Wild Ride, Part One, guest starring Gabriel, Devil-Hunter
Gabriel is very Nick Fury coded.
I don’t love him explaining what Rogue means to Rogue. Okay guy.
Did he deserve to be bitten by Gambit? Yes.
Once Gambit bit Gabriel, he got a vision of Gambit slaying everybody, with Rogue being the last to fall.
Haven House, Louisiana. Calico is both sleeping, and crying. Becca is still sleep walking.
Monet and Quicksilver finally make it to the St. Juniors house. Which the X-Men really need to repair.
I like Monet and Jubilee chatting, even if it is about Monet mistaking the St. Juniors as the X-Men’s housekeepers.
I love so much Quicksilver helping Becca back to her bed. That’s one way to make me really like Quicksilver. Unfortunately, Becca wakes up, and immediately tells him he isn’t even a mutant. She probably didn’t want to be carried by him either.
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Monet wants to see The New New Mutants in action. Even Ember got a new suit! I love this so much!!
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Calico falls of Ember, and Quicksilver catches her. She continues to be upset with him, but really, she’s upset that she’s never going to see Gambit again. Quicksilver will never be Gambit. Which I’m pretty sure Quicksilver does not want to be Gambit either.
We cut back to Gabriel and a giant lesser demon who is a giant fly.
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Quicksilver way oversteps, and makes a negative comment about Gambit. Calico was not far enough away, and she has Ember use his Rabies attack. Quicksilver is immediately defeated by Ember, and Monet has to get involved before Ember kills Quicksilver.
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This is all very intense. Calico and Ember could have killed Quicksilver, and Calico may still do it. All she wanted to be was sad for a minute, which she’s used to. Oh Becca, you break my heart. At least we saw in Unbreakable X-Men, that Rogue and Gambit do adopt her as their daughter, so we know the weight of their love.
The lesser demon’s name is Thenasseil, the Tormentor of Thieves. As Rogue has to fight him away from Gambit, or Wyvern now.
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Haven’s Non-Mutant Cemetery. Becca is having a cry, as Ember is nearby. Becca keeps breaking my heart with her quoting her horrible mother’s words. If she ever got outside, she’ll end up hurting people. She was the worst.
Deathdream has to put Sabretooth’s spirt away, as we see Feral, and two others I don’t recognize. A blonde male with a head sock, and an Iceman faced guy.
Logan finds Kurt in a chapel, as he’s prayer for his brother-in-law, Gambit.
Issue ends with Gabriel telling Rogue and Wyvern that they have to leave, and meet their next character in this RPG.
Odd the Next Issue box is still referring to them as The Outliers, and Gail Simone called them that on BluSky recently. Outlier is definitely more marketable for this grouping of characters.
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.
Rogue rescues Kurt from the good aliens. Ransom directs the Outliers. Deathdream makes it so we get Zombies vs Brood.
Gambit wants to be called, Wyvern. I like Jubilee immediately going with the new name.
Mutina needs a new agent, as her current one want her to fight the Brood.
Marlys and Deathdream have their first kiss. So cute.
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Ember is back!
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We also get Calitter confessing their love to each other, and I love them so much.
Wyvern is fully a creature now.
Vig isn’t dead. Makes sense if he’s a cockroach man.
Dang, Jubilee instructed Mutina to show the Brood their greatest fear, and for a few pages, I really wanted the page reveal to be Lockheed, their greatest enemy, but sure, Galactus is pretty intimidating.
We don’t get any drama with Wyvern turning back into his natural Remy state.
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Rogue rebrands the Outliers as The New Mutants! I do like these newish uniforms. Becca looks great.
Rogue gave them a new name, and costumes, as she’s leaving to get Gambit some help.
We get Deathdreams’ very tragic past. Deathdream is 15, nice to get an age to these kids.
Only Rogue and Remy are leaving, the rest of the Uncanny X-Men are sticking around, which makes sense as Monet is supposed to be leading this team now.
It has taken 32 issues, but we have finally reunited the Uncanny X-Men with the New Mutants! That’s pretty cool.
Graymalkin Prison. Scurvy dies, as Warden Ellis gives us some more of his back story. He’s only 24 years old, which calls into question how old is she? A doctor, a podcaster, a warden? At least 30?
As soon as Scurvy dies, Prisoner X takes over his body. Prisoner X is Ellis’ brother, Oscar, but he wants to be known as . . . Perimeter. Sure. He has the mutant ability to warp reality, just like Proteus and Jamie Braddock.
Monet has been waiting for this moment to happen. Nice that we got to see Siryn, Fawn, Fred Dukes, and Sarah Grunt again.
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Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters Somewhere. Somewhen.
Magikolossus and Mr. S’s X-Men are fighting off the Zombie Sentinels.
Which is cool, but my favorite part is that Jitter’s love for Calico comes through, so their real personalities are coming through. Poor Becca, she must have been so confused why these new emotions felt so strong.
Calitter is just simply the best.
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Mutina, who if they sold her All Different All New Mutants outfit, with cat ears, I would totally buy this as a jacket.
