Issue opens with Mojo being pitched a new show, Murder Television, by his Major Domo.
I recognized three of the four famous Marvel murders. Jean dying on the moon, Bullseye killing Elektra, someone being straight shot from behind, and Bucky knocking Steve out of a plane, before it explodes.
BluSky friend, and terrific follow, Jonathan Loves X-Men, hipped me to the third one is Doug Ramsey saving Wolfsbane in New Mutants V1 60. Of course that is what it is. I saw a wolf, but was thrown off by the giant green person, and I’ll admit, I thought Doug was a yellow cape of the green person. So clear once someone explained it. Thanks Jonathan Loves X-Men.
Meanwhile, in the Outback, Colossus and Betsy are enjoying a run, fun how they are both armored here.
Rogue and Dazzler are being very catty about Longshot, as he wrestles an alligator.
I really like Storm’s remark after Logan points out how people shouldn’t crush on teammates, it never ends well, and she comments about how he would know.
Havok checks in with Madelyne Pryor. I love so much him telling her that she doesn’t have to keep earing her spot on the team, she has it. She hears it, but wants the distraction of trying to hack into the Reavers’ computer. Unfortunately, she’s able to hack in, setting off the Godshreddar program.
Turns out, when Logan clawed his way through three Hellfire Goons during that segment of the Dark Phoenix Saga, he actually tore into a fourth one pretty badly, leaving only his head and hand. So, the Reavers put what was left inside of the Godshreddar, and the Godshreddar was able to take over the bodies of the X-Men. Which gives us an awesome sequence of Logan having to single handedly defeat the X-Men, and not hurt them, too badly.
Now that we have a Godshreddar, can we get god turtles to fight him? That’ll be pretty cool.
Is there a rule about Marvel created their own set of turtles? As a fun homage? Seriously, just give me TMNT / X-Men already. I would want TMNT / Daredevil first, but then X-Men immediately after.
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.
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.
Issue opens with Wong and Chthon having some tea, and boy time. Then we get to the good stuff. Wanda Maximoff, the current Sorcerer Supreme, versus, Madelyne Pyror, the Sorcerer Supreme of Limbo!
Wanda arrive already on fire, due to the actions of Agatha Harkness from the previous issue. Madelyne shows up, calling Wanda, The Great Pretender. Bernard Chang and Ruth Redmond draw and color a beautiful Madelyne Pryor. Steve Orlando really has her voice right too. Letterer VC’s Joe Sabino makes everything so readable.
Apparently, Agatha (the so-called official Sorcerer Supreme) made a deal with the Goblin Queen herself to take out Wanda. Madelyne is also motivated as she’ll get a lot of cred for taking down Wanda.
There is a telepath exchange, where they are in Limbo, then in Wanda’s mind, then in Madelyne’s. It got a little confusing there.
Madelyne not only reminds Wanda that she comes from the strongest telepathic stock, but that Jean Grey always hated Wanda. Which seems like an odd opinion for Jean to have. Maybe when they first met in X-Men 4, Jean picked up on all of the boys really liking Wanda (maybe even Bobby too, adding to the insult?).
Madelyne keeps getting early wins against Wanda, but then Wanda reveals there is such a thing as phrenomancy, the magic version of telepathy. Wanda plays on Madelyne’s one weakness, her memories of Nathan, which I hate that this is Madelyne’s one weakness, thus, needs to be threaten every time. She just got these memories back, that she worked so hard to obtain, in Dark Web X-Men 3, thanks editorial box, plus, we’ll be talking about Dark Web more this summer on the pod. Just annoys me that this is even a thing Madelyne has to worry about. She’s a mother, and deserves to have these memories be properly hers. Madelyne tries to negotiate that Wanda is a mother, and this is a low blow from her.
Madelyne gives in, giving Wanda the cheapest of victories, I supposed there is an argument to be made that Wanda chose the road with less fighting, but the emotional damage, I don’t love that.
Wanda promises she’ll keep this a secret. Two demons approach, and Madelyne quickly spins it so that she won the battle, and to spread word of the victory to everyone.
Then we get to the ongoing plot again, but I loved the Madelyne Pryor Limbo pages so much. We didn’t even get a reference to Magik, which I miss, but also love that Madelyne is the Queen of Limbo, and doesn’t need to mention Magik at all times. One of the panels of memories of baby Nathan had Logan, Colossus, and Storm in it, but no Kitty Pryde. I guess we really are waiting until X-Men United before we see Kitty in a monthly comic for more than a page.
The Veshanti Trio are annoyed Agatha isn’t getting the job done. I love the pages of the WandaVision family (my favorite family tree in comics, even after losing the Magneto branches – but I imagine we still keep those, just those are broken lines now? Maybe?). I like Vision stating he needs to spend more time with his flesh sons.
