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.
Northern Italy, a location no map shows. Three centuries ago. La Cattedrale oi Ferro. The Iron Cathedral. A ritual is performance.
A frecciorossa train in Northern Italy, three centuries later. Rogue, Gambit, Gabriel, and Repent are traveling together. Repent is quite thirsty, and apparently has a demon inside him, but a nicer one than the one Gambit has inside him.
Apparently Repent’s mother died during child birth, which is super sad, and she had a demon inside of her, so when she died, it transferred over to Repent. He tired to perform his own exorcist, costing himself an arm, an eye, and his sanity. I checked, and he has one black eye, and one red eye.
Monet is on day three of leading the Uncanny X-Men, and they find themselves fighting a big bruiser of a guy, Calamity.
Logan, who Monet thinks of as a Canadian, but the way she does it, feels loaded. Logan confirms that Calamity is a 22 year old, who isn’t being mind controlled. Calamity was one of the mutants held captive, until he got promoted to tormentor. With that knowledge, Logan attacks Calamity, berserker rage style.
I really appreciate that Monet isn’t tempted to stop Logan, these are child traffickers. Monet gets the killing move on Calamity.
Monet is tearful that she gets to free the children. Though I can’t help but think about how she was cool with holding mutants prisoner who were just being a little loud in public.
Rogue and company make it to the Iron Cathedral. Repent explain the world has always known mutants, which makes sense as we are well aware of Apocalypse and Selene. Like modern mutants, the ones from centuries ago were hunted as they were feared. Some died here, while trying to cast out demons that didn’t exist.
Rogue threatens to kill Repent if Gambit is hurt. Repent doesn’t seem too concerned.
We learn that Repent’s mutant power is to transmute liquid, any liquid, into holy water. One of those classic mutant powers that is created out of the situation the mutant needed most.
Wyren arrives, claiming the underworld hates two things, mutants and priests. Rogue uses her mutant power to transfer the demon to her, so that Gambit is weakened, and can have the other Eye of Agamotto carved out of his chest.
Louisiana. A guard is freaking out about all of the uncaged mutants, gross, and Jubilee swiftly kicks him. Then she destroys the house they were in.
I like Nightcrawler and Quicksilver working together, plus the green & white looks great with the black & red in these panels.
Kurt says that not every evil wears capes, which is a silly take on that expression.
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Always great to see Ember and the New Mutants joining into the battle.
The land owner tries to flee in his fancy limo, but Howler is there to finish the job.
Howler is justified, but is also sad about the whole thing, Logan tells him it is okay. I love that it is Becca who holds Howler.
I love how the local police show up, recognize the situation completely, and not going to do anything more than give Monet a citation, maybe.
Issue ends with Gambit free of demons, or at the very least, this demon.
We see a young Rogue, who has a very religious Aunt Carrie. Whatever happened to this lady?
Repent, the mutant exorcist, is trying to exorcise either Agrippa, the Child Ripper, or Kristen.
Rogue tries to overpower Repent, but he is able to cut her hand. Gabriel tries to calm everybody down.
I like playing up the fact that Rogue is sort of a vampire.
Meanwhile at Haven House, Monet is having a hard time getting Howler to relax enough to come into the house. Poor guy has clearly been beaten, and believes he doesn’t deserve the pleasures of indoors.
I love that we see The New New Mutants relaxing in someone’s room, I’m betting it is Calico’s room as she has a horse painting on the wall. I love that they are just in their nightwear. They’re not cartoon characters always wearing their uniforms. Unlike the X-Men, who are always dressed for battle.
I like Logan trying to relate to Howler, as they walk the line in both worlds, animal and human.
The St. Juniors try their best to tell Howler he is welcomed inside.
Quicksilver, the forever jerk, has an aside to Monet that Howler might be beyond help. She rightfully tells him to never talk that way to her.
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I love so much Calico instructing Ember to watch over Howler. He is a good horse, a kind horse.
Alce St. Junior makes Howler a nice bed in the barn, and oopsie, has made an extra plate of bacon so he can enjoy it without worrying about resources.
