X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023 #1 kept me on the edge of my seat, and I can't wait to see what happens next for the mutants of Krakoa. Read Full Review

If you've ever read an X-Men comic, buy this comic. If you've never read an X-Men comic, buy this comic. If you've ever read literally anything, buy this comic. And if you can't read? Buy this comic and have someone read it to you. Read Full Review

THE DISPATCHIs Ms. Marvel a mutant? Is she Inhuman? What exactly is she? Well, youll find out in this year's X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023 #1. And trust me when I tell you, its no surprise to any longtime comic book fan. However, to any new recruit, since the MCU took hold and pumped out these streaming shows, this issue may be more of a shock to them. Nevertheless, if youre expecting that to be a big-time shock, youll be sorely mistaken. Because as you know, every year since the Hellfire Gala has been introduced, some type of new mutant innovation is always revealed to the world. And X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023 #1 is no different. However, I wont be the one to spoil that tidbit. Youll have to get the issue yourself to find out!!! Read Full Review

Game-changing superhero comics are few and far between, yet X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023 supersedes expectations and will blow you away. If you're a lover of the Krakoan era of making more mutants and the dream of a utopia, this issue will be a very hard pill to swallow, but it's hard to deny, with so much being shaken up in a single issue, that we're about to embark on an exciting new era that hasn't been this exciting since the dawn of the Krakoan age. Packed to the brim with action, intrigue, and intense drama, X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023 changes everything. Read Full Review

X-Men Hellfire Gala 2023 #1 makes the Red Wedding from Game of Thrones look like a family spat during the Holidays. The assault on Krakoa is massive, intricate, and effective. For once, it feels like there are true consequences of death for the mutants, something that's been missing since the start of the Krakoa era. It's impossible to guess where mutant-kind goes from here, but this just may be the shakeup the X-Office needed. Oh, this is also the comic where Ms. Marvel comes back to life, and it's as contrived and rushed as you could imagine. Read Full Review

It has forever been a part of storytelling that you heap a bunch of misery on your characters ahead of their eventual moment of triumph, but sometimes that misery can be too overwhelming. Read Full Review

X-Men: The Hellfire Gala is entertaining in its own ways, but its shock at this point has little emotional impact. It's been there. Done that. X-Men: The Hellfire Gala sets up an intriguing new direction for the X-Men to come. The idea of Wilson Fisk aiding the X-Men is intriguing. Nightcrawler's teased direction has potential. The direction for Ms. Marvel is far too clear (the comic isn't subtle in its foreshadowing). It returns the X-Men to their roots shifting them away from the benevolent gods of the past few years. Like Orchis, the comic delivers a swift brutal attack on the status quo for the line, leaving it in shatters and leaving lots of potential. Read Full Review

Hellfire Gala 2023 will certainly go down as the biggest game changer to the X-Men franchise since House of X and Powers of X. The actions by Orchis certainly elevated them to become the ultimate X-Men villains that you hope in the end our heroes can overcome and defeat. Though the events of the Mutant Massacre that took place at this year's Hellfire Gala will be something that it is key the X-Men creative teams fully tap into the potential of this latest direction of the franchise. If they don't than the questions as to why Duggan and Marvel decided to do this will grow and consume the X-Men franchise. Read Full Review

Four years after House of X and Powers of X revitalized the entire X-line, Hellfire Gala 2023 has extinguished any interest I still held in a truly dismal affair. Read Full Review

I loved every moment of this year’s Hellfire Gala. We have seen horrific things happen to the Mutants plenty before, but this felt like the culmination of every bad decision the Mutants have made since the beginning of the Krakoan era. The art was fantastic especially towards the end, and the writing is very solid throughout the issue. We also got a surprise new mutant that really is much of a surprise, but cool nevertheless. I’m excited to see what is born from the ashes of The Fall of X

WHOA.

I was not ready for what I just witnessed in X-MEN HELLFIRE GALA 2023 #1.

Ever since the Fall of X was first teased, the current (I guess now previous) Krakoa arc, Destiny of X, has been criticized for advancing the Krakoan narrative at a snail’s pace mixed with some off-the-wall stories across the various titles that were nothing more than a distraction from the main plot. It wasn’t until a handful of the most recent issues from the “Core 3” as I call them (X-MEN, X-MEN RED, and IMMORTAL X-MEN) where we got back to understanding more about ORCHIS’s plans for mutant destruction and the upcoming civil war on Arakko.

