DNX 4

Posted by John Klein III on November 9, 2026
Posted in: Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Writer Jed MacKay

Artist Federico Vicentini

Color Artist David Curiel

Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles

X Years from Now.  The Age of Revelation.  Moments before the Transformation of the World.  We establish that the Beast that went back to the present, was the 70s Beast, in the wrong body.  That’s good to establish.  We are establishing why Magneto was chosen to get the virus code. 

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Now.  The Baxter Building.  70s Beast and Reed Richards are explaining to Magik and the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four, the plot they need to know. 

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(Is this Magik’s arm?)

With the code, the doctors are working on a cure for the 3K virus. 

Juniper, Pennsylvania.  Ground Zero of the X-Virus Strike.  Chairman Beast is quite pleased with his results.  Until he sees someone who is literally melting due to the x-gene not being compatible. 

Office of National Emergency Forward Staging Base.  Just beyond Juniper, PA.  Director Bohannan is trying to get control over the situation, establishing a perimeter.  An O*N*E* Agent reminds him that Agent Lundqvist was in Juniper.  Bohannan wants Lundqvist’s dismissal to be back dated to yesterday.  Covering all of his tracks.  This is so gross.  But also, are we going to get a new mutant out of Lundqvist? 

Chairman Beast is confused why the mutations didn’t take.  He wanted to Make More Mutants (as per Krakoa Law), but all he did, was create monsters.  He will try to create a new X-Virus, but doesn’t want the embarrassment of this failure as a reminder, so he is going to vaporize his mistake. 

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I love that the Fantastic Four, and Juggernaut, have to suit up for the mission, they are flatscans, so are subjectable to the virus.  That’s a good detail. 

I love so much that Cyclops is the field leader, who else would it be? 

The X-Men will deploy Richards’ organism to stop the X-Virus.

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Poor Scott, he’s also expecting to see fully realized mutants. 

I love the artistic choice to show Magik in Cyclops’ visor, giving us a bit of a Darkchild look in red.

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You can just see Scott’s heart break as he sees what the new mutants look like.

I guess the flatscans don’t need special helmets?  Maybe they are invisible?

Referencing Sue Richards, they arrive, and Chairman Beast has put a force field around Juniper. 

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Magik, because she’s awesome, placed a teleport shield around them.

I love how Scott immediately starts talking to Chairman Beast, while 70s Beast has to just stand around, trying to catch up.

Chairman Beast is going to set off a fusion bomb to get rid of all of the evidence. 

Scott starts pleading to let him in, to appeal to Chairman Beast’s better nature.  I do like how this entire event is centered about Hank and Scott’s history.

Chairman Beast does make a good point.  He already committed mass murder, now he’s just trying to get rid of the bodies. 

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Lives are at stake. 

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Cyclops is going to kill Beast, that’s his plan.  It has all been leading to this. 

Alien vs X-Men 2

Posted by John Klein III on November 2, 2026
Posted in: Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Writer Kieron Gillen

Artist Geraldo Borges

Color Arist Andrew Dalhouse

Letterer VC’s Travis Lanham

I had to buy the David Messina cover through eBay, as I had to have the Kitty Pryde, Magik, and Xenomorph cover, and hadn’t seen it until the week before this comic came out.

I had preordered the German Peralta cover, as in Peralta, I trust (and was hoping it’ll be a Magik cover). 

Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.  Upstate New York. 

Storm, still completely bald, still throwing me off.  Storm is showing Gambit, Nightcrawler, Hope Summers, Jubilee, Psylocke, and Xavier, the message Beast sent. 

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Cyclops was the first victim of the face hugger.

He was able to blast it off, taking off his own head, so that’s why we don’t see a Xenomorph blasting dudes. 

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While Kitty was unconscious, is how she got her face hugged. 

Emma also got got.

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I love Beast carrying Kitty and Emma’s bodies.  He’s still hoping he can fix whatever happened here.

Plus, it makes sense that Logan will be on stabbing duty.