Something about Howler’s “I thank” that also feels traumatic.
Howler asks why everyone is so accepting of Nightcrawler, as he looks like a demon. He’s the most best friend Logan has.
Howler wonders if Logan is going to kill his captures, and they sound horrible.
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Ember keeps proving how good of a boy he is, and sleeps next to Howler.
Monet has Quicksilver, Jubilee, and Kurt at a table, while Alice is doing the dishes. Quicksilver wants to rush into the house, and save the mutants. Kurt wants to teleport in, and get all of the mutants. Alice offers up that they should be working together, which is odd as Kurt usually does think within the terms of the team. Tensions must be high. I do love Monet remembering she has telepathy. Monet has a plan, but it involves the New New Mutants.
I do appreciate Monet telling Alice it is her turn to do the dishes, she’s trying to be nice
Agrippa attacks everybody, and Gambit turns into Wyrven.
Jubilee pretends to have car trouble, she’s wearing very short shorts, and using the alias, Shogo.
The security for the Gunther Estate is suspicious, but a call to Vig settles things. Shogo is transporting the New New Mutants.
Mister Gunther looks like a stereotypical “dashing” Southern man, but with an electric baton.
We see a new mutant, Tabby, who has a very striped left arm, being held captive. Mister Gunther isn’t too thrilled that Howler has escaped. He hits her as mutants are a disease, it is infectious, and needs to be burned away. Gross. Also, is this Simone’s soft way to connect to DNX?
Alice goes to check on Howler, and he’s gone, writing “I Thank” on the wall. Did Ember go with him? Or is Calico out of range?
Jubilee learns the Etate has a big guy named, Calamity.
I like Monet flying Logan around. He recognizes the emblem on the barn as the World of Strength that he met way back in issues 20 & 21. Oh, they are the thugs Logan and Ransom met at the Comic Convention in Argentina.
I was picturing big, but Calamity is big big, like Hulk big. But he’s purple, and with a Bane like mask.
Meanwhile, Gambit cures Kristen. Repent feels like he can cure Gambit, but it will be a bitter pill. Repent is sending Gambit and Rogue to the Iron Cathedral.
Rogue and Remy are having a date night, so Jubilee is in charge of the New Mutants. She resents being constantly placed on the sidelines, as she just can’t shake her junior X-Men status. Then an orb arrives.
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Calio and Ember, and the rest of the New Mutants, are going to locate Logan.
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Ember looks great here!
As Jubilee is about to enter the portal to who knows where, hint, it is the Tomb of Apocalypse, Logan shows up, so they both go in. Logan wants to remain calm, and back out, especially once he learns this is Apocalypse related. Jubilee is tried of him calling her a kid, and wants to push on. They immediately get over their heads, and Jubilee has to keep pushing herself, until she’s actually inside the tomb. There Apocalypse tells Jubilee he was looking for Gambit, but she’ll do. Issue ends with Rictor and Shatterstar showing up, so we’re building our cast.
I suppose the New Mutants are never going to find Logan.
Wild Ride, Part One, guest starring Gabriel, Devil-Hunter
Gabriel is very Nick Fury coded.
I don’t love him explaining what Rogue means to Rogue. Okay guy.
Did he deserve to be bitten by Gambit? Yes.
Once Gambit bit Gabriel, he got a vision of Gambit slaying everybody, with Rogue being the last to fall.
Haven House, Louisiana. Calico is both sleeping, and crying. Becca is still sleep walking.
Monet and Quicksilver finally make it to the St. Juniors house. Which the X-Men really need to repair.
I like Monet and Jubilee chatting, even if it is about Monet mistaking the St. Juniors as the X-Men’s housekeepers.
I love so much Quicksilver helping Becca back to her bed. That’s one way to make me really like Quicksilver. Unfortunately, Becca wakes up, and immediately tells him he isn’t even a mutant. She probably didn’t want to be carried by him either.
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Monet wants to see The New New Mutants in action. Even Ember got a new suit! I love this so much!!