There is almost no way for me to talk about X-MEN HELLFIRE GALA 2023 #1 without giving away spoilers, so please be warned if you decide to read this article without having read the issue that was released today.

So what transpired at the third annual Hellfire Gala? How did the Fall of X kick-off? Beware, there are spoilers ahead…

The issue immediately kicks off with Kamala’s rebirth as an Inhuman AND mutant after her death in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #26. As she emerges from her resurrection egg, she’s greeted by Charles Xavier, Emma Frost, Cyclops, and members of the Five. The scene plays as a mix between true excitement from all sides, anxiety from Kamala of the unknown and fear of how her family will react, and nefarious chess-playing by Charles and Emma on how they can use Kamala as a PR pawn to gain sympathy from humans. After a quick introduction to Krakoa, Jumbo Carnation escorts her away to work his magic on a new costume and last-minute Hellfire Gala outfit (spoiler alert: it’s STUNNING).

A later scene begins to explain Kamala’s new normal and doesn’t immediately turn her into a full-fledged mutant…yet. We learn that because she was exposed to the Terrigen Mist before her mutant powers manifested, there is no way to know what those powers may be until they reveal themselves. Xavier informs Kamala that there’s no telling what may have had the order been reversed given the negative effects mature mutants have when exposed to the mist. We also see a cute exchange between Kamala and Rasputin IV, who was successfully indoctrinated to be a fan of Ms. Marvel in her future timeline thanks to Xavier’s planned charm offensive/propaganda.

Gerry Duggan does an admirable job writing Kamala’s scenes, resisting the urge to reuse Kamala’s worst trope of being a star-crossed superhero fan and focusing more on her cautious embrace of her new life and keeping her family at the forefront of her thoughts. If this were an entire comic dedicated to Ms. Marvel these scenes may not have been enough, but in an issue that includes so much story, Kamala’s scenes still stood out and I’m excited to see how her story progresses. Suffice it to say that the Kamala’s writing as a X-Man is off to a strong start.


Created by Krakoan architect Jonathan Hickman along with Valerio Schiti, two of Marvel’s G.O.D.S. make an appearance at this year’s Gala as previously teased. Wyn, a magician who has remained in the shadows for thousands of year, and Dmitri, a follower of science with his own secret plans, share an ominous warning with Magik before departing the festivities early.

It’s a very quick scene that only takes up a page, but it lays the groundwork for the rest of the issue. “Pride goeth before the fall,” as the saying goes and Wyn seems to know all to well what is about to happen to the X-Men who have achieved god-like status with all of their new technologies and tools.

As is tradition, the Hellfire Gala acts as a changing of the guard for the traditional X-Men team. This year’s fan vote saw Juggernaut elected to the team, along with Synch and Talon/Wolverine returning to lead the new team. Joining them to round out the new lineup are Frenzy, Jubilee, Cannonball, Prodigy, and Dazzler!

Celebrations are short lived however as ORCHI has other plans…

Without even skipping a beat, the celebration is cut short when Nimrod crashes the party on the page immediately after the new team is announced. Combined, the full page spread is one of the most jarring juxtapositions I have seen in comics and it marks a the turning point in Krakoan history.

After Nimrod’s first strike, more ORCHIS forces arrive, including Doctor Stasis, Karima Shapandar, Moira MacTaggert, Stark Sentinels, and a whole bunch of ORCHIS soldiers in the organization’s attempt eradicate mutants. The Krakoans don’t go easily though, putting up a valiant effort by some of the island nation’s strongest inhabitants. Ice Man and Jean Grey are just two of mutants who have heroic moments to shine as they attempt to fend of the intruders. It’s all in vain though, as ORCHIS enacts what can only be described as a “mutant massacre,” which may be putting it lightly. ORCHIS shows no mercy for anyone at the gala and we witness multiple X-Men and human deaths alike.

It’s weird to say that the villains get a time to shine here but oh boy does the creative team do an amazing job making you LOATHE every single member of ORCHIS who makes an appearance. They’re callous, they’re calculated, and they’re relentless in their goal of eliminating mutants from the face of the Earth. My only minor gripe is that Moira’s depiction teeters towards being a caricature of blood-thirsty revenge, though they have been building hers towards this mentality. I’m still not completely sold that this is who Moria would become but I’m willing to suspend some disbelief.

