The Krakoa Era of X-Men |OT| Mutant Massacre (Open Spoilers after issues drop)

[Rhaknar]

X-Force #14 (XoS Part 17)

- Magik vs Pogg round #2 (since we apparently threw all expected rules out the window), unarmed combat this time, and mah girl wins by bursting out of Pogg's stomach after he eats her. Arrako 5 - 3 Krakoa
- We get a spread of silly rapid fire contests now (lol at the eating and dance contests) making the score 12-5 in favor of Arrako.
- More various contests and this whole thing is NOT what I expected from this event. I don't even mean that in a bad way. 17 - 5 now.
- Can't believe War killed that kitten btw.
- Storm v Death is a pretty badass showcase for Ororo tbh, which makes it 17-6
- This went from super serious event to super silly so I have no idea what is going on.

Hellions #6 (XoS Part 18)

- The gang finally arrive at Arrako after some off screen mishaps (RIP Havok's eye) and they encounter Tarn, a Arrakii mutant that informs them there are no swords there, the swords are in Otherworld where they came from (lol) in a tournament that is well underway (lol).
- Lot's of funny stuff here as expected with Havok and Sinister, Empath and Scalphunter etc. The real goal here was of course, for Sinister to get that sweet sweet Arrakii mutant DNA because I guess he just loves that DNA doesnt he?
- Tarn has a mutant team of his own and they RIP THE HELLIONS APART HOLY SHIT. They are just getting slaughtered out there.
- Sinister gets his DNA from Tarn's team during the chaos tho and tells Psylocke to go back to Krakoa with it, surprisingly staying behind so she (and surviving Hellions Scalphunter and Havok, well, a handless Havok at least) can escape.
- Tarn kills Sinister while Psylocke, Scalphunter and Havok cross to Otherworld. Funny bit here with Empath reappearing (he got the hell out of dodge when Tarn's team started whopping their asses) and Scalphunter shanking him.
- They go back to Krakoa where they are ambushed by Sinister (one of the Sinisters I guess, who knows with him anymore) who proceeds to kill all of them (sneaky use of a smokescreen too because, as he says "everyone has a camera these days") in more gruesome fashion.
- In the end, all the Hellions are dead meaning there is no witnesses to him getting all that sweet Arrakii DNA, because he can just resurrect the Hellions with no memory of this. What a sneaky fuck, I love it :D

This event went from a Hickman event to a Duggan event imo, which is very weird and unexpected (and divisive I imagine). I'm into it, but as you know I'm into Marauders and Hellions brand of silliness which this has devolved into.

 

[deimosmasque]

The real strength of X of Swords is how it is executed.

I remember there being friends on this forum even that we're making fun of the concept and comparing it to anime and mortal Kombat and the like.

Instead we get to see why you don't fuck with creatures of magic. They don't play by your rules and they are capricious at that.

 

[Rhaknar]

deimosmasque

Did Gorgon fuck those boulders tho?

 

[deimosmasque]

Probably.

 

[Rhaknar]

Cable #6 (XoS Part 19)

- Sinister tells the Quiet Council that they should blow up the External Gate because anyone that went over to Otherworld is lost and the Arrakii will just come over to end them all. He also throws some amazing shade at Kitty's wardrobe choices.
- Back in Otherworld, the "contest" continues with Cable vs Doug's Bei, and whilehe actually gets the upper hand, he hesitates to kill her and that gives her the chance to turn things around and beat him (but not kill him with Saturnyne showing some mercy).
- Theres a cute scene of Cable telling Jean and Cyclops he lost and that the Krakoans in general are losing bad, and he just sounds like a scared young kid, which I thought was nice (how old is he supposed to be anyway?)
- White Sword vs Gorgon next, and in a clever (I guess?) twist, White Sword says Gorgon must face his 100 champions before he faces him, which sucks for Gorgon but not for Krakoa since every champion he kills counts as a point, so it actually ends up 18-19 in Krakoa's favor.
- Unfortunately White Sword then easily kills a weakened Gorgon to tie it up 19-19, and is this really it for Gorgon? :(
- Genesis / Annihilation vs Apocalypse is next for the tie breaker because of course it is, and it feels like the fun and games are over and it's time to get serious again for the home stretch.

X-Men #15 (XoS Part 20)

- Really good issue, with Cyclops and Jean wanting to form a strike team to go into Otherworld to save Cable and the rest, and the Quiet Council mostly in opposition (mostly since its basically all the villains left that oppose it lol).
- Intersected with this is the fight between Genesis (sans Annihilation mask) and Apocalypse.
- In the end Scott and Jean decide to go to Otherworld against the Quiet Council's wishes, and the Council votes to destroy the gates behind them.
- Apocalypse defeats his former wife in combat but doesn't kill her contrary to Saturnyne's wishes, and the mask orders Genesis to put it on, and Annihilation stands ready for some action.
- Even tho I am liking it, the constant tonal shift in this event is super awkward to say the least.

