Welcome back to Mutantversity, a class offered at the Krakoan Akademos Habitat. This isn’t a place to find big reviews of X-books, (that’s what our Review section is for!) but it’s a great way to keep up with one of the most complicated superhero series around. We’ll learn, we’ll laugh, we’ll probably contemplate morality as wel as mortality. Most of all, we’re going to dive into the deep end as we try to parse all the secrets of this new era of “X-Men” comics. As your designated X-Pert, I will do my best to help you work through everything Marvel’s Merry Mutants have to offer!
The X-Books are coming and they just keep coming. After last month hit me with sixteen different X-titles, I decided I couldn’t cover every book with the same detail I looked at HOXPOX. So even though I continued to read and reference every book in the X-line, some titles may only be mentioned in passing. Stay tuned though! If I didn’t get into detail for one series, it’s likely I’ll cover it closely the following month!
Here’s what’s on the agenda today. First we’re going to recap the last month of the ongoing superhero soap opera that is “X-Men,” focusing on the titles that are really driving the story. Next, I’ll tell you which X-Men books I looked at this month, and whether I thought they were worth reading. Finally, we’re going to award our very special Monthly Mutantversity Medals of Merit to close out these issues of “X-Men.” Stick with me true believers, and maybe we’ll survive this experience!
This Month in X-Men:
Even if Krakoa is supposed to be a safe haven, it’s a dangerous world for mutants. At a glance, it looks like the many antagonists menacing mutants around the world are disconnected. Dig a little deeper, and certain themes begin to emerge; themes that were established in HOXPOX. We saw the many dangers that awaited mutants in many dark futures. Any one of these enemy factions could end up being the thing that triggers the endgame.
Bigotry is a theme that’s existed in “X-Men” since the very first issue. And bigotry is behind a lot of the enemies of Krakoa. A number of world governments have created anti-mutant task forces, equipped with weapons that can nullify mutant powers. We saw the Russian government do this in the first issue of “Marauders” and they aren’t the only real world government backing their anti-mutant rhetoric up with state action.
Then there is also Homines Verendi, the main threat in “Marauders.” They are led by Kade Killgore, former pint-sized king of the Hellfire Club. Kade was first introduced in Jason Aaron’s “Wolverine and the X-Men” series as the psychotic son of a weapons manufacturer, and he’s popped up occasionally since. He mostly seems to be a psychopath, in it for the Evulz, targeting mutants because they are an oppressed minority and he sucks. It’s not a deep motivation, but hopefully we’ll learn more about what makes the little creep tick. In the meantime, he’s standing behind the scenes of various other human supremacist villains.
It’s not clear if he’s connected to XENO, who is the mind behind the Reavers, the assassination of Professor X, and the vivisection of Domino. This group is totally mysterious and lurking behind the scenes in X-Factor. They have a similar aesthetic to Homines Verendi (well funded one percenter hate group), and a similar strategy to Orchis (dominate mutants through machines and technology).
Speaking of Orchis, they seem to have vanished. That makes sense. Cyclops led a scorched Earth campaign against them between HOXPOX and ‘Dawn of X.’ We know they are still out there, but they are regrouping. They seem important, and I would not be surprised if they are the group that unites all these disparate threads. They are certainly motivated by bigotry, but they tie in two other key themes from HOXPOX: technology and plants.
Technology was shown in HOXPOX to be the ultimate cosmic force, one that will consume the universe. The ultimate fate Moira is trying to avert is a universal destruction through unchecked machines. That technology might be the result of Apoth, the strange entity menacing the team in “Fallen Angels.” More on that in a bit.
Continued belowOrchis also has sights on the Children of the Vault, who came into the story in a big way in “X-Men” #5. The Children were first introduced in 2006’s “X-Men” #188 by Mike Carey and Chris Bachalo. They are a group that are functionally similar to mutants (their superpowers are intrinsic to their being and important to their sense of self), but they are not mutants. They were created by Ecuadorian scientists in a time-bending vault that hyper-evolved them by turning months into centuries.
Stories with the Children of the Vault tend to get trippy and weird. The time travel nature of their origin leads to strange adventures, and that’s exactly where a task force consisting of Laura Kinney, Synch, and Darwin is leading them- straight into that Vault. But the Children have access to all sorts of advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, the very thing that will one day end the universe. Orchis kidnapped a Child of the Vault- Serafina- who was liberated by the X-Men, and who returned to the Vault. It’s clear that they still want what she’s hiding.
