Wolverine has gotten all of the Generates to Logan’s safehouse. X-99 wants to go by X-6-7, so she has been quick to Google things. X-97 thinks the name change is a disgrace to X-67, but X-6-7 points out it is two different number / names. X-6-7 is sleeping in the room with Gabby and Jonathan, the most real of Wolverines. X-6-7 calls X-97 mid, and Gabby finally steps in, and tells X-6-7 that she can’t use her phone anymore. X-74 is going around, portaling into neighbors’ rooms, which seems to go against the very idea of hiding out. Jonathan startles X-74, and he almost loses concentration as he falls into one of the rooms, but gets himself back in time, unnoticed. Except he lands on Jonathan, so he very much notices him, and begins an attack. X-97 destroys the toilet, and X-6-7 says both cringe, and the Skibidi Toilet War is real, so even I’m losing the joy here.
Wolverine takes them all, in costume, to pay respects at the Krakoa Treehouse in Central Park. X-6-7 uses the word, rizz, when Wolverine finds a secret note. A man and his very much mutant presenting family are being harassed, and the Kinney sisters and the Generates head to Jackson Heights to help the family out. I like that the Generates are not very good at the whole rescue thing. X-74 teleported the family to safety, but X-97 threw too many, and too big of, time bombs everywhere. X-6-7 took too long trying to figure out what she should shift into. She finally settled on a giant cat, which was pretty cute.
They all get a great post-battle dinner, a Number 25, with Chicken, which does sound amazing. At dinner, they pick their mutant names.
X-6-7 will be Surprise!, don’t forget the explanation mark, just like Bling!.
X-97 will be Time Bomb.
X-74 will be Point.
Wolverine provides her origin story. Gabby mentions how you can change your codename, she’s already been Badger, and now Scout. She’s still open to a name change.
Issue ends with a thud, as in, Logan collapsed at the safe house, and we finally see his broken right claws, as I’ve been curious if other titles would reflect it. He only popped the left claws in Hellfire Murder, which I needed pointed out to me.
Such a great issue here. Giving the Generates their non-number name shows that these are characters worth investing attention into.
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 Benjamin Su, I really got lucky and was able to get all of the solo Magik covers.
Final issue!
Issue opens with Magik & Colossus fighting Koschei (a character name I can’t keep in my head).
Magik doesn’t have access to her magical abilities, and Koschei is on the attack. She is going to fight him off with her sweet s-words, as Colossus & Count Kaoz go around breaking up Koschei’s soul coins. Which will only make him stronger, but then Magik, and all of the Russian magic folks, will have their powers restored.
We get a lot of great fight scenes between Magik and Koschei.
Colossus & Kaoz are successful. Koschei is at full power, and the Rasputins regroup.
We get another great moment of the siblings talking about their feelings.
I like them addressing why Magik can’t just leave, and get the X-Men, they don’t have the time for that. Koschei would surely defeat Colossus in that time.
I also like them addressing how Magik won’t let Colossus make the sacrificial play here either. He does have a plan though, a beginning of a plan.
Koschei shows up to stop the nice moment we were having
Colossus defends his sister, which I absolutely love. He trusts her to make the right choices, and she does the Rasputin name proud (which, really, isn’t that hard of a task).
Magik comes back in full Darkchild mode. So, they are definitely going to win this fight. She’s no longer ashamed to show her brother her true self, and with that confidence, they start attacking Koschei.
We get Magik’s side of the argument about how he wouldn’t trust her soul in her brother’s hands.
Magik definitely trusts her soul in Colossus, as we see him wielding her soulsword, which is always a cool visual. We saw it during Battle of the Atom, and we got a version of it recently in Uncanny X-Men’s Who Has Been Sleeping in My Bed arc.
Like almost every boss fight in a video game, it all ends with a knockout, that looks pretty cool.
Are there video game final boss encounters that don’t end in a fight? I would like to play that game. I’m just not into battles in video games. Which is odd, as I just spent a lot of money on PS5 Wolverine. Maybe I’m into the smaller fights, but the six part battle sequences, those I’m just tired of, but also, I’m old, and just want to experience a great story.
