I had to go with the Meghan Hetrick variant cover, as it was the only cover with Kitty Pryde, and always cool to get an X-Ladies cover.
This issue finally gets us Bronze with Marigold, and Mal, who we haven’t seen since the first issue.
The Ancient Orc Oaken Arclight Simulation. We catch up to Deathdream, Iceman, Emma Frost, Cyclops, and Rogue. Deathdream finds a way to escape back to Graymatter Lane.
I like how his fellow Outliers are the ones that find him, that’s nice.
Bronze with Marigold, Lochheed’s (hopefully not evil) female clone that Mister Sinister created, and Melee are talking about how Kitty Pryde wouldn’t stand them up. So at least Kitty is mentioned in this issue.
A Few Minutes Later.
All of the students have gathered. Nice to see Indra back.
We learn that all of the adults are gone.
Ms. Marvel wonders if they should get the Avengers, but Sophia shoots that down, this is a mutant problem, and will take a mutant solution.
I like Axo backing Sophia, and Loolo critizing him for it, as Axo and Sophia are very close friends. I so appreciate the cast list in the beginning of this issue.
Match also critizes that they are using Mister Sinister tech, and Bronze keeps to the company line that that is clearly okay, but I have my doubts, especially as I see Marigold in this panel.
I do like Melee Ransom, and Gabby being the ones to take leadership, they are the leaders of their respected cliques.
Meanwhile. Ben Lui is coming to terms with letting Emma Frost into his mind.
Nice that Tiago Palma gets a five fun facts feature in the X-Mentions.
The adults are having a hard time navigating their way through this shadowy realm.
Back at Graymatter Lane.
I guess Laura is considered an adult, as she’s not around.
None of the adults can be located, not even with the Empathy Engine.
They decide they have to break into teams.
Bronze with Marigold sees Mal head off on her own, so they follow her.
Mal does not appreciate this, as turns into monster mode, scary the two of them.
This is such a cool page, and where we get Marigold’s image for the cast page.
The students are going to make a Lousiana team, and an Alaskan team.
Bronze and Marigold come running back, saying something is wrong with Mal, but Mal shows up like nothing is wrong. This is giving Single White Female.
Mal sadly walks away.
Mal is clearly being tempted by the Shadow King, but we don’t know that yet.
Poor Bronze and Marigold look so sad here.
Even Rift is back, as he has to open portals to get the two teams away.
Is it odd or nice that the Outliers are not the full Louisiana Away team? Calico is taking Loolo and another person with her.
Before we can see who is officially on the Alaskan team, Gabby is taken over by a shadowy person, and attacks everyone.
Thankfully this doesn’t last too long, probably as Gabby is pure of heart.
Sophie puts up a pyshic shield, and Jitter, for some reason, has to mention this was without consent, like, she’s saving your life right now! Sophie apologizes, but I’m not sure if that is warranted here, but I guess it is a nice thing to do. She hears the criticism, and takes responsibility for it. That is the right thing to do.
The adults keep getting attacked. Emma can’t do any telepathic attempts as she needs to be in her diamond form. Which feels like it has been forever since I’ve seen her in her diamond form.
Rogue is on the attack, and she’s losing pieces of her outfit. They want to go to the safety of Graymatter Lane.
Unfortunately, Graymatter Lane isn’t that safe either, as the issue ends.
I got my 14th letter published! I didn’t send one in for the fourth issue, I couldn’t’ think of anything positive to say, besides where is Marigold and Mal, but we got them in this very issue.
Variant Artist Tiago Palma Graymatter Lane Kitty cover
Variant Artist Andrei Bressan & Ceci de la Cruz Magik cover
The Past (or a Reasonable Simulacrum). The Home of Maurice Canfield, Super Soldier Test Subject.
Issue opens with, who now know is, Vernon Weaver, but we don’t learn that until page 14. Weaver fighting Captain America. In a splash page that I can only imagine is a homage to Captain America Annual 8, with Logan vs Cap.
In another time, we get Weaver vs Melee. We get a better image that Weaver has the ability to create, instead of classic Wolverine claws, he has forearm length boards?
In yet another time, Weaver vs The Wolverine, she’s the best at what she does.
Then we get Weaver vs Jitter. Who doesn’t appear to be as scared as she was in the previous issue, so maybe Ewing got the note that Calico is more of the scared one of Calitter?
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Back at Graymatter Lane.
I like that Kitty calls him, Beast. This isn’t her friend, this is 70s Beast that she barely knows. Beast isn’t doing a very good job of fixing the time displacement issue. Magneto is also unimpressed, and Emma is very annoyed.
We get Weaver vs everybody in the same time period, so that’s nice.
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Beast has an idea of how to fix this, and needs to boost Axo’s abilities. I like Kitty having to stop Emma from killing Beast, as that should fix things. Kitty finds Axo funny.
Weaver is getting the edge on Cap, but Laura sneaks up on Weaver.
Jitter uses hypnotherapy, and I do like how she has to announce her abilities. She used negotiation earlier, so that’s cool that she has used her powers more than once in a short span of time, she’s getting stronger all of the time.
