Variant Cover Alexander Lozano, as soon as I saw that plush Lockheed, I had to have this 80s Magik variant cover.
This was such a great comic!
It looks gorgeous too, Daniel, Morales, and Hesli really brought it this issue.
I really appreciate that we got to see how Magik interacts with this 70s Beast, as I don’t feel like they have too much character history together. She hung out with Teen Beast during Brian Michael Bendis’ All New X-Men / Uncanny X-Men tenure. Nothing else really comes to mind.
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I really love Magik bringing Magneto to a temple in Merle, Alaska. That was very kind of her.
Maybe a reference to Kitty Pryde would have been too much to ask for?
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Magik is such a great character, that we can establish where everyone is with her portals, Such a clever use of her power, and we get a quick glimpse of how she interacts with her team, as she’s looking for 70s Beast.
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70s Beast is still unraveling his interaction with Krakoa Beast, the Chairman of 3K. He’s not used to seeing a personification of his inner darkness, so who else to ask but Magik, who has her own personal Darkchild.
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Is this Magik learning about Krakoa Beast’s involvement in 3K?
No, Cyclops must have told them when he updated them on the Age of Revelation.
But always good to reestablish plot points.
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Age of Revelation Darkchild did look cool, and I love that her and Juggernaut are Best Friends Forever.
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Apparently, Cyclops has kept the Krakoa Beast a secret, and only Beast, Animalia, and now Magik know who they are truly up against.
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70s Beast is so vulnerable here.
And I just love the softness of the colors here.
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Magik tells 70s Beast that seeing her darkness personified is a gift.
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It is interesting how living in a comic book universe, that one is treated to seeing what their worst selves look like. That must be such a trippy experience.
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Magik must give the best hugs. The absolute rarest of gifts is a hug from Magik.
The panel of her saying she’s a big softy, and just thinks spikes and swords are cool is a panel that will live on forever. It is a shame she’s not seen saying it inside the panel, but might as well include the hug and the quote when reposting it.
There, I did it for you. You are so welcome.
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Issue ends with an explosion at The Factory.
This probably is my favorite issue of this series thus far. It is so great!
I got the Marvel Snap Magik Beach variant cover, but resisted paying the $25 for the card in the game itself.
Magik is part of the cast list, so I can just relax and enjoy the comic.
Greg Land doing interior art, feels like forever since he did an X-Men comic.
This is the Juggernaut issue.
Juniper, Pennsylvania. Someone jerks put up a Bolivar Trask statue. So gross.
O*N*E Agent Lundqvist is back! Possibly not by popular demand, but I like what he brings out of Cyclops.
Juggernaut is also there, in a very nice brown suit. He definitely shops at a Big & Tall store.
I like Juggernaut not missing a step to comment on how Lundqvist used to be on the big X-Men assignment, and now he’s watching a statue. I mean, it makes sense, he wasn’t very good at the X-Men issue, getting Cyclops’ to reveal his Hellions team, and wrecking several Sentinel factories.
Juggernaut tells Lundqvist that he can go home early today, as he’s going to wreck the statue, except . . . he can’t. It is being protected somehow.
Two hours later, it is still not wrecked. I would have stopped after the second attempt. Not only are there cameras seeing Juggernaut be literally stopped from his mission, but also, two hours is such a long time to fail at one activity.
I sort of wished this entire issue was just Juggernaut and Lundqvist chatting, as what were they talking about during the last two hours. They are getting real here. Lundqvist knows he’s at a transition in his career, but is confident he’ll get his career back on track. Juggernaut recognizes, sadly, that he can’t trust his judgment anymore, and is just trusting Cyclops to make all of the right decisions for him.
Three more hours later. This is just getting silly, as Juggernaut keeps trying to wreck the statue. This is hard to watch. Not entertaining like the end to Tin Cup. I love that movie.
Chris Coleman, a human who wants the statue down, is now Juggernaut’s pal to chat with. Juggernaut is the human ally who is also on the X-Men, which is good to point out for new readers who may think the Juggernaut is a mutant. Sometimes he is in other media.