Issue ends with Magik tying up Koschei, and Colossus makes a bad joke. Illyana can’t think of a better one.
They leave Koschei with his sister, Lada, who appears to not have his best interests in mind.
Colossus is going to stay in Russia, as he has some business to take care of, and we get another great hug as our sweet conclusion.
We finally get a letters page again! I thought maybe we’ll be getting letters every issue, as I sent one every issue, but they went with my first one. Lot of us really want a Katyana miniseries, which makes sense, and a few of us really want Colossus’ beard back.
W Ashley Allen / A German Peralta / CA Arthur Helsi / L VC’s Ariana Maher / V Nogi San
I got the Nogi San variant cover, as it was the solo Magik cover. I’m that guy.
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The Rasputin Household. UST-Ordynsky Collective. Russia. Then.
Illyana has returned from the events of Uncanny X-Men 160, and the heartbreaking events of the original Magik miniseries. Piotr has brought her to re-introduce her to their parents.
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Their parents are naturally confused to see a teenage Illyana, as I can only imagine less than a week or month ago, they probably talked to her on the phone and she was barely eight.
I can only imagine, Piotr has NOT kept them updated on all of his zany adventures, as yes, this is super shocking, but also, his life is crazy. Now, could he have called them ahead of time? Yes. Should he have called them ahead of time? Also, yes. It IS fun to answer questions. If you have any questions, ask them below.
I imagine this takes place after Magik V1 4, when she tries to meet her parents a second time. They must have forgotten this first attempt, OR! This current (?) scene reinforces the original scene.
“Baba Yaga’s” House. West Siberian Taiga, Russia. Now.
I really do like how they address that Lada is not actually Baba Yaga, as anyone who also read Wiccan Witch’s Road 5, out two weeks ago (maybe?), Baba Yaga showed up there, so we thought there this was the beginning of a huge comeback for the character. Turns out, Kaoz just likes calling her that, as that’s what the children called her, as she’s a witch who lives in the woods. Not the most original of nicknames.
Lada is, however, the sister of Korschei, the big bad of this miniseries, and who we fully met last issue. Nice how this miniseries is dealing with siblings, it is a theme, everybody.
Naturally, Lada is annoyed with Kaoz, and the was caught off guard by the Rasputin siblings, so a fight breaks out.
I like seeing Lada open her own portal to deal with Magik, though it is triggering as Illyana has a lousy history of dealing with other people’s portals.
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Colossus gets a cool moment of depowering, so that he can use Lada’s transformed size against her, and flips her over. He has strategies.
I like how annoyed he is Magik mentions how her and Cyclops dealt with a situation similar to this, so she is trying to take charge of the situation. These two really do have a lot of issues to work out, so they don’t have great communication skills. Also, they are rarely on the same team together, so they don’t have battle experience together. There is no field trust.
Kaoz finally calms things down with Lada.
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Honestly, the entire miniseries could just be Illyana and Piotr talking about everyone they know in common. I guess we have to stop referring to Illyana and Scott as siblings, as she doesn’t view it that way. They’re best friends. Which I simply love Illyana saying that about Scott, as they really are. Ever since the Bendis era of Uncanny (V3) they have been written as best friends. Gillen got them on the same Uncanny team (V2), Cyclops’ Extinction Team, but Bendis really made them pals. They have been best friends ever since, really.
Piotr is still dealing with his guilt over killing Kayla, though it was his body that did it, not his mind, but he’ll still have guilt about it. Nice to see him dealing with grief, and anything relating to the Krakoa era.
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I love Allen and Peralta so much for crafting this story that we get the best hug of 2026!
Helsi and Maher color and letter, respectfully, the heck out of this page.
Seeing the hug triggers Lada to think about her growing up with Koschei. He’s a bad dude. He is also like a Russian Voldemort, in that he’s breaking up his soul into random items. One of those items is Lada’s necklace. She’s keeping a piece of his soul, so that he can’t ever become too powerful.
