Dark X-Men #2 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
DARK X-MEN vol 2 #2
“Wings Off Flies”
Writer: Steve Foxe
Artist: Jonas Scharf
Colour artist: Frank Martin
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Design: Tom Muller & Jay Bowen
Editor: Jordan D White
COVER / PAGE 1. Well, that’s Madelyne fighting Maggott while Gambit and Gimmick watch, which in the story itself is no more than a mild argument. Featuring a rare 2023 outing for the brokeback pose, albeit innovatively viewed from overhead, it’s the worst cover I can remember seeing on an X-book in quite some time.
PAGE 2. Flashbacks: The alternate Goblin Queen’s life.
We saw this Goblin Queen at the end of last issue, when the captured Archangel was delivered to an Orchis black site.
“There are few worlds throughout the Multiverse in which Madelyne Pryor lives a good, simple life.” Presumably because she was created by Mr Sinister as a clone of Jean Grey for his own schemes. Therefore, in any world where she exists, she’s almost certain to get sucked into Sinister’s plans in some way, unless he gets defeated before that can happen.
“One such Madelyne devoted herself fully to corrupt magicks, becoming so feared that she was drawn into a conflict that spanned all universes.” This is the Madelyne from the Secret Wars event set on Battleworld, a patchwork planet with elements from various alternate realities (most of them based on major Marvel stories of the past). Madelyne ruled the section based on “Inferno”, as shown in the Inferno miniseries.
“In exile on an Earth that was not her own, she fought the X-Men … and lost once again.” New X-Men #12-16 and X-Men Blue #11-12 (2016-17).
“She was cast down deeper this time, into the depths of Limbo.” In X-Men Blue #12, although her destination wasn’t specifically identified as Hell.
“When an Orchis research unit discovered her in [Limbo]…” This is original. Basically, we’re told that this Madelyne became completely demonic from her time in Limbo.
PAGE 3. The Orchis Goblin Queen and Archangel.
It’s not clear here what the Goblin Queen is doing in order to “put [Archangel] into the field.”
The two odd-looking Orchis agents were also seen last issue. They’re identified in a data page later, so we’ll come back to them.
PAGE 4. Madelyne and Havok.
Havok was stabbed through the throat by Albert (under Orchis control) last issue, in the same fight where Archangel was captured. Madelyne does seem to be making a sincere effort to heal him, although the end result looks decidedly undead around the edges.
“Those little golden eggs.” Krakoan resurrection.
Faltine. The language of the Dark Dimension, from Dr Strange.
PAGES 5-6. The other “X-Men” argue.
Maggott gives us the conventionally heroic argument of no man left behind, and wants to rescue Archangel at all costs. Gambit accepts the argument (which Azazel doesn’t actually make in terms) that this would be a suicidal exercise. Azazel seems to enjoy winding Maggott up and makes sure to remind us that he sees Emplate as his servant; Emplate doesn’t say anything, but does stand around loyally. Gimmick finds all of this understandably disconcerting, and sticks close to Gambit, the nearest thing around to a proper A-list superhero. Zero is just happily playing with the captured Albert robot parts.
“I’ve got a fondness for cruel, driven redheads…” Azazel is presumably referring to Mystique.
PAGE 7. Recap and credits.
PAGE 8. Havok meets Gimmick.
Havok is really not looking well, but his personality seems basically unchanged. He’s still trying to be friendly. However, he doesn’t seem to realise how he’s changed.
Carmen takes the new codename Feint, which makes sense now that she’s principally a mutant shape-changer rather than an outfitter of equipment for the Children of the Atom.
Infestation and Snot were seen in Limbo last issue; Havok probably doesn’t know that they were fighting Gimmick/Feint immediately before taking asylum in Limbo, in Marvel’s Voices: Pride (2023).
PAGE 9. Data page: bios of Krol and Vallens. Despite the details they get here, these aren’t established character names. However, their bios do refer to a number of actual stories.
Krol, we’re told, was a former SHIELD roboticist who was fired for torturing AIs, and got re-hired by Norman Osborn’s HAMMER (during the “Dark Reign” storyline). Victoria Hand was a prominent character during “Dark Reign”. The Iron Patriot armour was a stars-and-stripes themed set of Iron Man armour worn by Norman Osborn as one of the Dark Avengers. Arno Starks’ AI uprising was depicted in the 2020 miniseries Iron Man 2020. (Albert was also in that storyline, so it might be significant.)
Vallens is said to work for the French agency Le Bureau Discret, whose only previous appearance was in X-Force #4 (2014). She didn’t appear in that issue. The “most recent death of Stephen Strange” is the Death of Dr Strange mini from a couple of years ago.
There’s a clear suggestion here that these two have infiltrated Orchis rather than being conventional Orchis agents.
PAGES 10-12. Krol, Vallens and Goblin Queen.
The Bamf Dragon – a transformed Nightcrawler loyal to the Goblin Queen – seems surprisingly keen to get at Krol, bearing in mind that the Goblin Queen herself seems reasonably co-operative.
