X-Men #5 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-MEN vol 7 #5
“Psychic Rescue in Progress”
Writer: Jed MacKay
Penciller: Ryan Stegman
Inkers: JP Mayer, John Livesay & Ryan Stegman
Colourist: Marte Gracia
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
THE X-MEN:
Psylocke. She’s still in a relationship with Greycrow, which started in Hellions during the Krakoan era and was still in place as of the X-Men: Blood Hunt – Psylocke one-shot. However, this is the first time we’ve seen Greycrow in this series. She claims that what they have in common is being used as living weapons, and that she joined the X-Men in order to have a purpose to apply herself to. She tries to persuade him to join the X-Men, but his refusal – and his return to crime – are evidently not dealbreakers for her. Her nightmare in the “Black Bug Room” sequence is the thought that she’s only good for killing.
Quentin Quire. He doesn’t get on very well with Psylocke, who clearly finds him intensely irritating. Still, the two of them are reasonably co-operative on the “psychic rescue”. For all his bravado, his personal nightmare is an image of Sabretooth, so evidently he isn’t brushing off his decapitation in “Sabretooth War” as much as he claims. This Sabretooth also mocks Quentin for everyone else he cares about leaving him – interestingly, Wolverine makes the list.
The basic idea is that Quentin and Psylocke need to work together to defeat Cassandra’s trap, because Quentin has the power, but Psylocke has the skill to do it without damaging Ben Liu’s mind. You could question whether Psylocke really is a more skilled and trained psychic than Quentin, but hell, she’s been around in one form or another for long enough, and I’m willing to buy that she’s got more innate discipline than he does.
Cyclops. Shows up to give Psylocke and Quentin their orders. The psychic rescue in this issue is presumably the same one that he mentioned as being in progress in the previous issue, so the two must take place at roughly the same time.
The Beast also shows up right at the end, but doesn’t say anything. (He’s filling out the composition in a homage to the last page of New X-Men #121, taking Wolverine’s space.)
SUPPORTING CAST:
Greycrow. He lives in a cabin in Alaska, presumably not very far from the Factory. He’s reverted to crime, though of a fairly low level sort. Psylocke has clearly been trying to persuade him to come to the Factory, and he doesn’t give any particular reason for declining the offer; he seems more interested in trying to persuade Psylocke to stay with him. He seems momentarily unhappy when Psylocke says that the X-Men give her purpose, presumably because of the implication that he doesn’t. He appears in Psylocke’s nightmare in the “Black Bug Room” sequence, but mainly in order to represent her fear that both of them will be unable to escape their role as weapons.
Amy Voght doesn’t appear, but is mentioned as someone that Greycrow is paying to teleport him around the world “to rob banks.” This is presumably the former Amelia Voght from the Acolytes, who was last seen as a member of S.W.O.R.D. in S.W.O.R.D. #5 (2021).
Ben Liu. According to his memories, Ben Liu was working in finance until he underwent some sort of alien abduction experience – depicted as a strange glowing eye / flower thing in the sky, which might not be accurate. He was given mutant powers against his will by 3K, in what seems to have been extremely traumatic – although his condition might also be a side effect of Cassandra Nova leaving a trap in his mind, or even a deliberate feature to lure telepaths in.
VILLAINS:
3K, from issue #1, are indeed turning normal humans into mutants, though we still don’t know why. Cassandra Nova is the first person to be confirmed as a member. The last time we saw Cassandra was in Marauders #10 (2023) when she was stranded in the distant past of Threshold. Apparently, either she found some means of time travel or she’s had a very long wait.
Technically, Cassandra herself doesn’t appear, but some sort of echo of her has been left in Ben Liu’s mind as a booby trap. It repeats the same “Black Bug Room” psychic attack that the real Cassandra used on Cyclops in New X-Men #116.
REFERENCES:
Page 4 panel 5: “I was made to be a tool, John Greycrow. Just like you were.” Kwannon was raised from birth by the Hand to be an assassin, as covered most obviously in Fallen Angels vol 2. Greycrow’s back story is significantly less extreme, but he’s apparently been either a soldier or mercenary since at least World War II: see Weapon X #14 (2003).
Page 6 panel 4: “Sabretooth cut my head off and carried it around in a box.” Correctly footnoted to Wolverine #41, though it extends through to Wolverine #50. Quentin dies in that issue and presumably is among the characters resurrected in Rise of the Powers of X.
Page 8 panel 3: The landscape that Quentin and Psylocke see as they enter Ben’s mind includes the illusory alien ships that Ben conjured up in issue #2.
Page 9 panel 4: “You’re not supposed to talk during a psychic rescue.” This issue is a homage to New X-Men #121 (2002), in which Jean Grey and Emma Frost attempt a “psychic rescue” on Professor X, and which is almost entirely silent. Cassandra Nova was also the villain in that issue.
