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X-Men Mutantversity: The Whole World

By | September 7th, 2020
Posted in Columns | % Comments

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, and we’ll stand strong when the plant people come for us. But 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!

Here’s how it’s going to go. 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

L’Chayim: The 18 Resurrections of Kate Pryde

The mystery of Kate Pryde is turning out to be both more and less interesting than I anticipated. She has been unable to access the Krakoa gates and resurrection protocols. Is this deliberate sabotage by a rival? Is Kate not really a mutant? Maybe something about the way she interacts with Ilyana’s Soulsword is messing her up? None of that was really resolved but in “Marauders” #11, Kate finally comes back from the dead. And the circumstances of her resurrection manage to be both mundane and mythic.

It seems like a lot of Kate’s problems have to do with her phasing powers. Since her ‘base’ state isn’t necessarily corporeal, the way she grows inside one of those golden Krakoan eggs is different. The way you pull her out is different. And so, Xavier, the X-Men, and the Five have just been messing up. Which is kinda interesting! Different mutant powers will of course necessitate different treatments and procedures, that’s an intrinsic part of “X-Men!” Scott has to wear special glasses. Xavier augments his powers with Cerebro. And Kate resurrects in a ghost form and needs to be pulled out with care.

The wonderful twist to this is how many attempts it took to figure this all out. The Five were just about ready to give up after seventeen attempts, but at the insistence of Nightcrawler and Emma, they try one more time. And on the eighteenth time, Kate returns to life. If you will indulge me, let me enthuse about Jewish numerology for a moment.

Back in bible times, the numbers we use today (which are called Arabic Numerals for a reason) had not yet reached the ancient kingdom of Israel. (Indeed, unless I am mistaken Arabic Numerals weren’t codified until the Common Era). There was math though, so letters were used for numbers. Because of this, every word is also a number. If you were to write Kate’s given name in Hebrew (Katherine) you’d spell it קתרין. Turned into numbers, her name would add up to 1410. There is a whole practice in Judaism (prominently in Kabbalah) called Gematria, all about associating numbers with certain words.

The most famous of these word/numbers is Chai (or חַי), which means life. In the very least you’ve probably encountered the common Jewish toast l’chayim, which means “To life!” (It comes up in Fiddler on the Roof and also the Black Eyed Peas sing about it). Those two letters turned into numbers? You probably got it by now, it’s 18. So when noted religion scholar Nightcrawler smiles at the end of the issue, it’s in recognition of the Jewish symbolism. And maybe more than that, the magic power of those numbers and their connection to the miracle of living. !סבבה מאוד

A Vertebrate’s Guide to Mojoworld

Mojoworld was first introduced in the 1985 “Longshot” miniseries. It’s ruled over by the despotic Mojo, a yellow blob monster who is obsessed with TV. The ruling class of Mojoworld are called the Spineless Ones and they exist to consume shows that Mojo films for them. This is almost always done without the given consent of the people forced to perform in the show. As to the nature of what sort of TV he makes, that changes with the times.

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This makes Mojo (and his eponymous world) uniquely situated for parodies of contemporary pop culture, which is mainly how he gets used. In the early goings, a typical Mojo show was a parody of American sitcoms and action movies. Later Mojo stories increasingly drew inspiration from reality TV. My favorite portrayal of Mojo happened when he was taken into his signature medium- TV. The Mojo episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series were some of that show’s best. Mojo was written to be so specific, I imagine he’s based in part on actual Fox executives who oversaw the show at that time. That show had the tendency to sometimes go broad, but the Mojo episodes brought an energy and wit you didn’t see elsewhere.

So it makes a ton of sense that when the team visits Mojoworld in “X-Factor” #2, it is completely unlike anything we’ve seen before. That’s because the Spineless Ones have discovered social media. There’s now a “Stream Chat” where Spineless Ones can make their voices heard, ogling at the captured guest stars and acting like any terrible comments thread would. Mojo is now outsourcing, happy to let his consumers also create content, much like YouTube. This is a brave new world for Mojo, one that completely refreshes the concept.

Makes sense! Ann Nocenti thought of Mojo while she was pursuing her Master’s at Columbia, reading Noam Chomsky and Walter Lippmann. Those guys were concerned with language, truth, and medium. They looked at the way we talked about things, and how that effected our understanding of things. Leah Williams is writing the same Mojo we’ve always had, only as we use different platforms to communicate, so too does Mojo use different platforms to menace the X-Men!

The Whole World in His Hands

There are fewer comics writers with work more surreal and confusing than Grant Morrison. And of his many creations, few are weirder than Fantomex, who starred in an issue of “Giant Size X-Men” this month. I can’t hope to possibly explain everything about Fantomex, but I thought his issue would be a great time to take a look at what we know about the fake Frenchman- and what we don’t know.

