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, maybe we’ll cross the whole of spacetime to go visit our loved ones. 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!
This week, we are going to continue to explore the Pax Krakoa in ‘Dawn of X’. First we’re going to recap the last few weeks of the ongoing superhero soap opera that is “X-Men.” Next, I’ll tell you which X-Men books I looked at this month, and whether I thought they were worth reading. Then, we’ll shine the spotlight of a creator who exhibited a rare level of X-cellence. 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
A nation, especially a nation under as much threat as Krakoa, is bound to have its own national intelligence service. That’s where X-Force comes into play. There are already mutant operatives around the world, infiltrating hate groups and trying to find threats before they happen. That’s why Domino was in deep cover with a mysterious masked group of shadowy bigots. That’s also where she went missing.
Domino isn’t the only essential feature of Krakoan security. There’s also Black Tom Cassidy, who has the mutant power to… actually let’s take a second to talk about Black Tom. So initially, he was able to generate heat through plants. Sure, I guess? Like, the dude could make lasers out of sticks. But, as with a lot of mutants, his powers developed and deepened over the years, until he had all sorts of plant-based abilities. Now, the dude interfaces with Krakoa itself, using algae and pollen to track threats as they approach the island.
A lot of mutants still distrust Tom. The man is extremely mercenary. But it seems he knows a good thing when he sees it, and the opportunity to live in paradise is all the payment he needs. Tom appears to be a loyal citizen of Krakoa, even while he is shunned by most of his fellow mutants. It’s a story we’ve seen again and again- a mutant who finds redemption through the trust placed in them by Charles Xavier.
Besides Domino doing wetwork and Tom guarding the homefront, we don’t get to see a lot of the inner workings of X-Force in this first issue. The action seems to be with Marauders out in the field. They rescue a (literal) boatload of mutant refugees, assisted by Colossus who erm, doesn’t speak in this issue.
We also see a human black ops team infiltrate the island. It’s hinted that they are from Sokovia, but despite the amount of pages they get, we don’t learn a whole lot about them. Based on their looks, they sure resemble the Reavers, a cyborg merc squad who have fought the X-Men (and Wolverine in particular) a whole lot. I don’t know if these jabronies are Reavers, but maybe they are using Reaver tech?
What’s most interesting about their mission is that it’s the first time the Krakoan defenses are put to the test- and that the system is still imperfect. Tom detects the incoming killers, but the intelligence processing system has a ways to go. Tom senses the infiltrators too late, Professor X is too busy mansplaining politics to listen to his security officer, and despite an ample team of psychics, no one distributes the intel until the shooting starts.
It seems a couple of mutants are killed, but one is more notable than the others: Professor Charles Xavier. There are a couple of steps to understanding why this is so alarming.
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Step 1. This supposed to be a safe mutant utopia, but it is not. A team of bad guys with guns doing a HALO drop manage to get to Krakoa and take out the leader of the nation, along with an unknown number of civilian casualties. That sucks in story, and is a bit of a bummer for readers because it interrupts the otherwise jubilant Pax Krakoa.
Step 2. Why does this even matter? Getting shot might really ruin your day, but it is reversible. Mutants can’t die. That’s one of the main promises of Krakoa. The final page cliffhanger of the issue is that Professor X is dead. But that’s not much of a cliffhanger for an island whose population can resurrect.
Until you get to Step 3. Professor X was integral to the resurrection process. He’s the one who uses Cerebro to restore the animas of deceased mutants. And he is the one who has been shot. Who is going to bring him back. All signs point to Jean… but she hasn’t been instructed in how to lead the resurrection process yet. And now she’s got to. And if she fails, the nation sort of fails with her. Those are big stakes, and a worthy (if confusingly presented) cliffhanger.
Now, as for the New Mutants… here’s the thing about the New Mutants. They’ve been in the world of superhero stuff since they were tweens. That means every formative childhood experience- from slumber parties to birthdays to family vacations to first concerts- were all filtered through that superhero lens. The first time most of them got really into a musical artist, it was Lila Cheney, and they followed her on an intergalactic rock tour. Now they are all in their early 20s, but the same rule applies. Most recently, Sunspot navigated the world of superheroic tech startups by buying the evil AIM and turning it into something kinda cool. So this story? Perfect for the New Mutants.