This was fine, but not exceptional. In part because they just did an homage to New X-Men’s psychic rescue in Giant Size X-Men a few years ago – give it another decade to let it breathe before running it again.
They also spent last issue and this one teeing up major villains, so I’m assuming the next issue will be the two halves of the team coming together and debating which threat has priority. McKay has set a lot of plots in motion here (beyond the two mentioned above, there’s also ONE and what happened to Magneto, plus the upcoming crossover with Uncanny), and he’ll hopefully have time to make them pay off.
Why does Kwannon refer to Amelia Voght as “that awful Amy Voght”? They’ve never met before this issue. Maybe Kwannon is jealous or maybe it will be dealt with in her own series.
Why is Amelia Voght teleporting Greycrow around to rob banks? She’s never been a villain for hire before- she was an Acolyte- and she often tried to intervene to save people’s lives.
It also seems like a waste of her character. She’s an ex-lover of Xavier. And one of the major villains in this era is Sarah Gaunt, another ex-lover of Xavier. But rather than have them interact, she’s just robbing banks.
Does Scott know Greycrow is robbing banks? It’s odd that he would turn a blind eye to it, considering that Greycrow shot his wife and kidnapped his son, causing Scott to suffer hallucinations.
As a side note, does Quentin know that Phoebe is evil? I mean, he obviously doesn’t know the specific details, or else Scott would intervene to protect Kamala, but does he know that she’s working with Empath or that she’s involved in something that’s probably illegal?
“interestingly, Wolverine makes the list.”
This current plot with Wolverine ignoring the people he formerly mentored and not wanting to be a mentor again just doesn’t work. Simone tried to justify it by claiming that not all of his proteges are still alive but we’ve seen Daken, Quentin, Jubilee, Kitty, Pixie, etc. all alive. If one of them died, no one bothered to share it with the readers. Yes, Jubilee, Quentin and Daken were temporarily dead but they got better. And Wolverine seems to be avoiding them while whining about all his proteges died. He’s basically acting the opposite way that anyone would act if a friend or loved one returned from the dead.
Note that Cassandra though not reformed, was helping the Marauders. And Kwannon agreed to go along with Kitty’s plan to strand her in the past because Cassandra had killed Kitty’s father, even though Greycrow had also killed a Morlock’s boyfriend and like Kitty’s father, he couldn’t be resurrected because he was human. It looks like keeping Cassandra where they could keep an eye on her would have been the better option.
As a side note. three solo titles seem to blacked out on the editorial page. What are they? Magik, Hellverine and Wolverines (Laura)?
Paul, looks like you left or lost a bit at the end of the Ben Liu section.
And great stuff, as always.
I haven’t read this issue yet but once again I find myself not wanting to read the new issues. They’re OK on their own but there’s already too much stuff coming out without any seeming direction being apparent. It seems that the current mandate is to keep flooding the market with X-Men stuff, to have things to use and to sell when the new movies come out. I sincerely miss the Krakoa era, I loved everything about it, other than the way it ended (since Moira randomly turned evil)
I’ve fixed the Ben Liu bit – thanks.
It feels like the 2010s were a mini golden age for Marvel. All sorts of new characters taking centre stage. Entire new teams like the Champions, even (yes I know the name isn’t original). This seemed to tip into Krakoa, which was wildly experimental, but far too high concept to be called fun. And all the other titles seemed to get really conservative in response. And now X-Men seems to be getting really conservative as well. This issue! Iceman pays his bills online! Hopefully it all builds up before long.
I’m sorry to see the silent psychic rescue is becoming a trope. I haven’t read this, but this story concept worked exactly once, and there’s nothing to be added to it by trying to do it again. Of the few ‘nuff said issues I read, only Morrison and Quitely were able to really make it work. Claremont’s issue was indecipherable; the silence was just an artificial obstacle to good story. But in New X-Men, Morrison took a difficult remit and converted it into a central story point to great effect.
He couldn’t have done it without Quitely’s exceptional talent. The homage by Deuterman a few years back really brought out for me how tremendously talented Quitely is. He does so much with facial expressions and body language that Dauterman failed to replicate. Dauterman’s figures and scenery are prettier, but Quitely’s have so much more expressiveness and character.
Compare the “we have to talk” panels side-by-side. In Quitely’s panel, Jean strides past Logan and Scott, shoulders back and head up. The men have turned their heads to follow her with their eyes. Jean is in command here; she knows what’s happening, and her peers are deferring to her as a colleague with expertise.
In Dauterman’s panel, Logan and Scott are blocking Jean’s passage. She has stopped, her shoulders hunched, and posed deferentially to these men. Dauterman’s Jean is answering to her male colleagues. They are demanding she tell them what’s going on, and she’s submitting.