Fantomex (also called Charlie-Cluster 7) (yeah, it’s gonna be like that) first appeared in “New X-Men” #128 in 2002. He was kind of a send up of the European gentleman thief archetype. Morrison has sited Fantômas and Diabolik as influences, and you wouldn’t be wrong if you saw a bit of Arsene Lupin in there. Fantomex was introduced as a retcon to the Weapon X project that created Wolverine. It’s not such a shocker in our current Krakoa of X-Men, but in 2002 it was pretty wild when we learned that Wolverine was Weapon 10. Captain America was Weapon I. And Fantomex is Weapon XIII.

(Since I can already hear some of you asking, here are the names of all the known experiments of the Weapon Plus project:
Weapon I – Captain America
Weapon II – Cyborg squirrels
Weapon III – The Skinless Man
Weapon IV – Man-Thing
Weapon V – A Symbiote named Grendel
Weapon VI – Luke Cage
Weapon VII – Nuke
Weapon VIII – ???UNKNOWN???
Weapon IX – Typhoid Mary
Weapon X – Wolverine, Sabretooth, Deadpool, and others
Weapon XI – ???UNKNOWN???
Weapon XII – Huntsman
Weapon XIII – Fantomex
Weapon XIV – The Stepford Cuckoos
Weapon XV – Ultimaton
Weapon XVI – Allgod the Living Religion
Weapon ∞ – Deathlok
Weapon Minus – Doctor Mindbubble)

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Which of Fantomex’s abilities are part of his mutant powers and which were given to him through experimentation is unclear. He seems to have superhuman speed and reflexes. He also possesses an ambiguously telepathic ability to create illusions that he calls his powers of ‘misdirection.’  There’s also the matter of his brain(s). Fantomex possesses multiple backup brains and internal organs, which allow him to multitask in a way that normal people can’t quite comprehend. He can enter a trance that makes him preternaturally good at stealth and fine motor skills. But his most important organ is his nervous system, which is a flying saucer named EVA. She can operate independently from Fantomex, performing recon and transportation.

(I told you it was gonna be like that).

Fantomex grew up in a place called The World. It’s not the same world that you or I are familiar with. It’s sort of a pocket dimension in a snow globe, a secret base full of mad science junk. Time goes a lot faster in the World than it does on Earth, so a lot of secret plans involve hyper-evolving generations of mutants, a concept shared by the Vault (and the Children therein) and also The City of the Maker in the Ultimate Marvel universe. Also, one time Fantomex and Wolverine took Noh-Varr into the World and made him make out with a disembodied brain just to troll him.

What we’ve recently learned though is that since the collapse of the Weapon Plus program, Fantomex has become the sort of de facto keeper of the World. He literally possesses the jar that it is in, and every so often leads incursions into it, usually with a team of supervillains that he intends to ditch there. The reason? There is another Fantomex. OK, there are actually many duplicates of Charlie-Cluster 7, but this one seems to be more like a twin brother. And Fantomex’s twin has remained in the World and become its monarch.

Why is any of that relevant to Krakoa? Well, besides being able to manipulate time, the World is a realm where science has run rampant and weird stuff is possible. Storm is currently infected with a techno organic virus and in need of some radical treatment. And it seems like we will see what the World has to offer her in the final issue of “Giant Size X-Men.”

This month’s X-books:

“Giant Size X-Men: Fantomex” #1 – A wonderful return to form! An artist driven story spotlighting a fan favorite character.
“Empyre: X-Men” #2 – I guess it depends on how much you love Hordeculture. Me? I love ’em a lot! A madcap romp!
“Empyre: X-Men” #3 – As insane fight issues go, this is top tier. They should teach this miniseries in schools.
“Empyre: X-Men” #4 – The best event tie-in miniseries ever? I don’t know about that, but definitely a top ten contender.
“Marauders” #11 – There will probably be those who are not happy with how this went down, but I was delighted. This is my perfect X book.
“X-Force” #11 – One of the most exciting and coherent issues in the series yet! A much appreciated throwback kind of adventure.
“Cable” #3 – That’s more like it! I didn’t even remember that I loved a good Cable and Deadpool team up before this delightful issue reminded me.
“Cable” #4 – A fast paced issue where Cable deals with a problem in an extremely Cable way.
“Excalibur” #11 – Sort of a transitional issue, but one that has good fantasy nonsense.
“Wolverine” #4 – Dracula and Omega Red show up in the last few pages. Everything before that moment felt like a big waste of time.
“Wolverine” #5 – Logan vs this version of Dracula isn’t the worst idea I’ve ever heard but in execution, this series manages to squander the opportunity.
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“X-Men” #11 – Krakoa goes to war! A cool ensemble piece that puts the focus on superpowers.
“X-Factor” #2 – A new take on Mojoworld proves that Leah Williams is seriously one of the freshest, most clever voices in comics.
“Hellions” #3 – Truly a horrifying horror comic. (Scared me anyway). Also a transition as the series heats up.
“New Mutants” #12 – The politics in this issue didn’t really work for me. Very on the nose and thematically muddled. The character stuff worked a lot better.