Because sometimes a member of the friend group gets married, has a kid, and moves out of town. It’s sad. But then you have cause to get back together with the gang, go on a road trip, and visit them, see what their new life is all about. That’s totally relatable. Only if you’re a young superhero, out of town is in another part of the galaxy. That’s what this “New Mutants” misadventure is all about.
Because Roberto really misses Sam. That’s Sunspot and Cannonball if you’re a “New Mutants” neophyte. The two of them were best friends; they grew up together. Then Roberto headed up a bunch of ambitious superhero startups, and Sam got married, had a kid and moved. To Shi’ar space. It’s all part of growing up. But Krakoa is pretty great, and Sam would probably love to see it.
Early in the issue, we get to see the Akademos Habitat. It’s been a spot on our Krakoan maps, but now we see what it looks like inside. Essentially, it’s a big dormitory in a Krakoan valley. A ton of young mutant characters are frolicking. We see Glob Herman and Maggott trying to get what I presume is a Frisbee out of a tree. Monet yells at her two younger siblings, who evidently can now turn into mini-Penances. Rockslide and Dust chat it up with a group of their peers. This is what it means to be a New Mutant now. It’s not a team, it is a true generation of mutant kids who came of age on Krakoa.
We do get a central team though. Let’s do a roll call in case you are not familiar with these guys!
There’s Roberto, aka Sunspot. He can absorb solar energy and transform into a glowing, black, super-strong dude. We’ve also got Dani Moonstar, aka Mirage. She’s often the leader of the New Mutants, and powers or no, she kicks serious amounts of ass. When she does have powers, she can conjure hallucinations of a person’s greatest fear or deepest desire. Oh, and she’s an Asgardian Valkyrie, with all the powers and responsibilities that entails.
The two of them meet up with Jono Starsmore, aka Chamber. He’s not a traditional member of the New Mutants team, but he’s the same age as them, and a goth icon. Chamber’s body contains a blazing storm of energy that burned away most of his chest and lower face, which kind of sucks. He’s learned to better control it, and now he can’t/doesn’t have to eat, and can speak through psychic projections. Then there is Ilyana Rasputin, aka Magik. She’s the little sister of X-Men mainstay Colossus, and she has the power to create teleportation portals. Ilyana also spent her formative years in a demon dimension where she learned dark spellcraft, turned her soul into a soul sword, and developed a unique erm, sensibility. You can tell that her notions on tact and sharing were not learned in a traditional kindergarten classroom. But hey, that’s why we love her.
Continued belowThen the group is joined by Rhane Sinclair, aka Wolfsbane. She’s Scottish, her mutant power is being a werewolf, and she was raised by Christian fundamentalist creeps. She normally can’t catch a break, and terrible stuff just keeps happening to her. Krakoa already seems to be good for her soul. She arives to the house with Si’an Coy Manh, aka Karma. Shan is actually the oldest of the New Mutants, she’s from Vietnam, and she has the Mutant power to possess people. When you catch her on a good day, she’s a chill friend to have. But like, 80% of her days involve her getting pulled into her extended family’s tedious drama, and that’s a drag. Let’s hope we don’t hear from them any time soon and Shan gets to be herself for a while.
And finally, the group is joined by Doug Ramsey, aka Cypher and Mondo, aka Mondo. Cypher has the mutant power to understand any language, and if you were following HOXPOX, is an essential component to the Krakoan nation- he’s the only one who can speak directly to the island. Mondo is a laid back Samoan dude, who can absorb the properties of any material he touches. He’s a real outdoorsy kind of bro, so he likes to be dirt. And I respect that.
This is the crew that Roberto and Dani put together to take a roadtrip in Shi’ar space to go see Sam. They team up with the Starjammers, get into trouble, it’s a good time! Mondo and Doug mess with the Starjammers arboretum. Magik duels Raza Longknife, winning Roberto a bottle of bourbon. But at the end of the day, the Starjammers prove untrustworthy, and the New Mutants are arrested way out in space. Which honestly isn’t all that surprising.
