Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Marvel Comics, X-Men | Tagged: Dominion, enigma, fall of x, Rise Of The Powers Of X

Phoenix Vs Sinister Joins Great Comic Book Cosmic Battles (Spoilers)

Rise Of The Powers Of X #5 joins the great cosmic fights that come down to two individuals, beating each other up across time and space

Published Wed, 29 May 2024 06:43:09 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Last updated Wed, 29 May 2024 07:00:41 -0500

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Article Summary

Phoenix vs. Sinister in "Rise Of The Powers Of X #5" adds to the roster of iconic cosmic battles.
The story thematically questions the point of conflict with its pacifist undertone about omniscience.
The epic showdown is a time-traveling chess game with Jean Grey trying to thwart Enigma's plans.
Kieron Gillen and RB Silva deliver a climactic face-off illustrating the stakes of cosmic power.

There are the great cosmic fights in superhero comics that come down to two individuals beating each other up across time and space. You may consider the fight in Hell between Sandman and a demon, over his helm, from Neil Gaiman and Sam Kieth, the game of reality.

Or maybe Sir James Jaspers versus The Fury in Captain Britain from Alan Moore and Alan Davis. A very different game of reality. Switch.

You'll have your favourites. But might today's Rise Of The Powers Of X #5, with Phoenix, Jean Grey, against Nathanial Essex, the original Mister Sinister, now the Enigma Dominion, the closest thing the X-Men have had to fighting God, join them? We knew previously that all the Dominion-level intelligences were coming to join Enigma in its battle.

But it turns out that they were only coming to watch. It turns out that, at the Dominion level, any battle at all is a failure and a weakness on that Dominion's part, as omniscience is meant to be part of the package, and with that comes omni-empathy.

Basically, what's the point of fighting anyone if anyone could have been just like you and vice versa in different circumstances? Possibly the most pacifist message a Marvel superhero comic book has laid down… and naturally, just before a big fight.

So, just as Jaspers and the Firty fought each other across dimensions, so Enigma and Phoenix fight each other through time, with Enigma changing the past, through their X-Men history and Jean Grey doing her best to catch and stop it.

It's a battle courtesy of Doctor Who's Curse Of Fatal Death for Comic Relief, each one continuing to bribe the architect first.

It's another game of reality, played on a chessboard of infinite dimensions. The pieces can travel backwards and forwards in time, and one player can change their previous moves when the other player is distracted by their cleavage.

The Enigma Dominion, to quote the IRA, only has to be lucky once… Rise Of The Powers Of X #5 by Kieron Gillen and RB Silva is published today by Marvel Comics.

RISE OF POWERS OF X #5
MARVEL COMICS
MAR240732
(W) Kieron Gillen (A/CA) R. B. Silva
THE BATTLE FOR ALL TIME!
The X-epic concludes in a battle between those who are outside time and that which is now and forever…and the result is being decided by whether someone can ultimately make the right choice. The end of the Krakoan Age barrels our way as the two series that are one conclude! Rated T+In Shops: May 29, 2024 SRP: $4.99

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