As of this writing, the X-Men Hellfire Gala 2023 #1 issue is littering LCS shelves across the country, hoping faithful X-Reader will shell out way too much money to humor the X-Office’s “prom for adults” fetish over and over again.
Yes, sure, that sounds cynical, but let’s be honest. The Hellfire Gala is a prom fetish inspired by the real-life Met Gala, and it’s just as wacky and pretentious as the real thing. Feel free to agree to disagree.
But hold on to your hats, long-suffering X-Men fans. This year, it’s different. The Hellfire Gala kicks off in typical fashion (with a lazily tacked-on Ms. Marvel resurrection for good measure), but before you can say “To me, my X-Men,” Nimrod, Orchis, Dr. Stasis, and a whole lot of firepower show up to wipe the mutants and Krakoa off the map.
The end of mutant-kind is unlikely, but it’s fair to say the X-Men and the general mutant population just got a whoopin’ of epic proportions. Personally, the issue was surprisingly engaging (except for the Ms. Marvel resurrection part). You can read the full review here:
I count the comic as engaging because it has a lot of good things going for it. You get great art, energetic pacing, and all the basics you should expect from a Marvel comic, but the one aspect that makes this comic stand out above its Hellfire Gala predecessors is the big c-word, the one word lacking from the X-titles for a very long time – Change.
That’s right. How much and how far is yet to be determined, but at the very least, it looks like the Krakoa-era is either completely dead or suffering a massive shakeup. And that’s a good thing.
Why? Because the X-Titles and Krakoa have no hype, no buzz, no excitement, and nothing to look forward to. The last several events were duds (X of Swords, A.X.E.: Judgment Day), and the only time anyone talks about the X-Men these days is when Marvel taps an acclaimed, original writer to do a mini-series that’s a throwback story. The X-Titles are floundering and have been ever since Jordan White sabotaged Jonathan Hickman’s plans for Krakoa after HoX/PoX. As of this writing, that’s nearly four years of treading water.
Marvel could learn a very powerful lesson from this situation. Taking a good thing and running it into the ground is a sure way to drive readers away. To keep readers coming back, you have to inject change – not once, but regularly.
At the risk of throwing a little gas on the “Manga vs. Western Comics” debate, the continual change and evolution of characters and their stories is one of the key reasons Manga is more popular than Western Periodical Comics.
If all you’re doing is telling the same story over and over, or worse, telling a story that doesn’t go anywhere for multiple issues at a time, you’re not creating anything worth a reader’s time.
Does the X-Men Hellfire Gala 2023 #1 truly mark the end of the Krakoa era? We’ll find out over the next few issues. However, this issue is the first time the X-office has given longtime X-Men fans something to look forward to in almost four years.
It’s time for a change.
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