Rise of the Powers of X #5 review

The end of the Krakoan Age hasn’t been more obvious than right after putting Rise of the Powers of X #5 down. We knew it was coming, but Kieron Gillen and Luciano Vecchio put a definitive period at the end of it with this issue. Sure, there are loose ends yet to be wrapped up, but if you’re looking to start the new X-Men era, you should read this to know how one of Krakoa’s periods was put into place.

Rise of the Powers of X #5 is all about Xavier pulling off his plan and Phoenix/Jean showing off her cosmic might. Both are on journies of their own here, with the story crosscutting between each. It’s as if they were working together, or in this case, Xavier knew how Phoenix would act to adjust things and ensure his plan worked.

A lot has happened to get here, but at its core, this is a story about Mr. Sinister becoming far too powerful and only Phoenix is capable of stopping him from killing mutants and humans. Even the Phoenix can’t do it alone, though, as Xavier figured and enacted his plan to get Moira on their side.

The coolest element, and a tough one to pull off, is how Sinister uses captions to explain how he attempts to stop Phoenix from killing his final absolute power. In well-drawn montages, we see all the ways he’s messing with time to ensure she doesn’t gain her powers or is taken off track so she isn’t where she ends up at the start of the issue. It’s a chess match, and Gillen makes you believe Sinister is super close to winning many times over, but she’s too good. You start to believe it could happen at any moment, raising the tension of the back-and-forth battle.

Vecchio reveals many iconic moments for Jean and the X-Men in these montages. It’s a nice way to remember the deep history of this series while showing Jean/Phoenix jumping around impossibly at this juncture. If you ever doubted Jean/Phoenix wasn’t the most powerful mutant ever, Vecchio and Gillen will make you believers by the end of this issue.

Also tense is a scene between Moira and Xavier, who sits on the now-iconic bench from HoX/PoX. At this point, Moira is enraged and wants to win, but Xavier must use his words and reasoning to change her mind. It’s fitting Moira’s story ends in this issue, and it ends on this bench. When you realize what Xavier is asking her, it’s pretty profound and tragic. On the reverse side, a lot of peace and hope is brought on with the final page. Vecchio makes you believe all is right at the end of the Krakoan Age, which is hard to believe, given how beloved and great it was.

Rise of the Powers of X #5 is mostly effective in doing the impossible and closing the book on the Krakoan Age. It ends in an epic battle against a threat that could only be matched by the impossible power of the Phoenix, but also with a strategy that only Charles Xavier could muster. However much you may wish the Krakoa age would continue, it’s hard to deny that it ends on an extremely high note in the categories of epic storytelling and a peaceful final justice.