Dauterman’s Emma is positioned completely randomly. She’s just standing kind of in the way, but positioned so unnaturally you can’t figure out where she came from or where she’s going. Quitely’s by contrast, is clearly shying back because she’s ashamed of her failure.
Seeing how poorly the first homage measures up, it’s hard for me to see what a third take could possibly add. Morrison and Quitely really nailed the concept. This third one has already slipped into parody by adding a meta-joke about how it’s “supposed to be” silent. If you’re doing parody already, it’s because there’s nothing new to be done with the concept.
I don’t know if the cover is a specific homage, but I’m picking up strong Jim Steranko vibes.
Not sure why everyone is dissing this as being a failed remake of the Morrison/Quitely issue. While they share a title, and a vague outline, they are totally distinct in terms of plot, characterization, and formalisms. If you don’t think the issue succeeds on its own merits, fine — but don’t criticize it at failing at something that isn’t even trying to do,
I’ve observed for a while now that it’s really really hard to do a team book and have decent characterization — unless you frequently focus in on a much smaller set of characters. I thought that this issue did a good job of moving both Psylock and Quentin’s stories forward.
My read on Psylocke’s Black Bug Room is somewhat more subtle than what you summarize. I don’t think it’s (just) that she fears being useless. It’s that she fears that her *lover* may fall prey to despair.
When we last saw Cassandra Nova, she had been psychically forced to not attack mutants. I wonder if her current plot of turning flatscans *into* mutants is related to that, in some twisted way.
I think the cover is just counter-culture pop art, to which Steranko was no stranger. The poses and the general vibe (not the art style itself) remind me of the Allreds.
@Alexx Kay: Can’t have it both ways, though – the issue is called “Psychic Rescue in Progress”, it features two telepaths diving into someone’s mind, and Cassandra Nova is revealed at the end. This issue is *inviting* comparisons to Morrison/Quitely.
While this issue is obviously an hommage to the Morrison & Quitely’s classic (and there are certainly worse stories to evoke), it’s not a sterile lesser pastiche like Giant-Size X-Men was.
Instead, it wisely drops the silent gimmick (there’s plenty of telepathic communication, as well as a bunch of scenes outside the psychic intervention), which allows it to pack in quite a bunch of characterization for its pair of central characters.
It’s certainly not as distinctive as the original, and I still find Stegman’s art too messy in this. But as a middle chapter tasked with finally advancing the plot while giving enough room to spotlight characters who hadn’t gotten much so far ? It’s perfectly fine, and playfully evoking another story while it’s at it feels like a plus : cheeky, but appropriate.
@Alexx Kay — Many writers struggle to do “balanced” character focus on team books once a team gets to 7 members or over. That either means dividing the cast up or some get the short straws. It gets extra challenging for writers who do “4-6 issues or bust” arcs versus individual issues that link up with subplots. Then again, splitting the cast up to focus on various characters at a time is writing 101.
On MacKay’s Avengers, IMO, he is fine with doing issues that focus on his plot (which often uses original villains), and fine with doing issues focused on the cast. He seldom mingles the two perfectly. Even the last two issues were about Storm joining the team, Thor leaving and their reactions to Blood Hunt. The threat with Hyperion was just obligation, and was dismissed in kind.
A part of me thinks some writers just need smaller teams. 5-6 if 7 is too tough.
I’m nitpicking because she’s my favorite character, but Kwannon was written out of character in this issue. I agree with Michael that she’s not going to call Amelia awful. And her tension with Quentin was forced in this issue just to make their eventual teamup work. She led the Hellions; she’s not going to sweat Quentin’s attitude when she already dealt with Empath, and she’s not going to be on a high horse about someone enabling bank robbing.
I thought this was okay, but it mirrors the biggest problem I have with McKay’s Avengers: pacing. I feel like this comic isn’t in a hurry to move its plot along, and individual issues haven’t been satisfying.
Each issue of this series concerns itself with one major plot point, while the subplots get ignored. There’s no reason we can’t have a page or two checking in on the other characters while the main story is being told. This comic feels thin. The recent Uncanny X-Men issue told us a bit about the new characters while showing us more of the villains and getting into the heads of some of the main cast. I don’t think it was amazing, but I prefer that approach to what McKay & Stegman have been doing.
As for the homage… it’s ok? Nobody will top Morrison and Quitely for smart weirdness. I can’t recall too many comics that directly homage older works super successfully, and even most of those spend a lot of their pages on parody (see Alan Moore & Co on Supreme, a run I really like). At least this wasn’t a silent issue.
[…] #5. (Annotations here.) This is a homage to the “psychic rescue” story from New X-Men #121, and that’s […]
As long as MacKay steers clear off Aaron’s psychic shotguns, he can do whatever he wants with Quentin.