Trials of X, Vol. 4

X-Men: Age of Krakoa (Anthology Trades)

by Zeb Wells, Simon Spurrier, Benjamin Percy

Secrets and lies in the Trials of X! Psylocke’s hidden deal with Mr. Sinister is about to come back and bite her — and cause a schism within the Hellions! Meanwhile, Krakoa comes under plant-based attack. Can X-Force get to the root of the problem before Dr. Bloodroot kills again? Storm has ascended to the throne of Arakko — and now she speaks for Sol on the galactic stage. But when you have to prove to your people who you are, every single day without fail…what becomes of who you were? And Nightcrawler must act fast to avoid catastrophe as the laws of Krakoa (and physics) are tested to their limits! But what happens when the true villain behind the recent chaos is revealed?

COLLECTING: Hellions (2020) 15, X-Force (2019) 21-22, S.W.O.R.D. (2020) 8, Way of X (2021) 4-5

Genres: Comics, Marvel, X Men, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

152 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 11, 2023

About the author

Zeb Wells is an American comic book writer known for his work at Marvel Comics, as well as his work on the animated TV series Robot Chicken.

Reviews

[johnny ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'm sorry but way of x was so bad

[Bertazzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Way of X is awesome... And Si Spurrier should be the main X-Men writer.

[Paulo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection:
Hellions #15
X-Force #21-22
S.W.O.R.D. #8
Way of X #4-5

Hellions #15
I doubt this team will have any future after this. Wonder if Kwannon will remember what happened. The fact Tarn kept a universal-level nuke within his team all the time and NO ONE in the UNIVERSE ever bothered with such creation is a bit of a plot hole. But I'll give it a pass, for the plot. I'd guess this is a goodbye to the Chimeras, since the Murderworld cloning factory is basically gone?

X-Force #21-22
I felt like this story was a bit rushed just to showcase Man-Thing and his story with Wolverine. He also left his Swamp to face Bloodroot with no issue whatsoever, which... doesn't quite fit his narrative with the symbiosis he has with the swamp itself.

Sword #8
Storm being the iconic Goddess that she is and beating Tarn of all beings, even being named a child of Amenth. Great story, no notes. The art direction was... a choice, though, but I'll take it.

Way of X #4-5
After The Trial of Magneto, this story is building up to be my second favorite in the Trials of X collection of the Krakoan era. I'm absolutely enthralled by this story and how it is building up, the metaphysical and philosophical implications every choice has had since the creation of this Nation, something not even Moira, in HoX/PoX, had witnessed yet as something that could lead Krakoa and it's inhabitants in a path of self-destruction due to recklessness and comfort. Onslaught, with barely any words spoken as of yet, might just be one of the best villains that has revealed itself in this story.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somehow, Hellions #5 is going to lead us into one of the major X-stories involving Mr Sinister. How this wet fart of a storyline was given the weight to lead into a major event baffles me. This book continues to be awful. Filled with Z-level characters tritely quipping their way through a forgettable storyline that you'll forget the minute you move on to something else.

One star.

X-Force #21 & #22: Man-Slaughter may be the dumbest name in modern comics. And the storyline about this budget Man-Thing ripoff is barely interesting.

Two stars.

Sword #8: I don't imagine myself ever caring about the Arrako/Mars mutants. Ever. Solid writers have done conceptually interesting things with them. And Storm's battle with Tarn The Uncaring was okay, but I hope they end up nuking the planet with all the Arrakans on it so I don't have to keep track of any of these dull characters anymore. The concept of upgrading Mars using mutant powers was pretty cool. But instead of the Arrakan nonsense, they should have just moved all the Krakoan mutants there.

Two stars.

Way Of X #4 & #5 are the highlights of this book but it's a low bar. The over philiosophizing of Nightcrawler with Lost begin to pay off here, as they attempt to make Fabien Cortez a sympathetic character within the context of an incoming Onslaught resurgence.

Three stars.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hellions - Despite this being a reread, it's still a blast. I find Sinister very funny (as long as it is in small doses). Here's the point in the story where it all comes crashing down on the team.

X-Force - A two part story that further examines the ramifications of Beast's foray into creating floral life forms. It has it's share of slicing and dicing, but it's yet another tidbit of developing a future threat that doesn't really seem to go anywhere.

SWORD - Read this but have zero interest in the book.

Way of X - Two parter where Nightcrawler continues to examine their purpose when death is no longer an issue. It isn't perfect, but I still like what Spurrier is trying to do here. It's a little bit clouded by the Onslaught issue, but I also am liking that.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four out of six issues were new to me. First up, another great and fun issue of Hellions. Both issues of X-Force were quite good as well. I've liked pretty much everything I've seen from Hellions and this version of X-Force, though. Then there's the SWORD issue, which... Eh. I get where they were going, but I also feel like this is very worn ground for Storm, and it doesn't do anything that interesting with it. Finally, the last two issues are from the Way of X miniseries, which I jumped the gun reading because Nightcrawler.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed bag here. The Storm stuff was great. The implications of what X-Force is facing is rather intimidating. Way of X is getting REALLY annoying.

I love Legion. I respect Nightcrawler. Their idea for a big bad is pretty interesting. However, this is only happening in the Way of X books and if it's really that big of a threat, you'd think that it would be bleeding into other X-titles. And yet it's not.

It feels sloppy.

[Nick Callebaut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kurt Wagner is still one of the most heart-warming characters ever to grace Marvel's pages and in these last few Way of X issues that's become obvious again. Even Legion and Fabian Cortez manage to become likeable in his light.

The X-Force plant thing was a bit weird. Not my thing. The S.W.O.R.D. issue focusing on Storm as Arakki queen was fun. Tarn desperately needed to be put down a peg. :)

[Sarospice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize Way of X was a mini series. Nightcrawler bampfs a moon. Onslaught is back. Everyone's getting bored with the resurrection protocol. If Man thing and swamp thing had a baby it would be: Man-Slaughter. No, I'm not joking.

[Bekka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved everything with Legion and Nightcrawler! Storm's storyline was also really fun, I loved seeing her on Arrako, and everything to do with the plant-villain was great too!
TW for talk of death/the afterlife, violence, body horror.

[Charles Korb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hellions: sort of comical the solution to this showdown was just shooting the bad guys with a big gun

X-force: this was a fun little arc with man-thing

Sword: a one off with storm that was fun, though a strange placement right after hellions

Way of x: this was a good Nightcrawler story

[Afreen Aftab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hellions (2020) 15 - 3.5/5
X-Force (2019) 21-22 - 4/5
S.W.O.R.D. (2020) 8 - 3/5 (this issue was weak. Storm deserves better)
Way of X (2021) 4-5 - 4/5

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a miss in this book, with great plot threads moving forward in all corners. Showing that the grand Marvel Anthology still has it

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5.

The Way of X concludes in a big way.

But transitions into bigger arcs is the focus.

A reminder that Storm is not to be trifled with.

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

Solid addition

This was a solid enough addition to the series. Hellions and way of x were the better reads. They were very interesting.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

greycrow and psylocke have my entire heart i dont care about anything else just let them be happy please

[Liv]

did not expect my x-men comics to be dialoguing with my sarah schulman book on familial homophobia but i’m not upset about it