The last big theme of HOXPOX, is plants. Krakoa is teeming with plant-based miracles, including weaponry, and the superdrugs. The portals, important to the functioning of Krakoa, are made from flowers. And the villains are getting down with this plant tech, identified in “X-Force” as “telefloronics.” Last month we met Hordeculture (who just loved the S-word outta flowers), but they aren’t the only plant-based villains.
In “X-Force” #6, we spent time in Terre Verde, a poor South American country that is making major strides in telefloronics. In fact, a rogue faction of mad plant people threatened the entire nation, and at the end of the issue, still remains at large. There seems to be quite a few high tech factions menacing mutants from South America because in addition to these crazed plant people and the Children of the Vault, “New Mutants” #6 presented the Bohem Cartel as a significant threat. They are drug dealers, but they seem to want to break into selling Krakoan flower-medicine.
It’s unclear what the endgame for all this plant imagery is. Krakoa is plant-powered, Orchis is rife with plant symbolism, many bad guys seem to want to get their hands on these magic plants. It seems obvious that plants stand in contrast to the cold metal of machinery, and will serve an important purpose in the larger battle to come. But for now, look to the connections. It seems that the villains are everywhere, and isolated from each other. But start to think like a crazed conspiracy nut, and you’ll see Orchis everywhere.
This month of X-books also put the first Krakoan law to the test: “Murder No Man.” This was especially true in the pages of “New Mutants,” “Fallen Angels,” and “X-Force.” It’s a good law, but such a simplistic aphorism was bound to be challenged by the nuance of real experience, and that’s exactly what happened.
Look at “New Mutants” #6 as a perfect example. A group of Bohem Cartel tough guys took a farmhouse full of hostages, including the twins Maxime and Manon. Those two have powerful mind control powers, and used them to turn the cartel guys against each other. While Glob Herman yelled for them to come up with a non-violent solution, it was too late. The twins told the gunman to turn on each other, and they did.
While no mutant pulled the trigger, I’m pretty sure this is a clear violation of the law. Using your powers to force someone to kill someone is murder. In a nation full of mutant powers, this surely must be accepted as fact. And fortunately, the issue seems well aware of this. The story ends with Glob and Armor helping the twins cover up a great deal of wrongdoing, even as they acknowledge that as a poor solution.
“Fallen Angels” dealt with mutant assassins, so it makes sense that they would have to deal with the intricacies of the law. I mean, they don’t do it with any sort of thoughtfulness, but it does get mentioned. When a bunch of mind controlled people attacked the team, Cable shot a dude in the face. When the issue was pressed he insisted, “He was dead already. How do we save the ones that aren’t?”
Continued belowAnd look, I get self defense. But if you are going up against a bad guy with mind control powers, you need to be ready for him to use innocents as puppets. This series dealt in moral grey areas, which is totally interesting, but there’s not gonna be any consequences for this. Cable murdered a man in front of his team, but he’s never going to stand trial for this. A missed storytelling opportunity.
On the other hand “X-Force” is really digging down into the shady ethics of having a state sponsored license to kill, and to great effect. Beast pushes Jean into killing telefloronic plant men, and erasing the evidence. Jean tries to act in accordance with the law, but Beast rationalizes until she does what he wants. He dehumanizes their enemies, says they are more plant than man, that they are basically robots. He calls them creatures. He paints an end-of-the-world scenario where plant people make the whole Earth a hostile life form. He takes a politically pragmatic position. And eventually Jean acquiesces. “Don’t #&%@$ patronize me,” she says. What a boss.
This is the exact story I’d hope the X-comics would get into. We see a bit of what their Utopia looks like, but “X-Men” comics have always gotten into the darker side of superhero adventure. It questions the price of killing, of fighting, of dying and coming back. The books would be aimless if they didn’t question the price of paradise.
We’ve spent a lot of time looking at mutant threats abroad, but Krakoan amnesty has let in some real shady characters. Specifically, I’m talking about Sebastian Shaw. The guy is the Black King of the Hellfire Trading Company, and has a permanent seat on the Quiet Council. No one man should have all that power, and Shaw should have no power. He should probably be in jail.
