MIDNIGHT X-MEN #1 – The Coldest War

Creative Team – Jonathan Hickman, Matteo Della Fonte, Arthur Hesli, VC’s Cory Petit, Dike Ruan & Moreno Dinisio

Published by Marvel Comics

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The Story

This review is brought to you by Nerd Initiative’s Megan and Shawn!

Shawn – Great things happen when you step back and just let Jonathan Hickman cook. It feels like that is what Marvel did with Midnight: X-Men #1. I’ve long been a huge fan of Hickman’s work and was really interested to see what this new horror universe would look like under him. After just the first issue, I am astonished and excited for the future of Midnight: X-Men. There are plenty of callbacks and familiarities and while the faces may be the same, the positions and world are not. While Empyre might have been an amazing Marvel event, this first issue feels like it will become the second most familiar use of the word in the Marvel lexicon.

Midnight: X-Men #1 brings back some classic X-Men villains in a new setup and setting. One thing Jonathan Hickman has always excelled at when taking over a Marvel series is knowing what to hold on to for dear life and what to let go of. In the case of Midnight: X-Men #1, Hickman executes that skill perfectly again. While the setting is new, certain things like close relationships between characters and team dynamics remain, while other aspects are drastically different. This feels like the beginning of a unique and enjoyable story.

Megan – I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this, but I can confidently say that Midnight X-Men #1 exceeded every expectation I had. The story is as dark as the world of this new universe. The characters are very different but somehow very much the same. The story is compelling and keeps your eyes hooked on the pages until the very last page. There are so many places Marvel could go with this story, and I am very excited to see what comes of it.

In Midnight X-Men #1, there’s a war brewing and you can cut the tension with a knife. New York City has a looming presence of vampires, but not just your normal vampires. There’s different mutant vampires that the humans call empyres and they are as terrifying as they sound. To make matters worse, some of them are the classic mutant characters that we’ve all read about and have loved. In this universe, things are extremely different than what’s been shown in the Marvel Universe. There’s no room for safety and there’s no place to hide. At any point, there’s someone out to get you. With different groups of mutants, humans, and vampires at each other’s throats, sometimes literally, the war will come much sooner than any of them expect.

The Art

Shawn – Matteo Della Fonte, Arthur Hesli, and Cory Petit saw the beautiful script from Jonathan Hickman and brought that same energy to the art. Matteo Della Fonte blew me away with the dark and brooding art in this issue. The line work from Della Fonte is absolutely stunning. The familiar shapes of known characters with new lines and new edges just set the tone right out of the gate for this entire series. From the first panel, Della Fonte lets readers know this is not the same X-Men you are familiar with, even if it looks familiar.

I’m so excited to see Arthur Hesli on this issue. I loved his work on Magik and Colossus and have been such a fan ever since. Hesli does a beautiful job of capturing the shade and subdued hues of this dark new world, while also using some of the characters and scenes afforded by the narrative to add bright pops of color. The result is that you’re not pulled out of the world, but drawn deeper in as the contrast of both palette and hue further draws you into the divide that exists in this world. Cory Petit does a killer job on this issue. His choices in bolding and location for these speech bubbles really help the story flow smoothly and let the art shine. Petit also just nails the sound effects in this issue.

Megan – The artists of Midnight X-Men #1 went out of their way to make this first issue nothing short of spectacular. Matteo Della Fonte, Arthur Hesli, and Cory Petit are to thank for the dark and dramatic artwork that made this issue a home run. Matteo Della Fonte brings incredible linework that allows the reader to fully invest in the story. Leaving little to the imagination, the artist draws the whole picture, leaving no stone unturned. The horror aspect of the comic is felt heavily in the artwork, cementing the fact that this is unlike anything we’ve seen in Marvel Comics before.

Arthur Hesli’s colors bring so much heat to the story in a big way. Leaning heavily into the darker tones, the looming threat is felt constantly throughout the book. What I loved was how Hesli used the color red as a focal point, whether it be the vampires’ mouths or a power set used when you least expected it. Cory Petit does a beautiful job with the lettering, perfectly capturing what makes these characters have their classic mannerisms while showing just how much they’ve changed. I loved how Petit used the sound effects in this issue, intertwining them perfectly in the action. The artists are firing on all cylinders, and the readers will benefit greatly from it.

Final Thoughts

Shawn – 10/10. Dark and brooding yet familiar, Midnight X-Men #1 is the perfect launch for this Midnight line. The story hooks you in from the very beginning, setting a tone that makes you think you know what you’re about to read, but you have no idea.

Megan – 10/10. I went into this not knowing what to expect, and was left with every expectation surpassed. Midnight X-Men #1 is dark; it’s brutal; it’s a home run. I cannot recommend this issue enough! Do yourself a favor and make sure it’s on your pull list!

Overall Grade -10/10

Let us know in the comments what you thought of Midnight X-Men #1!