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Kaoz has a very cool chat with Colossus. Kaoz really respects Magik, as he should. They chat about the concept of putting a piece of one’s soul in an item. Colossus would never do that to Magik to control or stop her. Kaoz mentions how he would never need to do that, as Magik doesn’t trust him with a piece of her soul, she rather put it inside of a weapon. Which is such a powerful line.
Though looking at this panel now, I’m pretty sure this is when the Koschei swap takes place. I didn’t think so because of Kaoz’s love of referring to himself in the third person.
I really do love how both Magik & Colossus are still covered in mud from their earlier fight.
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The Rasputins truly are always taking one step back. Piotr ponders what if Limbo didn’t happen, if they were not mutants. Illyana is so bored with this conversation. I imagine Kitty probably attempted it once, and never again, whereas, I feel like I’ve seen Piotr attempt this conversation multiple times. Illyana is Magik. Illyana is the Darkchild. Limbo did happen. I’m sure the idea of What If grew old during her first year of Limbo, and the abuse she suffered at the hands of S’ym and Belasco. She doesn’t ever have to wonder about that question.
We get the Koschei was Kaoz reveal. Magik tries to attack him, but he overpowers her. I’m sure it was because of the shock of the situation. Koschei takes Lada’s powers, as he does that.
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Issue ends with Koschei attacking the Rasputins.
Is the final issue goes to just be a battle sequence?
The Rasputin Household. UST-Ordynsky Collective. Russia. Then.
Young Piotr is getting super bullied, which I don’t care for. Mama Rasputina, who we never really got much of before, needs to toughen up her middle child.
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Possibly the youngest we have ever seen Illyana?
Now.
Illyana is in an arena, being run by Koschei, who is trying to absorb magik.
I like how smart Illyana is, that she knows that’s the plan, so she’s just punching and kicking goons, and doing quite well for herself.
Then Magik has to fight . . . Count Kaoz, who seemed very familiar with me, and I wasn’t sure if we were going to get an editor note telling us where we know him from. He made his first appearance in Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo’s Doctor Strange V4 7, part of the Last Days of Magic arc, that I own many issues of. Which I’m sure whenever we get Doctor Strange 3, would be the storyline I’ll cover on the pod.
The Lucky Bear. St. Petersburg, Russia. Piotr is hassling some goons in hopes they’ll lead him to where Illyana is. I like that we get a Mikail reference here, that’s how Piotr knows who to talk to in the Russian criminal underground.
Colossus, one of the few guys who can headbutt a fool, and not also take damage doing so.
I love Magik & Kaoz’s chemistry so much! They are in danger, but they’re not in serious danger, so they are having fun.
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Colossus breaks through the barrier, and starts helping out. Did I need four pages of Colossus getting closer to Magik? No, show us that he’s on the right track, and then surprise us with the reveal. That’s such great pacing.
Colossus rips off a demon cow’s head, that’s pretty intense. Anyone start watching Primate now on Paramount Plus? We thought the trailer looked good, and been eager for it to start streaming somewhere. We got to the first scare, a gorilla ripping off some dude’s face, and Walker D noped out. I should try to go back, but it is hard to watch a movie by myself. The demon cow wasn’t as intense as that.
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Magik does not want to end up back in Florida.
The trio leaves, and Koschei takes it pretty well.
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I love so much the three pages we get of Illyana and Piotr sharing their feelings, I just love them communicating. It was worth the effort.
I also love so much that Illyana takes after her mother. If this entire miniseries was to make us love Mama Rasputina, then mission accomplish!
Count Kaoz is leading the Rasputins to his ex-girlfriend’s house. His ex-girlfriend being . . . Baba Yaga. Who is NOT happy to see Kaoz.
I think I liked this more than I did the Deadpool / Batman crossovers, though I do wish we got more variety in the bonus stories.
