Trials of X, Vol. 3

X-Men: Age of Krakoa (Anthology Trades)

by Benjamin Percy, Gerry Duggan, Tini Howard

Deadly confrontations darken the Trials of X! Wolverine’s quest brings his face-to-face with Arakkii pirate crime lord Sevyr Blackmore! Captain Britain and Excalibur may be reunited, but an escort mission into Otherworld reveals deep political unrest among Saturnyne’s court — and a brutal sacrifice bears fruit! As threats hurtle toward Earth from all sides, the fearless X-Men fight a seemingly unstoppable wave of annihilation! And Mister Sinister’s abandoned clone is returning to Krakoa to reclaim the cape — and destroy the Hellions!

Collecting WOLVERINE (2020) #15-16, EXCALIBUR (2019) #22, X-MEN (2021) #2 and HELLIONS (2020) #13-14.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, X Men, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

168 pages, Paperback

Published December 27, 2022

About the author

Benjamin Percy is the author of seven novels -- most recently The Sky Vault (William Morrow) -- three short fiction collections, and a book of essays, Thrill Me, that is widely taught in creative writing classrooms. He writes Wolverine, X-Force, and Ghost Rider for Marvel Comics. His fiction and nonfiction have been published in Esquire (where he is a contributing editor), GQ, Time, Men's Journal, Outside, the Wall Street Journal, Tin House, and the Paris Review. His honors include an NEA fellowship, the Whiting Writer's Award, the Plimpton Prize, two Pushcart Prizes, the iHeart Radio Award for Best Scripted Podcast, and inclusion in Best American Short Stories and Best American Comics.

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

i got sad about rogue not being in excalibur anymore and there being no romy and then it instantly cut to romy in the x-men issue so yknow what im happy

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of this is a reread for me.

Wolverine - Two issues to wrap up the Solem story. It gets to a point where Solem is so untouchable that it becomes ridiculous and you feel like the whole story arc is a joke and a waste of time. As much as I love Wolverine's attitude, it's hollow to hear him threaten Solem and Sevyr but never really do anything.

Excalibur - still don't know or care what's going on here. Doesn't help that I never read any of the back stories for Pete Wisdom and there isn't anything to fill me in.

X-Men - still the best title right now, primarily because of 1) the art and 2) it has them actually working as a team, effectively, and has the "family" feel where they know and trust each other instead of the constant bickering and backstabbing in all of the other X-Titles. It's a little shallow in that it relies on action but it does pepper in some quick interpersonal dialogue and a couple slowly brewing character subplots.

Hellions - This is the point where Sinister and the Hellions confront each other and the team splits. Prelude to the end.

[Paulo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection:
Wolverine #15-16
Excalibur #22
X-Men #2
Hellions #13-14

Wolverine #15-16
The plot thickens, and yet it still isn't all that... The double double cross was something, but I'm still not sure if any of what happened is good or bad, honestly. And them bring Emma over just to get a text with the report of what she did, which is not showcased at all even though Logan hypes her appearance up like some kind of nuke to stop Solem. I don't know. It felt very lukewarm. Maybe they should bring Deadpool over to lighten up Logan and his constant sad and hopeless speeches.

Excalibur #22
Merlyn plotline! He seems both a good character and a menacing, villainous one, and I still don't know how to feel about it. However, he does giveaway the feeling of a bitter old man with conservative viewpoints raised from a life of failures. Anyway, I'm always happy to see Rictor. 💚

X-Men #2
Action-packed comic with cooperative power usage, LET'S F---ING GOOOO! The way they are using these moments to shine a light on the newly elected X-Men is really great and I'm very interested on what type of character Sunfire is, as he is, as of this comic, the one I know least about.

Hellions #13-14
If HoX/PoX taught us anything, it is that Sinister + Chimeras = bad. This whole "evolution" thing from dying in Amenth is very weird and I actually had not understood until now that that was also something Tarn saw as stolen lmfao like the Krakoan mutants could guess that would happen. 🫥

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't read any of these issues before! And they're a really good selection indeed. Two issues of Wolverine that continue the storyline with his new antagonist. I like this guy as a match for Wolverine, and I do find him fascinating and intimidating. Excalibur continues to be a book that I wouldn't be reading if it weren't in this kind of collection. It's fine, and I admit to wanting to see more of Pete Wisdom, but this book has never really hit for me. The X-Men issue serves as a kind of generic "this is what this team is like in the field" book that I expect early for a new X-Men team. Expected, but executed well, and I really liked the art. Finally, Hellions, a book that I can't help but love. Sinister's machinations seem to be coming to a head here, though I definitely expect him to weasel out somehow. I think leaning into the camp factor of this character has been overall a great decision, because he's simply more interesting. Overall, great collection, even with one issue from a book that I've never loved.

[Charles Korb]

Wolverine: The solem plot was fun and I appreciated that wolverine did actually do the equivalent of calling in the Avengers (Emma) when he couldn't solve the problem himself.

Excalibur: I remain apathetic about the otherworld politics

X-Men: this is a fun way to make x-men fight a monster of the week without making it feel like a monster of the week

Hellions: it remains crazy that sinister is anyone with any power on this island

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have our dramatic continuation to the Wolverine arc and a further pursuit of the Hellions story. All these Mr. Sinisters and the recent discussions on the treatment of clones when it comes to the resurrection policies seem to be part of a larger theme across the books. I wonder if this will go anywhere significant.

[Afreen Aftab · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOLVERINE (2020) #15-16 - 5/5 (first 5 star rating I've given to an x series issue in a while)
EXCALIBUR (2019) #22 - 4/5
X-MEN (2021) #2 - 4.5/5 (the art was amazing!)
HELLIONS (2020) #13-14 - 3.5/5

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Wolverine stories continue to benefit from a small cast, and the rest is above average for the Xbooks. A fine continuation of the series

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels like a lot of bridges. Hey…we remembered the vault and I wonder about stuff getting paid off from the beginning.

[Bekka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great continuation of the Trials Of X - I really liked the Excalibur section, and the Wolverine issues too!
TW for death, imprisonment, mentions of war, violence, maiming.

[Sarospice · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Hellions are the best part. We knew Sinister was fucking with them and really, the quiet counsel let's him so what is up with that? Wolverine is on autopilot. Needs a new writer.

[Derrick O'Rourke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read

This is a good read. Hellions storyline is probably the best out of them. X-Men and Excalibur are a bit meh while wolverine is a bit of fun.

[Bertazzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

First "Trials" that I really enjoyed.