Excalibur #15 (XoS Part 21)

- Shit devolves into all out war between Annihilation's Arrakii forces and the remaining Krakoan X-Men, with the X-Men managing to temporarily slow down Annihilation so they can escape.
- Meanwhile on the Arrakii side, White Sword isn't down with all this shit since it's not what he signed on for, so he peaces out, and Bei switches sides to be with Doug.
- Wait no she doesn't, she just kidnaps him instead lol.
- Saturnyne in the meantime (hey remember when she just snapped her fingers and froze everyone in place, Krakoans and Arakkii alike? Where did that power go?) takes the shattered pieces of Betsy from a box and I have a feeling this is how we get the Captain Britain corps back.
- Jubilee and her forrest lady friends show up to give a hand, and Doug convinces Bei to join him and the X-Men as Annihilation's forces swoop down on them all.
- I guess Saturnyne expected Brian in the little shard puzzle spell she was making (there's a page at the end explaining it was a love spell she was trying), but she gets Betsy instead as she remains the true Captain Britain, and a bunch of other dimension's Captains are called to defend the Citadel which is under siege by Annihilation (but I thought all the multiverse Captains were gone? I'm confused)

need to do some work now, will hopefully finish this up soon tho :D

 

[Rhaknar]

X of Swords: Destruction #1 (Part 22)

- Oh lordy this Larraz art is orgasmic.
- Captain Britain corps is fully back, full of duck captains and dino captains and gorilla captains and betsy captains and all sorts of alternate dimension captains, all raining down on Annihilation's forces. Annihilation summons her on army and this all feels suitably epic.
- Cyke telepathically tells Magik he's coming, and she's like "the fuck took you so long?", opens a giant portal in the sky from which the motherfucking SWORD space station comes through yeah baby. I love Magik.
- They bring a whole fuckton of X-Men with them and it's on. Jean going "TO ME MY X-MEN" is dope.
- Annihilation and Apocalypse are locked in battle, and Anni just goes fuck it and summons every Amenth demon imaginable, we're talking giant Eldricht horror type things here.
- Cable and Saturnyne have a great little moment where she reminds him what card he drew, and he realises what he has to do now that the SWORD station is here, so he teleports there with Magik, re-activates the station which means re-activating that weird ass horror portal from some issues back (AH HA! Callbacks!), and Magik teleports the incoming alien horde (the Vescora was it?) into Annihilation's army.
- This is a wonderful clusterfuck and I love it. It actually has huge Endgame final battle vibes (as in the MCU movie).
- Apocalypse subdues Genesis in the chaos and rips off the Annihilation mask, which attaches itself to him (well that's not good) but he manages to resist it and bend it to his will, and thus surrenders the Amenth forces, something Saturnyne clearly saw coming.
- Speaking of, as the battle ends, she orders Shogo to close the Vescora gate (he does have reality melting fire afterall) and having defeated her invaders, arranges a parlay between both sides where each side must take one mutant from the other side (an exchange of prisoners as Jean calls it). Of course, as I feared, this means Apocalypse joins his wife and family so no more Apoc for now and that makes me sad :(
- From the other side, Apoc choose Arrako itself as the mutant, which means all the millions of mutants in it are also part of it, as Saturnyne confirms, so Krakoa is about to get a lot bigger.
- So in the end, this was all according to Saturnyne's will / visions / prophecy, even if in her own words things got a little random which is normal for Otherworld (that they did Saturnyne), she rules the multiverse, she has her Captain Britain corps again to defend the Citadel, all she's missing is her bae Brian, sucks for her.

Up next, Reign of X which I guess is the current stuff you guys are getting, so I'm about to catch up soon (well, as much as MU allows me to catch up). Event wise, it was certainly good, and even tho I liked it, the tonal shift and the goofiness in the middle was very strange. And we lose Apocalypse (and Gargon apparently) for the forseable future and that's a shame. No wonder neither were seen wearing Hellfire Gala costumes recently :(

I'm very ready to go back to "normal" tho, not gonna lie.

Adendum: although I guess an eventual future mega-event, say x-men vs machines, and Apocalypse and his family making a grand entrance to come save the day will probably make for one hell of a moment I guess.

 

[Dalek]

I too thought that moment was very Endgame-ish in a great way.

 

[deimosmasque]

As someone who has been reading X-Men Comics since he was 8 years old in 1988. Who loves the original Excalibur team and all the craziness that came with it. Who loves Captain Britain and all the craziness that comes with that.