It is around now, that I’m wondering when Magik is going to be seen, or even mentioned.
Juggernaut promised Cyclops he’ll handle the statue, and he’s not happy with himself.
Juggernaut can wobble the statue, so shouldn’t he just lift the thing and take it somewhere else?
Coleman lets us in on the fact that Trask lived in Juniper, so he’s unfortunately their local celebrity.
Two more hours later, so five total from the beginning of this awkwardness. Angela Harmon, the free speech advocate is now Juggernaut’s pal. So now we have to “both sides” the issue.
Angie, as she prefers over Trask fan, gets to say, “Magneto was right.” Which is always nice to hear.
Aw, Juggernaut mentioning how he eats dinner with Magneto, that’s cute. Imagine Magneto, Juggeranut, and Magik all sharing a meal? I want to see that page.
Dang, Angela, we’re no longer friends, calls Juggernaut out. Magneto is a dog, and Juggernaut is the X-Men’s pet sapien.
Juggernaut as since removed his helmet, so any telepath could be giving him better direction at this point.
He doesn’t care for Angela’s “points”. She has a real them vs us, and he’s one of us.
One hour later. This is getting beyond sad. Now the statue is talking to Juggernaut.
I apparently can’t spell Juggernaut, I keep swapping the “a” and the “n”.
The statue claims it is actually a mirror, reflecting Coleman’s shame, Harmon’s fear, and Marko’s weakness. It goes on to claim it is the Mark of Cain (get it?), the Stain of Sin, all sins.
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His best bud, Magik, finally checks in with him, and has brought Cyclops along as well.
I love so much that she’s quick to try to comfort him.
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Juggernaut is muttering to himself how much of a failure he is.
I appreciate so much Cyclops calling him an X-Man. That’s nice, especially after the nonsense he’s had to hear.
Cyclops thought it was a simple mission, but turns out, it is a puzzle. Magik says they’ll figure it out together. I really like these three together.
Magik makes a Godzilla in Ginza reference, which is odd, as she’s battled Godzilla. Did they make a Godzilla attacks Ginza, a district of Tokyo, after Godzilla attempted to destroy the Marvel Universe? That must be it.
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Dang, Juggernaut is still taking the “lost” hard.
Cyclops is such a great leader, the mission wasn’t a failure, the parameters were changed. Juggernaut gave more than anyone can expect, which is why Cyclops’ can count on him, that’s what makes him an X-Man.
But also, punching it the fifth time, clearly, nothing was going to happen, he wasn’t weakening the force field. He did waste six hours, but also, waste it instead of doing what? I guess enjoying himself, but if he wanted to spend six hours doing this, sure. His manager clearly was okay with it.
Next issue is a Beast spotlight, which I feel like we just got with the Science arc, but also, we have to now set up DNX, as we compare and contrast the Tale of Two Beasts.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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With Shaw’s death, the mansion’s black market security kicks in, and Kitty helps stop some of the defenses.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Emma is already looking forward to never having to think about Shaw ever again.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Variant Cover German Peralta, drawing Magik for a cover? Yes, please.
Nice to see Sean Parsons as an Inker. In this age of digital art, inkers are hard to fine, and I worry about the professional inks of the world.
Danger’s Room. Maxime Danger is congratulating everyone for how easy they killed the X-Men. Be nice if Colton C. Colton would do his part to get Quintin Quire and Oya to kill the flatscans of Merle, Alaska, but he’s sure that’ll be happening. Soon.
I just love the Psylocke butterfly effect that we see, things are not going to go well for Danger.
The Factory. Merle, Alaska.
Magneto is talking to Ben and Animalia, he needs a ride to town. Oh, how far the mighty have fallen. She can’t drive a stick, so Ben has to take them.
Quintin is simply losing it, as he can’t find any trace of the Glob Herman’s shooter. One would think he’ll figure it out, but instead of not finding the shooter, he wants to hurt everyone who is hiding the shooter.