In a last ditch effort to save the remaining mutants, Charles Xavier surrenders and agrees to have every mutant on Earth walk through a Krakoan gate to an off-Earth destination. While he’s able to telepathically convince the majority of mutants to abide by these terms of surrender, a small few led by Emma Frost use Xavier’s own Red Triangle technique to resist the mandate and flee to the Hellfire Club’s original NY headquarters to regroup and put a plan in place to retake Krakoa.

Before her death, Jean is able to implant Firestar as an ORCHIS mole by altering Doctor Stasis’s memories. He’s made to believe that she’s been working with the organization since before she was elected to the X-Men during last year’s Hellfire Gala and even defends her against his co-conspirators who question why she’s still around. I’ve really enjoyed how they’ve used Firestar since her election and I’m glad she will continue to play a bigger role moving forward.

Xavier stays on Krakoa with his ORCHIS captors for what is meant to be his execution by Moira but is saved at the last minute by Rogue who flies him away. Their escape is interrupted when Xavier realizes he’s lost communication with every mutant who left Earth due to ORCHIS corrupting the gates beforehand.

X-MEN HELLFIRE GALA 2023 #1 provides readers with one of the most brutally intense acts of visual storytelling in recent memory. Page after page, scene after scene, and panel after panel are brimming with action and keep you at the edge of your seat.

Gerry Duggan wrote a masterpiece. The combined artistic talent of Adam Kubert, Luciano Vecchio, Russell Dauterman, Matteo Lolli, Javier Pina, R.B. Silva, Joshua Cassara, Kris Anka, and Pepe Larraz drew a masterpiece. I audibly gasped at multiple points throughout this issue due to collective talent of every person who worked on it. My mind was truly blown and I cannot wait to see how this all unfolds.

This is undeniably the most consequential issue since the initial HoX/PoX limited series when Krakoa began. It’s ramifications have the potential to impact the entire Marvel comic book universe for years to come.

Rating: 10/10 more

It was a great event, the story remains with you in the end. Shocking and emotionally relevant.

Dang. I didnt see that coming.

Orchis... you got whats coming for you. Remember this day.

Wow, i wasnt expecting this. This was great. A big plot with good writing. Its great, really.
And, of course, R.B. Silva and Pepe Larraz.

On one hand, it's a drastic shift that feels like I could be the beginning of the end. On the other hand it was great to see such bold step in the story.

I didn’t expect to like this. I feel like the X-Men books have been dragging, but this was pretty epic. Perfect? No, but overall it was interesting. I get the complaints that, once again, the mutants were all killed, but I still liked it.

https://youtu.be/Q0k7KqbvT9M

Full Week Reviews in Link!

This really felt like a hard turning point in the Krakoa era, which is exactly what this was going for, in my opinion. With this year's Hellfire Gala, we see the beginning the newest phase of the aforementioned era: Fall of X. While I do understand where some of the criticisms for this new phase and for this issue stem from, I don't think they're entirely warranted quite yet. I think we still need to wait and see how all of this ends before complaining that Marvel is just doing what they always do with the mutants, in that they have them rise to power, fall to their lowest, rise up again, fall down again, etc. I have faith that Fall of X won't be about the end of Krakoa, but that Fall of X will actually mean Fall of Xavier, as I've see other people theorize. Or, maybe I'll end up being wrong. We'll just have to wait and see. Either way, while a bit crammed at times, I thought this was a fairly well-written issue that introduces a lot of ideas that will affect the X-books as Fall of X begins. I'm very intrigued to see how everything develops for Krakoa and the mutants going forward. more

Very compelling, but somehow missing that special something. I have to take off points for
-what happened to Jean (abandon the trope already)
-the continued vilification of Xavier (also tropey)
-Moira's unearned heel turn which is still incredibly unbelievable

Those who had Xavier's psychic training mostly didn't make a lick of sense. Emma Frost and Lourdes Chantel using Xavier's technique?

R
E S
I S T

I really don't care for Ms. Marvel as a mutant either-- there are so many mutants screaming for page space and she has her own niche; she doesn't need the X-Men and they don't need her.

