X-Men: Forever #4 may be the most essential issue of the Fall of X era. Read Full Review

Hope is lost, or Hope has taken on the shape of something new and unexpected: that is the charge of X-Men Forever #4. Beautiful art and teary reunions adorn this issue as Hope Summer's definitive writer bids her farewell in the latest of several Krakoan finales. It's all so exciting and still so sad, and it's evident that the creative teams feel similarly to the readers in the face of the end. Read Full Review

X-Men: Forever #4 does an excellent job at keeping the pace as its predecessors. Each issue has been nonstop action as well as great insights into the struggles of the mutants, and this comic is no exception. I look forward to what comes next in this run! Read Full Review

This is doubtlessly helped in my estimation by my fatigue at the endless, incoherent slog of Fall of X; seeing a main title do a coherent story in which all the plots fit together and move in the same direction is practically novel after almost a year of the X office grabbing randomly selected crates of half-cooked plot ideas and emptying them onto our heads

The story here is very messy but Gillen manages to make it work for the most part. The most secretive part of this mini is that it's where all the character arcs end. Sure, there's some plot relevance, but largely, this is for the characters. Whether it's Hope, or Mystique, or Destiny. Even Sinister finishes his arc, if you can claim he has one beyond being just the worst.

Definitely the strongest issue of this miniseries. This time around, things didn't feel super dense and crammed, as we got a lot of good character work here, particularly with Destiny, Sinister, and Jean. Plus, Maresca's art was pretty nice here. I just wish the rest of the series could have felt like this.

Gillen continues his hurry up offense after the 2 minute warning being down 45 points and we get a lot of narrative dumping a bit too late for this lost Krakoa game. He does a very good job since this is a continuation of Immortal X-Men but this should be part of the main line at POWERS of X or Immortal and is a bit too late to cram it here especially when we were time wasting as the X-Office dragged its feet for almost a year. Maresca does a great job on art with Blee's colors being right on.

Review: X-MEN FOREVER #4

This was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it provides new context to Hope’s origins, which is a nice finale to her character arc over the past few months. It’s clear Gillen aimed to give her the closure she deserves & her fans will likely appreciate this effort.

However, the issue falls short in its larger ties to Krakoa’s finale & the portrayal of Enigma. After being built up as an omnipotent villain, Enigma is easily outmatched in his first confrontation, which felt anticlimactic & disappointing. This lackluster showdown undermined the tension.

The reunion between Destiny & Mystique also fell flat for me. After coming out guns blazing last issue, Mystique is ready to forgive Destiny after one apology in the span of 3 panels? C’mon.

There’s one panel when we see what’s become of the mutants left in the White Hot Room that felt like a perfect encapsulation of my feelings on the Fall of X storytelling. LOTS of words on the page w/ little meaning. I had to laugh & wonder if this was Gillen clapping back at readers.

Maresca’s artwork continues to be a highlight, w/ gorgeous visuals of the Phoenix & dynamic action sequences. His designs help bringing the story to life & are aided by Blee’s vibrant colors.

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

There's something decent parts, but it just doesn't feel inspired.

It feels like if Kieron Gillan had more time to iron things out and not be rushed, then this would have been a solid series. But overall, it's whatever. Its just meh to me.