We finally get the Weaver name drop as we go to a flashback of his origins. Ewing uses this time to explain how racist Georgia was back in the day. . A white man at a store did not care for Weaver’s father wearing his old uniform. Weaver went to get his marble from a friend, and came back to find his father dead, and their house on fire.
The church gave him some clothes, and a ticket, and he ended up in Philadelphia, being taken in by the Canfields. He got along extremely well with Maurice, who was his age abouts. Maurice was becoming very popular in their community, becoming a leader. Then the war happened, and was recruited to Camp Cathcart. Weaver also enlisted to make sure Maurice wasn’t alone.
Them and their squad were experimented on, trying to create super soldiers. Weaver learned that not only is a he a super soldier, he is a mutant, so that’s pretty cool to get a new black super solider mutant into this franchise. Weaver had to kill his way out of the camp, and poor Maurice didn’t make it
Weaver feels like he is past his expiration date, which there are days when I feel that way.
Cap feels horrible about this, and there is no amending what happened to Weaver and everyone else who was abused.
Some time later. We see that Weaver created the Maurice Canfield Freedom School, which is being very well financed. I like that he’s surrounded by a lot of young people, and they have so much money to spend on scholarships. This is a very nice direction this went in.
I like that we see the school is getting deliveries from E-Wing Deliveries. That’s fun. Tiago is doing some fun background work.
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Epilogue
Steve Rogers took Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost out for lunch, which is the least he could do.. Axo didn’t come along as he has an aversion to militarized authority. Cap, I believe, jokes that he won’t take that seriously, but I’m not sure. After that adventure, he should get that.
Cap orders a club sandwich, which I rarely ever get, as I’m not a big fan of turkey. But maybe next time I will? Probably worth trying.
Kitty wasn’t ready to order as she got a text from Nina. So that is nice that Nina is still around. What isn’t nice is that Cap asks if Kitty is having romantic problems, and Kitty says, “uh . . . yeah.” Poor Nina, might be time to move along.
Emma orders the lobster bisque, which I have never had, but sounds delicious. I like paying extra at Red Lobster to get the lobster mash potatoes when we’re in Billings. The only city in Montana that can get daily fish deliveries. Shame it is four hours away, so it is a real commitment to get there.
Emma is getting calls from Lourdes Chantel, so that’s nice that she’s no longer dead like she was at the end of Hellfire Gala 2023.
I got my 12th letter published!
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You know me, I had to ask about Lockheed, and Tom Brevoort, responded that he isn’t entirely sure where Lockheed is at the moment, but he’ll turn up at some point. So, we should be looking out for that, true believer!
A pretty solid issue.
Though, once again, Marigold introduced in the first issue, and two issues later, still haven’t been seen. So she is clearly living up to Lockheed’s legacy. Unfortunately.
I got both the regular cover by Stefano Caselli & Federico Blee, and the Mahmud Asrar variant with Kitty & Lockheed (who doesn’t appear this issue, nor does Marigold, so she’s already living up his legacy).
Graymatter Lane. A Mind Palace Situated on the Psychic Plane.
Ben Liu, who is getting more page time in these two issues than he’s gotten in X-MEN, is trying not to get burned alive.
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I love seeing Magik and Nightcrawler chatting. These two barely have history together, but I immediately remember that time Magik was hoping up portals for Kurt during AXE Judgment Day. That was a great moment.
I looked all over the background here to see if Bronze & Marigold could be found, but nope.
I still like how this is the comic that is going to deliver us match ups we wouldn’t go elsewhere.
Cyclops finally gets to Ben. Emma tells Scott that this was all for nothing, there was no reason to attempt to burn down the school. Plus, how does that even work? Emma states everyone is at lunch, so no one is noticing this fire. Which I thought we would get a panel where Emma immediately shuts down the fire, but it doesn’t seem to be doing any harm.
Quentin Quire is actually the person who started the fire, so his track record of failed school destructions is now 0-2.
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I love seeing the bookcase in the back here. The Weapon X helmet, Jean’s yellow mask, and one of Storm’s tiaras. That’s a fun background detail.
Meanwhile. Prodigy is trying to get Iceman & Kitty Pryde involved in how to teach combat teamwork. Kitty is distracted by Rogue’s comments about internal threats. Which is odd, as half the school is on fire, but I guess she really didn’t notice. Plus, the real threat is from Mister Sinister, unless the X-Office keeps him pretty busy, which I believe they are, but we’ll get to that later. (He’s busy over in Inglorious X-Force 4).
I like Emma talking about whatever did she see in Scott, but also, I love Scemma, but it is fun to poke at the relationship.
Iceman references Scott’s flame war, so what is Kitty distracted by?
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Captain America stops by, as he has a mission for the X-Men. Iceman starts talking like he’s from the 30s, which I imagine Cap doesn’t love.
He wants to use the Empathy Engine to reach out to all of the Weapon Plus people, and make sure they are okay.
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Kitty is surprised that Cap knows about the machine, which does have a pretty cool name. Empathy Engine.
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I don’t love Emma having to try to convince them to get on board here. It is Captain America, asking for help, and it doesn’t even seem like a big ask.
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I do like Kitty and Magneto chatting. I know they were on the Quiet Council together, but it feels like forever since these two actually talked to each other.
