Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck have kept Immortal X-Men as one of the best X-books over the past year. Their strengths are on display again as fallout from X-MEN HELLFIRE GALA 2023 #1 continues to unfold in this week’s IMMORTAL X-MEN #14 which sheds light on what surviving Quiet Council members have dealt with in the weeks after the Gala.

As the main cover of this issue indicates, one of the Quiet Council members we spend time with is Krakoa’s last remaining mutant inhabitant, Charles Xavier. Via flashbacks the ORCHIS attack interspersed with images of an unshaven, present-day Xavier, Gillen reveals Destiny had warned him that something may happen at the Gala and to ensure Mystique’s safety if they did.

It’s quite a jarring feeling to see Xavier so battered and broken, but this is one of the few times throughout Immortal X-Men that I thought Werneck’s art didn’t meet the moment. Aside from a scruffy beard and a dragonfly landing on his bald head as he sits staring blankly out into Krakoa’s waters, Xavier didn’t look as visually broken as Gillen’s writing made it seem.

Later in the book, we learn that Xavier has created telepathic monsters to defend the island and scare off ORCHIS henchman and others who may wish to try and claim the island as their own now that the island’s former mutant population has been displaced. It’s an interesting show of force by Xavier. Gillen is showing that while he’s broken, he’s still willing to defend the island he helped shape. His actions seem innocuous at first but they beg the question of what really meant more to him? Ruling Krakoa itself or the mutants he brought to it? If Gillen starts to explore that grey area, we could be in line for a very fascinating look at who who Charles Xavier is in this new world.

Sebastian Shaw’s duplicity (and hubris) is also on display in the issue as he finds out his previous deal with Mother Righteous may not have been as lucrative as he hope. Back in IMMORTAL X-MEN #10, Shaw offered to sway Council decisions in exchange for Mother Righteous arranging for him own Krakoa once things went south on the island. It turns out, Mother Righteous doesn’t make deals as a businesswoman and that she was playing a bit fast and loose when she agreed on terms. Now Shaw owns the island of Krakoa, but not the island’s finances he had his mind (and pockets) set on. Ever the entrepreneur, he lays out a plan to reap financial gain from the islands resources but those are met with immediate pushback from Xavier’s telepathic defenses.

The final story within this issue see Exodus, Hope, and Destiny abandoned in the middle of a desert with 250,000 other displaced mutants who passed through Krakoan gates after Xavier’s plea during the Hellfire Gala. In a biblical scene that would make Mel Gibson proud, Exodus assumes the role of leader and promises to guide the flock of mutants to a new promised land. I’ve really enjoyed Gillen’s work building up Exodus over the past year or so. He’s become more than a religious zealot caricature and offers one of the most nuanced and complex views on the mutants’ current situation. I’d love to see what he does as a reformed leader who assumes responsibility and it looks like he’s going to get that chance.

IMMORTAL X-MEN #14 covers a lot of ground with and lays the framework for plots that will likely evolve throughout the entirety of Fall of X. With so much to cover, it felt like Gillen never had a chance to go too deep with any of the individual stories and the overall pacing of the book felt off because of it. The scenes featuring Charles offered the most promise and I hope we get to see more of him facing his own personal demons after he let Krakoan politics devolve rapidly. Werneck was also given a full slate of scenes to design and continued his stellar work throughout the book — even considering my critique on Xavier’s look above. One of my favorite part of the issue was the colors by David Curiel and Erick Arciniega, especially how they brought the desert scenes to life. The way the sun reflected off Exodus’s outfit was beautiful and brought the panels to life with the added texture.

Overall, IMMORTAL X-MEN #14 lacked the tension of last week’s X-MEN #25 in a post-Hellfire Gala world, but still introduced new storylines that were enticing enough to warrant a renewed interest in how members of the Quiet Council may end up working together or coming into direct conflict in the near future.

Rating: 7/10