Logan put up a good fight, but the acid, the acid was too much.  Also, he got his face hugged as well.

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Aw, Beast went back, and grabbed Logan. 

Beast does comment that if Kitty was awake, she would have been fine. 

I did want Kitty to be in the first story, but not like this.  Not like this. 

Logan’s face hugger comes off, so Beast can learn that that is possible. 

Orbis did have a Phoenix Egg, so they would have had a successful mission.

Logan gets his chest bursted, and Beast, as of course he’ll do this, goes off to find the little critter.  Turns out, the little critter, turned big, pretty quickly.  Plus, he has claws.  They do appear to be very shiny claws, but maybe that’s just the Xenomorph bones being shiny?

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Beast in his recording hopes Kitty and Emma are dead, which seems harsh, but also, that’ll be the merciful route.

Xavier is quick to say that Multiple Man is a lost cause, as Xavier is a jerk.

Cable walks into the room with his crew – Agent Brand, Bishop, and Deadpool.

I do love that we get a moment for Cable and Hope Summers to reunite.  That’s nice.

Agent Brand says they are from the future where the X-Men failed to stop the Aliens.

We get a scene of Logan, who is just a Xenomorph baby factory at this point, he’s so mother right now.  He sees Emma’s Xenomorph, as it figures out her diamond powers.

Storm shouts for everyone to use the Red Triangle Protocol, this where we really benefit from Gillen writing this.  The Emam Xenomorph has telepathy, but not in diamond form, and it is learning how all of that works.

Agent Brand informs us of the rules.  Logan Xenomophs take four hours to create themselves, but with Madrox, they can go from 24 to 30,000 in 72 minutes. 

Deadpool (literally) gives us the tag line, in space, no one can hear you scream.  But you can eat popcorn. 

Cable’s team, minus Agent Brand, combines with Psylocke (which makes sense with this not X-Force team), Rogue, Sage (who must be part of Cable’s team), Nightcrawler (who doesn’t get a cool suit), and Hope Summers. 

Jubilee and Gambit are on rescue duty.

We get a few cool pages of the X-Men burning Xenomorphs.

Kurt finds Logan, which is always sweet. 

Cable wants to deploy the cure.

Turns out, the cure is killing X-Men, as Cable kills Hope (wha?!), and Agent Brand kills Xavier (I’m okay with this).

Storm kills Agent Brand, well, a robot version of her.  Not a robot version, a Sentinel version. 

This was such a great story! 

Belles of Hell, Part 2

Writer Chris Claremont

Artist David Messina

Colorist Rain Beredo

Letterer VC’s Travis Lanham

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I do love that Kitty and Magik are talking in Russian, so you know this is intense.

Poor Rachel Summers, and Logan having to just stand by for all of this.

Even worst, is poor sweet Lockheed, being a gauntlet for Illyana.  So she doesn’t have to directly touch the face hugger? 

Kitty is begging for her life here, which is heart breaking.

I do like Illyana saying these creatures are some sort of “Alien,” that’s silly and fun.

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Ugh, Kitty’s description of her face being hugged!  So gross, and far too intimate. 

Illyana does call Kitty her girlfriend, so that’s nice.

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Kitty is apparently the Brood Queen’s daughter, so uses that link to become a humanized Brood thing.  This gives Kitty the strength back the Xenomorph baby, so that’s pretty rad.

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Kitty is able to fight off the face hugger, and maintain her human body – which is what I was worried about.

Now Kitty has the same lines on her face that Illyana has, so . . . is Illyana infected with a Broodling?  I thought Illyana was at least being an Alien Mother.

Kitty gets Snikt-ed for her troubles.  Which makes sense, Logan was hanging right next to Rachel, and he only has the one move.

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I hadn’t noticed, but the first page of this back up does show that Magik put Kitty into her training uniform, but was slowly turning that outfit to mirror Magik’s own Bachalo designed look.  Including the head piece thingie. 

Kitty calls Illyana “girlfriend,” but you can just tell there was a very sarcastic tone to it.

