Warning: Contains a review of Knights of X #1 and #2
Marvel Comics' recent Knights of X series launched with the interesting premise of mixing Dungeons & Dragons-style high fantasy and classic X-Men superhero action, but the second issue already proves that the book is suffering from some problems that plague many X-Men titles.
Knights of X is the follow-up to the well-received Excalibur series, by Tini Howard and Marcus To, which brought focus to the realm of Otherworld and its related characters. Excalibur saw the mantle of Captain Britain pass to Betsy Braddock, who had to adjust to her duties as the liaison between the UK, Krakoa, and Otherworld. Things got worse when the UK rejected Krakoa's sovereignty and Captain Britain's legitimacy while Merlyn seized control of Otherworld and started a ruthless hunt for its mutants citizens. With the portals between Otherworld and Earth destroyed, Betsy found herself trapped, and was able to call for help only from a select group of heroes, her "Knights of X", who have to retrieve the X-Men's incredibly powerful magical artifact, the Siege Perilous to save Otherworld and go back home.
After the first issue of Knights of X, by Tini Howard, Bob Quinn, and Erick Arciniega, saw Betsy assemble her team and embark on the quest for the Siege, expectations were high for this to be a fun tale of knights, monsters, and mutant superheroes. However, the second issue already shows many issues that are common to X-Men books. There are too many characters involved and there is no time to make each one relevant. The story travels at high speeds, but not in a good way. It seems like the characters just rush from one location to another without explanation. Finally, it assumes too much previous knowledge, mostly from Excalibur.
One of the X-Men's biggest selling points is that their stories are choral tales where readers can see many characters take the spotlight and interact with each other. Knights of X's ensemble cast includes A-listers such as Gambit and newcomers such as Bei, but the way they were assembled did not leave room for personal motivations or future plot threads. Also, there seems to be no focus on how they are adapting to being trapped in another dimension. Surely, the X-Men have been through worse, but the prospect of being trapped forever, or even dying (the Resurrection Protocols do not work properly in the Otherworld), should at least have an impact on the characters. Knights of X #2 saw the team bouncing between various locations in Otherworld, but it's hard to perceive the narrative drive behind this and, more importantly, to be invested in the heroes' quest. While Excalibur had plenty of time to let its storylines and characters develop, it's hard to imagine that the three remaining issues of Knights of X will be enough for that.
The other side of having so many characters in the X-Men books is that, with such vast lore, readers often find themselves lost when too much prior knowledge is required. This is exactly the case with Knights of X, which is almost impossible to follow without reading Excalibur first, begging the question of why having a new title for the series at all. Knights of X aims to be X-Men's answer to Lord of the Rings, but it falls short. While it's early to give a final verdict, at the moment Knights of X reads like a mediocre Dungeons & Dragons campaign.