The X-Axis – w/c 26 June 2023
Okay, then – let’s take a quick run through this week’s X-books. As previously mentioned, no annotations this week or next, while I’m on holiday. But the next Incomplete Wolverine post will be up on Saturday.
X-MEN UNLIMITED INFINITY COMIC #93. By Jason Loo & Antonio Fabela. This is a sequel to the last “X-Friends” arc, in which a bunch of Madrox dupes went off and became space pirates. This time, they’re back and allied with, um, Blastaar – for no particularly obvious reason beyond the fact that the FF are guesting in this arc. Like the previous Jason Loo arcs, this one falls very much in the category of “Okay, I Guess?” There’s nothing especially wrong with it, the art is decent, there’s a theoretically decent hook (the pirate leader dupe still views Madrox’s daughter as his own child)… yet I can’t honestly say I find it very engaging. Lightweight is fine – the X-books could do with some of that, and this title is a good place for it. But this raises a gentle smile rather than being a fun romp, which doesn’t really feel enough.
X-MEN: BEFORE THE FALL – THE HERALDS OF APOCALYPSE #1. By Al Ewing, Luca Pizzari, Stefano Landini, Raphael Pimento & Ceci De La Cruz. To all intents and purposes this is an extra issue of X-Men Red, though the branding gives it added justification for ignoring the regular cast entirely in favour of filling in some of the back story of Genesis. What it isn’t is a story about the Heralds of Apocalypse, despite the Horsemen’s prominence of the cover – but the actual story content matches the solicitation, so presumably plans didn’t change that much.
Al Ewing’s approach to Apocalypse and Genesis builds on some passing dialogue from “X of Swords” flashbacks where she treats him as the weaker partner who was left behind while she went off to fight an eternal war with the population of Arakkii. The flashbacks here try to square off the idea that Apocalypse and Genesis had already had four kids named Famine, Pestilence, War and Death before the war with Amenth that led to the proto-Krakoan paradise of Amenth being divided into two. Basically, Genesis starts off already convinced that war is the future, and Apocalypse is politely smitten with her – but appalled to ultimately learn that she actually chose to prolong the war. This essentially turns Genesis into the mouthpiece of the one-dimensional version of Arakko that Ewing rehabbed in X-Men Red, and indeed the one-dimensional version of Apocalypse from his survival of the fittest days; Apocalypse here does believe in the survival of the fittest stuff, but only as a means to an end, while for Genesis, it’s the end in itself.
So the big retcon is that Genesis was never really corrupted by Annihilation, but was completely on board with Annihilation’s agenda all along. I can see how that gives her a hook, but ultimately Apocalypse comes out of this issue looking more interesting than Genesis does. How big a problem that is depends on how this storyline is intending to use Genesis – if the focus is on how everyone else reacts to her then okay – but I can’t say I’m sold yet on reading stories centred on her. After all, X-Men Red got me on board with Arakko largely by moving away from the interpretation that she represents.
DEADPOOL #8. By Alyssa Wong, Luigi Zagaria & Matt Milla. Okay, this series does have some pacing issues. We’re eight issues in and we’re still basically in a cycle of Deadpool and Valentine fighting people from the Atelier each issue. This one at least has its own angle – the good old “illusory perfect life” trope, where Deadpool isn’t scarred and gets to hang out with his daughter again – which adds a bit more weight to this one, but it’s still something of a stock plot. As usual, there are good moments and the general tone of the book feels right, but something’s lacking in the bigger picture.
STORM #2. By Ann Nocenti, Sid Kotian & Andrew Dalhouse. As with issue #1, it’s kind-of-sort-of the 1980, sliding timeline notwithstanding – which I suppose it kind of has to be in order for Storm’s mohawk look to make any sense. So people are talking as if Madonna and Prince are topical references, and Kitty is hacking on a computer with a cathode ray tube screen and a mouse on a cable. Combine that with the abstract distance of a lot of Nocenti’s dialogue and it’s an odd but quite intriguing read. It’s really more of an X-Men story focussed on Storm than a true solo series, with Rogue and Kitty getting a fair amount of prominence too, but it avoids being a straight nostalgia book despite anchoring itself at a particular point in time.
One does get the feeling Jason Loo is writing these because he has the opportunity to write his favourite Marvel characters, rather than him actually having anything to say about them.
I guess that’s better than just writing X-men comics for the job, even though you actually hate superhero comics.
Can somebody explain something to me? As soon as Apocalypse sees Marianna Stern, he says that she’s a member of Orchis, and not to be trusted. How does he know this? So far, no one outside of Orchis and Coven Akkaba know they’ve formed an alliance. I’m not sure if this is an error, or a clue that Apocalypse has an agent inside of Orchis or Coven Akkaba or what?
When did the demons attack Okkara? The recap page says it was a millennium ago but the story just says that it was a long time ago. I’m not sure if the recap page was just an error or not. (We saw this with the Spider-Man books, where the recap page claimed MJ and Paul Rabin were married, only for the letters page to go “um, no, they’re not married”.)Because if it was only a millennia ago, then Apocalypse already had oceans of blood on his hands by the time he decided to settle in Okkara. If it was a century or so after he realized he was immortal, then he was much less set in his ways.