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Calico falls of Ember, and Quicksilver catches her. She continues to be upset with him, but really, she’s upset that she’s never going to see Gambit again. Quicksilver will never be Gambit. Which I’m pretty sure Quicksilver does not want to be Gambit either.
We cut back to Gabriel and a giant lesser demon who is a giant fly.
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Quicksilver way oversteps, and makes a negative comment about Gambit. Calico was not far enough away, and she has Ember use his Rabies attack. Quicksilver is immediately defeated by Ember, and Monet has to get involved before Ember kills Quicksilver.
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This is all very intense. Calico and Ember could have killed Quicksilver, and Calico may still do it. All she wanted to be was sad for a minute, which she’s used to. Oh Becca, you break my heart. At least we saw in Unbreakable X-Men, that Rogue and Gambit do adopt her as their daughter, so we know the weight of their love.
The lesser demon’s name is Thenasseil, the Tormentor of Thieves. As Rogue has to fight him away from Gambit, or Wyvern now.
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Haven’s Non-Mutant Cemetery. Becca is having a cry, as Ember is nearby. Becca keeps breaking my heart with her quoting her horrible mother’s words. If she ever got outside, she’ll end up hurting people. She was the worst.
Deathdream has to put Sabretooth’s spirt away, as we see Feral, and two others I don’t recognize. A blonde male with a head sock, and an Iceman faced guy.
Logan finds Kurt in a chapel, as he’s prayer for his brother-in-law, Gambit.
Issue ends with Gabriel telling Rogue and Wyvern that they have to leave, and meet their next character in this RPG.
Odd the Next Issue box is still referring to them as The Outliers, and Gail Simone called them that on BluSky recently. Outlier is definitely more marketable for this grouping of characters.
Rogue rescues Kurt from the good aliens. Ransom directs the Outliers. Deathdream makes it so we get Zombies vs Brood.
Gambit wants to be called, Wyvern. I like Jubilee immediately going with the new name.
Mutina needs a new agent, as her current one want her to fight the Brood.
Marlys and Deathdream have their first kiss. So cute.
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Ember is back!
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We also get Calitter confessing their love to each other, and I love them so much.
Wyvern is fully a creature now.
Vig isn’t dead. Makes sense if he’s a cockroach man.
Dang, Jubilee instructed Mutina to show the Brood their greatest fear, and for a few pages, I really wanted the page reveal to be Lockheed, their greatest enemy, but sure, Galactus is pretty intimidating.
We don’t get any drama with Wyvern turning back into his natural Remy state.
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Rogue rebrands the Outliers as The New Mutants! I do like these newish uniforms. Becca looks great.
Rogue gave them a new name, and costumes, as she’s leaving to get Gambit some help.
We get Deathdreams’ very tragic past. Deathdream is 15, nice to get an age to these kids.
Only Rogue and Remy are leaving, the rest of the Uncanny X-Men are sticking around, which makes sense as Monet is supposed to be leading this team now.
It has taken 32 issues, but we have finally reunited the Uncanny X-Men with the New Mutants! That’s pretty cool.
Graymalkin Prison. Scurvy dies, as Warden Ellis gives us some more of his back story. He’s only 24 years old, which calls into question how old is she? A doctor, a podcaster, a warden? At least 30?
As soon as Scurvy dies, Prisoner X takes over his body. Prisoner X is Ellis’ brother, Oscar, but he wants to be known as . . . Perimeter. Sure. He has the mutant ability to warp reality, just like Proteus and Jamie Braddock.
Monet has been waiting for this moment to happen. Nice that we got to see Siryn, Fawn, Fred Dukes, and Sarah Grunt again.
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Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters Somewhere. Somewhen.
Magikolossus and Mr. S’s X-Men are fighting off the Zombie Sentinels.
Which is cool, but my favorite part is that Jitter’s love for Calico comes through, so their real personalities are coming through. Poor Becca, she must have been so confused why these new emotions felt so strong.
Calitter is just simply the best.
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Mutina, who if they sold her All Different All New Mutants outfit, with cat ears, I would totally buy this as a jacket.