I imagine Cap does make Kitty think about WWII, and all that deals with it, and her talking to Magneto, immediately, is there to make us think about those implications.
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I don’t care for the idea that the X-Men have to have a meeting to help Cap out. Maybe if it was to strategize about how to do it, but to vote on it? I’m not sure about.
Emma and Prodigy vote, yes. Iceman votes, no. Kitty abstains, which all of this feels weird.
Prodigy is going to pick the team, so that’s fun.
Prodigy picks Wolverine, as she’s the best, Melee, who I love, and apparently in the 50s, the Bureau of Indian Affairs moved her family to Chicago, so she’s motivated, and Jitter! Quite the trio of brunettes here.
I like how the 50s feels like long enough ago that it doesn’t call into question any sliding timescale stuff. Unlike the 80s, that feels like it would question the sliding timescale.
I also like how one of Laura’s strongest character points is how much she hates people being experimented on, especially against their will.
Jitter is a wild card
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I like how impress Cap is with this team.
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I do like Kitty and Beast being in the same room. Though this isn’t her Beast, so these two need to really connect, and rebuild that relationship.
Now, if the X-Men voted after this scene, that’ll make so much more sense to me.
Beast states it is possible to do the mission, but there are some major issues of gaps and errors to be accounted for. Axo doesn’t want to do it as there are gaps and errors that haven’t been accounted for. As far as we have seen, this will only be the second major test of the Empathy Engine.
I guess in my mind, the thing worked by sending out a pulse, and then the X-Men connect to it, and we go from there. Like, they think “rescue kid,” and the engine links up to the kid. So, to make this work, they send a pulse of “all thoughts involving Weapon Plus,” and anyone having those thoughts and memories, gathers, and links are made. That doesn’t seem to be the case here. Maybe because they are creating a mind palace so they can interact with it? Maybe? This could just be a case of comic book science, and of course, a world of fiction, so a problem has to happen.
So cute the hand holding here. Melee holds Jitter’s hand, who is holding Captain America’s hand, and he is holding Laura’s hand.
Jitter has her stutter here, but she seems overly scared, which makes me think that’s more of a Calico character trait. Jitter recognizes she’s in a haunted house, and is worried about dying.
I do like her wanting to hold Melee’s hands, though I don’t love that for Becca. But this also makes me feel like something Becca would want to do, find a strong lady, and hold her hand, and not necessarily what Jitter would do.
Cap comes across a young Maurice Canfield, but then he immediately turns old and evil.
I love this issue so much! It just feels like a continuation of Exceptional X-Men, but on a larger scale.
Issue opens with Emma Frost inviting everyone to Graymatter Lane. We get a look at some of the mutants Emma invited – Gabby Kinney, Storm, 70s Beast, Gambit, Vulcan (maybe?), Jitter, Jubilee, Jamie Maddox, Oya, Shark Girl, Bishop, and Magneto.
Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler talking, which I miss these two together so much! She’s explaining all of the virtues of Graymatter Lane.
I spotted Calico and Ember walking around!
We get Magik for the one panel she appears in.
Emma explains the goal of Graymatter Lane. Prodigy is the Dean of Curriculum, which is a nice continuation of his NYX plotline.
Kitty missed out on most of Emma’s speech, and Bobby gives her a playful hard time about it. These two are fun together.
Cyclops has a real jerk moment here, as he’s afraid of this many mutants being gathered together. It is NOT reassuring that this entire exercise is powered by Mister Sinister technology. Even though Emma and Axo have worked out all of the kinks with the technology. This is the part that does feel like we’re already building in the self-destruction of the concept. If they have to cancel the book early, this is how they’ll do it.
I do love and appreciate Kitty standing up to Scott, he’s not her leader anymore, they’re equals.
I really really like that Scott left the room, and Kitty followed him out, she’s not done talking to him.
We get the new Danger Room, which is awkward now that there’s an evil Danger Room, well, there’s a Robotic Danger, but also the MacKay Danger Room, and now this Danger Room. There’s some branding situation.
Aminalia and Ben Liu from X-MEN are being trained with the students, which the awkwardness of their age differences, them being practical adults, and them being teenagers, is addressed pretty quickly. They both do need training, and clearly Cyclops isn’t putting in the time.
Are we supposed to know Dryad, Flourish, Loolo, and Galura? They seem new to me. Woofer, we know from the Fall of X, Kate Pryde talked to him on Arrako. Loolo is also from Arrako.
I looked them up.
Dryad first appeared in New X-Men V2 1 (2004).
Flourish first appeared in Storm V3 1 (2014).
Loolo first appeared in X-Men Red V2 6 (2022).
Galura first appeared in Marvel Voices : Pride 2021. She’s the one who was dating Karma.
Nice mix of eras here.
I like how they have New Mutants inspired uniforms from the third volume, where the X goes pass their chests and onto their thighs. The Wolverines are teaching them. Loolo cuts Animalia with a knife, and the blood causes Wolf Club to just lose it. He’s full berserk mode here.
I do like how Bronze has a higher level of respect here, she’s one of Emma’s gals.
