In good news or bad news for fans, Marvel’s senior editor for theX-MenUniverse thinks the Krakoan Age wasn’t a perfect experiment by the end of its story. The Krakoa era ofX-Menjust ended after five years, and so readers, critics, and even creators are reflecting on the era in a new retrospective. After all, it was easily the most ambitious, yet polarizing era inX-Menhistory. Some reflect positively on it, others negatively, but everyone has an opinion on Krakoa, including its senior editor.
On hisSubstack, titledMan with a Hat, X-Men editor Tom Brevoort reads off fan letters, and one particular letter allows him the opportunity to discuss what he believes went wrong with the Krakoa era.From his perspective, X-books should have something accessible for both new and old readers ofX-Men- and the Krakoa era was far from accessible for casual readers.
Understanding Brevoort’s words allows for a deeper analysis of the pros and cons that come with the X-franchise not being an accessible gateway for new readers when Krakoa was still active.
Tom Brevoort Wishes X-Men Books Were For Everyone During Krakoa Era
Breaking Down the X-Men Editor’s Words
Back in the year 2019, Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, R. B. Silva, and Marte Gracia embarked onchangingX-Menlore foreverwith the miniseries two-parter,House of XandPowers of X. The living island of Krakoa (originally introduced in 1975’sGiant Size X-Men#1) had resurfaced to become a mutant-only paradise and the X-Men’s new home. This officially kicked off the Krakoa era. Five years later, Krakoa is no more, offeringthe best possible endingfor both the living island and the X-era as a whole. While answering a letter from a fan, Callie, Brevoort has this to say:
Callie
Tom, I keep hearing about how the point of this new line of X-Books is meant to have ‘something for everyone,’ as you felt like Krakoa didn’t have wide enough appeal. I’m just wondering if you have any context of the early krakoa era, as it’s been said pretty explicitly by JDW/Hickman that the point of the initial krakoa launch was to have at least one book that would appeal to everyone.
That may have been the point, Callie, and even what was laid out in those early books. And I don’t really want to disparage any of it. But what I can tell you is that I’m far from the only person who felt that all of the X-Titles during the end portion of that era tended to slosh together a little bit, and all of them seemed to revolve around Krakoa business—as they sort of had to, given the set-up. So we’re working to try to remedy that.
The X-Men editor speaks to a prevalent point about the need for the franchise to have something for everyone. He’s not exactly wrong. There are minor exceptions, like withX-Terminators, Marvel’s raunchiest superhero bookthat largely takes a break from Krakoa storytelling, but the bulk of X-books at the time focused on Krakoa, especially the ongoing series.
In fairness to Brevoort’s point, it would have been (and proved to be) extremely difficult for a new fan to dive into any randomX-Menbook because the Krakoa lore is so heavy and, yet, so prevalent. To the same point, there wasn’t much that the franchise could offer at the time for fans who either weren’t fans of Krakoa outright, or were overwhelmed by all of the lore that they needed to catch up on.
The Cons of X-Men’s Storytelling with The Krakoa Age
Overwhelming and Expensive Introduction for New Fans
As mentioned earlier, it could be overwhelming for some readers trying to reacclimate themselves into the Krakoa era of X-Men stories. Truthfully, that isn’t just for new readers, but current readers who had been keeping up with the lore. All of the ongoing X-books at the time tied so heavily into Krakoa that it demanded readers to often read multiple books at once, or risk being totally lost in the arc unfolding.Keeping up with Krakoa was not only becoming increasingly difficult, but expensive for anyone trying to buy every X-book every month.
In contrast, look atX-Men’snew “From the Ashes” era, which features far fewer X-books in its run than Krakoa did, already making it far more digestible to keep up with. At the same time,none of the three X-books in this relaunch demand readers to read every X-book to understand what’s going on. Sure, there are easter eggs that are enhanced by readers who do read multiple books, like aphone call between Cyclops and Rogueshowing their differing perspectives in their respective books, but readers can understand the call seen in one without reading both.
The Pros of X-Men’s Storytelling with Krakoa
As Rewarding as a Soap Opera
Krakoa didn’t always offer that same luxury, as everything felt like essential reading. Which, again, can get messy and expensive, butalternatively, it could be all the more rewarding. X-Men, as a franchise, has always been a massive mutant soap opera, and anyone that has seen a soap opera knows that a weekly recap isn’t always offered, or helpful when the storylines call back to decades worth of lore. But soap operas would be most rewarding for fans who either stuck with them for all those years, or stick with them while playing catch-up on the years they missed out.
In the same vein, soap operas may offer multiple parallel storylines at once that build off each other and make most sense when followed linearly apace, not unlike theX-Menbooks during the Krakoa era. Those who choose to commit to following each story in hopes of understanding the overarching plot usually aren’t disappointed. Ultimately, the level of commitment and enjoyment is different from fan to fan.
Some will miss theX-Menfranchise’s expansive approach to Krakoa, while others are relieved at the difference approach taken with From the Ashes.