Deep in the Gulf of Alska.
Nice to see how tangled Magik and the X-Men are.
We enter 70s Beast cyber mind scape. If the AI was looking to feed on data, he has all of the data it needs.
Magneto has enter Quintin’s mind scape. We all learn a very valuable lesson that if we look at an entire group of people and declare them fit for punishment, that isn’t right.
Quintin finally calms down.
70s Beast teaches the AI the values of life – dignity, freedom, safety, and respect. You know, the classic Teach AI about Humanity plot.
Diaz finds a clever way to draw Weapon X for a panel, so this page should resell nicely.
Oya isn’t thrilled with Magneto’s interference. He’s a nazi hunter, so they need to still hunt for the shooter. He’s all for hunting the right person.
A bit of a cop out that Quintin has erased everyone’s memory of him running through the city’s minds and memories, but honestly, what would that story follow up be with this? Quintin publicly apologizing? Actually, maybe that would have been nice for a page.
Just in case us readers are concern the X-Men are losing a full day to this exercise, it is most likely only minutes that are passing.
70s Beast poses an exam question, is this AI a weapon or a person?
Danger’s Room. I love Maxime referencing her own psych file, she doesn’t handle disappointment well. Before she can kill Colton, Psylocke, Xorn, and Greycrow enter the room.
I love Greycrow stating the room’s guns like him more than Maxime, so the room’s auto defenses are not going to work.
Like a boss, Maxime teleports away, this exercise was a real waste.
Which is what I always say, if you are a villain, and you must know the X-Men are going to win in the end, the best you can do is try to hurt them real badly, OR, get all of your personal goals done by mid plot, as once the X-Men come together, they clean up pretty quickly after that.
Psylocke is going to teach Maxime’s goons a real lesson in empathy. The hard way.
The AI ship comes to the surface. I love Magik stretching out. She’s so real, and was very cramped.
Scott is such a delight here. The Tantum Twins is such a silly name for Magik and Juggernaut, who I simply adore together as besties.
70s Beast should know Cyclops always has a plan, but he missed out on the Utopia era (an era I like), and Cyclops doesn’t just have 26 plans, he has all of the plans.
Xorn is taking care of Glob.
I love so much seeing Illyana eat, and taking care of herself. Juggernaut and her are eating the biggest sandwiches of all time.
Poor Animalia, she isn’t getting far with 70s Beast. Unless those are bedroom eyes, but they look more sad to me.
Epilogue. Military Housing. Location REDACTED. (Such a good visual gag).
The Residence of Frank Bohannan. Director of O*N*E.
Such a cool image of the field team confronting Bohannan.
Cyclops tells Bohannan that he knows he put Maxime up to this, but Bohannan has full deniability.
This is his final warning, Psylocke will end him next time. This is a threat.
Magik teleports the team away at issue’s end.
Next arc, the Science Team investigates a Cerebro alert. The Science Team consists of 70s Beast, Animalia, Magneto, Xorn, and Ben. A nice little arc before we ramp up to DNX.
The Airspace Near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Danger’s Room goons shoot down the Marauder, with Psylocke and Xorn aboard.
The Danger Room. Danger is updated that there are no survivors, which seems super silly not to actually triple check.
The Factory. Merle, Alaska. Quinten Quire wants blood from whoever shot Glob Herman. Magneto is telling him to calm down, and I like Quire’s retort of “you need to get angry!” Oya also wants revenge as the two of them head out.
The Danger Room. Danger is annoyed she hasn’t heard of any destruction in Merle yet, but Colton assures her, it is coming.
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The Spirit of St. Augustine. Currently a living biomechanical monster.
Such a cool team shot.
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I love so much Magik casting spells.
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I also love so much what such besties Magik and Juggernaut are. Juggernaut is stopped by the wires of the ship, and brought underneath them, and Illyana immediately dives in after him.