Jitter is epileptic, as we learn when she’s having a Jacksonian March, a seizure. Does that explain her stutter? I just figured it was due to the child abuse.
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Becca is told Jitter needs a med bay, and starts clearing the way. Probably smart not to take Jitter along with her, as Ember and her are on fire. This horse is on fire. Alicia Keys is the best.
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This is such a cool image. Vecchio is slaying it with this arc.
Ransom tells Deathdream that they have to get Jitter to safety, whatever it takes. Which, ever since Avengers Endgame, I love it when people repeat “whatever it takes,” once they hear it.
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Mutina figures out the X-Men are fake, more like Ex-Men then, right?
Cute that we see Ember and Calico fighting off Zombie Sentinels in the distance.
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Mutina stabs Nightcrawler as he’s not real.
Referencing things that are not real, Ellis starts giving us Perimeter’s backstory. He’s been torturing her since she was eight, and he was ten. That’s just what happens when someone has reality wrapping powers. He also killed their parents. So, she does have a reason to hate mutants. Well, a reason to hate one mutant in particular, being racist about it, is a second choice.
Monet shows up, ready to fight Perimeter. I guess the name is because he has no perimeter? I get the sense that these two have fought before. Probably how they got him in the prison to begin with.
Though, it is odd they had to turn this into a prison. Couldn’t this have gone the X-Factor route, and Ellis have a mutant team prepared to attack her brother, if he ever got out? Provide them with room and board, and treat them like actual people? Imprisoning them is another choice. Also, where is Dazzler?
It is at thist point that I’m wondering if Perimeter is the reason the Outliers are in this weird alt place, but Mutina states they are AI later, so maybe that doesn’t add up?
Haven House. Rogue is trying to talk to the New Mutants about their history together. Rogue has been training them for a year to kill the Avengers. They are getting tired of all of the questions.
Gambit is on his way home, if Vic finds out anything, he’ll let Gambit know.
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Magikolossus is ready to kill Mutina, and Ransom isn’t too fond of her at the moment. Mutina reveals her mutant powers, she has the ability to read people’s emotions. Which is fine, as long a she isn’t controlling those emotions, as that’s always a gross power.
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Mutina vs Cologik. This is where she reveals they are AI, so is Arcade behind this?
Gambit makes it home just in time for the New Mutants to attack.
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Ransom vs Magikolossus.
Mutina vs Cologik, I like how they both have giant swords. That’s cool.
Calico and Ember finally make it to the mansion and Doctor MacTaggert, but she doesn’t have a face. I imagine they got their too quickly, so MacTaggert’s programming hadn’t caught up to it yet.
Rogue vs Cannonball, she doesn’t know how to fight him as he’s nigh invulnerable while he’s blasting. Though I did expect her to have the thought that he’s only nigh invulnerable, leaving her some wiggle room.
Gambit grows vampire wings to catch up to Rogue, so that’s where the cover image comes from.
Issue ends with Monet vs Perimeter, but she’s not alone, she’s brought reinforcements. Like, okay, is her backup just going to be Fawn, Fred Dukes, and Sarah Grunt? Maybe with Dazzler? Or, OR! Are we getting a Generation X team up? Well, minus Jubilee.
We open with WARDEN Ellis and dying Phillip in the Graymalkin Prison, the former Xavier Institute. A good reminder that this plot is still around. Once Phillip dies, Inmate X is going to get out, and Ellis is going to be next. We do get Monet for a panel, so that’s nice. She has a picture of Quicksilver, which, not to beat this drum again, why isn’t he trying to break her out? Though this does seem more like a resort, that one just can’t get away from, unless you sign a contract to attend a concert. Would have been nice to see Dazzler here.
They found Xavier’s hover chair, which is fun to see. That thing is a very bright yellow.
Elsewhen. The All Different New Mutants are getting their first Danger Room fight. In a very fun page turn reveal, they are going to fight . . . Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur!