Who remembers when a different version of Saturnyne was the White Queen of the Hellfire Club.

Who remembers when Forge used The Souls of the X-Men to permanently banish the Adversary, only to have Romo of the Otherworld bring them all back to life and make them immune to camera recordings.

Who has watched Betsy Braddock go from being a fashion model socialite, to an agent of Strike, losing her eyes, having them replaced with cameras to the Mojo World, to a somewhat shy new Telepath to an X-Men team that needed a Telepath, to a woman who forced the members of her team through the Siege Perilous to save thier lives, to becoming the Lady Mandarin, to having to deal with her new body, to having to face Revanche, to dying, coming back thanks to the Crimson Dawn, dying again, having Jamie resurrect her, being an Exile, being put back in her old body and rejecting it, dying again by Saphire Syx and using her Telekinetic and telepathic power to restore herself to her true form.

This was a triumph. And I think Isca should reevaluate her mutant power. He may have won the battle against Captain Britain. But she lost the war.

 

[Porl]

- I guess Saturnyne expected Brian in the little shard puzzle spell she was making (there's a page at the end explaining it was a love spell she was trying), but she gets Betsy instead

Click to shrink...

Internalized homophobia is a hell of a drug

 

[Rhaknar]

Internalized homophobia is a hell of a drug

Click to shrink...

Betsy is gay?

 

[Porl]

Betsy is gay?

Click to shrink...

I'm saying saturnyne wants to make out with betsy but can't accept it and tries to tell herself she wants brian, that's why the love spell "failed"

And yes betsy is bi

 

[Rhaknar]

I'm saying saturnyne wants to make out with betsy but can't accept it and tries to tell herself she wants brian, that's why the love spell "failed"

And yes betsy is bi

Click to shrink...

Ah I see. Didn't know Bets was Bi. Speaking of Bi, did they ever confirm Kitty is Bi?

Because... you know, she is.

 

[The Adder]

This was a triumph. And I think Isca should reevaluate her mutant power. He may have won the battle against Captain Britain. But she lost the war.

Click to shrink...

She started this war living in a hell dimension as the second in command at best. She ended it on Earth and as defacto leader of Amenth.

What, exactly, did she lose?

Ah I see. Didn't know Bets was Bi. Speaking of Bi, did they ever confirm Kitty is Bi?

Because... you know, she is.

Click to shrink...

Kitty is attracted to women and men but only the ones named some variant of Peter.

(Also, yes, they did).

 

[TheChuggernaut]

Speaking of Bi, did they ever confirm Kitty is Bi?

Because... you know, she is.

Click to shrink...

Absofuckinglutely

 

[Memento Mori]

Ah I see. Didn't know Bets was Bi. Speaking of Bi, did they ever confirm Kitty is Bi?

Because... you know, she is.

Click to shrink...

They've not had her say on panel "I'm bi" but she kisses her tatooist on the lips in Marauders #12 after she's resurrected. And there's also this scene in the same issue with Magik:

 

[Huncho]

Since Krakoa isn't everyone one of them bi and in open relationships like the Summers ?

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

Since Krakoa isn't everyone one of them bi and in open relationships like the Summers ?

Click to shrink...

No, people are free to be in whatever relationships they choose but some have stuck with their regular ones like Rogue and Gambit or Northstar and Kyle.

 

[Jinfash]

The whole situation with Krakoa, open relations, and sexual freedoms is one of my top favorite things about the Hixman era. They took a subject that makes a *lot* of people uncomfortable and they made it into a tasteful backdrop and fixture of Krakoan culture. Normalize that shit.

It subverts expectations and forces writers to avoid using cliche romantic endeavors. Example: I'm glad no one will be able to use the Cyke, Wolverine, and Jean love triangle situation easily anymore.

 

[Rhaknar]

They've not had her say on panel "I'm bi" but she kisses her tatooist on the lips in Marauders #12 after she's resurrected. And there's also this scene in the same issue with Magik:

Click to shrink...

 

[Himynameischris]

They've not had her say on panel "I'm bi" but she kisses her tatooist on the lips in Marauders #12 after she's resurrected. And there's also this scene in the same issue with Magik:

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That's kinda weird tho since she was engaged to her brother,

 

[TheMadTitan]

That's kinda weird tho since she was engaged to her brother,

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Alex banged his brother's ex who happens to be the clone of his current.

In two different universes.

 

[Himynameischris]

Alex banged his brother's ex who happens to be the clone of his current.

In two different universes.