I just love that we get the Exceptional students together – Melee, Axo, Bronze, and Rift. They’re mornings could have started off nicer.
We’re introduced to the new Cerebro, it is an Empathy Engine, a cool name is probably incoming. It can detect mutants who have levels of unrest, depression, or isolation. It detects a French mutant, who is on the Luciano Vecchio variant cover that I bought (I’m getting four covers to this issue!). Mal is her name, or maybe it is short for something. Melee gives her an invitation. Mal has a white patch of hair against otherwise black hair. She also has a purple tail? I’m intrigued. Bronze welcomes her to Graymatter Lane.
So everyone has a role here. Axo’s machine detects a new mutant. Rift opens a . . . rift. Melee goes out. Bronze welcomes them in. I like that.
Bronze provides her full name, Mariama LaChance. Maybe Mal’s hair is black up top, and mostly white in the back? She has a very cute white cat plushie.
Some time later. Axo is definitely NOT moping. I like that we get the continuation of his friendship with Sophie that we first saw in the Hellfire Gala. Honestly, this comic just feels like the natural progression of everything that has come before it.
It also has that nice feeling any mutant can just appear here, that I loved so much from the Krakoa era.
Kitty arrives, she has a special mission for Axo. Sophie is coming along too. Axo is definitely not moping.
Verate Headquarters. Chicago, Illinois. Do I love this comic so much because Kitty is actually starring in it? Yes, I’m an easy guy to please, but how great is it that we’re getting a monthly comic with Kitty, after not seeing her since November of last year?!
Kitty is looking for parts. Axo doesn’t like being back to the place where he was tortured by Sinister, I don’t blame him. They hear a tapping.
Kitty introduces Bronze to . . . Marigold! A female clone of Lockheed. She has a gold splotch between her wings. I imagine Lockheed is out in space with his family, so Marigold is who we get to love on Earth. I can also only imagine we’ll get a scene of Marigold meeting Lockheed at some point. She seems aggressively fly over to Bronze, but then calms down.
But it does beg the question. Was that Lockheed we saw in Exceptional X-Men 10? They rescued him from a test chamber, then went back, and discovered Marigold? That must be the sequence of events, but how did they miss her the first time around?
They have to answer these questions, right?
I was worried the Lockheed they found, was a devious clone Sinister created to spy on Kitty, but turns out, that was Lockheed, and hopefully Marigold isn’t a devious clone Sinister created to spy on Kitty. I have some precautions so I don’t fall in love, but heck, Marigold is a cat size purple dragon shaped alien, I’m already built to love that type of dragon. I do appreciate that she has a physical distinction from Lockheed. I would rather it be something front facing so we know which is which on a cover, but also, I’m here for Marigold. Oh, and Kitty was going to name her Martin, for some reason, but Bronze went with Marigold. The only other Marigold I know is Midas’ daughter from Fortnite. Apparently, it is a flower.
Kitty catches up with 70s Beast, who is observing Wolf Club. Maybe the school based in an emotional prism is causing some big emotions? The Wolverines are here too.
The Factory. Merle, Alaska. X-MEN Headquarters. Glob is asking Cyclops about his reservations about Graymatter Lane. (Ideally, I’ll just learn the name of the school, it just feels very new). Cyclops is very against the school, and is burning it down, from what we can tell from the final page. It seems like he shouldn’t be able to have done that. Someone would have stopped him after the first blast, right? I think it is an artistic choice to show what he’s planning. Cyclops is being a real jerk here.
We’re getting Captain America next issue, in a fun time travel story involving Melee.
Graymatter Lane is a mental school, that you physically walk into, is how I’m understanding it. During the Danger Room, they mention how if you get hurt here, you are hurt there, so that’s interesting. We see people walking into the white doors, it isn’t like a place you think of, and then show up in. I think we need to see more of the transition.
Such a great first issue!
When it goes to second printing, and they combine the Stefano Caselli cover, I’m going to have to buy that.
The final image of this post shows the details better but I noticed this on one of my rereads of the issue. There are two fun costume decisions that were made for this issue. I’m not sure if Baldeon gets the credit or if it was already determined when he got there.
The first one is something that hopefully got attention at the time. Rogue’s shirt can be zipped all the way up to their throat. That’s pretty impressive as that isn’t how most of her shirts fit her.
The second is that she has the same style of boots as Magik does. There must have been a sale or something!
As much as I like Rogue’s look at this time, that does seem to be a lot of Xs. Is it a good idea to have an X right on your chest? It seems too much like a perfect bullseye. At the time, Rogue only had her absorption power, and whichever power she obtained at the time. So she isn’t nigh-invulnerable like she spent most of her superhero career. Then she has Xs on her shoulder pads and on her belt. I also like her scarf.
Inside front cover is for that Amazing Spider-Man game that I still want to play.
Onto the issue itself :
China. This is during the time when Magik has one fifth of the Phoenix Force. Which was such an awesome moment! She is looking over Iceman and Rogue’s progress. I like the attention to detail to the Phoenix Five’s global plan. One can’t just quickly change the agriculture as it will just collapse under itself. So using Iceman’s ice powers, the ice will gradually melt and not be a shock to the landscape’s system. A very clever plan.