Off with another BANG

I think this is one of the few modern X-men issues or stories I actually enjoyed

This has spectacle, drama and awesome art to make it worth the extra money so Kudos to Gerry Duggan and all the fantastic artists. It sits up there with HOX/POX and Planet-X along with Immortal/Red as high points. But this issue is a series of whiplash acts coming out of the last 2 years where things advanced at a snails pace so the amped up level is just not registering correctly for me. I wish the X office hasn't delayed and slowed things unnecessarily so we had a better landing for Fall of X but hey it is what it is. The Ms. Marvel stuff is still a bitter pill to swallow along with Moira's character destruction are problems and matters not handled well. This issue works as well as it did because the artists from Larraz/RB.Silva/Vecchio/Cassara/Pina/Anka/Dauterman/Lolli/Kubert along with colorists have delivered amazing art. I only care about Immortal and Red and those are the only titles I will continue to follow because of creators. If those go then I will too because mutants massacred then returning to being feared and outlawed has been done to death. more

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• Out of Gluck

Out of Gluck - Aug 1, 2023

Well said.

Kalaoui - Aug 2, 2023

Thanks man! I liked what you said about the issues with the psychic resistance angle because I'm not apt to remember all of the X-history of who trained with whom. Sometimes I'm glad I forget stuff :-)

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Don't at all like Ms. Marvel as a mutant.

Some things didn't add up like the practitioners of the Red Triangle Protocol.

Plausible practitioners of the Red Triangle Protocol

Angel
Nightcrawler
Shadowcat
Wolverine
Bishop
Forge
Gambit

Probably Not

Emma Frost (She would have her own defense; it was designed to withstand her in the first place)
Rasputin IV (if this technique survived generations)
Monet (never a student of Xavier; would use an Emma technique)
Synch (nevert a student of Xavier; would use an Emma technique but maybe learned from Jean)
Kwannon (never a student of Xavier)
Northstar (never a student of Xavier)
Aurora (never a student of Xavier; also a very fragile psyche)


No Way

Ms. Marvel - absolutely 100% implausible
Daken
Lourdes Chantel (trained by Emma if anyone, definitely not Xavier)
Talon more

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• Kalaoui
• Out of Gluck

Out of Gluck - Aug 1, 2023

Never mind Magik and Mirage who were both trained by Xavier. If Sunspot knows Red Triangle, they do, and both have formidable psyches. Those who knew Red Triangle didn't seem well thought out.

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After the beginning of the Krakoa era offered us something exciting and fresh for a concept that had become played out and repetitive, the end dutifully returns us to business as usual. Mutants are outcasts, there's another horrific mutant massacre, and — descending into self-parody — Jean Grey is dead yet again. Welcome to superhero comics where nothing is ever allowed to be new for long. Perhaps this will be more compelling in the hands of the line's more interesting writers, but here it's just a soulless fight scene desperately begging you to call it "epic"

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Psycamorean - Jul 28, 2023

Is this supposed to be the end of the Krakoa era? Nothing I've seen suggest it's the actual ending, but just the next shift in the larger Krakoan status quo,

KittyNone - Jul 28, 2023

It certainly feels like an ending, though I'll grant that the backdoor they left themselves to bring everyone back is pretty clearly signposted. I stand by my criticisms regardless of whether there's more Krakoa and this isn't much more than spectacle or whether the next phase is something else

Psycamorean - Jul 28, 2023

It could be spectacle. I mean, that's typically what the Hellfire Gala is supposed to be. But I feel like a lot of these criticisms come from the assumption that this is the end, and these things will not be more or less reversed, not in a retcon down the line, but as part of the story that's currently being told.

Psycamorean - Jul 28, 2023 (edited)

To me, this screams "Act Two", and continues the tradition of Krakoa, which is familiar concepts recontextualized.

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I just read the Sins of Sinister issues and this, to me, doesn't hold up. This feels like deus ex machina, forced. This didn't feel like an especially insightful strategy and for all the bureaucracy of Krakoa, there was never any contingency for this? I'll just make a list:
1. In Sins of Sinister, Juggernaut is shot through Thanos' head. Now, in an equivalent maneuver, he cannot break a robot.
2. Orchis magically hacks the entire gate system and Charles doesn't think twice about sending everyone through there?
3. Orchis publishes fake news showing that all the humans were killed, why doesn't Charles implant what he saw into people's minds to show otherwise?
4. Most importantly, weren't Charles and Hope and Exodus 'tainted' by Sinister's genes and put into the hole in Krakoa? So how are they back now?