Trust, Justice, and Great Responsibility
Mark Waid / Jorge Jimenez (A) / Tomeu Morey (C) / Tom Napolitano (L)
Brianiac needs Doctor Octopus to purge a virus. Clark Kent and Peter Parker have cheekbones for days. Fast Neurons are being worked on, and most companies are using Californium, but this lab is, of course, using, Kryptonite. Because of the purge, traces of Kryptonite are in the air, knocking Superman back a bit I like how the heroes assume the space villain is Brianiac, and the in the lab is Doctor Octopus, so they make the natural assumption. So, the page reveal that the Kryptonite empowered Doctor Octopus is in space, is very fun, plus, always great to see heroes trade villains. Also fun is Spider-Man getting trapped under so much rubble, harkening back to another classic Doctor Octopus story.
Lois Lane & Mary Jane “The World’s Finest”
Tom King / Jim Lee (P) / Scott Williams (I) /Alex Sinalir (C) / Pat Brosseau (L)
One of my three favorites! I really like how Lois Lane and Mary Jane discuss how they rescued a bunch of people, leaving them no time to save themselves.
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I can only imagine Tom King asked Jim Lee what or who he wanted to draw, and he said “Sentinels.”
Mary Jane makes a fun comment about how every alternate version of herself is quick to say “Face it Tiger, you hit the Jackpot.” She was 19, she’s said some other cool things.
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Sentinel punching Superman is just something I wasn’t expecting to see.
Mary Jane shares that Spider-Man has a sad thing for bridges.
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We get a Superman Spider-Man fastball special! This short is just giving us everything.
We get an Uncanny X-Men 142 with Superman substituting for Logan.
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The ladies meet Gambit, who has been looking for his deck of cards. One would think there was plenty of debris for him to use, but he’s committed to the bit.
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A very nice moment of the ladies sharing how lonely this life can be.
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Gambit looking cool, but the Sentinel is super destroyed. Pun intended.
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So cool getting Superman to say, Gambit. Lois Lane’s “He’s pretty nice,” with Mary Jane’s “and nicely pretty.” That’s just fun comics, ya’ll.
Somehow Gambit got Aces with both Superman S insignia and Spider-Man Spider insignia. Sure.
Superboy-Prime & Amazing Spider-Man “Pages”
Christopher Priest / Daniel Sampere (A) / Alejandro Sanchez (C) / Willie Schubert (L)
This one, I didn’t connect with. Superboy-Prime is breaking the fourth wall, but not in a fun way. This story’s main villain is the High Evolutionary. Superboy-Prime was going to trade his freedom for the Spider-Man’s black suit symbiote. We get Uncle Ben’s other favorite line, “stop feeding your veggies to the dog,” which I can only imagine he said more often.
Superboy & Spider-Man 2099 “Beyond the Cobwebs of Tomorrow”
Sean Murphy (A) / Simon Gough (C) / Andworld Design (L)
Legion of Superheroes’ Superboy & Spider-Man 2099 team up for a story that I wish got half the pages of the previous story got. This sets up a very fun story, and the “Beyond” of the title is because . . . we also got Batman Beyond! The potential here is sensational.
Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen & Carnage “Jimmy Con Carnage”
Matt Fraction / Steve Lieber (A) / Nathan Fairbairn (C) / Clayton Cowles (L)
Jimmy Olsen needs to get pictures of Spider-Man for J. Jonah Jameson. Peter Parker can tell Jimmy isn’t saying Spider-Man with the hyphen, and warns him that signals he is a tourist around here. Jimmy notices a red suit, and goes down a dark alley. He runs into Carnage! AND doesn’t put the hyphen in, and Carnage doesn’t take to tourists. J. Jonah Jameson memorializes Jimmy Olsen, who died taking a real menacing picture of Spiderman. Jimmy tried to use his Superman watch, but it needed a firmware update. This was perfectly paced.
This was the perfect length for this story. Superman & Spider-Man are having a chat, through narration boxes, as what we are seeing is Jonathan Kent and Ben Parker rescuing some kids. The heroes are not that different.
