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’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!
This month we wrap up a knotty Wolverine story and get our first peek at what the Quiet Council looks like when written by Kieron Gillen.
X Snoozes
This month marked the conclusion of “X Lives and Deaths of Wolverine.” The series definitely had its highs and lows but unfortunately a lot of those lows happened towards the end. There was a lot of potential to breathe some new life into the world of X, but the ending lets out a lot of that air. The biggest disappointment was for the character Omega Red.
At the beginning of the series, it seemed like we’d be getting a bit deeper into the motivations of ‘ol Arkady, especially given that he seemed so fixated on the Xavier family. But no, it turns out Omega Red was just a minion working for Mikhael Rasputin, who is an enemy of Krakoa. Omega Red ran off, tail between his legs. The villain duo even lost the Cerebro sword which uh, was what allowed them to time travel? Seems like if Cerebro could do that, it would have come up in a big way by now. The villains have returned to their baseline, the status quo.
We also got to spend time with Moira McTaggert, post depowering. This story definitely shuffled Moira to her next plot beat, as a reluctant ally of ORCHIS. I won’t pretend that’s not exciting, but after this series, Moira’s actual motivations are muddy. And not, I think, on purpose. This is a lady whose 1000 year plan just spun out of control. Unless it hasn’t? Is getting depowered and banished just a move for Moira?
“X Lives” and “X Deaths” had a chance to do that Hickman thing, to swerve so dramatically that your interest in the journey is renewed. This just felt like board shuffling and by the end of the series, pretty much everyone was back where they started. Nice to hang out with Daken, Laura, and Gabby for a bit though!
Prison in Paradise!
Fortunately, Victor LaValle’s “Sabretooth” (illustrated by Leonard Kirk with colors by Rain Beredo) has impact. Not only have these first two issues caused me to question what I knew about Krakoa, it’s also causing me to ask fundamental questions about incarceration. Sabretooth should be locked up, he is a cartoonishly unrepentant monster. But now he lives with five other mutants, all of whom could be redeemed. It looks unlikely though- because now they are set to be traumatized by Sabretooth.
Who are these five prisoners anyway? So glad that you asked. We’ve got Nekra, Oya, Melter, Third Eye, and Madison Jefferies (sometimes called Box). Nekra was originally a villain to Shanna the She-Devil in the 70s, back when mutants could get their powers from nuclear radiation. Despite her name, she does not hold dominion over death. She can become physically robust by harnessing her ‘negative emotions.’ Oya was once one of the Five Lights, the mutant disciples of Hope Summers. She has temperature control powers and can create fire or ice. She murdered a human goon as a young teenager, which was the inciting incident for Cyclops and Wolverine to break up for nearly a decade. Since then, she’s really come into her own (check out her eXcellent characterization in Dennis Hallum and Mark Bagley’s “All New X-Men”). Now it seems that she has continued her role as lethal protector, and killed humans who deserve it.
Next we’ve got Melter. There are a lot of Marvel characters named Melter. This bozo was “practicing” to be an X-Man and in doing so violated the law- the rock that he melted was part of Krakoa. Not very respectful to the sacred land. Madison Jeffries has often been an ally to the X-Men, but he’s kind of a science asshole. He violated the third law by not respecting Krakoa and knowing Jefferies, that probably means that he used his powers to try and “improve” Krakoa in a way the island disapproved of. Either that or he tried to have sex with an innatimate object, he’s been known to do that. (Why Scarlet Witch and Madison Jefferies have never bonded over their robot-lovin’ tendencies is beyond me).
Continued belowFinally, we have Third Eye. By all accounts this is a brand new character. He’s calm, polite, and to the point. He also seems to have astral projection powers, and his eyes can pierce illusions. Most enticingly, he’s the only prisoner who has broken the First Law, the one that tells us to “Make More Mutants.” What the hell does breaking that law look like? Is he going around sterilizing mutants? Is he just being an awful cockblock? Or is he doing something more noble, like defending the mutant right to choose?
All these characters are positioned to say something politically as a foil to Sabretooth. Melter broke the law because he was dumb. Jefferies broke the law because he thought he was smarter than everyone else. Nekra broke the law because she doesn’t respect it. Oya broke the law because she believes she serves a higher power. This makes it critical to find out what Third Eye did and why. What is he trying to tell us about incarceration?