Looks like Rachel is still hanged up, but Logan is free, but still having his face hugged. 

So, Kitty must have only been snikt-ed, just a little bit.  A mere flesh wound.  Or more likely, the Brood connection is giving her an extra life.

I would probably say the first issue’s back up was my favorite, but mostly as it had Lockheed actively in the story, but I’ll take what I can.

But the second issue’s main story, was better than the first.

It is very complicated. 

S&FwM 253 : Blaine McGaffigan

Posted by John Klein III on October 29, 2026
Posted in: Podcasts. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

For episode 253 of Shadow and Flame with Magik, I have as my guest, Blaine McGaffigan.

You can listen on Spotify

253 : Blaine McGaffigan | Listen to the Podcast on Spotify

Apple Podcast

253 : Blaine McGaffigan – Shadow and Flame with Magik – Apple Podcasts

He is the co-writer of the terrorific horror anthology, Hangwater, TX, available to support on kickstarter

Hangwater, TX – A Southern Horror Comic Anthology by Ms. Gertrude’s House of Satisfactions » Hangwater, TX – A Southern Horror Comic Anthology by Ms. Gertrude’s House of Satisfactions — Kickstarter

He has a great personal website

House McGaffigan | The Homepage of Blaine McGaffigan

You can follow him, his podcast, ComiClub, and House of Satisfactions on Instagram

(8) Instagram

(8) Instagram

Instagram

You can listen to ComiClub wherever you listen to podcasts

ComiClub | Listen to the Podcast on Spotify

ComiClub – Podcast – Apple Podcasts

You can watch our chat on YouTube

Thanks for listening, or watching!

You can support the podcast on Patreon

Shadow and Flame with Magik — Podcast for the X-Men’s Kitty Pryde, Lockheed, and Magik | Patreon

AIPT – X-Men Monday 357 – Ashley Allen X-orcists

Posted by John Klein III on October 28, 2026
Posted in: Websites. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

AIPT was nice enough to ask Ashley Allen my Magik & Juggernaut friendship question

X-Men Monday #357 – Ashley Allen Talks ‘X-Orcists’ • AIPT

I’m so eXcited for X-Orcists!

Uncanny X-Men V6 37

Posted by John Klein III on October 27, 2026
Posted in: Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Writer Gail Simone

Artist Juan Frigeri

Color Artist Matthew Wilson

Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles

Soul Deep, Part One.

Dazzler and agents of O*N*E, SHIELD, and SWORD, are here at Graymalkin Prison to finally dismantle it.  Before they can, Sarah Graunt has located the mutants who were given the Wolverine treatment.  I do like how the O*N*E agent apologized to Dazzler, she’ s a fan. 

Repent tells Rogue that Gambit can only be healed by love, so she takes him Maison Blue Petit Paris in New Orleans.  Apparently they have come here before to get all romantic.

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Look how cute Ember is, with Gambit’s cats on his back! 

Dazzler calls Logan to tell him Sarah Graunt is on her way. 

Logan asks for volunteers, and Monet & Quicksilver will stay behind with the New Mutants. 

Rogue and Gambit go to a fancy restaurant, and Gambit refers to the waitress as a nighttime friend, a sweet-cream lady, and that seems all types of gross.  But Rogue reminds him to remember who keeps his bed warm, and steals the covers.

Sarah Graunt and her squad are heading straight to Rogue & Gambit, I must have missed that.  Logan, Jubilee, and Kurt are outside to combat them. 

A few pages after I had the thought of, how has Rogue and Gambit NOT heard all of this fighting, Rogue and Gambit come out in their underwear.  Gambit is wearing X-Branded underwear. 

Sarah Graunt says, “to me, my Scavenged,” so I guess that’s the name of these mutants. 

Graunt will be back in seven days, so that sets up the next issue pretty nicely. 