I really do like Baldeon’s art here and Reber’s coloring makes the comic soar as well.
Rogue is happy that the X-Men, together, are making these world changes.
I really like Magik in this issue. Sure the Phoenix brought out some of her inner demons and dark side but she is amazingly blunt and honest. She was confident before but now she has a cosmic fire bird on her side. Her comment about how the X-Men could accomplish more once they are no longer being hunted is spot on.
I like Magik making sure Rogue is doing okay. Thanks to her powers, they can essentially have the same X-Man in two places but Magik worries that it may be taxing Rogue. Rogue can handle it.
You Can tell that those are the same boots there, with that extra flap material at the top.
Iceman calling Magik, boss, makes me smile. She makes a big point about how she isn’t his boss but they are all united and equal. Though, if she was being brutally honest, she is his superior in almost every way. But she does make the point that she has had to tell him a hundred times to stop calling her, boss. So I imagine it does get old after a while. But that’s Iceman for you.
Rogue is on her way to New Orleans and borrows some of Iceman’s powers. He’s far too happy to help as Mardis Gras saved him during his students days, when he was hoping to be an accountant when he grew older.
Then there are a bunch of pages until Magik shows up again.
I like that Rogue is greeted kindly by soldiers. She just froze the large lake that was causing the issue. One of them recognizes a Mississippi accent and she tells him she is from Caldecott County. The solider likes having a local hero helping out even more. So much so, in fact, that he offers her the rest of his catfish lunch. Which is pretty awesome of him to offer and for her to accept.
I adore the page of her just eating the catfish. She really likes it, plus, it must be nice to just relax for once. It doesn’t last long as that same solider, now that he has done something nice for her, informs her that there is a distress call.
Rogue agrees to investigate and creates an ice slide and gets out of there. Turns out it is a flatscan dirty trick and Carol Danvers, as Ms. Marvel, is there to talk to Rogue. Of course, if you once stole a person’s memories and powers, you don’t really anticipate that person just showing up to talk and Rogue punches her in the mouth. To the mouth? I’m not sure.
What follows is a pretty awesome sequence of the two women, with so much baggage, just talking. Sure, they are fighting as well but that’s just because Rogue didn’t listen to Carol at first. Rogue realizes that she is no match against Carol as Iceman’s powers are not so good – or at least, she isn’t experience with them. She gets the idea, as horrible as it is, to just take Carol’s powers – which is pretty mess up. Carol loses her mind for a moment, and starts shouting, how could you do that to me? Which she is completely in the right about. Rogue ruin both of their lives with that and that must have brought so many memories (or lack of memories) to poor Carol. Now that she is Captain Marvel, but not at this point in publication, I feel weird typing Ms. Marvel. I prefer Warbird but she, herself, has distance herself from that codename.
It isn’t until Carol starts using her energy blasts from her hands that I have the thought of why didn’t Rogue get that power? Did Carol only get that power once she was made into Binary by the Brood? My only real experience with her is with her time in Busiek’s awesome Avengers run and then reading the back issue appearances of her time with the X-Men – which was also spectacular. That must be the reason. I just so associate Carol with hand blasting that I never thought about why Rogue didn’t get that power. That must be the reason though, its post-Binary. Ooof, Carol has had a few codenames over the years. People don’t seem to make fun of her for it like they do Kitty Pryde.
There is this great exchange when Rogue mentions that the X-Men have done more for the world’s actual good than the Avengers have ever even tried. Carol rebuts this with how the changes are too fast and too sudden, they have not been earned. Reminds me of Captain America and Superman’s exchanges in JLAvengers – where Cap thought Superman and his universe, did too much for humanity, whereas Captain America thought that the heroes place was just protecting it from harm.
Carol makes a reference to the incredible, It’s a Good Life, episode of Twilight Zone. Which has a decent sequel in “It’s Still a Good Life” when they brought the Twilight Zone back in 2003.
Rogue states that if the Phoenix Five go bad, the X-Men will stop them, which is exactly what they try to do in AvX 11.
The fight ends when Rogue throws Carol into a body of water and keeps freezing it as Carol tries to break free of it. Once she does, she’s exhausted. Then they get a visitor.
Magik has arrived to take Carol as their newest prisoner. Carol comments on how Magik had a dark soul prior to becoming all powerful. As if flattery would get her far.
Carol states that Illyana is her choice for going crazy first (she isn’t). With this, Illyana slaps tape over Carol’s mouth to silence her.
Rogue starts asking if it is a good idea to put all of the Avengers into one prison. The X-Brig won’t be able to house too many Avengers.
Magik tells her that she has made a prison that will hold anyone. Rogue starts to question how she could build a prison when Magik cuts her off. Illyana moved a piece of Limbo into this realm and that is what they are using as a prison. Limbo on Earth sounds scary.
Illyana makes a chilling reference to how Limbo isn’t easy to escape, which is such a sad reminder of Magik’s origins.
Verkhoyansk Mountains, Russia. I adore Magik’s line, of her trying to assure Rogue that she shouldn’t look so worried, the prison is quite secured. It took me until my second read through to realize that Rogue’s worried expression comes from having a piece of Limbo in the Russian Mountain side. Like, this is how far the Phoenix Five are willing to go to not be stopped. If only that was as far as they were willing to go as Namor will later prove, they are willing to go much farther.