So, Kwannon has been kicking around the X-books for a little while, let’s quickly recall her deal. Before this issue, what we knew was that Kwannon was a ninja assassin who served multiple bad guy organizations, most notably the Hand. (You know, the sorta undead ninjas that Daredevil often fights). Then Kwannon met Betsy Braddock, and a series of retcons made their interactions a bit hard to understand, but I’ll try to parse it for you: when Betsy Braddock washed injured onto the shore, she was discovered by Matsu’o, master of the Hand and Kwannon’s lover (ew, gross word, but accurate). Matsu’o was in league with X-villains Mojo and Spiral. You probably know Mojo from X-Men: The Animated Series. He’s the gross yellow blob man in the spider-leg chair who is an evil TV producer. Spiral is his multi-armed sorceress assistant/agent/slave. She runs the Body Shop, which is a crazy lab where she sculpts and upgrades and swaps people into a form of her liking. With me so far? That last part is key.
The details have been described differently at different points but Spiral (using magic) used bits from one of them to complete the other, and the result was that they looked like twins and that they each shared half of Betsy’s psionic powers. This led to years where they shared memories, and there were a lot of dramatic mix ups. At times, the two of them weren’t even sure which one they were supposed to be. Kwannon actually joined the X-Men for a while (with the codename Revanche), until she contracted the AIDS allegory Legacy Virus. She asked Matsu’o the mercy kill her, and because he’s a creep who totally gets off on it, he was happy to oblige. She was later re-animated, and kind of lurked in the shadows doing ninja stuff. And now she’s on Krakoa.
In “Fallen Angels” #1, we learn a bit more about Kwannon’s history. It was the kind of brutal ninja bullshit you see in stories like this. She loved a boy. She had a baby! The boy was killed and the baby taken from her by a shadowy master who says things like “Remember this pain Kwannon” and “Love is weakness.” You know this kind of edgy story. It’s the kind of thing we used to get in late 00s “X-Force” and I for one am pretty much here for it. YMMV.
Continued belowKwannon starts to have dreams about a being called Apoth. He’s also taken straight from early 21st century comics. He could be a villain created by Grant Morrison or Warren Ellis. He’s a god, but he also seems to be a technology, and also a drug? It’s a decent hook, albeit one that seems very removed from the rest of the business on Krakoa. It’s connected less by plot, and more by theme. Kwannon is violent and traumatized. When she slows down, gets a chance to be alone with her thoughts, she does not find peace. So she dedicates herself to investigating and stopping Apoth, a mission that she only shares with Sinister and Magneto, both of whom are kind of dicks to her. I never said Kwannon made good choices.
She also recruits Kid Cable and Laura Kinney (again going by, sigh, X-23) to her cause. Though it isn’t deeply explored in the first issue, Kwannon introduces herself as Psylocke and makes her case to the others. “You’re a soldier and you need a war,” she says, while the page focuses on X-23. “You’re a predator and you need a hunt,” she says, while the page focuses on Cable. What’s interesting is that those descriptions don’t match the images. Cable is the archetypal soldier. X-23 reconciles with her predatory nature. Lettering mistake? Or symbolic choice? Let’s go with the latter, it is more interesting. I think these troubled people are all blurring, forming a subculture that isn’t compatible with the Pax Krakoa. They break the three laws, killing humans and leaving the sacred land in order to get involved in affairs elsewhere. Hopefully those adventures will have some depth and consequence.
Back on Krakoa, Scott Summers spends some family time. The “X-Men” series is structured as something of an anthology. Every issue is a one-off, full of character work and hints that advance the overall mythology of Krakoa. In this case, the one-off is about Cyclops and his alternate universe kids Rachel and Nathan, fighting a level 14 Warlock, who may have also multiclassed with a couple of levels in Cleric and Druid. NBD.
Did we learn anything on this adventure? Well, the Summers family has decided to try. By that I mean that that instead of angsting about who is from what universe, and who betrayed who, they are all trying to live in the moment. That’s pretty encouraging to see. Rachel, basically seems to have her shit together. That’s frankly a little boring, but she’s been such a mess for so long that it’s sort of encouraging to see. This kid version of Cable… is an idiot. He hands a live grenade to the High Summoner in the middle of negotiations… I guess because he loves munitions so much that he can’t imagine someone feeling differently? SMH, Kid Cable. And finally…
The pale, alien figure, the high summoner, is Apocalypse’s grandson! He is the son of the original war, living on the lost Island of Arakko. And, at least from the perspective of the Big A, this is all part of his scheme. It’s cool because everyone thinks they are in the main story. Cyclops thinks this is all about a mutant island, not realizing that there are wheels within wheels. Moira is working in the background, all of this a step in her plans to avert cosmic annihilation. And Big A thinks his is the A story, the reunion of his people and his island. His plan doesn’t seem evil on the surface, but it is also… opaque. And it’s obviously going to matter in a big way.