 

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

Magik

What’s crazy is that Ilyana Rasputin is one of the most long lasting X-Men characters, and it took so long for them to get her so right. She first appeared in the same issue as Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Storm and sure, there have been many good Ilyana arcs, but a lot of them have struggled with the tone. Is she a traumatized girl, stuck in arrested development after being abused by demons? Or is she a funny murderer in sexy shorts? The answer has always been both, but that’s an incredibly tough needle to thread. Well, it turns out she was missing some important ingredients. One is compassion, and this month we got to see her be a pretty decent mentor to Glob. But the other is context, and the Magik of the ‘Dawn of X’ gets to live with heightened Sly Stallone action movie logic. Ass kicking solves her problems, and that’s radical.

 

Merriest Mutant Award
Given to a mutant who found a rare moment of happiness

Anole

How old do we think Victor is? Definitely not old enough to be tending bar. But hey, it’s Krakoa and drinking ages are so American. Every time we check in at the Green Lagoon is delightful, and we find another mutant is thriving there. I mean, we also see a lot of mutants day drinking and peeing on each other’s hats, but the staff there seems to be doing really well. Anole has somehow become the AM bartender, and that role makes so much sense for him. He always was a people person, and he always likes to help folks with their personal problems. Honestly, I’d love to see more people thriving in their roles on the island. Seeing characters find a quiet purpose is so nice!

 

“Professor Xavier is a Jerk” Award
Given to a mutant who acted like a real jerk

Havok

I’ll be honest. I’m holding a lot of past stuff against Alex Summers. He’s done a lot of bad stuff, and he’s never really had to repent for it. Well, now he’s come face to face with Madelyne Pryor, the living incarnation of his past regrets and he is… all over the place. His jerk behavior is clearly being amplified by any number of weird magic spells. It’s possible the Maddy is messing with his head using demon magic. He also never satisfactorily resolved his ‘alignment switch’ that happened in “AXIS.” And he wasn’t exactly the nicest guy in his tenure with X-Factor, or when he was assisting Emma Frost’s villainous plans. And now he’s a failure, not only as a would-be leader of the Hellions, but also as the token “good” team member. He’s not good- he’s a jerk!

Fastball Special Award
Given to a duo who exhibited great friendship, collaboration, and
teamwork

Explodey Boy and Zombie Explodey Boy

A strange consequence of all the death and resurrection is the potential for someone to encounter a previous incarnation of themselves. Case in point- “Empyre: X-Men” ends with a touching confrontation between a zombified Explodey Boy and one who was resurrected on Krakoa. And thus we had the strangest team up of all, one between a very sad self loathing boy and his sadder past self. It’s never made explicit, but it very much seems that Explodey Boy is the 616 debut of Bayley Hoskins, the titular “Worst X-Man Ever.” His power is to blow up, precisely once. But now that he can be resurrected through zombie magic and Krakoan powers, he has another lease on life. Bailey is a nice kid, and he talks his zombie past self into going out like a hero, turning the tide of the battle and winning “Empyre” for the X-Men. A beautiful, existential team up.
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Let’s Talk About X Baby Award
Given to the sweetest, sexiest, bestest romantic couple

Emma and Kate

Kate was dead, murdered by the arch-rival of Emma Frost. Her community was ready to give up on her, mourn her, and move on. But not Emma. Though Kate used to regard Emma as the very definition of evil, their relationship has grown in the last 15 years. First there was begrudging respect. Then there was snide affection. Then real companionship. And now? Emma wants to be with Kate at all times, they trust each other more than almost anyone else. When everyone in the world was ready to give up on Kate, including all of her friends and mentors and lovers, it was Emma who fought and believed and willed her back into existence. That’s not a friendship. That’s soulmate shit. What’s next? A romantic horse ride on the beach? (I’ve seen the previews for the next issue of “Marauders” that is indeed what is next).

 

MVX: Most Valuable X-Man
Given to an X-Man who embodied the values of the team and showed all around X-cellence

Magneto

One of the cool things about the X-Men is that they have a nuanced view on who the good guys and the bad guys are. Case in point: Magneto. The Master of Magnetism has done some pretty irredeemable things over the years, but arguably nothing worse than Iron Man or Captain America have done, and nothing worse than Reed Richards does on a monthly basis. This month, Mags suited up in his classic colors and faced down an invasion of plant aliens.

Which is cool, but how does that represent the values of the X-Men? I actually think this awesome display of power is deeply tied to the themes of what the Krakoan X-Men represent. “The world has told me I was less when I knew I was more,” Cyclops said in “House of X” #1. Mutants are powerful, but they hide their power to live among humans. To avoid scaring them. Magneto has never done that. He’s always reveled in his Omega level powers. And when his home is threatened? He holds nothing back. He never does. And that is what the X-Men are all about. Fearless displays of power in the name of fighting for what’s right.


//TAGS | Mutantversity

Jaina Hill

Jaina is from New York. She currently lives in Ohio. Ask her, and she'll swear she's one of those people who loves both Star Wars and Star Trek equally. Say hi to her on twitter @Rambling_Moose!

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