Click to shrink...

lol well that's true

 

[Rhaknar]

Time to join you ladies and gentlemen in the Reign of X

Hellions #7 and 8

- Sinister mourning his Hellions to the Quiet Council is fantastic.
- Oh we got power ups from resurrecting the ones fallen in Arrako? Interesting.
- Xavier stresses that Orphan-Maker's X gene can't be activated by any means, what that about :o
- "TO ME MY HELLIONS... lol just kidding keep your distance I don't like to be touched" I love Sinister :D
- Ah ok, they need to make a new Orphan Maker armor to contain him, that's why they can't ress him yet.
- noooooooo not this Apoth bullshit from Fallen Angels again, keep it away >_<
- RIP Clive :(
- Oh fucking Camron Hodge, that's a blast from the past.
- Hellions vs Racist Robots. Unfortunately robots have no minds so Empath fucks off, AGAIN!
- Empath actually saves the day here in a cool way. He also dies again, I guess he wants to compete with Quentin to see who dies more.
- Ooooh there's remnants of Amenth in Arrako-death resurrections, interesting.
- Nice moment here where Psylocke gets orders from the Council to kill the Hodge robots, since they are infected with the techno virus and will evolve / self replicate and obviously that's a no-no in the Hickman era as we know, Greycrow tells her he'll do it and she notes he doesn't have to, she knows he wants to be better and he doesn't have to be the killer. I liked that.
- It's actually pretty fucked up since the robots were reverting from their anti-mutant ways and actually bonding with Havok, and they all just die in front of him adding even more PTSD on his already fucked up brain lol.

X-Factor #5 and 6

- Wind Dancer's Mojoverse stream is proof of death for the five so she is allowed to come back.
- Meanwhile the gang are trying to figure out what's going on with Rockslide. Rachel's conclusion is that he basically has no memories or personality, as his mind doesnt go further than the day he was botched-resurrected. So he's basically a newborn.
- Eye-boy is wholesome and awesome. And so is Emma who is brooding over Rockslide's "death". Emma is the best.
- oh my Daken and Aurora :o
- Oh shit someone killed Siryn on Krakoa.
- I love this "family vibe" I'm getting from X-Factor, reminds me of the Mansion days of the X-Men.
- Hmm apparently Siryn's death was an "accident" and now she's dead again.
- Loving these CSI-style use of Eye Boy and Prodigy's powers.
- Cool bit with Prodigy and Northstar about Prodigy wanting to study dead mutant corpses for SCIENCE-
- They interrogate Siryn who is very defensive about her deaths and insists both were accidents.
- love this "veracity report" bit where pretty much all the X-Factor members have some way of knowing if you're lying to them or not with their powers. I fucking love this team and this book.
- oh shit seems Siryn is possessed by something that has a history with Polaris, but I have no idea what that is lol :(

Marauders #16 and 17

- Time for payback.
- Really liked this issue but it's actually very simple and technically not much happens. Kate and Emma (and later Storm) go to Shaw's place, strip him of his power so he can't fight back, Lockheed bites one of his eyes out (damn) and lastly they poison him which leaves him wheelchair bound and enfeebled. I guess don't fuck with Kitty Pryde or Emma's BFFs is the lesson here.
- This of course is not mentioned in the Quiet Council because Shaw prefers to keep a seat than being outted as a mutant murderer and probably sent to the hole with Sabretooth.
- Second issue we get some more Hellfire Gala teases as we check on Emma's fancy new island that Magneto got for her, but the main plot point is Callisto wanting to go through the crucible to die and get her powers back (she lost them back when Wanda did her thing).
- Apocalypse being gone means you get to choose your opponent in Crucible now, and Callisto of course chooses Storm, who at first declines but later agrees to fight (and kill) her long time rival / friend.
- Meanwhile Kitty goes to visit the madripoor folk who saved Lockheed, and after helping them out, she pays the Verendi kids a visit aswell.

 

[Nakenorm]

Emma is the best.

Click to shrink...

Correct

 

[Rhaknar]

S.W.O.R.D. #1 and 2

- First of all, damn dat cast :o
- our girl is here Porl :D
- lots of introductions as Brand shows Magneto around. I take it when they mention the Skrull-Kree emperor's mother in law being a enemy of the state means that Hulking is the Emperor. I really need to read Empyre I guess.
- lol at the Skrull dude singing Wanda's praises, this wont be awkward at all :D
- fucking Fabian Cortez really? and who the fuck is Peeper? O_o
- loving this The Five analog with the teleporters. Also damn at Magneto moving the space station to be exactly over Krakoa.
- loving the cosmic scope this has already, and so is Magneto apparently.
- King in Black tie-in in the second issue.... eeeeeh I haven't read KiB :/ At least it gives some context to whats going on.
- damn Brand looks amazing in a suit.
- oh fucking Mentallo in in this also? These deep cuts man.
- Wiz Kid is badass man :o
- Knul has space dragons does he? Well alrighty then...
- Goddamn I fucking love Brand.
- Oh here's Sunfire, where the fuck has he been since the reboot? And damn, Fabien Cortez can be pretty useful huh?
- Is that... Venom-Cable at the end? Stupid event tie-ins :(