He’s been scummy in past issues, but in “Marauders” #6 his betrayal becomes definite. He murders Captain Kate Pryde. Oh, and Lockheed! What the hell!? Lockheed innocent! It’s a gleefully evil move, and one that I’d even respect if I wasn’t so upset about Kate and Lockheed.
The specifics of his maneuvering were thrilling, but it’s the end result worth reporting on. Kate and Lockheed are sinking to the bottom of the ocean and maybe they can be saved, but there’s enough doubt to create dramatic tension. Is the same thing preventing Kate from using the Krakoan portals going to prevent her from being resurrected? Storm, Iceman, and Shaw seem to think so. And Lockheed is definitely not a mutant, so resurrection doesn’t apply to him.
Look, I know these are characters in a superhero comic, that death is cheap, and that the cliffhanger gave them room to be rescued. But that’s the reason I want to linger on this point. The rules have been so well established that I have no idea how they are going to be broken. The current world of mutants is so real to me, that I am having trouble thinking my way out of this corner. And I’ve made no secret how invested I am in this story for Kate. Will she be back next issue? Will she vanish for a while? Will this experience change her in a significant way? How are they going to catch Shaw? Dramatic tension has been created, and I am freaking out.
It’s tough to recap “Fallen Angels” because it is both more and less than it seems. The six issues focused mainly on Psylocke’s character arc, and while it was definitely cool to see her in the lead, it’s sort of unclear how she’s changed. I’ve got a feeling it’s not going to stick. She started the story as someone traumatized by her violent past. She led a strange task force of warriors whose motivations never felt that compelling. She ended the story doing pretty much the same thing she was always doing, but with less guilt and more confidence. I guess that’s something.
Constructively, she now has new relationships to explore. This is after all, really the first time we’ve elevated Psylocke to being a main character, separate from Betsy Braddock. I know I wasn’t alone in my dissatisfaction with how Laura Kinney was characterized in this series (and Laura is one of my top three favorite X-Men, so I may be a little close to this), but I’d be interested in seeing this team in a tighter, more coherent story. Maybe they need their dynamic reversed- Psylocke spent the whole run condescending to her young friends when really, she was the one who needed to learn how to strik a work/life balance. I’d love a miniseries where Laura teaches Psylocke how to be a healthier, happier person; Honey Badger could make her cookies. And Bling could teach her to enjoy the small pleasures in life. I guess Husk would teach her how to play Scrabble? Cable can come too, even though I’m not sure what he brings to the table.
Continued belowThe other interesting cliffhanger is what will come of Apoth. The new villain combined a bunch of impressionistic themes in a vague Grant Morrison-y way. He was like a digital drug deity made of childhood trauma? Like, whatever. Cool. But he ties into a lot of the bad futures that Moira witnessed in HOXPOX. Artificial intelligence is inevitable, and Apoth bridges the gap between man and machine. Now, what is left of him is in the hands of the least trustworthy resident of Krakoa- Sinister. Perhaps we are not done with Apoth, and he’s got something to do with Earth’s cosmic destiny.
This Month’s X-Books:
“X-Men” #5 – Children of the Vault stories are always weird and trippy. This one balanced that out with some exciting big moments.
“Marauders” #6 – Deception! Disgrace! The first arc ends with some dire stakes!
“Excalibur” #5 – My favorite issue so far. Actions have consequences, and I’ll never forget the dramatic last page turn
“Excalibur” #6 – This already good series takes it to the next level. The team is assembled, and the dramatic first arc was just the prelude for an epic tale of mutant magic.
“Fallen Angels” #5 – A new ensemble brings some fresh energy to the series. The least bad issue so far.
“Fallen Angels” #6 – It is over, and I am grateful for that. Not an irredeemable series, but often a chore to read.
“X-Force” #5 – Forge steals the show, and the black ops military stuff really lands in this one.
“X-Force” #6 – A creepy, bodysnatching adventure with literal pod people. I could use more one-shots like this.
“New Mutants” #6 – Wow, this a heavy one. But it hit me deep. I love dark, philosophical, melodramatic “X-Men” stories like this.