Jeff the Land Shark Superstar 4

Posted by John Klein III on October 26, 2026
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment

Writer Kelly Thompson

Artist Tokitokoro

Color Artist Jim Campbell

Letterer VC’s Joe Caramagna

I got the Gurihiru regular cover, as it had Magikhot on it, but I would have gladly bought the Jhony Caballero variant if I knew it was the cover that really featured Magikhot, and Kate-Locke, and Jeff. 

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Great team face cards, especially Magikhot!

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Dazzlestorm gives the big locker room pep talk.  Jeff Coast Avengers will rescue Ken, escape the facility, reveal the truth of Mojo’s plan, AND watch their angles, as this rebellion will be televised. 

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So gross that Mojo has been watching everything through Kate-Locke’s cybernetic eye.

NYC Earth.  Just so us readers know, no one is going to come rescue Jeff, as Gwenpoole, Kate Biship, and Johnny (who loves tacos) are on their way to confront MODOK.  Thankfully, before they get too far, Gwenpoole finds Jeff’s drawing of Spiral abducting him, so they know Mojo is behind this.

I had forgotten that Mojo has taken MODOK to be his in-house inventor.  MODOK does like the idea of creating his own all new all better Jeff the Land Shark.

Wolveirne-Man, an Iron Man through a Wolverine lens, has connected the cameras so everyone can see what the Jeff Coast Avengers are up to.

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Magikhot and the Jeff Coast Avengers show up an hour late to see Mojo, and he’s a real jerk about it.

They are ready to mess Mojo up!

Mojo immediately knows this is being broadcast, and wants the feed cut.

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Magikhot, Kate-Locke, and Rambit do a great job of distracting Mojo and his goons.

Dazzlestorm and Jeff rescue Ken in a very cute cartoony way.

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Spiral is defeated as she was having a change of heart to let them escape. 

Wolverine-Man arrives with their getaway car.

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Toady-6 wants to escape with them.

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They are escaping in style!

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The Freeman are excited to see the Jeff Coast Avengers free!  Mojo, on the other hand, is not.

Issue ends with the reveal that MODOK may have created a giant Jeff the Land Shark. 

Marvel Solicitations January 2027

Posted by John Klein III on October 23, 2026
Posted in: Solicitations. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Let’s see what I’m interesting from Marvel in January 2027! My birth month.

Marvel Comics January 2027 Solicitations

I’m taking a chance with Star Wars Marvel Hope Assembles 1, written by Kevin Smith. I’ve seen on covers that Logan, Storm, and Emma Frost are seen, so I’m really hoping we get Kitty Pryde (a known Star Wars fan), and maybe at least Magik will be in this? This is already available to order on DCBS. I picked the Andrews film cover.

. . .

Midnight X-Men 4, hopefully Kitty or Magik are on one of the variant covers.

. . .

I’ve given up any interest in Midnight Fantastic Four.

Midnight Spider-Man 4, I wish the art style within the comic matched the main cover. I’m at least giving the second issue a chance.

Avengers 3, Logan being on this team at least gets me reading it every month. Interesting to have Spider-Man going up against Mephisto.

Immortal Soldiers 1, I want to say I have zero interest in any Armageddon fallout, but I am interested in Avengers and Maximum X-Men, but a title with Nick Fury and Bucky Barnes? This feels like a pass for me.

Marvel SFX : Thwip!, wake me up when they do Bamf!

. . .

Maximum X-Men 2, will Colossus keep thinking about his sister, Magik? That’s what got me to buy the first issue, seeing Magik in the preview pages. Let’s see how expensive January gets.

. . .

Fugitive X-Force 2, I guess it makes sense Cable will still be in this series. For some reason, I thought he’ll be gone, and we’ll be getting Boom Boom as the main focus. Cool that Domino is also sticking around.

. . .

Jean Grey 3, takes place in Merle, Alaska, so I can only imagine we’re getting Magik in a few scenes. I’m definitely buying the Dauterman cover.

. . .

Gambit Gone 5 finally ends.

. . .