“Excalibur” is not an anthology-style book. It follows a main hero, a main villain, and a consistent supporting cast. But while the story creeps along, it also lays down a lot of mythology work that will doubtless be important in the future. In issue #2, this mainly concerns Clan Akkaba. For those who need a refresher, Clan Akkaba is the Cult of Apocalypse. They’ve been somewhat inconsistently written in the past, but that gets resolved in this issue. There are many cells of Clan Akkaba all over the world, because Apocalypse traveled the world in ancient times and left followers in his wake. Not all of them properly interpret the teachings of the Big A. “They came to believe a foolish lie… that I would spare them at the end of days. A heresy,” he explains. And I think that rather captures it. Here’s a godlike, 7000 year old warrior dealing with the bothersome death cults he’s left over the millennia. Sounds exhausting.
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The issue is a little bit difficult to sum up, because so much of it is magical, impressionistic, dreamlike, or actual dreams. Betsy starts to explore the magical aspects of her powers- she can see a tribe of druids that are invisible to the rest of her team. She is visited by a fairy tale wolf made of fire and bearing a sword. There are visions and portents. I’m sure there are a lot of cool ways to interpret all the symbolism, but I kind of prefer to let it wash over me like beautiful poetry and enjoy it for what it is. Perhaps a meaning will reveal itself. Perhaps not. Only one thing is for certain- man, Gambit is such a sad sack right now.
You know who is not sad though? Captain Kate and her mighty Marauders! They track a stolen shipment of Krakoan flowers to a ship captained by none other than Batroc ze Leaper. After stealing the shipment and his money, Cap’n Kate and her crew head to Taipai to meet up with Bishop. But the Marauders aren’t just a superhero team! They’re a sexy gang of pirates! They lie, they cheat, they steal!
So the Marauders spend a night out drinking whiskey, dancing with cuties, and generally partying up a storm. Pun intended. The mood is brought down a bit when Bishop brings them news of Xavier’s assassination in the pages of “X-Force” and I think it is worth lingering on this moment for a second. After Xavier was killed on the last page of “X-Force” #1, his death was opaquely mentioned in the other books. This has kind of sucked because, as discussed above, it’s kind of hard to understand what the stakes of this death are. But “Marauders” makes it clear. It’s a crisis of faith.
After the team is taken aback, stunned into silence, they all react a little bit differently. Iceman has faith- faith in The Five, in Krakoa, in resurrection, in this new mutant world they are all building together. Pyro… does not have faith. He clearly views this status quo as tenuous, ready to collapse at any moment. Storm feels helpless. She entreats her goddess to help, which is kind of a nifty way to connect her faith to the new Krakoan culture. Her whole life has been filled with supernatural happenings and strange twists, this is just another one. And Kate, she takes a swig of whiskey and decides that the whole team needs to get matching tattoos. It defuses the tension, is adorable, and leads to a lovely character moment.
Bishop, not unkindly, points out that he’s already got a tattoo, one that represents mutant oppression. Tattoos are not cool for him. But he’s cool if you want to get one. Bishop is the epitome of tolerance. Storm says she “would never get a tattoo.” There are a lot of reasons why she might not, but I for one like Ororo not giving into peer pressure. Iceman is down to clown, but his ice form would hide (or maybe even erase) the ink. And Pyro gets a full face tattoo of a skull. I love this characterization, because we now see that Pyro is the kind of guy who would make a permanent change on a drunken whim.
We never see if Kate gets tatted up. Instead, she pays for everything with way too much cash, kisses the cute tattoo man on the mouth, and steals his awesome red jacket. “Who are you?” the tattoo guy asks. “A former schoolteacher,” Kate answers. Man, the X-Men are so horny.
Throughout the issue, we cut back to a tense confrontation between Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw. What’s interesting is that their dynamic has more or less returned to the status quo, but they have a lot more history behind them. They hate each other, don’t respect each other, but they need each other. Throughout their conversation, they chip away at their superficially genial attitude until they literally come to blows. Easily enraged, Shaw reveals himself to be the weak, petty, misogynistic asshole he so clearly is. “There will be no Red King you bit-” he shrieks, but is cut off before he can call Emma the B-word.