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Cyclops tries to get her to focus, but now the wires have her. Then Scott also gets tangled up.
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Danger is excited about how they monetize this technology now.
Quire and Oya have made it to Merle, so stuff is going to happen next issue.
70s Beast and Sheriff Robbins are trying to figure out what the ship is made out of, and Hank can only think of one way to figure it out, dive into its center. I guess she is maybe safer with him than being tangled up on her own? Seems like a conversation he could have had with her.
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Agent Jackson wants to kill Greycrow, and Danger tells her she can do that. Jackson gets confirmation that Greycrow is dead, which I feel like, even if he’s in a bed, he’ll put up more of a fight than that.
Turns out, Kwannon has gotten to him, and has taken out the goon squad. So next issue, the X-Men start fighting back, which is always the exciting part of the story.
Variant Cover Todd Nauck, the Doctor Doom Homage Cover
I’m on record that I’m a huge fan of a villain spotlight issue, which was true for X-Men V7 24. Is it too soon for another villain spotlight issue? For me? No, I’m on record for being a huge fan of a villain spotlight issue. This time, we get Ms. Danger’s Danger Room.
I’m also on record about how if a villain knows the X-Men will win, the way to get your agenda done is by making sure your end goal happens toward the middle of your plan, so even when you get optic blasted, you still got your goal accomplished. The X-Men are notorious for not locking their villains up.
Maxine Danger, who is between a high functioning sociopath and a narcissistic solipsist. Which I had to look up. Apparently they believe that the only thing they can guarantee is the existence of their own mind – which seems interesting, but also, other people do exist, but I guess not from their point of view. Which I know I’m the type of guy, once someone passes me on a highway, I do consider that person. Where are they going? How did they catch up to me on the highway to pass me by? Are they thinking about me right now? Probably just in terms of “get out of my way!”
We meet former SHIELD Agent Jackson, in Arbfield Women’s Prison. She has the ability to make people sad enough that they kill themselves, so that’s not great, please seek help before hurting yourself or others. She knew she had this within herself, so knew once she was a SHIELD agent, she’ll have to get her body count as high as possible.
Ms. Danger works for the Beyond Corporation, who I’m pretty sure Spider-Man also worked for, so is that the same corporation?
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We get the group shot of everyone together, as they are pleased with themselves. I do love seeing a plan come together.
I do appreciate that they planned to take Psylocke out first, by separating her from the rest of the team. One always has to take out of the telepaths first, then the speedsters.
Psylocke is with Xorn in the Marauder, as it gets blasted out of the sky. This new Danger Room is full of killers, who, of course, won’t be killing the X-Men. A real shame that we don’t have resurrections anymore so these new villains can be established as a new lethal force. I supposed that could make them deadlier, but there is a world of a difference between killing regular humans, and elite mutants.
We next meet Colton Colton in Calford Penitentiary. We all know a person with the same name, right? Or know a person who knows a person? In high school, my Life Science teacher was Thomas Thomas, and I’ll never forget him. In my jobs over the years, I have mailed letters to people with the same name. Those poor nurses having to bite their tongues to not want to request double confirmation on the name.
Fun fact, my college friend Susie, is a Leap Day baby, so she’s only nine now.
Colton is a Machiavellian, which I’m starting to think my understanding of some of these words are not exactly what I think they are. He lived in a trailer park, and turn everyone against each other, to the point they were killing each other, and then he killed everyone else.
We catch up to the X-Men at the Factory. Glob Herman is bleeding out on the table, which is odd they didn’t take him to a hospital, especially as they know they don’t have Xorn NOR 70s Beast. Which is very clever planning on the Danger Room’s part. I really do wish it was simply called, Danger’s Room, that’ll be fun, plus distinguishes her group from the actual room, or the robot gal. But like they mentioned in the issue, the X-Men and Merle, Alaska, don’t quite trust each other. Quintin Quire is mad enough to make some poor decisions.
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We see Magik on a screen in the back, which is fun, as we head towards the main event.