Yeah this was really good, even if the tie in already is kinda confusing. Guess I need to read Empyre and King in Black soon >_<

 

[Deleted member 2145]

even tho it's not listed with the rest of the Dawn of X books (but X-Men #10 and #11 which are Empyre tie ins are), I went ahead and read Empyre: X-Men 1-4 back to back, and I'm super glad I did as it was just a ton of fun:

- Oh whats that PRETENDER you're fucking things up for mutants again? You raised an army of mutant zombies in Genosha. Goob job lady, good job.
- Love how much shit Strange gives her for it too.
- Alien Plants vs Mutant Zombies
- oh I'm sorry I meant Alien Plants vs Mutant Zombies vs Old Ladies
- Magik is a badass and I love her.
- Great to see Hordeculture back, they are a fun bunch. Great interactions with the X-peeps since they are forced to cooperate.
- Love that Magneto only let angel pick one more X person to help in the mission, so he picked Madrox. Smart :p
- Jamie actually has a bunch of cool moments in the whole series.
- Magik is a super badass and I love her.
- These plant guys seem like the worst event enemy ever, in the sense they are total pushovers. They got their asses whooped in the moon and they got their asses whooped here.
- Legit touching moment with the zombie youngman and his ressurected Krakoan version at the end.
- Magik is a mega super badass and I love her.

This was really good, in a way I highly doubt the rest of the event was (especially since I doubt it was as lighthearted and funny as this one)

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that really was a nice book, that last issue came around and really shocked me with how touching it was

- Oh lordy this Larraz art is orgasmic.

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evergreen post

 

[Rhaknar]

X-Men #16 and 17

- I love that Cyclops's explanation of how exactly Arakko crosses the External Gate to our earth is "Magic.gif"
- Oops too bad Arakko wants nothing to do with Krakoa. Awkward.
- Also awkward? During the Quiet Counil meeting about it, Magneto going "the fuck was the point of all that X of Swords shit?" At least Doug goes "...I got a wife?" lol
- yay Isca is here. Well on Arakko. Mags and Xavier go to visit, she isn't impressed. With them, or the fact that earth is ruled by humans, or the fact that, well, earth mutant are soft. So she tells them to kindly fuck off and not return.
- Cyclops and Jean are asked to fill the Council's empty seats, but they refuse because they say it's time for the X-Men to be X-Men, heroes for krakoa, which is cool and is something that has been somewhat blurry in this Hickman revamp, like the line between x-men and krakoan was very blurry, ironically it was one of the few books that didn't actually have an established team. Oh and this is where the vota stuff comes in, I get it. The "people" choose, cute.
- Up next, Shi'Ar stuff yay. Whoa what's with the old school X-Factor costumes on Cyclops and Jean? I'm kinda into it.
- The young Shi'Ar majestrix is gone and Deathbird asks the X-Men to find her, discreetly. I guess both their history and Sam's connection to the X-Men would facilitate it.
- I'm really into this Brett Booth art too btw, very 90s.
- Lot's of cool action stuff with Scott, Jean and Storm saving Xandra, just a fun action story really. Great showcase for Storm and she's by far the standout here. In fact, I thought she would stay with the Shi'Ar since in Marauders she told Callisto she was "leaving" and I kinda wanted to see "Storm's space adventures". OH well.

 

[Himynameischris]

The King in Black and Empires best moments are all with the X-men lol

 

[Sou Da]

Love that this is a thing now

 

[Porl]

Time to join you ladies and gentlemen in the Reign of X

Hellions #7 and 8

- Sinister mourning his Hellions to the Quiet Council is fantastic.
- Oh we got power ups from resurrecting the ones fallen in Arrako? Interesting.
- Xavier stresses that Orphan-Maker's X gene can't be activated by any means, what that about :o
- "TO ME MY HELLIONS... lol just kidding keep your distance I don't like to be touched" I love Sinister :D
- Ah ok, they need to make a new Orphan Maker armor to contain him, that's why they can't ress him yet.
- noooooooo not this Apoth bullshit from Fallen Angels again, keep it away >_<
- RIP Clive :(
- Oh fucking Camron Hodge, that's a blast from the past.
- Hellions vs Racist Robots. Unfortunately robots have no minds so Empath fucks off, AGAIN!
- Empath actually saves the day here in a cool way. He also dies again, I guess he wants to compete with Quentin to see who dies more.
- Ooooh there's remnants of Amenth in Arrako-death resurrections, interesting.
- Nice moment here where Psylocke gets orders from the Council to kill the Hodge robots, since they are infected with the techno virus and will evolve / self replicate and obviously that's a no-no in the Hickman era as we know, Greycrow tells her he'll do it and she notes he doesn't have to, she knows he wants to be better and he doesn't have to be the killer. I liked that.
- It's actually pretty fucked up since the robots were reverting from their anti-mutant ways and actually bonding with Havok, and they all just die in front of him adding even more PTSD on his already fucked up brain lol.