Agatha shows up to Strange’s old house, rips Wong from his tea party, but Wanda shows up in time to stop Wong from getting too hurt.
Be nice if Madelyne Pryor will show up again in this series. That’s how you’ll get me to stay interested.
I love Peach Momoko. I haven’t been keeping up with Sai, as I didn’t have a way to play Marvel Rivals, so I was being butt hurt about anything connected to that game. I can play Marvel Rivals now, and so I’m hoping to all of the opportunities now. I like seeing Beast, and Galactako, who must be a play on Galacta. I like the editorial page in the back, stating this is a five issue series. It isn’t an anthology, it is one complete story, just told in an artistic round robin sort of way. Which is fun, I would have liked that page of explanation closer to the front. I also like Stan Sakai, the legend, Usagi Yojimbo creator himself, doing a few pages.
For these alternative takes, I’m mostly looking for characters I recognize, I got that with Beast, and a fun story to escape to, which I got fully heartly. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series, and I should check out Demon Days, but I know there are no references to Kitty, Lockheed, or Magik, but I should just read it as it is Peach Momoko, doing what she wants to do, freely.
Magik was named in the solicitations, which I appreciate as that means I can order a comic as it is released, instead of adding it to my far too big Wishlist.
Screenshot
Magik only appears on one page, but it is a fun page where she is teaming up with the Hulk to fight Angela.
This comic is all about Luna Snow, trying to get to a gig in K’un-Lun, where Iron Fist gets his powers. She wasn’t given the exact location, and is trying to best to get there.
We get a fun moment where she is taken back by how tall Angela is. She gets to one bar, where Winter Soldier and Namor are fighting, but she calms them down with a war bond theme. Apparently, she is very old, as Peni Parker says later that her grandmother was a huge Luna Snow fan, and this is only the second comic I’ve read with her, so I’m not familiar with her backstory. I play Marvel Rivals, not too much, so I’m not sure if I’ve even seen her in the game. I do like how hectic that game is, and how much this comic matches that energy.
To get directions, maybe, to the actual location, she has to do a drink off with Logan. Which I like the rules being “first one to finish” as if it is first one to fall, that isn’t fair. She freezes his hand, and does her best to finish her drink. She wins, but the guy didn’t think she was going to win, so this was fruitless.
Cloak & Dagger agree to help the actual bar out, but Cloak gets his Lane and Avenue confuse, and sends her to where Doctor Doom is. This turns out to be a Doombot, and if she lets him be her backup singer, he’ll tell her where it is. She agrees, and turns out, the dragons burn the place down, so she goes back to the bar Winter Soldier, Namor, and Logan are, and has a blast.
Before that, we are introduced to Mark, the Cave Squid, as opposed to Jeff, the Land Shark, so that’s fun. Daredevil is there too, he’s never been a lawyer, and his mission is to vanquish all wars, and he got his powers from a dragon, Yinglong. So I’m not familiar at all with the lore of Marvel Rivals, besides the Rogue & Gambit marriage, as I played that season. Apparently, all of the mutants are in a different dimension, and that is why we don’t have many of them in the game. I was told that by reddit.
Paul Allor wrote a fun story, and the art is great, Michael Shelfer & Eric Gapstur. Dee Cunniffe is the color artist, and VC’s Joe Sabino is the letterer.
#Inferno V1 1#SecretWars 2015Magik succumbs to her Darkchild personaA year later, Colossus gathers a team that includes Kitty Pryde, to rescue his beloved sisterIt does NOT go well for anyone involved
#Inferno V1 2#SecretWars 2015Darkchild is having a hard time breaking Kurt, so she rips out his soulA demon updates her that Colossus, Madelyne Pryor, Kid Cable, and Domino are coming for herDarkchild reveals she has own personal Nightcrawler, so she's not that worried
#Inferno V1 3#SecretWars 2015Inferno has been unleased on Earth! Darkchild is taking the fight to the X-Men, including Kitty PrydeThey are definitely way too much for the X-Men to handleMagik easily defeats Captain Britain & RogueMagik then defeats Cyclops pretty easily as wellShe's won
#Inferno V1 4#SecretWars 2015We open with a reminder how sweet young Illyana wasSnap cut to the present, where we find Darkchild just plain enjoying her big winSheriff Strange acknowledges that Baron Summers has last control, and promotes her to Baroness Darkchild
#Inferno V1 5#SecretWars 2015I really like how a defining trait is that Illyana likes to eatDemons are slaughtering X-MenColossus vs Darkchild, she is winning until she threatens Domino, then Colossus slays herMadelyne Pryor arrives & absorbs Darkchild's Limbo energies
Shadow and Flame with Magik 