See from that angle how much Rogue and Magik’s boots are the same?
Look how frightening Carol’s new prison cell is! No wonder Rogue will spend the next issue or so trying to bust Carol out of there. We’ll get to those eventually.
Inked by Danny Miki with Allen Martinez & Walden Wong
Colored by Brian Reber
Lettered by VC’s Cory Petit
Cover by Adi Granov
Special Thanks to Russell Jackson
Cover Dated February 2010
Earth Give Up Your Dead, Part One of Three
I own this issue and the next issue but not the third part. As I like to do, whenever I first dip into an older crossover, is to give a quick overview of the issues involved and how involved I was with the crossover. With this one, I feel like I was pretty involved with it, with how Cypher came back in the pages of new Mutants but let’s see if my memory matches the event itself.
While looking for a website that lists the reading order, I came across this website, that has a pretty decent overview of the event.
One of the nice things, in this modern age of comics, is that there was a handy checklist in the back of the title, of the issues and when they came out.
So the issues I own, in order are – Necrosha One-Shot / New Mutants 6 / New Mutants 7 / New Mutants 8 / X-Men Legacy 231 (naturally) / X-Men Legacy 232 /
I skipped Chapter Two (X-Force 21), The Gathering (which is mostly an issue to remind people of the characters), X-Force 22, Chapter Four (X-Force 23), Chapter Five (X-Force 24) and the Finale (X-Force 25).
So 13 issues, and I own six so just under half of the crossover. Once I was looking over the issues involved, I figured I didn’t actually own the main issues involved, which is typical me. Essentially, my need to collect all of Magik’s appearances, made me take an interest in this crossover.
Onto the issue itself. The issue is printed around the midway point. At this point, Selene’s army of undead characters, have invaded Utopia.
Four miles off the US Coast. The Dead Rise. Utopia Burns. Cyclops, Colossus and Psylocke are finding off the undead as the Cuckoos provide mental assistance. One of the undead, is Maggot – Cyclops makes short work of him. Blindfold shows up, and Cyclops is not that pleased or impress. Blindfold wants a private moment with Cyclops, which he has this great reaction of – we’re in the middle of a war, there are no timeouts. The Cuckoos get Cyclops inside Blindfold’s mindscape – I really like the choice of making the room light blue with the objects in the room, only white outlines. Blindfold has been blind, since she was a baby, so everything looks only like how it felt to her. Cyclops does a decent job of keeping his cool as Blindfold relates a story of what Destiny told her in a previous issue.
There is an ad for the Honda Civic, so go out and buy one of those!
Destiny told Blindfold about how Selene is on Genosha (now called, Necrosha) but there are serious threats on Muir Island.
Necrosha. The Palace of Selene. And its Dungeons. Destiny is in a cell, as Stonewall guards her. She offers to tell him his fortune, if he releases her.
The North Atlantic. International Airspace. Three Hours Later. Cyclops has picked his away team, lead by Nightcrawler, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Blindfold, Rogue, Trance and Husk. Pretty random sort of characters, because it is Legacy, we knew Rogue would be on the team. I like her and Nightcrawler on the same team, Magneto makes sense, as the next page will show. Carey will use Trance later.
Trance implies that Blindfold is rarely correct, also I like how Trance doesn’t like Blindfold, or at the very least – they don’t get along. I imagine Blindfold is the freak amongst the freaks.
Magneto takes the opportunity, that he is sitting next to Rogue, to talk to her. They have a very rocky relationship. Rogue likes that Magneto is back on the side of heroes, he likes that he is being reminded of their intimate time in the Savage Land. Rogue reminds him that she lost interest again, when he started killing flatscans again.
Actually, he killed Zaladane – I guess that explains why we are not constantly getting stories about Polaris trying to prove if they were sisters or not.
Magneto tries to counter that they did share another kiss, in the middle of Uncanny X-Men 304 – Illyana Rasputin’s funeral after she died in 303. Which, really, is all that it takes for me to buy a comic.
Rogue reveals that she only kissed him so that she can weaken him.
The team lands on Muir Island and Kurt asks Trance to check the island for any threats. I like Magneto trying to offer advice and Kurt shooting it down as it is the obvious choice.
There is an house ad for Siege, an event seven years in the making. I read it, just the main event, and possibly one tie-in, the New Mutants issue. I like that tag line, as I feel like most events during this era could have just swapped the number of how many years.
Colossus decides to make some time with Psylocke but chooses to insult her, as he regrets that she only has her telepathy powers instead of her telekinesis. If she had the lather, she would be a heavy hitter, in response to this silly insult, she knocks him down on his back and stands on top of him. What a moron.
Rogue wants Blindfold to repeat everything Destiny told her. Blindfold reveals that Destiny was hoping to have spoken to Rogue instead of her would-be granddaughter.
Mortis, Dagger’s half-sister, is informing Selene that Stonewall has let Destiny escape. An unconscious Warpath is dragged into the room, with an editorial note stating to read X-Force 22, to learn more.