The Mutantversity Monthly Medals of Merit:
The Cable’s Pouch of X-Treme Grittiness Award
Given to a mutant for demonstrating badassitude and commitment to the 90s aesthetic
Forge
If all Forge did this month was kick tremendous ass while piloting a bio-mech suit, that would have been enough. Heavily armed mech suits are classic in this category. Making it a bio-mech suit? That gets point for originality. But then he had to go an win this category for all time with what he does with the suit- mainly, shoving two halves of a bisected Wolverine together and yelling, “Heal!” And Logan complies. So all hail Forge the Maker, a badass so gritty that Cable doesn’t hold a candle to him.
“Call Me Alex” Award
Given to a mutant filled with self-loathing about their identity
Beak
Yikes, this one was rough. So, Beak was living in America, caring for his sickly dad, not really thinking about all this Krakoa nonsense. Then he gets pulled into it in one of the most horrifying ways imaginable. His whole family gets held hostage in a brutal home invasion, and his house becomes the site of some truly terrifying violence. And the situation does not end well. Beak himself gets shot. Both his parents are cruelly murdered. And so, Beak, his wife, and their kids are finally moved to Krakoa where their minds are altered so they forget the whole ordeal, even as their friends acknowledge that this solution is not going to be permanent, and that it’s gonna get way worse when Beak realizes what’s been done to him. My dude never asked for any of this.
“Professor Xavier is a Jerk” Award
Given to a mutant who acted like a real jerk
Apocalypse
I know, this one is a big shocker. I’m still confident that Rogue is doing just fine, but this was a rough moment. After waking up from her magical coma, she was immediately manipulated by Apocalypse into murdering him for some dark ritual. The Big A wasn’t truly making a sacrifice though, he knew resurrection was right around the corner. And all of it was part of a pretty genius political move to install Jamie Braddock on the throne of Otherworld. Thanks to his shady dealings, Apocalypse has alienated his allies, and seized a bunch of interdimensional political power. Impressive? Efficient? You bet, but it ain’t nice.
Continued below
Merriest Mutant Award
Given to a mutant who found a rare moment of happiness
Pyro
This one ain’t deep. Pyro as you may have assumed, really likes to light stuff on fire. Since he’s been resurrected, he’s had free reign to do exactly that. He gets to sing, drink, fight, steal, and burn whatever he wants. I think for the first time, he’s living his best life. Or something close to it.
Fastball Special Award
Given to a duo who exhibited great friendship, collaboration, and teamwork
Mondo and Chamber
A lot of times, this award goes to two mutants who teamed up in the midst of a big fight. And there was an all-time great fight in “New Mutants” #5, but I want to single out the two bros who stayed non-violent. Mondo and Chamber are not members of the classic New Mutant team, they are from Generation X. They’re not even that close thanks to some business where Mondo got replaced with a duplicate. So these two powerhouses are in that situation where everyone is being perfectly polite to them, but are also absorbed in their own drama. I love that these guys can stay above it, committed to each other, and can continue to make the best out of a pretty awkward situation. You love to see it!
Let’s Talk About X Baby Award
Given to the sweetest, sexiest, bestest romantic couple
Rogue and Gambit
I saw a lot of concern online that because of the “Make More Mutants” law, Rogue and Gambit were going to be obligated to procreate. And that seemed like a lot of projecting to me, because if they wanted to have kids, so what? Well it turns out that they aren’t interested at the moment, and again, so what? These two continue to model a healthy relationship through good communication and hot tub canoodling. They can be boring with their cats, or the frisky, sexy, southern-fried dorks we know them to be.
MVX: Most Valuable X-Man
Given to an X-Man who embodied the values of the team and showed all around X-cellence
Glob Herman
What’s crazy is that Glob was never supposed to be an action guy. He was a one-off joke, a member of the “Special Class” in Grant Morrison’s run. He was an example of a mutant without a useful power. And yet, he stuck around and has proven himself time and again. So this month, when all sorts of classic X-Men were grappling with terrible questions of life and death and morality, Glob was actually following the law, standing up for his values, and trying to teach his teammates how to be better superheroes. Jean and Beast were straight-up doing murders, but Glob not only tried to find a non-fatal solution to the hostage crisis, he tried to be a good example to Maxime and Manon. The kids are alright. Glob Herman has gone from background joke to aspirational hero. Hats off to ya, Glob!