Ya’ll, I’m buying two covers of X-Men United 11! Lockheed is on the Jones cover, and Kitty is on the main cover with Daredevil and Emma Frost! That’s how you get me to buy two covers! There is a second variant cover, are we going to get nuts?! I’m going to consider the Romy Jones variant cover as Marvel’s birthday gift to me.

. . .

X-Orcists 3, Magik is on the main cover, so I’ll get that one, but there is a second variant cover, which I wonder might feature her more on? I do like Elsa Bloodstone joining this title.

. . .

Uncanny X-Men 41, Nightcrawler is the only thing standing between Sarah Graunt and the Outliers / New Mutants.

Uncanny X-Men 42, and we’re still double shipping in 2027!

. . .

X-Men 44, we’re getting Magik on the Perez variant cover, so that’s the one I’m getting. Doug Ramsey vs Jean Grey, maybe? Interesting that X-Men isn’t double shipping. Maybe because we’re considering Jean Grey as the other issue?

. . .

Wolverine 31, Logan is going feral, even with his adamantium? I guess we haven’t done that story yet.

Challenges of Doom : Magneto 1, the solicit references Magneto being an ally and leader of the X-Men, but someone online explained to me that these Challenges of Doom one shots are all retelling Doctor Doom’s first interactions with the named character, so this is a pass for me, but I’m tracking it.

Doomquest 7 references the X-Men, and I had to immediately go to fandom to see which X-Men appeared. Logan, Storm, Cyclops, and Iceman have appeared in the first issue. A pretty decent lineup.

Wolverine : Origin III – Dark Ages 2, Logan in the 50s? That’s still a pass for me.

Avengers Incursions 1, still odd to me they put Incursions second for all of these. Original Marvel Avengers vs Thanos and his Black Order, sounds interesting. I’m just not much of a Silver Age guy.

. . .

X-Men 92 Incursions 1, which is already available to preorder on DCBS. I’m getting the main cover, with Evolution Rogue. I really want Gordon’s Giant Size X-Men homage cover, but DCBS has it listed for $35, which is way out of my price range. I’ll Wishlist it, and see if I can get it cheap on eBay. We still have the Phil Noto variant to look forward to. I do love the Guirhiru variant with the two Rogues. That is a very fun cover.

. . .

I am tempted to take a chance with What The 1, as I do like Chip Zdarsky, but will Kitty, Lockheed, or Magik be in this? They sure weren’t in Muppets Take Marvel.

. . .

Friendly Neighborhood Mary Jane 3, I do love Ashley Allen writing this series, AND it has Black Cat, and Mary Jane vs Chameleon.

Spider-Woman 3, I keep forgetting she’s the current host for Carnage.

. . .

Black Cat 18, now I’m not nervous about preordering this comics with Magik on the main cover. Black Cat is still in Merle, Alaska, so we can all relax. I do like the Dauterman (and I’m happy he’s drawing X-Men variant covers again, hopefully he does that Kitty Pryde costume gallery cover sometime this year) variant cover with Black Cat, Gambit, and his cats.

. . .

Amazing Venom 5, I do like how the solicit asks the same question I did, how can Boomerang AND Amazing Venom be on the cover together?

Venom 4, Yelena is dating Venom? What an odd choice.

Jessica Jones Alias 2, she’s in Latveria, that’s interesting.

Iron Man double ships, and even number issues are Tony, and odd number issues are War Machines. Seems very silly. Carmen Carnero and Nolan Woodard are the even numbers, but just typing these sentences is making me lose all interest.

Wade Wilson Deadpool 12, he’s going to Colorado.

Captain America 19, one of Cap’s foes rewrote history? And this comic has Cap, Iron Man, and a child clone of Doom? Okay.

Marvel Zombies War Zone 5 ends the mini, as Gorgon’s Zombies, including Thor, are the threat Punisher and Luke Cage face off against.

Dang, I was really hoping to see Lovable Lockheed in physical format this month.

. . .

I will be buying :

Star Wars Marvel Hope Assembles 1, which is already part of my December order.