The X-Men have a clear path to Moira’s lab. They get inside the lab and don’t see any signs of anything. There have been two notable deaths on Muir Island – one, was Destiny at the hands of David Haller and the other, was killed by Colossus – Proteus!
Blindfold runs into Destiny and touches her hands, this is all Proteus needed to transfer bodies, from one undead to one very alive body. Rogue shows up, doesn’t notice that Blindfold isn’t speaking in that broken English way of talking, Protifold takes down Rogue, as the issue ends.
Cover Artists Kalman Andrasofszky, Patrick Zircher and Matthew Waite
To start, I don’t have much experience, that I know of, with Valiant. I enjoyed that first trade of Sonar, the Solar Man. So I don’t now Bloodshot and there is a Harbinger Wars banner on the cover but I can’t tell if anything in this issue builds towards that or is dealing with it. Also, and I sort of like this policy, there are no ads in this issue, besides house ads. Apparently, the summer of Valiant is back, so there are a few first issues coming out.
Luckily there is a recap that might cover the previous eleven issues, from the three paragraphs. I’ll try to summarize with what takes place in the issue itself. Project Rising Spirit (PRS) Frankenstein monster-ed Bloodshot into existence, so he can be the perfect weapon. He has a healing factor, due to these nanites, that also give him – strength, speed and control over computers. He has no memory – which is when I start getting the Wolverine vibe, Bloodshot even has artificial memories! His main purpose is to collect psiots – super powered children.
HIs former handler, Kuretich, freed Bloodshot of his programming. The nanites go by the name, Goldie Boy, and Bloodshot made a friend of EMT Kara Murphy. Together, they attacked the facility that created him, and escaped with a group of psiots. They all have been on the run ever since. The Harbinger Foundation founder, Toyo Harada, who is also a telekinetic and telepath – of course – comes after the group. Bloodshot fought Harada (this paragraph is a tad confusing, I imagine it is explaining the past four or five issues), and was badly hurt and his healing factor was maxed out. Luckily, he had a protocol that created a pulse that knocked Harada out and Bloodshot, Murphy and the psiots got away, which is where this issue picks up from.
But first, we have a flashback. Project Rising Spirit Facility. Nevada Desert. Years Ago. Kuretich is saying farewell to Bloodshot, before his programming goes live.
Now. Kuretich is trying to kill Bloodshot, as he wants to use the psiots (a word I seem to not be able to memorize) for his own means. Bloodshot’s limbs have been cut (he is currently missing his left arm and right leg) and his already taxed healing factor is barely functional.
Three Hours Earlier (Revenge style!). Bloodshot wants his revenge! Murphy wants him to abandon that goal and take the psiots to Las Vegas, where they will be safe. The kids are getting hungry.
Quantum and Wood’s first issue is coming out, I heard the series was very funny.
Murphy asks Bloodshot to locate the nearest place for food and he directs them to Gangemi Meat Solutions, which does not thrill the children, at all. Of course, this is all a set up as PRS has caught up to the group.
X-O Manowar issue 15 is coming out. I played a very difficult video game of him and Iron Man together – which I wonder how the copyright on that worked. It just wasn’t any fun.
Bloodshot is inside the meat processing plant and the military is gassing those inside the car, so that they fall asleep. Bloodshot is doing against the military guys but they start cutting deeply into his limbs.
Inside Bloodshot’s Mental Space. Since Goldie Boy is gone, Bloodshot has to manually force the nanonites to perform their tasks.
Bloodshot issue zero is coming out. He also has a Bloodshot and H.A.R.D.Corps issue 14 coming out. He must be a big deal in the Valiant Universe.
Bloodshot gets his nanonites to shut down the power in the center, so the kids are able to break out of the vehicle.
Bloodshot finally regains his senses and kills the soldiers and Kuretich. I like one of the cows going, moo?
Bloodshot kills the militiary guards on the outside and the issue ends with him deciding that the children are more important and will take them to Las Vegas. He also gives them steaks to eat.
Eternal Warrior 1 is coming out, issue 13 of Bloodshot states to bet on Bloodshot.
Letters from Keith Etheridge / Comic Creator Robert Venditti and Andrew from Texas.
I really never understood why comics have advertisements for cars. Who is enjoying a comic and is in the mood for a new 2007 Chevy Aveo.
Wither thought he had lost his powers after M-Day. He ran to his lady friend, Laurie, grabbed her arm and withered it. He ran from the school soon after.
After that, Laurie and other depowered mutants got on a bus and that bus was destroyed by Reverend Styker and his Purifiers. Wither doesn’t know any of this.
Wither now lives in a shelter in Mutant Town along with an old lady. He is also having recurring nightmares.
Mercury wants Emma to inform Wither about the deaths. Emma tells her that she has Wither being observed.
There is an ad for the miniseries, Bullet Points. A miniseries I had no interest in, until I found out the X-Men show up in issue five. Including both Kitty and Lockheed.
Elixer killed Styker and now has black spots on his golden skin. During that battle, Cannonball and Husk’s younger brother, Icarus, was killed. His sister, Melodie, lost her powers on M-Day and is there for his funeral.
