Incoming! (2019)
A while back I decided to try and read through the Krakoan Era of X-Men comics in order. That’s some six hundred or so issues of Marvel comics, and though I’m squarely in the early parts of the “Dawn of X”, some are better than others. I may go back and give my thoughts on some of the earlier story arcs I’ve read, but I wanted to get my thoughts down on “Incoming!” before I forgot about it.
The first thing I noticed was that this had very little to do with the X-Men or the newly formed Mutant Nation of Krakoa. I should also mention that at this point, I have no idea what the event it’s setting up is even about. I do know however, through word of mouth, that the one Mutant character who is talked about in this issue is strongly related to the fall of Krakoa, and I can’t give spoilers because I don’t really know the how of that whole situation.
In the interest of keeping this short, I have to say that despite it’s seeming disconnectedness from the story I am trying to read, this is a really fun piece of Comics media. Before I got into reading comics, I read Douglas Wolk’s All of the Marvels, and in it Wolk talks about how the best place to start reading comics is anywhere that sounds interesting. A well written comic will fill in the blanks or even lead you somewhere else, pointing to previous issues that you can explore to learn more about what you’ve just read. “Incoming!” serves as a setup for a larger multi-series crossover, the kind intended to sell more comics, but again, this issue is really fun. If you’re not super familiar with Marvel heroes, it may be tricky, but if you’re familiar with the movies, this reads like ninety pages of great art that feels like the first half of Avengers: Infinity War, every little story starts off with a few characters, and then transitions into others. This makes for a pretty fun reading experience that moves at a lightning pace, but it does mean that almost none of the mystery it sets up is revealed. Ultimately though, that’s the point, the answers will be revealed in other comics series that follow it. If you’re looking to start reading comics, this might be a decent place to start even if you don’t really know the characters. At least of the storylines it sets up may seem interesting to you, and then you can sort of just follow that if you want to. Give it a shot!