Midnight X-Men 4, one of the variant covers.

Maximum X-Men 2, maybe.

Jean Grey 3, the Dauterman cover.

X-Men United 11, BOTH the regular cover and the Lockheed Jones varaint cover.

X-Orcists 3, the main cover for sure.

X-Men 44, the Perez variant cover.

X-Men 92 Incursions, the Evolution Rogue cover, which is already part of my December preorder.

What The 1, I guess I can buy this as two of these comics are already ordered.

Black Cat 18, the main cover.

Nine comics is very doable!

S&FwM 252 : What Are You Watching?

Posted by John Klein III on October 22, 2026
Posted in: Podcasts. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

For Episode 252 of my podcast, Shadow and Flame with Magik, I had Alex and Nick, the hosts of my favorite movie podcast, What Are You Watching?

We discuss X-Men 2000, the entire X-Men film franchise, and so much more!

You can listen on Spotify

252 : What Are You Watching? | Listen to the Podcast on Spotify

Apple Podcast

252 : What Are You Watching? – Shadow and Flame with Magik – Apple Podcasts

You can listen to What Are You Watching? wherever you listen to podcasts.

What Are You Watching? | Listen to the Podcast on Spotify

What Are You Watching? – Podcast – Apple Podcasts

You can follow What Are You Watching at

(4) What Are You Watching? (@WAYW_Podcast) / X

(8) Instagram

They also have a terrific website

What Are You Watching?

As well as individual websites

Alex Withrow

Nick Dostal

They also have such a great Patreon

What Are You Watching? — A podcast for people who LOVE movies. | Patreon

You can also watch our chat on YouTube

If you would like to support the podcast, you can do so on Patreon.

Shadow and Flame with Magik — Podcast for the X-Men’s Kitty Pryde, Lockheed, and Magik | Patreon

Thank you for listening or watching!

X-Men V7 39

Posted by John Klein III on October 20, 2026
Posted in: Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Writer Jed MacKay

Penciller Netho Diaz

Inker Sean Parsons

Colorist Arthur Hesli

Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles

I would have bought the ACO variant cover if I had saw it in time to preorder it. 

Issue opens with O*N*E* Agent, Abbie Bennett, wanting to take a splinter group of officers to attack the Alaskan X-Men’s base, while they are away.  Doug killed her husband in issue 18, thanks Tom.  This cell hates mutants.  I do appreciate calling them a cell. 

The Factory.  Merle, Alaska.  Xorn is listening to John Greycrow, who wants to be where the fight is.  Just wait, bud.

The way Greycrow talks, one would think he’s on the X-Men, but he isn’t, so he doesn’t get a say in the missions.  Kwannon asked him to stay behind, and she’s an executive officer of the X-Men, do they all have official titles?  That’s what I’m interested in. 

Then the power goes off in the Factory. The Cell has tampered with the Shi’ar stardrive. 

Xorn properly gives us the stakes, if the stardrive isn’t returned in time, the reactor core will explode, taking the base, and Merle with it.  Greycrow has his mission.  Greycrow takes out two of the cell members.  Then more, and more of them. 

Xorn was on keeping Glob Herman save, so this before Infernal Hulk 7, I guess?  Xorn has knocked out the cell members who came for Glob. 

We get confirmation that Greycrow killed everyone who came for them, and Xorn picks up on his word choices, Greycrow wants on the X-Men. 

Greycrow congratulates Xorn on his deadly approach, but he never made it to Medical.  Ruh oh.

Then.  Glob Herman woke up, and dealt with his assailants.  Bennett went running into the snow.  Glob killed all of these folks, and treated himself to a nap as the issue ends.    

No Magik appearance, outside of the ACO variant cover.

DNX 3

Posted by John Klein III on October 19, 2026
Posted in: Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Writer Jed MacKay

Artist Federico Vicentini

Color Artist David Curiel

Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles

I bought the Skottie Young variant cover, but would have loved to have preordered the Mahmud Asrar variant, that has Magik on the cover. 