Cyclops and Rogue meet Mrs. Guthrie at the door.
Turns out, Wolfsbane is the one watching Wither. She is being blackmailed into because while she taught at Xavier’s, she had a bit of a relationship with Elixer, a student.
A second car ad, two page spread, for a Nissan Sentra. I mean, really, who even sits on their couch, sees a car ad on television, and goes to a dealership the next day? Who? Typically, something bad happens, you need a new car pronto, you go to dealership, and try to find a car within your predetermined price ranged.
We find out with the old lady friend of Wither, that someone has killed nineteen people in three weeks. Someone is draining the bodies of their life.
X23 shows up in Hellion’s room. The credit page states that she was created by Craig Kyle. I checked All New X-Men 20, and he is credited there so maybe it only showed for the first year or something. Anyways, Hellion has been sleeping for 34 hours. In his sleep, he mutters, Sofia, this does not amuse her. I am not sure when this takes place in their relationship, I know they become a real couple at one point.
We cut to Rickslide talking to Anole and Match along with Dust. He is bragging about how he has died once already. This takes place before Anole lost his arm and regrew a bigger one. Dust is still upset, apparently she was there when Icarus died. She feels responsible for some reason.
We cut to Mrs. Guthrie, making a speech and making people cry. Dust takes iff her face shroud and begs for forgiveness. Mrs. Guthrie tells her no forgiveness is necessary.
A third ad fir a vehicle, this time a Honda Element SC. They use a cut out picture of a dog. Even if my son walked up to me with this ad, and wanted the car, I would, at best, say maybe one day.
The old lady tells Wither what happen to his former classmates. He calls Mercury to confirm. She just wants him to come home.
For whatever reason, police show up to the place Wither and the lady are. She stands up, she absorbs a few of them. One of the remaining ones shoot her. Wither kills the last two.
Turns out the old lady is . . . Selene! And in her classic Black Queen outfit. So of course, the teenage Wither wants to do whatever she wants. How could he think otherwise? She kisses him and that seals the deal. He would do anything for her after that.
If my time line is right, we don’t see Selene for a couple years after this, for her X-Necrosha plot.
We get another speech by Mrs. Guthrie. Her two eldest children start crying.
Issue ends with Kitty reading the names of fallen X-Men, both old and new. She mentions both Doug and Illyana. She stops the list to say she misses them. Then continues the list.
Not sure what Carol Danvers is doing there, was she near by already?
Here is the list :
John Proudstar, Thunderbird, still dead
Sean Cassidy, Banshee, resurrected Horseman of Apocalypse
Jean Grey, still dead
Sarah Vale ?
Max Jordan ?
Mark Sheppard ?
Andrea Marguiles ?
Floyd Carter ?
Callie Betto ?
Brian Cruz ?
Sammy Pare ?
Jeffrey Garrett ?
Esme and Sophia Cuckoo, did not know that was their actual last name. Those poor gals never had a chance.
Doug Ramsey, Cipher, alive
Illyana Rasputin, Magik, alive
Joshua “Jay” Guthrie, Icarus, dead
Laurie Collins, Wallflower, dead
The names I don’t recognize must be those depowered mutants.
New X-Men has the same titled letters page as New Mutants Volume One, Report Cards. The column promoting the other comics out that month is actually funny.
Astonishing X-Men 18 : It’s the end of Torn! An ending so amazing you won’t believe your eyes! Plus, it should come out this month! For truth!
Uncanny X-Men 480 : Vulcan continues his Jerk Tour ’06. This month’s stop, The Imperial Guard!
Cable / Deadpool 34 : It’s Cable and Deadpool vs. Six Pack! Vs. Six Pack? Leave my stomach alone!
New Excalibur 13 : Juggernaut is weakening! What could be the cause? My money is on the fact that he spends all of his time eating chocolates and watching Caroline in the City reruns.
X-Men : Phoenix Warsong 3 : Who are the parents of the Cuckoos?!
Wolverine : Origins 7 : Omega Red and Wolverine meet up in Berlin! Boys, you’re late! It’s not called Novemberfest!
New X-Men 32 : Hey Wither, where you at? Hanging out with an older woman? Nice!
Exiles 88 : Honey, the Imperial Guard are dead. The Silver Surfer and your incessant nagging killed them.
X-Men First Class 3 : Professor X needs his students’ help! Could it be…the dreaded spiral-staircase?!
Wolverine 48 : A Civil War Epilogue! Epilogue!
X-Factor 13 : It’s back to the therapists’ couch for X-Factor! Sound familiar? It is! Added bonus : Layla Miller!
Nextwave : Agents of H.A T.E. 10 : Nextwave is not an X-Book. It’s in this on-sale column. Just buy Nextwave.
X-Men 193 : The X-Men have their final battle with the Children! But don’t the X-Men know the Children are our future?
Some fun energy there.
I almost forgot! The back cover is an ad for a 2007 Dodge Caliber. This time it has Green Goblin on the car with him about to be attacked by Reed Richards, Iceman, Spider-Man and Iron Man. Like adding those characters would add to my interest in the car. I guess, even if they only sold ten cars based on the ad, that must at least pay for the ad.
Shadow and Flame with Magik 