The Fall of the House of X continues this week, and each side of the war is preparing themselves for the incoming conflict.

PRELUDE OF THE FALL OF X

A trio of titles this week: Cable #1, Invincible Iron Man #14, and X-Men #30.

RECAP OF THE FALL OF X

Nathan Summers —Cable— breaks into an Orchis facility to retrieve his younger self, Nate Summers —also Cable, just earlier in time— from detention. He makes quick work of a Stark Sentinel and rescues Nate, warning him of an even greater threat than Orchis: “Neocracy,” a phrase Nathan has seen popping up in New York City. They discover that “Neocracy” is nothing more than a marketing buzzword created by Parvenu Industries, a pharmaceutical company Nathan remembers from various timelines he’s been in. In these timelines, Parvenu homogenizes all lifeforms by rewriting DNA, effectively ending both mutantkind and humanity. They track down the Parvenu facility and find a familiar foe there: the Grey Gargoyle.

Elsewhere, Tony Stark wakes from a recurring nightmare starring Magneto, but is comforted by his recent wife, Emma Frost. Meanwhile, Forge and Ironheart have been tasked with building a militia for the imminent war with Orchis. They meet with the dwarves of Nidavellir in the hopes of borrowing their forge to smith some spaceships with mysterium —the “miracle metal” only found within the White Hot Room and thought impossible to work with— and succeed in their goal, causing the dwarves to try to steal their work. Ironheart retaliates with the Ten Rings (her newest accessories) but Forge discourages her from mortally harming them before it’s too late, and she relents. After Ironheart releases the rings into Deep Space, they land their new ships on Arakko, hoping to attract the attention of Orchis — a plan that succeeds. Feilong then dispatches their newest agent to kill Stark: a failed Weapon X corpse bearing adamantium claws.

Meanwhile, Cyclops meets with an Orchis psychiatrist in captivity, insisting that Jean Grey is not dead. The psychiatrist tells Doctor Stasis that Cyclops truly believes he is where is supposed to be, and the Sinister clone is perfectly fine with that. Elsewhere, the X-Men convene with Spider-Man and Gold Goblin —Norman Osborn in more heroic form— to figure out a way to diffuse the Orchis kill switch on Krakoan drugs holding the world hostage. They decide that they need to visit the High Evolutionary on Counter-Earth to retrieve a bioweapon he once offered them (which would sterilize humanity) and retrofit the technology for their needs. Synch and Talon arrive on Counter-Earth and are met with hostility, but the ensuing scuffle is a “short fight” and the High Evolutionary agrees to hand over the bioweapon. Synch and Talon return to the X-Men base with their payload in tow… or rather, Synch does. It’s revealed that the aforementioned “short fight” ended with Talon’s death —the price of claiming their bioweapon— and that Synch is using Jean’s telepathy to keep her alive in his head.

ANALYSIS OF THE FALL OF X

This week of the event is not an especially momentous one, but still important in minor ways. We’re very much in the “parabellum” phase of the story, where big moves are not the priority just yet, and everybody is scrambling to prepare themselves for the coming war. The biggest revelation this week is, of course, that Talon has technically died and given the X-Men one less soldier to fight with. (The other Laura, however? TBA. Comics!)

Another takeaway from this week? Team-ups! We’ve got Cables old and young kick ass together, Ironheart/Forge doing science stuff together, and the lovers Talon/Synch on a vital mission that ends in semi-tragedy. All three issues are fun to read, particularly Invincible Iron Man since I don’t believe Ironheart and Forge are especially well-acquainted. I believe this is also the High Evolutionary’s first major appearance in something since Chukwudi Iwuji’s portrayal of the character last year in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so that’s fun.

Coming up, I’m very interested to see how Firestar impacts the story, appearing in two of this week’s issues. She’s their ace in the hole and can’t “do” much yet, so I hope the payoff to her subplot is substantial. I’m also intrigued by the Synch/Talon subplot; killing off Laura (one of them, anyway) is a shocking development, but it’s yet another wrinkle in her epic romance with Synch, so shippers of theirs should be excited by that. I know they probably won’t be, because I know how shipper brain works and Laura getting killed off foils that, but c’est la vie.

NEXT IN THE FALL OF X

X-Force #48 and the long-awaited Resurrection of Magneto #1.

Fall of the House of X: Week Three

6.7

Cable #1

7.0/10

Invincible Iron Man #14

6.0/10

X-Men #30

7.0/10

Credits

Writers: Fabian Nicieza (Cable), Gerry Duggan (Invincible Iron Man & X-Men)
Artists: Scot Eaton & Cam Smith w/ Victor Nava, Andrea de Vito (IIM), Phil Noto (XM)
Color Artists: Java Tartaglia (Cable), Bryan Valenza (IIM), Phil Noto (XM)
Letterer: VC's Joe Sabino (Cable), VC's Joe Caramanha (IIM), VC's Clayton Cowles (XM)
Cover Artists: Whilce Portacio & Alex Sinclair (Cable), Kael Ngu (IIM), Joshua Cassara & Marte Gracia (XM)