I was thinking, isn’t there two more bad guys, how many pages are left of this comic? So, the solution is, time to double up. We meet Grigos and Marquez, thanks to the podcast, I might have a chance at remembering their names, or thanks to the website, I can at least refer back to this. These are two guys who think they have depowered Skrulls, thanks to that cursed Reed Richards! I think it would be a lot of fun if it turns out that she’s wrong, especially being a solipsist, and they actually are depowered Skrulls. Why not? They created a giant fire, which brought the firefighters, who they murdered, so they hate infrastructures.
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We see the X-Men fighting off the ship. Even if they win the day, and we know they will, without Magik’s teleportation abilities, they’re still stranded deep in the ocean.
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More fighting of the ship.
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Magik’s “Cyclops, what’s the plan” reaction meme drop!
I do love Cyclops being “I knew there was a trap, so of course, I sprung it.” He brought along a slew of sledgehammers, and they’re going to wreck their way out.
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He’s going to make whoever this is pay.
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Then, to my wonderful surprise, I got my 11th letter published! I didn’t think a letter for Age of Revelation Book of Revelations 1 would ever get printed, but it is nice to see it was received, plus, I guess we’ll be picking up on Apocalypse’s kids eventually. Hence the publishing of the letter. I see you.
Milwaukee. Issue opens with Greycrow robbing a bank, and getting shot up during his escape.
Merle, Alaska. Scott is happy it is spring time. Kwannon is surprised as Scott grew up in Alaska, and thinks he’ll be comfortable with the snow. He corrects her, that he was only here as a child. I suppose it is smart of him not to mention he lived there for a time with Madelyne and Baby Nathan, but that was like what, a few months? Better not to mention it.
Sheriff Robbins is missing, as Deputy Smith informs them.
Glob Herman is setting up a nice garden, as he’s producing too much for the X-Men to eat. He was going to give the food away, but Scott thought that would be suspicious. Which he’s right, as even I would think there was something wrong with the food, or that it was expiring soon. I like the older couple who arrives, they haven’t heard of the Shi’ar or optic blasts, which I would think the Shi’ar was known, but I guess if all you are getting from the news is alien attack after alien attack, they probably all sound alike. Before they arrive, Glob is visited by Piper and her mother, Rose. Piper’s twin sister, Robin, is working with 3K now, but it is nice that they’re keeping her in the loop. Well, now she’s in the loop, seems like someone should have sent an email or telepathic message to Rose about her other daughter.
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Cyclops asks Magik to track Sheriff Robbins’ blood to the source.
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Magik has located the nice sheriff, in the Gulf of Alaska.
Psylocke can’t make the mission as she has to check on Greycrow. Cyclops tells her to take Xorn with her, as Greycrow will need a healer. That’s nice of him.
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Gulf of Alaska. The Spirit of St. Augstine. We get a very cool team splash page.
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Things are a little too Raph. And a little too quiet.
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They locate Sheriff Robbins, she informs them it is a trap. I like how 70s Beast knows it is a trap, but they have a handy teleporter.
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Except, of course, Magik can’t teleport them, so ruh oh.
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The X-Men have to battle the ship.
Glob Herman gets hate crimed, which I immediately was worried about when Scott and Kwannon was discussing Glob having a garden, and I thought the room they hinted was his shop that was wrecked, but it was the police station (though it should be a sherif’s office, if they’re sheriffs and deputies, but okay). Glob is shot, and we don’t have resurrection anymore. Maybe he was just shot in the shoulder? I have my doubts.
Washington DC. The Office of National Emergency. We see Crimson Commando talking to new character, Maxime Danger. At first I thought she was WARDEN Ellis, but she’s a different lady. Danger is working with or for the Bureau of Prisons, so one would think Danger and Ellis would eventually be working together, right?
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Danger is all about branding, and wants her think tank to be called, The Danger Room. I guess Danger’s Room was too silly of a name.