Lois Jane and J. Jonah Jameson are “In the Crosshairs with Jack Ryder,” who I know from the Arkham games. Ryder is putting Jameson on the spot for his ridiculous take on Spider-Man. Jameson doesn’t like Spider-Man’s mask, and in the “respectable heroes” page, we get the Fantastic Four, Wonder Woman, Captain America (who is wearing a mask), and Superman. I guess Cap gets a pass as everyone knows his name. Probably could have been shorter, but then we wouldn’t have gotten Nicola Scott drawing those heroes, and I like as many characters as possible to show up in these crossovers.
Simone is wild for setting up Power Girl on a blind date with . . . Paul Rabin. That’s right, Mary Jane’s infamous ex-boyfriend that EVERYONE loves! Punisher is working protection for The Bar with No Name. It is raining, and he doesn’t have an umbrella, so Power Girl lends him her very pink and cute umbrella. The villains think Paul is Vandal Savage, who has a contract out on him. Not sure how Firefly, Ghost Nicely Suited Man, Chameleon, Taskmaster, Pink Haired Gal, and Catman (in a very nice tuxedo?) were going to kill Vandal Savage, but sure. Story ends with Punisher and Power Girl off to spend some more of the night together. I really wish we got more of this type of fun feature in this crossover.
I’m really looking forward to Spider-Man Superman next month.
A real shame this came out the same week as X-Men United, as it would have won any other week for me.
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Lake Baikal, Russia. Then. Illyana and Piotr are fishing with their father. Pitor isn’t very good at it, and Illyana wants a turn. She says he’s being mean, and he starts crying. So, they have always been this way.
I like her father calling her, sunshine, a nice contrast to Piotr’s snowflake.
Lake Baikal, Russia. Now. Magik explains to Colossus why they can’t just teleport. Magik is tracking the magical signature of whoever is Lady Midday’s boss.
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I could have gone an entire issue of just these two on the train together. I like how, even with her brother, Illyana is calculated enough to make sure she’s only being surface level. In a game of Eye Spy, she’s going to pick literally the first thing she sees. She’s always been this way.
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Once again, if there’s any character that needed a refresh, it is Colossus. He’s still carrying his Krakoa baggage. Illyana tries to soothe him, one can’t keep living in the past. She mentions Belasco, and her lack of a childhood, which will pay off expertly later in the issue.
St. Petersburg, Russia. I like Piotr stopping for some halva. He hasn’t had any in a while. He’s still not one to talk, and she matches his energy. These siblings are fun to watch.
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The two of them are attacked by mermaids. They take Magik into the water.
They keep gabbing at her, and I like the attention to detail that she can’t respond to them, as she’ll get a mouthful of water. But, how do the mermaids talk? Are they not getting mouthfuls of water? I get the water goes into their mouths, and out through the gills, but would they still be able to talk? They must, as they always do, but that’s a thought I hadn’t had until now.
Magik comes up for some air. She heads back down, and takes out a mermaid with the Wraithsword, one of her two options for a pickaxe in Fortnite.
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She comes back up for some more air, and asks Colossus to give her a rope. He thinks it is to pull her up, but she has other plans.
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I like how she knows enough magik spells, that she has access to non verbal ones, and takes out all of the mermaids.
Colossus is upset that he thought he lost her, but there wasn’t time to discuss the entire plan. Also, he’s a bit slow.
They come across a Bannik. He informs them that they are up against The Immortal. A character name the Legal department must have loved to clear. Marvel’s The Immortal. The Immortal is making deals with the magik folk, and once the siblings are taken care of, they won’t have to live in hiding anymore. Which is a bit odd in the Marvel Universe, where people of all types and sizes exist on the surface level, is a mermaid that much more to ask about?
They are directed to a nearby church. Colossus makes the poor decision to guard the front, like, okay pal. Magik goes inside, to look for a relic that will help them locate The Immortal. There’s a cloaked old man, who is quick to bind Magik, and Colossus finally comes in.