X-Factor #5 and 6

- Wind Dancer's Mojoverse stream is proof of death for the five so she is allowed to come back.
- Meanwhile the gang are trying to figure out what's going on with Rockslide. Rachel's conclusion is that he basically has no memories or personality, as his mind doesnt go further than the day he was botched-resurrected. So he's basically a newborn.
- Eye-boy is wholesome and awesome. And so is Emma who is brooding over Rockslide's "death". Emma is the best.
- oh my Daken and Aurora :o
- Oh shit someone killed Siryn on Krakoa.
- I love this "family vibe" I'm getting from X-Factor, reminds me of the Mansion days of the X-Men.
- Hmm apparently Siryn's death was an "accident" and now she's dead again.
- Loving these CSI-style use of Eye Boy and Prodigy's powers.
- Cool bit with Prodigy and Northstar about Prodigy wanting to study dead mutant corpses for SCIENCE-
- They interrogate Siryn who is very defensive about her deaths and insists both were accidents.
- love this "veracity report" bit where pretty much all the X-Factor members have some way of knowing if you're lying to them or not with their powers. I fucking love this team and this book.
- oh shit seems Siryn is possessed by something that has a history with Polaris, but I have no idea what that is lol :(

Marauders #16 and 17

- Time for payback.
- Really liked this issue but it's actually very simple and technically not much happens. Kate and Emma (and later Storm) go to Shaw's place, strip him of his power so he can't fight back, Lockheed bites one of his eyes out (damn) and lastly they poison him which leaves him wheelchair bound and enfeebled. I guess don't fuck with Kitty Pryde or Emma's BFFs is the lesson here.
- This of course is not mentioned in the Quiet Council because Shaw prefers to keep a seat than being outted as a mutant murderer and probably sent to the hole with Sabretooth.
- Second issue we get some more Hellfire Gala teases as we check on Emma's fancy new island that Magneto got for her, but the main plot point is Callisto wanting to go through the crucible to die and get her powers back (she lost them back when Wanda did her thing).
- Apocalypse being gone means you get to choose your opponent in Crucible now, and Callisto of course chooses Storm, who at first declines but later agrees to fight (and kill) her long time rival / friend.
- Meanwhile Kitty goes to visit the madripoor folk who saved Lockheed, and after helping them out, she pays the Verendi kids a visit aswell.

Click to shrink...

"The Summers boy is upset"

 

[Rhaknar]

New Mutants #14 and 15

- this art by Rod Reis is really nice, reminds me of Phil Noto kinda. It's very "children book-y".
- oh the Shadow King? Sure why not, that's always fun.
- Warlock is up and about, so I guess he's not being kept a secret anymore... why was he being kept a secret again? Was that ever touched on?
- cool Warpath has joined. I assume this is the younger one, and if so, have they resurrected the OG Warpath also?
- And it seems the New Mutants have a more educational role for younger mutants now, I like that.
- yay Honey Badger :D That reminds me I need to read that Wolverine run with Laura and her, I never finished it.
- welp, that image of the kids going to tell Farouk the happenings isn't super creepy at all >_>
- teacher Magik is funny. Shadow King seemingly leading the kids to fight in the Crucible is not.
- Honey Badger (I'm not calling her Scout fuck that) wanting to spend some time with Daken is cute.
- I did not know that Rahne had a son :o
- Doug and Bei's wedding reception is cute, as is Gabby once again trying to get Daken's attention while he's preocupied with... adult stuff with Aurora heh. Cosma (that nightmare reality warping girl from before) wanting to take the Crucible to be reborn without her deformities is a interesting angle.
- not sure why the fuck they would allow Farouk on Krakoa, I mean I guess we have all sorts of evil mutants there, but like... the shadow king? are we supposed to be shocked when he turns on them?