Elsie-Dee is the traditional partner robot of Albert, who was captured by the Dark X-Men last issue after fighting for the Orchis forces. The original scheme, from Wolverine #37 (1991), involved Albert attracting Wolverine’s attention, then Elsie-Dee pretending to be a little girl in danger, so that she could lure in Wolverine and blow herself up in order to kill him. She broke her programming and hung around as a supporting character for much of Larry Hama’s Wolverine run.
Evidently, Krol always planned for Albert to get captured, so that he could be used as a spy device.
PAGE 13. Maggott walks out.
Havok and Gambit both seem to be making the (basically reasonable) point that they don’t have the power to rescue Archangel, and Maggott seems to be taking this issue as a proxy for the unsettling character of his allies. Zero, who appears to have merged his body with Albert, seems positively happy here, which is unusual for him.
PAGE 14. Havok and Feint.
Havok seems to be rationalising Maddy’s more demented choices for her team on the grounds that there aren’t many people left to choose from. The previous issue was explicit that Havok is here in part because he’s in need of a mission to hand onto.
The photo seems to show Madelyne and Alex as they were in the X-Men’s Australian era, when they had a romance subplot, and Madelyne had not yet become the Goblin Queen. (Havok says that “Lorna and I were in a weird place” – at that point, Havok was believed dead, and Lorna was possessed by Malice.)
“To me, my X-Men.” Madelyne continues to appropriate the trappings of the X-Men for this wonky team – partly to do the right thing, and partly because this is her chance to claim the role that she feels she was excluded from after Jean Grey came back.
PAGE 15. Data page: an excerpt from “Fall of the House of X”. An excerpt from this book previously appeared in a data page in X-Men: Before the Fall – Sons of X (the Legion of X special).
“The first time that Madelyne Pryor unleashed the forces of Limbo on Earth…” The original “Inferno” arc.
“The second time she did it…” The recent “Dark Web” crossover.
This page suggests that the X-Men may have telepathically manipulated the US government into tolerating the Limbo Embassy, but also acknowledges that they may just have been scared of it.
The Mercy Crown, Madelyne’s magical Cerebro alternative, appeared last issue. We’re specifically warned that it has the potential both to “save mutantkind” (presumably by helping to locate them) and to destroy it altogether – this seems to be referring to something more than just its ability to locate the remaining mutants on Earth.
PAGES 16-17. Madelyne shows the Mercy Crown to her team.
Fairly straightforward. The various images in page 17 panel 1 show mutants still on Earth from assorted “Fall of X” titles. Specifically:
- Top left are Fang, Northstar and Aurora from Alpha Flight.
- Top middle is Mystique, in a sewer – this week is the first time we’ve seen her since she suffered an aneurysm and fell off a cliff at the Hellfire Gala. More of her story over in Uncanny Spider-Man #1.
- Top right is Bishop, preparing for a mission over in Children of the Vault.
- Centre left is Iceman, doing his hero thing in Astonishing Iceman.
- Centre middle is a girl surrounded by mushrooms; the “X-Men” will go after her in the next scene.
- Centre right are Tony Stark and a disguised Emma Frost from X-Men and Invincible Iron Man.
- Bottom left is Wolverine fighting a Wolverine clone which has been transformed into a Wendigo, from this week’s Wolverine #37.
- Bottom middle is an unkempt Professor X from Immortal X-Men.
- Bottom right is Callisto, who we’ll see shortly.
PAGES 18-20. The X-Men go to Querétaro.
Madelyne decides to split the team, arguing that they need to get through the group as quickly as possible, but this also has the effect of getting rid of Gambit and Maggott – and leaving the inexperienced Carmen with Madelyne, Alex and Zero, none of whom are exactly stable. Carmen places her faith in Alex. That’ll go well for her, I’m sure.
PAGES 21-23. Archangel attacks the Morlocks.
The Morlocks have been based in Madripoor since Marauders vol 1, not having felt at home on Krakoa. At least some of them were out at sea at the time of the Hellfire Gala and therefore missed being marched through the gates in X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023. Havok, Maggott, Azazel and Emplate show up just in time to see them being attacked by Archangel, who seems to have some sort of wax death mask over his head.
Other than Callisto, the Morlocks seen in this issue are:
- Brute and Hump, the two big thugs who look a bit like the Beast.
- Beautiful Dreamer, wearing the 1920s dress and hat.
- A guy who looks to be Shatter, from the 2002 Morlocks miniseries (which was about an entirely different Morlock community in Chicago). He had a cameo on Krakoa in Sabretooth #5.
- Sunder, the other big lug, who dies again.
Archangel has a history with the Morlocks, having lost his original wings during the first Morlock Massacre.
PAGE 24. Trailers. The Krakoan reads AMBUSH.
“The photo seems to show Madelyne and Alex as they were in the X-Men’s Australian era, when they had a romance subplot, and Madelyne had not yet become the Goblin Queen”
The flirted a bit (if you can call it that) but didn’t pursue anything until after she became the Goblin Queen, though.