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“Actually,” Captain Kate interrupts, “I am the Red Queen, Bitch.”
I am high-fiving a million angels.
This Month’s X-Books:
“X-Force” #1 – the first stumble of ‘Dawn of X.’ Not without its bright spots, but it’s definitely rougher than the other books.
“New Mutants” #1 – good character voices and great art make this a fantastic addition to the DOX line
“Fallen Angels” #1 – a controversial entry into DOX. So far… I quite like it. Thoughtful, heavy-handed, and a stylistic throwback to the early 00s, for good or for ill.
“X-Men” #2 – the right way to do an entry into an anthology series. Fun character work, subtle mythology building.
“Marauders” #2 – This! Book! Rocked! My! World!
“Excalibur” #2 – still weird, still creepy, still magical. I dig it!
Special Spotlight: Rod Reis
The “New Mutants” book is really good. At its core, a “New Mutants” book is an escapist fantasy like Harry Potter– relatable, but also fantastical. In the 80s, that meant taking typical childhood experiences and comic booking them up. The boys and the girls have separate sleepovers- but they are brought together by the arrival of a robot from space. The kids get really into a rock band, and want to follow their tour- but the band plays shows on the far end of the galaxy. The new series shines because it takes that core concept and applies it to life in your 20s. Your best friend gets married, has a kid, and moves far away, so you get the gang together to go visit him- in dangerous Shi’ar space! The feelings are almost universal, but the situation is completely outlandish. Classic “New Mutants!”
What takes “New Mutants” from good to great though, is the artwork of Rod Reis. This too is in line with tradition. Chris Claremont’s writing on the original “New Mutants” is some of his best, but the series was elevated by the extraordinary work of Bill Sienkiewicz. Sienkiewicz art is frenetic, expressive, and unmistakable. The same words could also be applied to Reis, who is clearly drawing inspiration from Sienkiewicz, but Reis manages to pay tribute while also doing something that is entirely his own.
A typical Reis comic is clean and representative. He doesn’t stray into the abstract territory that Sienkiewicz became famous for. But look at his work on “New Mutants!” The primary outlines remain bold and clean, but the secondary lines seem to float around their figures, as if they are not connected at all. Hair, vines, fringe, cybernetics, stitching, they aren’t part of characters so much as they follow the characters around like Wile E Coyote’s eyes, moving independently, a second too late. This is most true in the colors and inks, also done by Reis. Shading is sometimes done with darker colors, but just as often achieved through Ben-Day Dots (those little circles they used to use to color comics in the 50s and 60s). The colors rarely stay within the lines, sometimes bleeding out into the environment.
A lot of these tricks are evocative of Sienkiewicz, but the core style is all Reis. The final product is extraordinary, unlike anything Reis has done before and unlike anything else on the stands. The special spotlight is meant to celebrate an X-creator you might have overlooked, and if you’ve read “New Mutants” you’ve no doubt responded to the striking artwork. Take this as an opportunity to go back and really look at what Reis has accomplished in this book- alongside a Sienkiewicz issue if you can! This is the perfect way to pay tribute to one of the greats, and cements Reis as a modern master.
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
Boom Boom
Often it is a matter of attitude, but sometimes it is a small sartorial choice that gets you this award. Let’s be clear- Boom Boom is the raddest, baddest, explodiest mutant on Krakoa. But those track pants are incredible. Talk about a called shot. That’s just her name written down her leg in vinyl, or whatever those silly-ass pants are made of. And they look great. I understand why superheroes don’t usually just write their names or catchphrases on the outside of their clothes, but wrestlers do it and Boom Boom does it, and I think I love it? Those sunglasses! The whole look is rad.
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“Call Me Alex” Award
Given to a mutant filled with self-loathing about their identity
Black Tom Cassidy
Even as a mutant in the world of “X-Men,” Black Tom has always had very down-to-earth goals. He’s not a revolutionary. He wants to steal money, and then spend it. His simple ambitions are reflected in how he uses his powers. For years he was the guy who could turn sticks into laser blasters. Now we can see he has a powerful connection to plants. He uses his abilities to essentially be the head of Krakoan security, but as we see in “X-Force” #1, this gets him no respect. As a former villain and petty bastard, Tom is widely mistrusted by most other mutants. And now that he failed to perform his duties in a big way, the divide has gotten even more dramatic.
