R.B. Silva

I kept hearing this was a great place to get back into X-Men.

It's a bloated, empty mess that could have told the entire story in three issues rather than 12. There's no characters to latch on to or even care about. Moira was the biggest character but I learned nothing about her.

Also, there were several points where whole multi-page scenes were recreated exactly which rubbed me the wrong way considering how much money individual issues of comics cost and how short they are. I would have gone back and asked for my money back after reading the exact same 6 page scene twice.

There were a few things I liked and I think the reboot and Krakoa are great, I love the concept. But this was just so many pages of boring blandness.

The art was amazing though.
… (mere)

4.5 stars rounded up

What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said? It's incredible. It's epic in the truest sense of the word. It's groundbreaking and completely changes everything we know about and expect from X-Books.

So why not 5 stars? My one issue with it is the disconnect between the rhetoric and the reality around the Krakoan Language.

In universe, the characters talk about it as a brand new, autochthonous language for and by the Mutant Nation. Necessary for and foundational to building a unique and wholly mutant culture. And that makes a ton of sense! Our language shapes our reality. It shapes our perception and our culture in uncountable and subtle ways. The people who speak a language that doesn't have a word for something, can't ever totally grasp the existence of that thing. This is a pretty fundamental concept of comparative linguistics. And I was so excited to see a mutant language developed!

But then. Every actual use of the Krakoan alphabet we see on the page is just a simple substitution cipher for English. It's not a language. It's barely even an alphabet. It's just obfuscated English and that was a huge letdown.

It's very anglo-centric and kinda lazy... although I'll concede that comics do not lend themselves to extensive subtitles (the way a TV show or movie does, and how we got the full language of Klingon from Star Trek) nor do they lend themselves to extensive appendices (the way novels do, and how we got the full language of Elvish from Tolkien).

I'll also concede that the readership for "Cipher's Linguistic Adventures: The Krakoan Language Story" probably wouldn't be particularly large... But I would love it, and I'm sad that instead we got a substitution cipher for English masquerading as a "new and unique Mutant Language"… (mere)

I'm not sure how to feel about this one. On its own, the story is fine, and the outcome has been inevitable forever, and I'm really hoping they explore what that inevitability is going to mean for all of them. Especially Bobby and Jean. But also Warren and Scott and to a lesser extent Hank.

But also, having another "highlights from different eras" story arc immediately after the Mojo Worldwide one was... repetitive and made most of this story feel stale and boring.

And, just as a general rule? Goyishe writers really need to stop pretending they know how Jewish characters relate to God and how "forgiveness" from God works in Judaism. Because Magneto talking about God not forgiving him for something was just ridiculous and clearly Christian-washing with no understanding of how Judaism works.… (mere)