Immortal X-Men #14: Diaspora

In Immortal X-Men #14, Kieron Gillen is operating at peak brilliance in this issue, setting his readers up with the precision of a stage magician only to yank the carpets out from underneath our expectations with all the verve and flair of a street carny.

This story takes readers places never expected, but Mother Righteous was quick to point out to a gull she’d recently rooked; that’s what happens when you buy a good story, anyway. You never get exactly what you imagine you’d paid for. 

As for that particular Scarlet Woman (formerly of Rome), Mother Righteous is so much better in Gillen’s capable hands than she ever was when Spurrier was fumbling her. She twists and turns like smoke filtered through a square of cheesecloth. She’s a villain who is emphatically out for herself and is gleefully willing to twist everyone around her to get what she wants. 

In terms of character development, this story is packed. It’s challenging to speak about it plainly without revealing a spoiler that you deserve to discover by yourself (the title of this review is a huge hint), but that said, faith, of a more positive sort than Mother Righteous trades in, exists at the heart of it. 

One is left wondering how Lucas Werneck would illustrate a story as unremittingly bleak as the one readers  believed we were getting. He’s so good, after all, at delivering the beauty of the lush and hopeful sort. Luckily (and, again, this is difficult to say without succumbing to the temptation to litter the desert with a trail of spoilers), his style is perfect for the very different tone of the story he was hired to tell. It’s a beautiful art, befitting a book laden with fear, rage, wonder, and (dare I say it?) a measure of hope.