent to the Pit of Exile and held in a stasis deep within the island. Sabretooth was found guilty of killing humans and was made an example by the council after being thrown into the Pit.

The council also sanctioned several groups like S.W.O.R.D.; the intelligence-gathering team X-Force; the mutant investigations team X-Factor; and the Hellions, a team of potentially dangerous and problem-causing mutants overseen by Mister Sinister.

The council also voted not to resurrect many individuals who were not considered separate individuals due to being clones. This decision was overturned when the Five (mutants involved in Krakoa’s resurrection process) petitioned after unsanctioned resurrection of Wolverine's clone Gabby Kinney.

At the end of X of Swords event, Marvel Girl left the council to reform the X-Men, needing to act without council's politics. Apocalypse left both Krakoa and the council to join his family in the Amenth but it also brought Arakko and its mutants to the Earth. The council voted to approve Magneto’s plans to terraform Mars into the mutant majority planet to give them a permanent home, while also declaring it the capital of the Solar System.

As a result, the precognitive mutant Destiny took over Apocalypse's seat on the council while Colossus took over Marvel Girl's seat.

After Mystique resurrected her wife Destiny against Moira’s wishes, Professor X and Magneto revealed their relationship with Moira to White Queen, who felt betrayed. Mystique subsequently attacked and depowered Moira so she went on the run and started working against Krakoa. Although Moira’s role in Krakoa’s founding was kept hidden but the rest of the council learned about her involvement from White Queen.

Destiny of X

Magneto retired from the council to Arakko. After voting, Hope Summers took over Magneto’s seat on the council so that she could represent the interests of the Five. Black Priestess, who was outvoted by Hope created a giant monster. The council successfully managed to kill Black Priestess, defeating the monster.

White Queen informed the council about Doctor Statis, Mister Sinister's clone claiming to be the real Sinister, causing Mister Sinister to flee only to be captured briefly by Eternals. While Destiny informed them about upcoming conflict between the Avengers, X-Men and Eternals.

During the events of A.X.E.: Judgment Day, the secret of mutant resurrection went public and as expected the Eternals launched an attack on Krakoa. Eternals were eventually retreated from battle by Progenitor, who addressed that people of Earth will be judged. Red Queen and Exodus were judged positively while other council members were not judged or received receive negative judgment. As this event led to the creation of a destructive Celestial called the Progenitor, members of the council fought alongside the Avengers, X-Men, Eternals and even with anti-mutant organisation Orchis.

Team roster

The Quiet Council of Krakoa consisted of four tables named for the four seasons, along with an adjunct section:
* The Autumn table consisted of the most influential mutant leaders, including those who oversaw mutant-human relations.
* The Winter table consisted of the most radical and amoral mutants. Professor X and Magneto believed these mutants could create problems for Krakoa so they put them on the council to keep a close watch.
* The Spring table consisted members of Hellfire Trading Company, which oversaw the official and illicit distribution of Krakoan medicine as well as the imports/exports.
* To balance out the Winter table's influence, the Summer table consisted of the X-Men to represent Krakoa’s most fair-minded mutants.
* Adjunct seats consisted of non-voting members on the council, who represented the interests of the island itself.

Other candidates

Potential candidates for the Quiet Council:

* Abigail Brand
* Angel (Warren Worthington)
* Beast (Hank McCoy)
* Black Bishop (Shinobi Shaw)
* Cyclops (Scott Summers)
* Gorgon (Tomi Shishido)
* Legion (David Haller)
* Lodus Logos
* Namor
* Peepers (Peter Quinn)
* Penance (Monet St. Croix)
* Sobunar of the Depths
* Vulcan (Gabriel Summers)
* Xilo the First Defender

Reception

According to review aggregation website Comic Book Roundup, ''Immortal X-Men'' received an average rating of 8.7 out of 10 based on 133 critics review. Many times, it had also been compared to A Game of Thrones. In 2022, ''Immortal X-Men'' won the IGN's Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel as well as Dragon Awards for Best Comic Book. It was also nominated for the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book at the 34th GLAAD Media Awards.

In 2023, '' CBR'' ranked ''Immortal X-Men'' 2nd in their "Top 100 Comics of 2022" list. The series won ''ComicBook.com'''s Golden Issue for "best ongoing comic book of 2023". Timothy Adams of ''ComicBook.com'' stated that "artist Lucas Werneck jumped to another level while illustrating ''Immortal X-Men''. Werneck masterfully balanced emotional beats with hard-hitting action set pieces, with writer Kieron Gillen also creating some of his most impactful work at Marvel. It's not easy following Jonathan Hickman and everything he set up during his time on the X-Men franchise, but Gillen more than held his own and took a lot of Hickman's ideas and both utilized them and added his own special flare to Marvel's merry mutants. .. Each X-Man's time in the spotlight has felt warranted and earned, which is all you can ask for when dealing with a cast this large".

Following the release of the final issue, Jamie Lovett of ''ComicBook.com'' highlighted that "for its final act, Gillen took ''Immortal X-Men'' in an eschatological direction, treating the 'Fall of X' like mutantkind's Biblical last days". Lovett commented that it features "the always killer artwork of Juan José Ryp not to be missed".

Collected editions

References

{{X-Comics
Comic book series
X-Men titles