Complicated Credits

Color Artist Fer Sifuentes-Sujo

Letterer VC’s Ariana Maher

Pages 1-3, 7-8, 13, 50 Saladin Ahmed & Joelle Jones

Pages 4-5, 34-35, 47 Gail Simone & Luciano Vecchio

Pages 6, 11-12, 16-17 Erica Schultz & Aaron Kuder

Pages 9-10, 19-20, 33 Jed MacKay, Tony S. Daniel & Mark Morales

Pages 14-15, 26-27, 48 Eve L. Ewing & Federica Mancin

Pages 18, 21-25, 28-32 Saladin Ahmed & Federica Mancin

Pages 36-46, 49 Saladin Ahmed, Cory Smith & Oren Junior

I got the RB Silva variant cover, as Kitty is spotlighted on it. 

Sebastian Shaw is attempting to take back the Hellfire Gala name, and is going to do it in high fashion with a masquerade ball. 

I was hoping we’ll get a final page with all of the characters with their new costumes, and their names above their heads. 

I don’t think Magik attended this, or I completely missed her.

Rogue takes time to chat with Cyclops. 

Oya wasn’t supposed to be here, she just happened to be in town.  

Mister Sinister, dressed as an angel, is bored with Shaw, who is dressed as a king.  #NoKings

Angel, dressed as a devil, is also there.  The mansion’s AI programmed everyone’s costumes, besides Shaw’s. 

We get to see Storm for a panel, and establish Kitty Pryde’s Cat outfit.  She looks great here. 

Hellion gets a moment.

Cyclops and Psylocke get a dance, and they are very flirty.  The dialogue implies she’s going to cheat on Greycrow, but actually, they have a devious other plan.  To murder either 3K member, Astra or Joseph, or ideally, both. 

These two have intense chemistry though.  Does remind me of the Jim Lee X-MEN run, where Betsy, in Kwannon’s body, was flirty with Scott, but he was able to resist, oil licking good as Betsy was.  So I like the idea that now that Kwannon is in her proper body, he’s actually attracted to the right mind in the right body. 

I also love that it was Emma who insisted on Scott learning to dance.  Scemma was truly the best. 

Oya and Ransom find each other, and I really like these two.  I wish they were not separated by 4,371 miles. 

Page 13, the Kitty & Martinique dance, which is by Saladin Ahmed & Joelle Jones.

The Kitty Pryde subreddit spoiled these images, so I sort of know to expect this, and knowing there was an illusionist, that maybe Shaw wasn’t actually murdered.  I kept waiting for a reveal. 

I like how Kitty doesn’t recognize Martinique, she recognized everyone else, but it makes sense she wouldn’t know Martinique. 

I wouldn’t want Kitty to cheat on Nina, please break up with someone before you cheat on them, that’s just gross. 

I would have said I was always more of a Regan Wyngarde / Lady Mastermind fan, of the two sisters, as she’s just pure fun, and Regan is the more serious of the two, which is usually the one I’m more drawn to, but Regan has more page time, and been in more stories that I’ve read.  BUT!  Martinique Wyngarde having crazy chemistry with Kitty, well now, I have a great reason to love Martinique.  You best know that I’m going to be listening to that Cerebro episode again with Alex Abad-Santos. 

Cross referencing my League of Comic Geeks with Travis Starnes’ Complete Marvel Reading Order, I’m only missing Emprye X-Men issues 2 & 3 of the issues she’s in that I want for my collection.  For whatever reason, I own issue 4, but not issue 1 either, so I should try to buy those first three issues once I’m back in the back issue buying game. 

Emma Frost and Namor meet up, and talk about the Seven Virtues and Sins.  These two are always a joy.

Logan and Jubilee are the stars of the issue, as they investigate the murder.  The Murder of Sebastian Shaw, dun dun DUN!

Shaw was killed by a nerve gas. 

With Shaw’s death, the mansion’s black market security kicks in, and Kitty helps stop some of the defenses. 

So silly having Kitty be the one to say “X-Men aren’t murders.”  Frank Bohannan, Director of O*N*E*, is very quick to point out that Kitty herself has killed people. 

Toad points to Emma as a prime suspect, as she’s always willing to kill Shaw.

Kitty and the mutants finally get to see Shaw’s dead body, so we know he’s actually dead.  I still, at this point, think this is all an illusion, and Shaw is grinning somewhere.

I love so much Kitty shipping Emma and Namor.  They need a ship name, but I can’t think of one immediately.  White Fish, Imperial Frost, something. 

Emma doesn’t want Katherine to be crass.  I love these two together.

Emma is already looking forward to never having to think about Shaw ever again.

So silly Doop up in the sky with his costume.  I wish we got a look at his front.

Shaw murdered Kitty, way back in Marauders V1 11, so naturally, she is also a prime suspect, but she was dancing with someone extremely hot wearing a lily mask. 

Shame Lockheed wasn’t in this issue, as he was left to drown by Shaw. 

Hellion is quick to accuse 3K’s Astra and Joseph of killing Shaw.  Astra mentioned the black market security system, which gives Logan a lead.  He tells Jubilee she’s on her own to maintain control of the room. 

I hope I captured all of Kitty’s scenes, as I look for her in every panel.

I like that we get a moment with Cyclops, he cancels the mission to kill Astra and Joseph, as the attention is on them, and Shaw is dead, and he doesn’t care about his death, he was scum.

Rogue and Gambit are cute this issue, and maybe bored with the plot?  Gambit offers to make her soup or gumbo.  Either sounds good to me. 

I love Rogue taking the time to make an Ember reference, as he is a ghost horse.

Logan follows his nose, to Toad, but he assures us, that it isn’t what it looks like.  “Jubilee” who looks like what she looks like, but isn’t her, shots Logan.

Turns out we have a new grouping of mutants . . . The Hellfire Brotherhood! 

Mystique, who still has some facial scarring, so that’s nice continuity.  Destiny, always looking great.  Toad.  Empath, who is the absolute worst.  And . . . Mastermind herself, Martinque!  Wha?! 

Kitty would work so well in this group. 

Mystique explains everything.  She was aware of the mansion defenses.  She convinced it that she was the real Shaw, and the mansion killed Shaw with the defense nerve gas.  He was going to rally the mutants, and the ones who wouldn’t work with him, he was going to use Forge’s perma mutant power gun / technology, and remove any mutants who wouldn’t work with Shaw. 

Poor Forge, that gun is his true legacy.

And being one of Storm’s exes.

I was really really hoping Martinque would have interjected with some comment about how she was dancing with a real hottie, and found out who Kitty was.  As we don’t ever get them learning about the other.  Which is a real shame.

Also, Shaw is super dead. 

The mansion defenses finally stop, and the doors open.  The room suspects 3K was behind Shaw’s murder. 

Emma and Namor leave as friends.

I like Emma telepathically calling for Rift to get her and Katherine out of here.

Rogue has a nice chat with Oya, telling her that Ransom isn’t as tough as he looks, so please don’t hurt him.  Oya was going to have the same conversation with Rogue, which seems odd, she was going to ask Rogue to not have Ransom hurt her?  But sure, dialogue is complicated, and I fumble more times than I’m proud of.

I’m really liking this silly new trend of putting the credit page at the end, so that we can have a legit post credit scene. 

Turns out, Emma DID kill Shaw, she just overloaded his brain, which would have had the same signs as a nerve gas, so she got lucky there.  Logan will keep this a secret, just like how he kept the Hellfire Brotherhood a secret from Jubilee.

This was a lot of fun, and Kitty actually got to do stuff in this issue, so I love that.