Juniper, Pennsylvania.  The Trask Statue has released the Age of Revelation virus, not to the scale of the original plan, but a healthy dose of it.  Well, not that healthy. 

3K Airship, Command Bridge.  Philadelphia Airspace.  Cyclops is concerned for all of the people who died, and Chairman Beast doesn’t care as only the humans would die from the exposure.  Grimm goes in for a punch, but Chairman Beast teleports away, so I guess he could have done that the entire time?  He was trying to include 3K, as it is always better to work with others. 

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Launch Bay.  Juggernaut is battling Wyre. 

I love Juggernaut asking about Magik, making sure she’s okay, and lovingly refers to her as the brat, and Scott knows exactly who he is talking about.

Wyre had a backup plan, an escalation, where the anti-grav thrusters would fail, and this entire airship will crash into Philadelphia. 

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The Baxter Building, New York City.  Magik teleports Grimm and herself to Reed, Sue and 70s Beast.  Magik informs them that the airship is crashing, AND the virus has been released.  Reed can’t do anything, as he’s about to shrink the Fantastic Four down to go inside of Magneto. 

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Magik is simply there to make sure all of the eggheads work on the virus, the X-Men will work on saving Philly.  She needs the mutant Ben.  Not sure how his illusion powers will help here. 

Ben is surprised Cyclops needs him, which is an odd reaction.  He probably knows that he was on the 70s Beast team, as it was a do nothing job 

I do love Magik interacting with the Fantastic Four, I feel like we haven’t seen this grouping before, or not often.

3K Airship.  I love Cyclops having to call Commander Bohannan, of O*N*E* as this is a national emergency.  Bohannan is still upset, and rightfully so, as his last conversation with Cyclops was Scott threatening Bohannan in his hope, with all of the X-Men present, so there is some tension there.   Plus, Bohannan did attempt, and failed, to murder the X-Men.

Bohannan does point out that this is great news, for him, as he’s about to be in charge of this giant operation, having near complete control over the Eastern Seaboard.

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Magik teleports to Slim (I so love these two’s friendship), asking if he has any good news, and he can’t recall the last time he heard any.  Magik also brought Ben here. 

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Ben believes, as does Scott, that the airship is where Ben was made into a mutant.  Scott believes Ben can help this situation, and just needs the proper motivation.

Below Decks.  Wyre wakes up Time Bomb.  They need to make a hastily retreat.  Wyre still wants to use this class of X-Men, I can only imagine he will change their name to something else.  Cyclops has his own Hellions team, so not that name.

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Philadelphia.  I love Cyclops giving Quentin Quire his kudos for taking care of Cassandra Nova, that’s good leadership there. 

Quire and Psylocke are mass telepathically evacuating the people. 

I also just adore that Illyana and Scott can have proper conversations about his choices.  It comes from a respectful place, so Scott isn’t offended.  Magik just wishes he had used a kinder approach.

We then see Cyclops’ approach, and now I’m completely on Magik’s side, which isn’t much of a shocker.

Cyclops chained Ben to a crashing ship, so results have to happen.  This is just cruel, and also, a poor decision as Ben is going to resent this. 

Ben does take a breath, and summons the alien horde that he originally thought was attacking him from issue 21.  Thanks Tom.

It starts to work, and the aliens arrive. 

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Magik is pretty impressed, and Cyclops is proud. 

So, is Ben’s powers to manifest an alien attack?  It works, they are solid constructs. 

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I love seeing Magik being happy.  Cyclops tells Magik to go save Ben.

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The airship gets righted, and the day is saved!

By Magneto!  So the Fantastic Four tie in issues must all be taking place during this issue.  Maybe?  That is right, thanks again Tom, Fantastic Four issues 17 & 18 are that mission.  So we don’t have to read 18, but you should still do that. 

70s Beast asks Reed how it went, and Reed has this bizarre reaction of questioning if Beast is a friend, but hands over the data.  We might be able to stop the X-Virus! 

What a great third chapter this was!