Excalibur #16 and 17

- So everyone is back except Betsy, well, the 616 Betsy at least.
- Rictor is very bummed out Apoc left, deffo some daddy issues going on there.
- X-Factor does a investigation on Betsy's death but they can't conclude she is dead, so they suggeest Excalibur go to the source, aka Otherworld. Why the fuck does Brian and Meggan's infant daughter talk like an adult tho? O_o
- HOLY SHIT JAMIE STILL HAS SINISTER CAPE. Ok Excalibur you just won +7 points for that alone lol. He goes to cash in on the clone Sinister promised him, a Betsy clone in fact.
- The gang does a little spell (Ric using Apoc's spellbook, quite the fast learner that one) to summon Betsy but they get the rest of the Corps instead, who tell them they will look for Bets in their various dimensions.
- Betsy wakes up in some alternate dimension where shes the Queen of England apparently.
- I do like how she straight up explains to Angel (well, that dimension's Angel) that she's not supposed to be there and he takes it at face value, since well as an X-Men(in any dimension I guess) he's used to that type of shit lol.
- oh hey Pete Wisom is back. Also looking for Betsy.
- I really wish those magic guys weren't called the Akkaba, way too similar to Arokka and I keep mixing them both.
- I do like the side to side stories of Betsy and Excalibur going to the same place in their dimensions to "meet up" so to say. Bets crosses over to the 616 after some apologies to alt-Kwannon (she really should apologize to the 616 kwannon tho).

Really like the new direction for New Mutants. Excalibur on the other hand goes back to early issues "I don't care about any of this" territory :/
Bonus

Juggernaut #1-4

- not a Reign of X book technically (at least on MU) but I went ahead and read it anyway, it's fine. I guess I'm a sucker for badguys trying to do good stories, but I enjoyed it for what it was.

 

[Rhaknar]

X-Force #15 and 16

- we pick up where we left off, with Jean mind-probbing Colossus to see if he knows anything about this Mikhail business, which is of course, INCREDIBLY SHITTY WTF.
- Beast is a piece of shit. Bring back Dark Beast, I think he's less of a bastard tbh lol.
- Sidenote that I've been wanting to make for ages now, ever since this Hickman era begun really, but I hate Jean's "Marvel Girl" costume, I can't take it seriously. Jean Grey is constantly flying, you know what would happen to that tiny skirt every time she flew? that's right.
- I do like that they imediatly know that Omega Red is a mole, and their plan to use him as a double agent. Also seems Colossus is joining the team so that's cool.
- there's a weird side plot with someblack goo orb thing, which given the timing I have to assume is king in black related.
- infected whale takes out a ship and infects all the sailors.
- I love Black Tom.
- RIP Rufus you were a good doggo.
- After the sailot attack Beast is very interested in this parasite (because he's a piece of shit) but it does annoy me how he doesn't imediatly at the very least go "you know who else has a black goo parasite? that Venom fellow"
- oh Quentin is back, that's weird because they never got proof of death when he was kidnapped and taken to russia hmm. Cute scene of one of the cuckoos coming to wish him well tho.
- Quentin, Forge and Wolvie do some underwater investigation onto the sunken ship, and run into venom-zombies and a freakin venom-kraken.
- Wait, Wolverine says this is cause by, basically, "Krakoan poop" infecting the sea life... so it's not King in Back related? Why would you make it a black goo parasite then? I'm confused...
- Namor with the timely save and he sends the mutants on their way back to the surface while handles the sea stuff

Not so sure about these tbh, between Quentin's unexplained resurgence and the random black goo tumor (?) being or not being king in black related (maybe that's my bad for just assuming it would be given the event going on?), these didn't really land with me.

Cable #7

- there's a little eulogy for Gorgon at the start, which is weird since they said they resurrected him back in X-Factor. Anyway, Cable and Rachel (I really like this brother sister thing they have going) go back to the baby kidnaps.
- they meet up with those two human cops and take them along to where the kidnapers are, and in some cool action bits, rescue the babies. Some really cool stuff with Cable and Rachel here again.
- Cable gets to the main cult guy to see where the rest of the babies are, turns out its Stryfe that's behind all this. Cable is shook by this and doesn't tell Rachel, or anyone really, except his ol' buddy (well, his older self's ol' buddy) Domino who he asks for help tracking down Stryfe.

I continue to really enjoy this book even if noone else does lol.

Wolverine #8 and 9

- Logan goes to visit his new CIA buddy from a few issues ago, and they share some war stories in a nice moment. And we are finally introduced to those X Desk guys we have been seeings letters from for ages.
- Meanwhile some merc ops raid a facility to steal some old Team X shit.
- Beast, Sage and Logan investigate and conclude this must involveLogan's old buddy Maverick (since the other Team X member is Sabretooth and he's in the hole currently).
- Hey it's that merc guy they got the dog from. Poor guy can't catch a break, he can however catch a bullet in the brain. I guess he can go meet Rufus in heaven :(
- Some more spy shit and it's off to Madripoor, where Logan goes undercover as Patch.
- yay Kubert is back for an issue. And he imediatly flexes with an awesome flashback montage of Team X.
- back to the present where Logan tracks down Maverick in a shady underground auction,complete with shady dudes like Kingpin or those Verendi kids.
- apparently up for auction is Wolverine's hand (complete with extended claws)...somehow? Logan ain't too happy about that.
- also up for auction is Maverick himself, mindwiped, a mutant winter soldier if you will. And you know what mutants are good for? Getting through those pesky krakoan gates.
- Wolverine however manages to snap Maverick out of it and they are both ready to blow this popstand.