This was a frustrating read more

Thought I'd read this as part of the X-Men come back for me and immediately I'm like alright I'm out again. It's crazy how bad marvel fumbled the bag with this era that Hickman set up. I understand that they wanted to stay in the krakoa era longer than intended, but everything Hickman set up feels like it's completely buried or wasn't followed up in a satisfying way since he left. It feels like he gave them notes and the writers just took them way too literally or just used them as a guide instead of the natural story. Moira is out of character; this fall of X doesn't feel deserved even though the krakoa era was extended longer than intended. It just feels SO rushed. It's such a shame because if you re read all the Hickman stuff and some of the Gillen stuff, you can see grand ideas, but it feels like those are being shelved for essentially the extinction storyline again. Before people say ya but they can bring them back and itll be different, EVERYONE knows that. It's just why waste time with the extinction storyline yet AGAIN when we already know the outcome. Remember when Hickman's tagline when he came on was evolution. This book just shows how everything with the X-Men will always come back to them being put down to near extinction. Seeing Krakoa be an actual nation and powerful was the premise that should have been the status quo for at least 10 years; but here we are where the mutants are at their worst yet again. And they'll save themselves yet again, and they'll be brought down yet again. It's just exhausting to me more

meh.

I feel that it is too convenient, in other hellfire gala there were many heroes, while in this gala it was only the avengers. And although I can believe that they left because the Krakoa captain attacked the United States.

I don't understand why there weren't more heroes at the gala. it feels very convenient and anticlimactic. that without counting that orchis easily defeated the entire nation. I understand that they wanted to present this stage at the gala but the way to do it can be improved

Here we go again. There can be no progress in comics, the status quo must prevail. So another massacre provides the reset.

I'm getting pretty tired of reading what is essentially the same storyline over and over when it comes to X-Men comics. I'm a longtime X-Men fan and I absolutely love the characters -- and always will. I still read the comics because I still love the characters but the storylines are getting to be so insanely repetitive.

Another mutant genocide? Just another day in the office for the X-Men. Because we've seen it so much, the word "genocide" doesn't have the same weight that it definitely should. House of X, Genosha, the OG Mutant Massacre, Inhumans v. X-Men -- they're all fundamentally the same. I feel like the authors just pop in another "genocide" storyline when they don't know what else to write about. Other comics have interesting, heart-felt storylines that don't revolve around an entire population suddenly dying. I feel like that's not too much to ask for, right? Just some decent characterization instead of cheap gimmicks?

And don't even get me started on Jean's death. Why do they keep killing this woman? Hasn't she died enough at this point? Instead of making her a symbolic, overly righteous martyr, can we get back to making her a real person? She's a complex character, with both light and dark inside of her yet we haven't seen that characterization in YEARS. She's just there to act as this (in Emma's words) sacrificial cow to serve the writers' death-fueled desires. It's ridiculous and sad. She deserves more than this.

I will say, the art in this issue is beautiful and deserves kudos. That's mostly why I'm not giving it a worse rating. I really wouldn't recommend this comic or any other X-Men comics for the time being. Powers of X really reset things for the X-Men and it made me excited to read them again. But they've just changed the setting without changing the story. You can read any X-Men comic from the last ten years and it'll be pretty close to the stuff coming out today. I really hope that things change but I'm wary that they will. I guess we'll just have to see if Marvel can find some writers who are more creative and actually want to make something out of these characters. Until then, it'll just be bloodbath after bloodbath.

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Let me be very clear on what kind of X-men fan I am: I love most of Krakoa era comics and I think Tini Howard is one hell of a great writer.

That said, this issue is just horrible. Duggan dropped some good ideas on previous comics that go nowhere, while at the same time failing to proper introduce the reader to whatever is going on in this packed issue. And his more political attempts never land - on the contrary, they are consistently poor. Duggan was always the weakest link of the Krakoan comics. But of course marvel editorial and their one huge event every six months mandate can never help.