So rare for a modern comic to reach issue 25! Though Uncanny will be doing it with its next issue. Just to get it out of the way, here is your Fenris trigger warning. I treated myself to the Luciano Vecchio variant cover. We weren’t given this theme cover for Exceptional X-Men, which I would have gladly bough the Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost, and Melee covers. Actually, I probably would have gotten all of them, as I do love the format. Maybe with X-Men United we’ll finally get them? I’m still waiting for the Russell Dauterman Kitty Pryde costume gallery cover.
Issue opens with Cyclops telling the team about the Age of Revelation. I do like the idea that you can just skip AoR, and what you really need to know, you’ll be told through X-MEN dialogue. Future bad because of Doug Ramsey, and 3K (more about them later).
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Scott’s new goal in life? Fix the Present, Save the Future. Such a good team shot here.
Arizona, three miles from Rio Verde. Which is three and a half hours away from Yuma. When I was growing up, there was a popular blue shirt that had, “Yuma, four hours from everywhere else” that is burned into my mind.
We catch up to Fenris, who are eternally gross. Now, they’re super prideful of being white mutants, so they have a new lower level to their grossness.
I do love how out Jed MacKay is with calling the Strucker twins and Fenris (the name of their hate group) Nazis. Why hide behind code words? Also a good time to mention I was wrong about 3K being a clever way of not writing KKK, which makes sense now that we know Krakoa Beast is the Chairman of the Board.
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Then. Cyclops really needs to find Doug.
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Now. Cyclops sends Magik and Psylocke to join the fight. Once we’re done with the Psylocke retro series (which apparently is selling quite well), I would love to get a Magik & Psylocke miniseries.
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These two are great together!
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Then. I love the X-Men sharing a meal together, this team is very close.
Cyclops reveals that AoR had never heard of R-LDS. 70s Beast let’s out a “retrocausality” which sounds very fun to say aloud. I wonder what that would have looked like as a Mortal Kombat finisher?
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Magik telling Psylocke that her sword is sharper, and Kwannon calling Magik a brat. These two are the best.
Again, I just love Juggernaut and Magik being besties. This series has been great with showing Illyana being actual friends with people. I love to see it.
Juggernaut throws a car at Fenris, he’s so upset that they blasted Magik. Taking her out of the fight for the rest of the issue, which one has to do as she can end a fight rather easily.
Psylocke fights Andreas, and Oya fights Andrea.
Quenten Quire, who also can end a fight easily, has been holding back, as he really doesn’t want to enter a white supremacist’s mind – completely understandable.
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Juggernaut helping Magik up, they’re the best!
We finally learn who the mutant is who is in charge of O*N*E* . . . The Crimson Commando, who I barely remember. He’s on the cover of Uncanny X-Men 215, with Stonewall and Super Sabre. I mostly only remember Stonewall because of the historical event, and the cool flight helmet. He’s a WWII veteran, with the mutant power of peach physical health. I own his first appearance, so that’s cool. He is a Claremont / Davis creation.
The Crimson Commando arrived with a crew, and a press conference, announcing O*N*E*, and Cyclops’ X-Men are working together, then immediately has them stop recording, so mutants everywhere should have some distrust of Cyclops now. Which seems silly, as all it’ll take is for him to reach out to Rogue and Emma, and clear the whole thing up – he’ll probably do that in-between issues.
Cyclops references how the last time he fight Crimson Commando, he died, in Uncanny X-Men 529. Which was the issue Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost with Fantomex were searching for Sebastian Shaw, so I only remember that plot from the issue, but I owned his first and last appearance (until this issue, which I also own, so that’s nice).
We do get a reference to how Cyclops hadn’t realized Crimson Commando was resurrected on Krakoa, so that’s nice that era exists so any mutant can be brought back with ease. As long as they didn’t die in Fall of X (or Rise of X).
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Crimson Commando leaves, knowing he’ll win the long battle.
We get a back up where 70s Beast chats with Animalia, who likes the codename, another legacy of AoR.