Hickman Is Dead, Long Live Hickman
No, he’s not literally dead, but I spent a lot of time in this column mourning his absence in X-books. So imagine my surprise when we got a brand new issue of “X-Men,” penned by Hickman. New, sort of. This is the “X-Men: Unlimited” webcomic, which I have not had the chance to read yet, but now it is collected into a physical issue that you can hold. So I read it. And it was great. Effortlessly great.
I don’t want to turn this column into a hatefest for Ben Percy, who has written good prose and seems like a cool guy. But he was done no favors by this issue, collected as “Latitude.” That’s because Hickman writes a mean Wolverine. Logan is the star of the issue, and he quietly has to rescue three of his friends from an AIM spaceship. Hickman has read “Astonishing X-Men” so he gets that sometimes the Wolverine who says the least says the most.
This story really got at the simple, relatable core of Wolverine’s character. He wants to save his friends. He is a hero. First he rescues Nightcrawler, and man do those two have chemistry. Then he rescues Chamber, and I’d love to see more of their friendship. But he fails to rescue the third mutant, an unnamed woman with a hood. Rogue? Probably not. Either way, this issue was fun, and reminded me of why I like hanging out with Wolverine. It also did a lot to establish why MODOK (who you can see in the pages of “X-Men”) suddenly hates mutants. With good action and strongly motivated characters, Hickman managed to impress me even after he left the books.
Feared and Hated, Forever
Of course, the most exciting addition to the X-line is “Immortal X-Men” by Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck. Last time Kieron Gillen wrote “X-Men” was almost a decade ago. It was messy, wildly creative, and tons of fun. It’s very clear that the Krakoa creators love his work, influenced by his characterization for Mr. Sinister, Cyclops, and Magik, among others. Now he’s back after doing some of the best comics of all time, and he’s a stronger writer than ever. Plus, he gets to write politics and debates, which is totally in his wheelhouse.
There’s a great issue of “The Wicked + the Divine” where the characters just sit around a table, ribbing each other and trying to make an important choice. There’s no traditional “action,” but it’s riveting. The six panel grid layout allows the art to cinematically pan around the table, with dramatic close ups and angles and facial expressions. It seems like this book is going to be like that issue, only every issue. Dayenu.
It’s not only that though. Gillen seems to be a little less precious with the continuity than the creators who have been there from the beginning. There are all sorts of little clarifications (did we ever know officially that Beast was in charge of X-Force and not Wolverine?) and reminders (The map! The laws!). On top of that, we get a thrilling political struggle to see who will replace Magneto on the council.
Continued belowThe contenders include Angel, Penance, Gorgon (some weird resurrected version of him), Vulcan, Abigail Brand, and Beast. Brand is an interesting inclusion, as she has technically not accepted Krakoan citizenship. Brand is a favorite character of Kieron’s though, and he explains that she’d be willing to join the nation- but only as a leader.
The two strongest candidates were Selene and Hope. Selene brags about her penchant for resurrection- though her style is definitely more zombie-y than what we’ve gotten used to. She also has mastered magic, which is a skill underrepresented on the council without Apocalypse. But Hope is another Kieron favorite- one of his first ongoing series with Marvel was “Generation Hope.” And it’s Hope who eventually wins out.
This is great. Hope is a damn cool character, but since fulfilling her destiny as mutant messiah, she’s not had too much to do. Being the leader of the Five is pretty great and all, but she’s been more of a plot device for resurrection. Now that she has a voice in government, I can’t wait to see what this time-lost teen really stands for.
X-Books Read:
“Sabretooth” #2 – Already one of the best series of the Krakoan era, the second issue continues to meditate on incarceration.
“X Lives of Wolverine” #4 – There’s a really fascinating story in here, but Percy’s sloppy writing makes it a lot of work to find the good.
“X Deaths of Wolverine” #4 – I’m gonna say it- Omega Wolverine is a bad addition and this issue suffers for focusing on him.
“X Lives of Wolverine” #5 – A miniseries that started with confidence ends without saying much of anything at all.
“X Deaths of Wolverine” #5 – The final battle is fun enough, but the ending to this story lacks teeth.
“Immortal X-Men” #1 – My expectations for this were through the roof, into deep space. This issue exceeded them.
“X-Men Unlimited – Latitude” #1 – A bonus Hickman story! It’s a blast.