Haven House. Rogue, Logan, Nightcrawler, and Jubilee are looking for the Outliers. Rogue says, “Okay. I don’t think ah need ta say this, bur them kids . . . they gotta be brought back, even if it means hidin” which does that make sense? Repeating it for the sixth time, I think it means if they are hiding from the X-Men, they need to be brought back. Which Nightcrawler must have immediately understood what his sister meant, as he’s not sure if she means it.
St. Thomas Abbey. Abandoned. Mostly. Gambit makes a deal with Vig, who we’re not getting rid of any time soon. 20% of the Thivs Guild profits will go to Vig, just to help find the kids. Gambit says, “I belong to you again.” and he’s sad, which I get, but does he belong to him? Seems like Gambit is going to write him a check every month, and there isn’t much drama there. I mean, should Remy have put an end date on that? Yeah, probably, as even a year’s worth is pretty solid. Plus, what happens when Gambit doesn’t pay? Vig takes the Outliers? Actually, that might be what happens.
Louisiana X-Men arrive home and we see the New Mutants – Moonstar, Karma, Cannonball, Sunspot, and Wolfsbane.
Elsewhen. I’m on record of being a huge fan of Vecchio’s art. But sometimes it is hard to tell Jitter and Deathdream apart, when they are both wearing New Mutants uniforms. They both have short black hair, and are very slender.
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Becca says Ember looks very dowdy, and he does!
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Ransom wants Calico to “Valley of Gwangi” Devil Dinosaur, a movie that is fully available on YouTube, thanks Adam of ComicsXF, for cluing me onto this! Will I watch it? Could be fun, but I’m three Daredevil episodes behind, and barely started the Punisher second season, but I’ll add it to my list.
Ember does continue to look dowdy here.
Moon Boy attacks Jitter. She tries translates Moon Boy’s language to English, which is handy.
Unfortunately, Mutina is also too handy, and cuts off Moon Boy’s head. Yikes!
So they did survive the experience, which is nice.
Beast tells them that they usually don’t destroy / kill their opponents, but good job.
Nightcrawler alerts everyone Sentinels are at the door, and we get even more twists!
Sentinels hunt mutants . . . to eat them! We have Zombie Sentinels, ya’ll! They’re inmates that the Trasks turned into robots who eat mutants. Imagine the blue prints for these guys?!
Nightcrawler teleports Deathdream and Jitter, and we learn he has two extra, but short, arms. So we are definitely in a different time line.
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We get Calico, Ember, and Mutina team up! Mutina was willing to be Becca’s friend, but Becca wants to help out, which is a turn off, which is fun.
Doctor Moira MacTaggert mentions the Professor, and it is around here, that I’m remembering that she keeps saying Professor, but I don’t think she ever said X. Though we do know it is the Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.
Jitter takes out a Sentinel thanks to field testing the shock gloves that Spider-Man gave her. That feels weird, right? So the Outliers are in the bodies of their counterparts here? I do wish they had their memories of their time together, but it is fun to see their friendships get reestablish here as Random and Deathdream seem to be getting along like brothers.
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Mutina decided to stick around, so that’s nice. Ember doesn’t look as dowdy now that he’s lit up again. Becca continues to be a delight, calling the Sentinels “doodyheads.” She’s the best.
Just in time, we get the reinforcements!
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Professor S, Sauron, is here with his X-Men! Magikossus, Cologik, Siryn, and Warpath.
Magik has Colossus powers, and Colossus has Magik powers, so there’s a whole backstory there I want to see. Siryn is a prisoner of Graymalkin, I’m sure we’re supposed to be reminded of that. I imagine this is Warpath to go with Siryn’s inclusion. Sauron is always a fun pull.
Where is Xavier? Does it matter?
Haven House. Rogue almost touches Cannonball’s hand, and this makes the New Mutants freak out, as her touch is death to men. Rogue tries to reassure them, but they don’t need it.
They’re cool with Rogue and her mission . . . to KILL THE AVENGERS!
So so many twists this issue.
Is this a three or four parter? It seems like we need an explanation issue before we get a concluding issue. We are only getting wilder from here.