Tom’s position on Krakoa is one that fascinates me. He’s like a pioneer, accepting hardship in search for a “better life.” He gave up his human relationships- including his partnership (some would say marriage) (me, I would say that) with the Juggernaut. Now he’s a guy trying his best to protect a world (okay, an island) that hates and fears him. The tables have truly turned in the world of the X-Men.
“Professor Xavier is a Jerk” Award
Given to a mutant who acted like a real jerk
Cable
What an absolute goober. Like, OK, I see where he is coming from. This simpleminded buffoon thinks to himself, “I should make a gesture of goodwill to this alien being. What would make me happy? If someone gifted me a weapon!” He’s practicing a version of the Golden Rule right? Doing unto others as he would want done to him. But like, c’mon man. Giving a live grenade to an alien is obviously not an overture of peace. Weapons hurt people. They’re not a way to stop violence. So while he was arguably coming from a justifiable place, his short-sighted selfishness escalated a conflict. Sometimes thoughtlessness is just as bad as deliberate meanness. Use your brain Cable, you’re being a huge jerk.
Merriest Mutant Award
Given to a mutant who found a rare moment of happiness
Sunspot
Roberto has always lived a life of privilege, so it’s not like he’s had to fight for every scrap of happiness, but this is the happiest we’ve seen him in a long time. After purchasing AIM and turning it into a legendary superhero operation, ‘Berto dealt with the double whammy of his best friend moving away and a degenerative disease. But Krakoa provides, and now he is healthy and traveling through space to see his boo Sam in the Shi’ar Empire. Sunspot is on an intergalactic road trip with his friends to see his BFF, and he is loving every out of control second of it.
Fastball Special Award
Given to a duo who exhibited great friendship, collaboration, and teamwork
The Summers Family
Scott is maybe trying a little too hard to make up for being such a bad dad, but it is hard to argue with results. This is a family who have been involved in superhero combat for generations, a team of unstoppable badasses. They’ve got the moves, the powers, and the tactics to get the job done. Do their personal issues sometimes lead to bad decision making? Absolutely, the Summerses are a mess. But when Scott invites the kids monster hunting, monsters get hunted and at the end of the day, the operation is a success. That’s how Summers do business on Krakoa!
Let’s Talk About X Baby Award
Given to the sweetest, sexiest, bestest romantic couple
Sunspot and Cannonball
Listen, I believe in platonic friendship. I just don’t believe that’s what Sam and Roberto have. These two were married. After their superhero team disbanded, they decided to live together, to commit to each other, to do everything together. That’s monogamy. That’s a romance. Then Sam left Roberto for Izzy and started a family. They still loved each other, but things were different. But mutants don’t gotta stick to monogamy anymore, and that’s bringing up all sorts of opportunities for the young mutants. Roberto really wants to show Sam Krakoa. He wants Sam to see all the opportunities Krakoa provides. And one of them is the opportunity for them to start again, as things were meant to be. Mutants be swinging!
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MVX: Most Valuable X-Man
Given to an X-Man who embodied the values of the team and showed all around X-cellence
Captain Kate Pryde, the Red Queen, Bitch!
And there you have it, our first ever back-to-back MVX winner. Kate gets this spot for a lot of the same reasons she got it last month, only more so. Listen- heroes, especially minority heroes, are often cool, calm, and collected. As Black Panther has gotten more mainstream, he’s become much more compassionate, aloof, and wise. He used to be clever, vengeful, and a little vindictive. And that was awesome! I talked last month about how Kate was forced to be the “responsible” member of the X-Men. She had to run the school, balance the books, make the speeches to the cameras. She didn’t get to sleep around- she got engaged and broke it off twice. And that makes no sense, no one raised by Wolverine and Storm is going to work a desk job.
This version of Kate is so much truer to the character. She’s passionate, angry, loving, and a little bit out of control. And it is important that this Jewish mutant bisexual woman be allowed to do that! She sees injustice, and she hurts the perpetrators. It’s the same thing Punisher and Daredevil do every month. She fights hard, and she parties hard- as the X-Men should! They were always the outsider team, the renegade team, and right now Kate is embodying their spirit. She’s got a lot of feelings, and she is setting an example to mutantkind by expressing them explosively. She is the Red Queen, bitch.