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But he’s too late as Magik falls down into a portal. Which has to cause Colosuss, and me, a bit of anxiety as the last time he witness her going down into a portal, she came back aged by seven years.
Letterers VC’s Joe Sabino with VC’s Travis Lanham & VC’s Ariana Maher (yes, the VC is before each of their names)
This is a physical print of Luciano Vecchio’s Iceman Infinity comic. I really like how this is everything someone would want in an Iceman comic. I like how Bobby has to fight three generations of Ikthalon. We really into Bobby’s mindset this issue, with his reflections on his life.
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Including a picture of his favorite teammates, including Kate Pryde, I believe.
This comic was during the Krakoa age, so it is nice to get a comic from that era. He fights lava dudes, which is a fun visual contrast with his powers. PuriFire does seem set up to be is arch nemesis. Bobby saves a dude, and gets a smooch as a reward.
One of my favorite aspects of Krakoa was that anyone can appear in any comic without it feeling like approval had to be made first. They were all on the same island, so people could just show up whenever, and it wasn’t supposed to be a big deal. Bobby is having lunch with both Rictor and Northstar, which is pretty cool. Bobby reflects on his, and this gets a little complicated, his Inhuman boyfriend, Romeo, that his time displaced younger self dated. Then his Amazing Friend, Firestar, shows up. This is before she joined X-Men in Volume 6, she’s just here to use the gates. She’s not ready to abandon her non-mutant father (as flatscans weren’t allowed to live on Krakoa, which still feels messed up). No Spider-Man appearance, but I’m always happy to get Firestar. They rescue some folks. Some debris knocks Iceman out.
Iceman wakes up, to find an aged up Romeo! He’s been aged up due to Inhuman nonsense, but now they’re the same age! So that’s nice. They immediately start hooking up.
While out and about, they come across Julian from the 2021 Reptil series, thanks to a very helpful editorial box. Her favorite mutant is Rictor. Sure.
A giant beast shows up, Iceman attacks it, but Romeo has empathic powers (but uses them for good, unlike gross Empath), and turns out, the giant create woke up early from its hibernation, and was panicked. Iceman creates a nice cocoon for the big fella, and all is good again.
I like the idea the World Council would seek out Iceman to help with Earth’s climate problems, after he terraformed Mars. Earth is very much populated, so he can’t just turn deserts into gardens. So that answers why he doesn’t do that, for some folks out there.
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Iceman’s father is dying, and tries to get to him as fast as possible. On his way through a gate, we see Magik and the New Mutants, including Karma, who I love to see. Mr. Drake is so racist, he refuses to take the mutant medication (which is a good thing, as he would have ended up being a pawn of Sinister’s), and dies. Mr. Drake is the worst, so at least we’re done with him now.
In his grief, Bobby hooks up with Christian Frost. We get a fun Kate Pryde reference, as Bobby doesn’t want any adventures at this time, and any calls from Kate or Romeo can wait.
Iceman has a fun adventure with Teen Loki, who is a prisoner of the third Ikthalon, who is a cool edgy teenager. Loki has to deal with his frost giant of a father, Jotunheim. But since this is an Iceman comic, Ikthalon turns Jotunheim into Bobby’s father, so he does get to take his anger out on something he can hit.
Iceman goes on some other adventures, takes out Nuclear Man, then Abomination. He’s doing hero stuff.
He even assists the Avengers (Captains Marvel & America, Iron Man, and Black Panther). We get an awesome image of Silver Surer and Iceman together. Iceman uses too much of his omega power, and needs his friends, Northstar & Firestar to help calm him down. I like that it is Christian Frost and Romeo that get through to him. A nice mutant circuit there. Issue ends with Iceman just being great.
Then we get a reprints of Vecchio’s Pride pages, and short stories. The short story is a history of LGBTQ+ superheroes, told through Prodigy.
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Final page is a house ad promoting X-Men United, stating Iceman will appear, so Eve Ewing must also be a big Iceman fan. It is the Stefano Caselli image, surrounded by ice, so Lockheed barely is seen on the very right edge.