Book continues to be fun, especially since it continues to heavily mix with Krakoan stuff, mainly X-Force.

And with that, I am officially caught up (well, as caught up as I can beon MU). More tomorow I guess since they update on mondays :D

 

[deimosmasque]

apparently up for auction is Wolverine's hand (complete with extended claws)...somehow? Logan ain't too happy about that.

Click to shrink...

It's Old Man Logan's. He had one of his hands cut off.

 

[Rhaknar]

It's Old Man Logan's. He had one of his hands cut off.

Click to shrink...

oh damn, that's the series following Secret Wars right? I haven't read it.

 

[deimosmasque]

oh damn, that's the series following Secret Wars right? I haven't read it.

Click to shrink...

Yup. It's actually fairly good in my opinion.

 

[Kanhir]

I was surprised how close MU is to the modern day in each comic, but then I remembered that the pacing has been slowing down in each individual series because of the sheer amount of ongoings.

Rhaknar, are you planning to stay on MU or switch to getting the weeklies? Would be awesome if you could join us for the Hellfire Gala.

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

Cable #7

- there's a little eulogy for Gorgon at the start, which is weird since they said they resurrected him back in X-Factor. Anyway, Cable and Rachel (I really like this brother sister thing they have going) go back to the baby kidnaps.

Click to shrink...

WRT Gorgon, while he's been resurrected, he died in Otherworld so the Gorgon they've resurrected isn't the Gorgon who they've known up until now. Like Rockslide, he's essentially a different person.

 

[Rhaknar]

I was surprised how close MU is to the modern day in each comic, but then I remembered that the pacing has been slowing down in each individual series because of the sheer amount of ongoings.

Rhaknar, are you planning to stay on MU or switch to getting the weeklies? Would be awesome if you could join us for the Hellfire Gala.

Click to shrink...

MU only I'm afraid, my comic buying days are long behind me

 

[sven]

I see X-Factor is ending with #10. I blame those awful costumes and Daken.

 

[Sou Da]

I see X-Factor is ending with #10. I blame those awful costumes and Daken.

Click to shrink...

Marvel doesn't let queer books get past 12 unless Yoshida has a soft spot for them like Runaways.

 

[Himynameischris]

Is it really? that sucks

 

[sven]

Is it really? that sucks

Click to shrink...

Yeah it's being folded into the Trial of Magneto. Though I suppose it could return after that.

 

[TheMadTitan]

Yeah it's being folded into the Trial of Magneto. Though I suppose it could return after that.

Click to shrink...

I honestly assumed that it was going to be a relaunch into a Polaris-less X-Factor until I came to this thread. Hopefully that's still the case.

 

[ajido]

I honestly assumed that it was going to be a relaunch into a Polaris-less X-Factor until I came to this thread. Hopefully that's still the case.

Click to shrink...

Oh, I sure hope this is it.

 

[Kanhir]

I hope so too, X-Factor is one of my top three ongoings through the Noun of X run. It would be a major pity to cut it off like this, especially since we've only seen them do what, two actual investigations?

 

[sven]

I'd be super happy if they just replaced Polaris with Siryn post trial.

 

[Rhaknar]

Trial is still written by Leah, and one assumes a trial needs an INVESTIGATION hint hint

or they killed the book because I can't have things I love

 

[Kanhir]

Trial is still written by Leah, and one assumes a trial needs an INVESTIGATION hint hint

or they killed the book because I can't have things I love

Click to shrink...

Yeah, they already said X-Factor will play a role in the investigation. How much is up in the air, but since it's written by Leah, I expect a significant presence.

And I expect a follow-up X-Factor series, Leah.
You can't just end one of the best series in June and give us nothing until the second half of August, then have no follow-up, Leah.

My dream plotline for Trial is that Magneto kills Wanda during the gala, and then the trial hinges on X-Factor investigating whether Wanda is really a mutant (thus negating Krakoa's second law).
That would be a great way to undo Remender's bizarre retcon, overturn the Pretender shit and shake up Krakoa's weird cult teachings.

 

[Rhaknar]

I love that everyone loves X-Factor

 

[Nakenorm]

Still not a fan of some of the costumes in X-Factor, but the art is great overall and the book is easily on of the best out of the x line right now. Really hope it isn't ending.