Maresca delivers some powerful art throughout the issue and I love the immersive feel of every moment brilliantly complemented by Blees colors. Read Full Review

In addition,X-Men Forever #1satisfactorily fills in the crucial details left unanswered inThe Rise of the Powers of X. Instead of simply solving, Gillen bridges the gap between his two series as he showcases the decisions and choices made by the characters, which leads toThe Rise of the Powers of X. The mys Read Full Review

X-Men Forever #1 is the beginning of a carefully crafted coda to both the Krakoan Age of X-Men as well as Kieron Gillen's run with the mutant heroes. They say all good things must come to an end, but Gillen seems determined to make that end worthwhile. Read Full Review

X-Men Forever #1 finally answers some questions to the reader that will provide needed insight into what is going on. Read Full Review

Immortal X-Men was one of the highlights of the latter half of the Krakoan era. X-Men: Forever continues its narrative, but trying to service the scale of the "Fall of X" meta-narrative means sacrificing some of the sharp focus on character that made Immortal captivating. Read Full Review

Timing is everything, especially with the story going on in Fall of the House of X and Rise of the Powers of X crossover. X-Men: Forever #1 is an example of how timing can impact a story. If this comic book was released a month earlier, its intent would've strengthened the story in the latest X-Men crossover. But because it was released now the story that X-Men: Forever #1 largely focuses on is a giant swing-and-miss. Hopefully future issues of X-Men: Forever will focus on the plot beats that were most effective in this series debut. Read Full Review

As a big fan of Immortal X-Men, it was good to see us getting that series back. (I know it's a different series in name, but that's essentially what this is)

Immortal X-Men Redux is what this is. It's much needed to follow Rise of Powers of X but this could have been part of that book. Maresca on art was very nice.

Gillen does a decent job reveling how things have come to play but I found that I've lost my interest. I loved Gillen's Immortal run but I feel the story has just become so complex and the Krakoa era's become so over bloated that this final rush to the finish of stories just has me eager for a new era for the X-Men.

Gillen's work is still the highlight of the line and a breath of fresh air compared to Dugan's issues.

I feel like this was really oddly placed in terms of its release date. I agree with what Derby stated in their review, in that this would have likely been more effective had it come before Gillen's Rise of the Powers of X miniseries and even Steve Foxe's Dead X-Men miniseries. There were a couple of stronger moments, such as Charles finding out the missing mutants were still alive and when Destiny realizes Mystique is reading the book. However, I did also think this felt a bit crammed at times and I also wasn't incredibly invested in what was going on. Hopefully things pick up with the next issue, as I know Gillen can be a great writer and I really enjoyed the majority of his previous Immortal X-Men series.

Art: 3.5/5
Story: 3/5
Total: 6.5/10

X-Men Forever #1is a missed opportunity that reads more like a cynical attempt to squeeze a few extra bucks out of the Krakoan finale when most readers are already losing interest in given the haphazard handling of core characters and storylines.

This issue would have felt more natural as the final few Immortal X-Men issues or a Rise of the Powers of X #0 opening salvo. Instead, we're left with a fragmented narrative that feels disjointed & pointless given how much we already know about certain characters' situations in future timelines & how few answers to questions that matter we actually receive. Was anyone really clamoring for an answer to know why Mother Righteous was working with Xavier? I sure wasn’t

Kieron Gillen's script spends a lot of time on Mother Righteous' backstory to answer that exact question. Now, if there is one Krakoan Era character who I never need to see more of, and who is likely never showing back up again anytime soon, it's Mother Righteous. Her schtick got old fast. The decision to spend so much time with her is especially frustrating considering the issue then jumps ahead quite a bit after Xavier enlists her, leaving plenty of plot holes remaining which could have made for a much more interesting & engaging story.

Adding to my frustrations, the story we got made the main cover art feel like a complete bait and switch. Jean/Phoenix played an extremely minor role when you would have expected her to be the core character if you picked up the book based on the cover. Hopefully the remaining three issue in this miniseries can quickly recover because right now I’d rather forever be over. more

(Cover Date: May, 2024)