Such a great comic! Here is hoping many many people buy it, so that we can get Lovable Lockheed and Strange Tails printed.
Rogue tries to get answers from her mom, Mystique. Destiny was in jail at the moment, so she can’t really provide any insight. Rogue leaves, wanting to talk to Constrictor. Gambit reveals that both Constrictor and Sabretooth are dead, or at least, at the moment.
Destiny states that Rogue will eventually remember everything, so Mystique should have just told her now, it would have been better that way. Mystique wonders if this is another one of her prophecies, but Destiny gets a great line about how that’s just common sense.
Flying in a general direction, Rogue starts using Mystique’s power, even though she never touched her mother. So either Rogue’s powers are broken, or Mystique’s broken powers are causing Rogue issues.
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I like Rogue turning into Emma’s leg, Glob Herman’s arm, Magik’s arm, and Beast’s leg. I imagine Luigi Zagaria had fun thinking of which characters to attempt here. Needed to be mutants we immediately recognized.
Because of Rogue’s powers, I believe, whoever she shapeshifts into, she has that person’s powers, so it isn’t looking like Emma, but still her traditional powers, she would Emma’s physical powers.
As Rogue is falling from a great height, she shifts into Fred Dukes, to absorb the blunt of the impact as she falls through a warehouse. One of those classic normal looking warehouse, full of evil, and goons.
Some gross mutant hating goons are making a arms deal. One of them states that only a mutant can crash through a building and not get hurt. Which immediately makes me think about how any number of superpowered individuals can withstand that fall, and walk away.
Rogue shifts into her 80s look, which is fun. Her arm shifts to Emma’s diamond form to block the bullets. She shifts into her current look, then shifts into some goons to retrieve their information.
Issue ends with John Stelton, who set off this entire adventure, coming home. He saw Rogue, and now wants to make her pay. He has a real Why So Serious grin facial scar.
Solid enough issue. Is Sabretooth currently dead? Is Constrictor? Constrictor is getting his own Secret Wars action figure from the same line I got my Magik from recently.
I love the Kinney sisters so much! I’m still not sold on the Scout code name for Gabby, but she uses it in her special Scout’s Cool Attack Name, so if she likes it, I’m on board.
Laura senses her friend, Kiden, is around, who has time wrapping powers, who we last saw in NYX, so that’s nice that we haven’t forgotten that series.
The sisters were saving Celia, who wants to be an X-Man, so I immediately love her. Gabby checks to make sure Celia is okay, as Laura follows the trail.
I am such a sucker for a costume gallery, and we get a wonderful splash page of all of Laura’s costumes.
Laura has to fight a robot version of herself, which is cool.
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I was having the thought that sometimes Kitty Pryde appears in a number one comic of Laura, but I wasn’t expecting to see her. But then Laura catches up to Not-Kiden, and we see an image of Age of Apocalypse Shadowcat, that I was definitely not expecting to see!
I should buy the Laura comics that are on my wishlist, I have a set of comics I want to buy next time, but the next month, I should work on those. X-23 (2018) 1 & 7, and X-23 Deadly Regenesis 1.
Not-Kiden is out of sorts, and can’t remember her name, then her powers age her up, and she turns into a skeleton in front of Laura. I feel so bad for her, we didn’t even get her name.
Laura grabs a motorcycle and continues the trail. Gabby borrows a motorcycle, and they end up at a perfectly normal building. Almost too normal. Fake-normal evil building. They’re attacked by a dozen Laura robots, Gabby wants to keep one, but Laura says no. They’re creeping, but Gabby wonders if they are creepy to them Gabby is the best.
Issue ends with five new mutants (but not New Mutants) arriving, annoyed their security system has been destroyed, BUT! excited to see the Kinney sisters there to join them.
/ Jorge Jimenez (A) / Tomeu Morey (C) / Tom Napolitano (L)
Shadow and Flame with Magik 