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" andThen 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 consists 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, Professor X and Magneto establish the island of Krakoa as a sovereign homeland for mutants. They design the Quiet Council, with Moira MacTaggert becoming a hidden partner. MacTaggert uses 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 invests heavily in developing and exporting medicine to humans. Professor X and Magneto invite 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 reserves the right to recruit a council member. White Queen requests Kitty Pryde for the position of Red Queen. After accepting the offer, Pryde takes an initially undetermined seat in the council, where she oversees the Marauders' efforts to rescue mutants who cannot freely travel to Krakoa. Apocalypse joins the council after promising to obey Krakoa's laws.
The Quiet Council assembles for the first time after Krakoa's recognition by the 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 establishes the three laws that govern the nation: do not harm humans, respect the sacred land of Krakoa, and make more mutants. Any mutant guilty of breaking these laws is sent to the Pit of Exile and held in stasis deep within Krakoa.
The council also sanctions 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.
At the end of the storyline "X of Swords", Marvel Girl leaves the council to reform the X-Men, needing to act without the council's politics. Apocalypse leaves Krakoa and the Council to join his family in Amenth. The council votes to approve Magneto's plans to terraform Mars, declaring it the capital of the Solar System. As a result, Destiny takes Apocalypse's seat on the council while Colossus takes Marvel Girl's seat.
After Mystique resurrects Destiny against MacTaggert's wishes, Professor X and Magneto reveal their relationship with MacTaggert to White Queen, who feels betrayed. Mystique subsequently attacked and depowered Moira so she went on the run and started working against Krakoa. MacTaggert's role in Krakoa's founding remains secret, but the rest of the Council learns of her involvement from White Queen.
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.
Character codename Real Name Issue joined in Section of seat Notes Professor X Charles Francis Xavier House of X #6 (October 2019) Autumn Left as the first council dissolved in Immortal X-Men #13 (August 2023). Magneto Max Eisenhardt / Erik Magnus Lehnsherr Left to retire in Immortal X-Men #1 (March 2022). Apocalypse En Sabah Nur Left to be with his family in X of Swords: Destruction #1 (November 2020). Exodus Bennet du Paris Winter Left as the first council dissolved in Immortal X-Men #13. Mister Sinister Nathaniel Essex Removed in Sins of Sinister: Dominion #1 (April 2023) Mystique Raven Darkhölme Left as the first council dissolved in Immortal X-Men #13. White Queen Emma Grace Frost Spring Left as the first council dissolved in Immortal X-Men #13. Black King Sebastian Hiram Shaw Nightcrawler Kurt Wagner Summer Left as the first council dissolved in Immortal X-Men #13. Marvel Girl Jean Elaine Grey Left to reform X-Men in X-Men vol. 5 #15 (November 2020). Storm Ororo Munroe Left as the first council dissolved in Immortal X-Men #13. Cypher Douglas "Doug" Aaron Ramsey Adjunct Krakoa Current member of the council. Red Queen Katherine "Kate" Anne Pryde Marauders #1 (November 2019) Spring Left as the first council dissolved in Immortal X-Men #13. Destiny Irene Adler Inferno vol. 2 #2 (October 2021) Autumn Colossus Piotr "Peter" Nikolaievitch Rasputin Inferno vol. 2 #2 (October 2021) Summer Hope Summers Immortal X-Men #1 (March 2022) Summer Represented the Five; left as the first council dissolved in Immortal X-Men #13. Black Priestess Selene Gallio Immortal X-Men #12 (July 2023) Winter Left as the first council dissolved in Immortal X-Men #13. Kafka X-Men, vol. 6 #35 (June 2024) Unrevealed Current member of the council.
Reception Ratings Issue AIPT 1-2 3 10/10 4 9/10 5 8/10 6 9/10 7 8/10 8 8.5/10 9 8/10 10 9.5/10 11 12 8.5/10 13 8.5/10 14 9.5/10 15 8/10 16 8/10 17 7.5/10 18
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" and it is "a swan song not to be missed".
Collected editions Title Material collected Pages Publication date ISBN Immortal X-Men by Kieron Gillen Volume 1 Immortal X-Men #1-6 184 Immortal X-Men by Kieron Gillen Volume 2 Immortal X-Men #7-10 112 Immortal X-Men by Kieron Gillen Volume 3 Immortal X-Men #11-13, X-Men: Before the Fall - Sinister Four #1 128 Immortal X-Men by Kieron Gillen Volume 4 Immortal X-Men #14-18 136 Immortal X-Men Volume 5: X-Men Forever X-Men: Forever #1-4 120
References