I’d rather a writer have little or nothing to say about a character than have something to say about a character that doesn’t make a lick of sense. Seen the latter too often.
I don’t know. I like Ewing but the Arakki characters give me lots of flashbacks to the Neo. I just can’t get into “here’s a secret society of uber mutants you’ve never heard of before that live by different rules.” I feel like a lot of them tend to be dropped in with just a name and some crazy powers, again, like the Neo.
…a’ight, that’s Red dropped. In hindsight, 11’s as good a jumping-off point as any.
Mutant magic continues to be a joke. You need a blood sacrifice and a magic seed to open a portal? Opening interdimensional portals is literally textbook first-year Strange Academy stuff (see: Strange Academy #2).
It’s been established in Marvel-616 that you need to have natural “M-genes” (JK Rowling-style) in order to be able to be a full-time 24-7 natural-born mage/magician to begin with in the first place . Presumably , just as genetic mutants’ X-genes and genetic Inhumans/Nuhumans “I/N”-genes cannot co-exist in the same individual , or at least not be active at the same time (for example , Luna , but Kamala may soon be a counter example) then maybe the same holds true for genetic mutants and genetic mages/magicians , at least as a a general rule , noteable exceptions being Wanda (that inorganic retcon based on notorious liar High Evolutionary’d “revelations” will obviously inevitably be reversed sooner or later) , Ororo , Tarot , etcetera . This No-Prize explains why “X-gene Mutant Magick” is distinctly different enough from “non-X-gene mutant magick” LOL
Of course there’s no actual rhyme or reason to how magic works, but if I were to no-prize it, I’d point to the fairly recent retcon in Doctor Strange where every spell has a cost. For the doc, there’s an army of monks that suffer for him, and a boogie man who lived in his basement.
A lot of mutants do magic, but almost all of them are related to Limbo. I’d say they get their magic from Limbo itself. Just as Asgardians get their power from Asgard or specifically Yggdrasil, and so don’t have to pay any cost.
If you don’t have a magic realm to draw from, you have to pay. And that’s where the blood and seeds come in. Otherwise you get what Forge got, with the Adversary and all that business. Though he also had a blood sacrifice I suppose.
I’ll go one further and say “how magic works” shouldn’t be consistent across different series. Each series is playing with its own themes and tones, and should tailor the depiction of magic works to fit that. It’s better than the alternative of having stories as disparate as, say, Moon Girl and Ghost Rider, all approach it the exact same way.
To hop over to a DC comparison, Sandman would not have been improved by having to make its magic conform to how Wonder Woman portrays it.
-A- explicitly says that he’s been scrying on Krakoan affairs. It’s not much of a leap for him to have been poking at Coven Akkaba and Orchis as well.
“I’d point to the fairly recent retcon in Doctor Strange where every spell has a cost.”
This is a common trope among lots of fantasy fiction that deals with magic. It just seems rather cliche now.
IMO , the one to be blamed for the sudden popularity of the concept of “casting cost” in spellcasting in American syfy fiction in recent decades (since the turn of the century/millennium in fact) is primarily due to the legitimate global popularity of the Japanese franchise Occidentalist fantasy Full Metal Alchemist whose magick system is based fundamentally on “Equivalent Exchange”
Am I the only one that thinks that Storm 2 doesn’t fit with either the characters or the time period? We have Storm quitting the team because Wolverine threatened her new boyfriend. We have Kitty urging Rogue to absorb Travis without his consent despite the fact that there’s no evidence the man has done anything wrong and then seriously considering working with Mystique to bankrupt him.
Also, this takes place shortly after Uncanny X-Men 175, but none of the X-Men are reacting like they recently went through the story leading up to X-Men 175. The X-Men almost became murderers because they assumed Scott’s new girlfriend was evil but they don’t hesitate to assume that Storms new boyfriend is evil. Storm almost drowned Scott’s fiancé in Uncanny 175 but nobody accuses Storm of hypocrisy for condemning Logan for threatening Travis.
I actually think the Heralds of Apocalypse one shot did an ok job at setting itself apart from the regular title. Obviously it prepares for the invasion of Arakko – but it’s an Apocalypse character piece as well, detailing his history in Okkara and his relationship with Genesis.
Granted, that doesn’t mean it’s particularly good: Ewing is usually a joy to read, but here it feels like the writing is just deeply unexcited, uninvested and unimaginative.
Weirdly, I found myself enjoying Storm a lot…? There are plenty of questionable decisions, character and continuity-wise: absolutely.
But there’s something odd to Nocenti’s writing that I’m finding really appealing. In part the unnatural feel of it and the tangents in conversation. But also something about the pacing and rhythm of the issue just felt distinctive from modern sensibility, and kind of captivating.
Maybe it’s its complete detachment from any cinematographic ambitions, and all the wide-screen, splash page, concise dialogue and decompression we’re used to by now…?