Was the 2002 Morlocks series the one that prompted you to propose that Marvel should have a Whack-A-Morlock game on their website? Odd the things that stick in the mind…
It’s kind of strange how the only place the Krakoan cipher is ever used, is in the promotional bits that are usually there to prompt a casual reader to read more.
Faltine isn’t the language of the Dark Dimension- it’s the language of Dormammu’s and Umar’s native dimension. (Dormammu and Umar aren’t native to the Dark Dimension.)
The point seems to be that the Battleworld Maddie has completely turned her back on the woman she once was, to the point of not caring whether her mutant powers are removed. Meanwhile, the photo Alex has shows Maddie as she was before she became the Goblin Queen. Presumably, Maddie will have to become more like the woman she was before S’ym to defeat Battleworld Maddie.
Some people seemed to think that the photo couldn’t exist because the X-Men were invisible to mechanical devices but the X-Men’s computers were able to monitor them, so presumably the photo comes from the computers.
So who do we think is writing these “Fall of the House of X” pages anyway? Now we know that “Fall of the House of X” and ” Rise of the Powers of X” are going to be the minis that conclude the Krakoan Era/ the Sinisters plot, it would be nice to know whose writing the book those minis are named after. At first I thought it was a repentant Beast but now I’m not so sure. I’ve heard Destiny suggested as a possibility but she doesn’t seem to fit either.
” it has the potential both to “save mutantkind” (presumably by helping to locate them) and to destroy it altogether – this seems to be referring to something more than just its ability to locate the remaining mutants on Earth.”
The idea seems to be that while Cerebro works by linking to minds, the Mercy Crown works by linking to souls- and this can be used against mutants.
“Havok, Maggott, Azazel and Emplate show up ”
This should be “GAMBIT, Maggott, Azazel and Emplate show up”
Interesting that Alex has a photo of himself and Madelyne from the Outback, considering the whole “invisible to cameras” gimmick 🙂
“it’s the worst cover I can remember seeing on an X-book in quite some time.”
Is that a Yu cover? It would be nice if you started crediting the cover artists, if only because you usually include the cover images in these reviews.
One other important thing to note- it’s confirmed her that Orchis’s mutant cure that Shaw took is derived from Blightswill.
The cover artist is Stephen Segovia.
The girl among the mushrooms should be Marisol Guerra, Flourish, from Greg Pak’s Storm series.
Paul > Centre middle is a girl surrounded by mushrooms; the “X-Men” will go after her in the next scene.
I think this is Flourish/Creep (Marisol Guerra) from Greg Pak’s Storm book.
Shatter was a quite prominent character in the tv series The Gifted.
Now that I think about it, all the Fall of X situation is very similar to The Gifted setup.
Nice to see Maggott with a speaking part and an actual role to play in the story. I miss his chutzpah from his early appearances, however. The character reads as if it could be any reasonable person, not specifically Maggott.
Other than that, I enjoyed this issue, and was happy to see Scharf’ & Martin’s moody artwork throughout. Foxe made the characters distinct and interesting. Carmen makes a good viewpoint character (even if “Feint” sounds like “Faint,” making it a weird choice for a codename). The constant feeling of being off-kilter works in the book’s favor.
The more I think about it, the more I get confused about the narrator in the “Fall of the House of X” pages. The narrator doesn’t seem to know what the Quiet Council might or might not have done, so it can’t be Destiny or Beast or anyone associated with the X-Men. But the narrator does seem to know about Orchis’s internal deliberations. Moira?
Between this and Hellions they’ve really made Alex look like a worthless chump the past few years.
Azazel has a surprisingly human personality here, down to an outdated “Lost in Space” reference.
@Luis- yeah but I’m not believing that Azazel would be upset by the carnage Warren caused.I get that Azazel invoking the deity was supposed to be ironic but it didn’t seem true to his character, especially since Foxe has said that Azazel, Emplate and Zero are the three members of the Dark X-Men that are completely evil.
Is this the same Zero that tried to reveal the cure for Legacy virus back in the 1990s?
No, that Zero was an android associated with Stryfe. This is Zero from the Generation Hope book.
Re: Azazel : This is Marvel after all , so nobody’s ever pure 100% pure evil , especially X-mutants , and an evil person can still be shocked by wholly unexpected carnage
Re: Maggott : I guess since Japeth’s not a teenager anymore , but already in his early to mid 20’s , like the rest of Generation X (since he’s visibly aged as shown by his new soulpatch goatee beard) he’s already lost his youthful exuberance LOL
Is anyone else getting Annihilation Helm energy from the Mercy Crown? Does it jave its own agenda?
If Marvel still had editors who actually did their jobs , you’d be right , but as it is , this may very well be just another missed opportunity to tell an obvious story tsk tsk tsk
[…] X-MEN #2. (Annotations here.) On the other hand, this is much better. Orchis are the villains, but Dark X-Men is more interested […]
If the Mercy Crown can be used to track mutants by their souls, I’m assuming ORCHIS could use it to purge the Waiting Room
Gambit has a history with the Morlocks too! Retconned as it is, it’s definitely significant.