70s Beast figures out 3K is actually 3000, otherwise written in Latin, MMM, Make More Mutants, and learns the Chairman of 3K is . . . Krakoa Beast! So, everyone knows what they are up against.
I do love a Villian issue! We see that 3K’s alliance is on very shaky grounds. Chairman Beast of Krakoa has been gone a week, giving Cassandra Nova and Astra (with Joseph) time to plot the other’s death. Cassandra Nova has her own Pixie, Myraid. Wyre and his X-Men just want to see who wants leadership more. Cassandra Nova puts the leadership to a vote. Joseph dons his helmet, but Myraid takes off the helmet, and Cassandra Nova is on the verge of winning, when Beast shows up! He is full Beast mode, but all white to match his Age of Revelation body. He was in a synthetic body, which I still feel like wasn’t fair for the home audience’s guessing game. He reveals the plot of Age of Revelation. We get one splash page of the events, so if anyone is interested, they can check out Amazing X-Men V3 for Cyclops’ journey, The Last Wolverine for Logan Death, and Laura Kinney Sabretooth for her adventure. We get this page, and earlier, we get a few panels of him and Animalia .
They are going to use a virus to turn all humans into mutants, succeed where Doug got the job mostly done.
Beast also knows one other thing, that Schwarzschild will eventually join Cyclops, so he has Wyre’s X-Men kill him, and they don’t even hesitate, so we have successfully splintered from the AoR future.
Issue ends with us seeing their base, which is a cool looking flying saucer above a nice mountain range. Are they near Alaska?
No Magik, but I’m getting the Clayton Crain variant cover, so this issue is a keeper.
It also feels like a big step in the direction this series is going in. Maybe not the franchise as I don’t see X-Men United dealing with this, but maybe? They have Armageddon to hopefully dodge, and whatever the 2026 Comic Giveaway issue is. (so silly of a name)
I’m glad Jed MacKay doesn’t write the X-Men this way, but then again, his Age of Revelation was a pretty epic story, told over multiple pages, and issues. This issue is the Avengers talking at Kang, as he’s up to one of his classic Kang attacks. I think, I was looking for Storm, and any X-Men appearing. Storm gets a cool, “What is the meaning of anything, Kang,” with her hands on her hips. Kang, you are so lucky she isn’t stabbing you with all of her knives.
Scarlet Witch brings up friendships.
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We see Juggernaut and Quentin Quire playing baseball, and jerk me, immediately asks, “these two are who you show for the X-Men?!” But right below that panel, we see Magik talking to FalCap, and the rest of the X-Men and Avengers. I want to know more about those two talking? Does Magik keep bringing up his “boy / girl thing” that he said to her in Civil War II? Then she teleported him to Hollywood, and out of the fight? I bet she brings it up.
Avengers appear to defeat Kang, but then he asks which one of them will survive the death of this universe, so we’re still rocking Kang stories for the next two issues.
. . .
Writer Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler Mark Bagley
Inker Scott Hanna & John Dell
Colorist Frank D’Armata
Letterer Cory Petit
For this big anniversary issue, Brian Michael Bendis, and Mark Bagley, one of my all time favorite creative teams, came back for a fun little backup story. We get the Big Three – Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, chatting it up. Fighting Viper, who I’ve liked ever since she married Logan, that one time. My one problematic fave. Hulk shows up. Captain Marvel shows up. Beast, having a big start to the year. Scarlet Witch, and Wasp. We get just the best final page ever, as it is the Avengers Anniversary, in-universe, and everyone shows up!
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Including Kitty Pryde, asking Logan, “uh, Logan? Is this an X-Men thing, or an Avengers things?” She’s the best, and we get our first Kitty Pryde of 2026!
X-Men I see : Sunfire, Sunspot, Namor, Cannonball, Logan, Kitty Pryde (not an Avenger, yet, maybe?), Quicksilver,
The People’s Princess, Crystal, is there, Tigra too. Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Monica Rambeau.
Shadow and Flame with Magik 