Jitter is epileptic, as we learn when she’s having a Jacksonian March, a seizure. Does that explain her stutter? I just figured it was due to the child abuse.
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Becca is told Jitter needs a med bay, and starts clearing the way. Probably smart not to take Jitter along with her, as Ember and her are on fire. This horse is on fire. Alicia Keys is the best.
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This is such a cool image. Vecchio is slaying it with this arc.
Ransom tells Deathdream that they have to get Jitter to safety, whatever it takes. Which, ever since Avengers Endgame, I love it when people repeat “whatever it takes,” once they hear it.
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Mutina figures out the X-Men are fake, more like Ex-Men then, right?
Cute that we see Ember and Calico fighting off Zombie Sentinels in the distance.
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Mutina stabs Nightcrawler as he’s not real.
Referencing things that are not real, Ellis starts giving us Perimeter’s backstory. He’s been torturing her since she was eight, and he was ten. That’s just what happens when someone has reality wrapping powers. He also killed their parents. So, she does have a reason to hate mutants. Well, a reason to hate one mutant in particular, being racist about it, is a second choice.
Monet shows up, ready to fight Perimeter. I guess the name is because he has no perimeter? I get the sense that these two have fought before. Probably how they got him in the prison to begin with.
Though, it is odd they had to turn this into a prison. Couldn’t this have gone the X-Factor route, and Ellis have a mutant team prepared to attack her brother, if he ever got out? Provide them with room and board, and treat them like actual people? Imprisoning them is another choice. Also, where is Dazzler?
It is at thist point that I’m wondering if Perimeter is the reason the Outliers are in this weird alt place, but Mutina states they are AI later, so maybe that doesn’t add up?
Haven House. Rogue is trying to talk to the New Mutants about their history together. Rogue has been training them for a year to kill the Avengers. They are getting tired of all of the questions.
Gambit is on his way home, if Vic finds out anything, he’ll let Gambit know.
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Magikolossus is ready to kill Mutina, and Ransom isn’t too fond of her at the moment. Mutina reveals her mutant powers, she has the ability to read people’s emotions. Which is fine, as long a she isn’t controlling those emotions, as that’s always a gross power.
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Mutina vs Cologik. This is where she reveals they are AI, so is Arcade behind this?
Gambit makes it home just in time for the New Mutants to attack.
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Ransom vs Magikolossus.
Mutina vs Cologik, I like how they both have giant swords. That’s cool.
Calico and Ember finally make it to the mansion and Doctor MacTaggert, but she doesn’t have a face. I imagine they got their too quickly, so MacTaggert’s programming hadn’t caught up to it yet.
Rogue vs Cannonball, she doesn’t know how to fight him as he’s nigh invulnerable while he’s blasting. Though I did expect her to have the thought that he’s only nigh invulnerable, leaving her some wiggle room.
Gambit grows vampire wings to catch up to Rogue, so that’s where the cover image comes from.
Issue ends with Monet vs Perimeter, but she’s not alone, she’s brought reinforcements. Like, okay, is her backup just going to be Fawn, Fred Dukes, and Sarah Grunt? Maybe with Dazzler? Or, OR! Are we getting a Generation X team up? Well, minus Jubilee.
We open with WARDEN Ellis and dying Phillip in the Graymalkin Prison, the former Xavier Institute. A good reminder that this plot is still around. Once Phillip dies, Inmate X is going to get out, and Ellis is going to be next. We do get Monet for a panel, so that’s nice. She has a picture of Quicksilver, which, not to beat this drum again, why isn’t he trying to break her out? Though this does seem more like a resort, that one just can’t get away from, unless you sign a contract to attend a concert. Would have been nice to see Dazzler here.
They found Xavier’s hover chair, which is fun to see. That thing is a very bright yellow.
Elsewhen. The All Different New Mutants are getting their first Danger Room fight. In a very fun page turn reveal, they are going to fight . . . Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur!
Haven House. Rogue, Logan, Nightcrawler, and Jubilee are looking for the Outliers. Rogue says, “Okay. I don’t think ah need ta say this, bur them kids . . . they gotta be brought back, even if it means hidin” which does that make sense? Repeating it for the sixth time, I think it means if they are hiding from the X-Men, they need to be brought back. Which Nightcrawler must have immediately understood what his sister meant, as he’s not sure if she means it.
St. Thomas Abbey. Abandoned. Mostly. Gambit makes a deal with Vig, who we’re not getting rid of any time soon. 20% of the Thivs Guild profits will go to Vig, just to help find the kids. Gambit says, “I belong to you again.” and he’s sad, which I get, but does he belong to him? Seems like Gambit is going to write him a check every month, and there isn’t much drama there. I mean, should Remy have put an end date on that? Yeah, probably, as even a year’s worth is pretty solid. Plus, what happens when Gambit doesn’t pay? Vig takes the Outliers? Actually, that might be what happens.
Louisiana X-Men arrive home and we see the New Mutants – Moonstar, Karma, Cannonball, Sunspot, and Wolfsbane.
Elsewhen. I’m on record of being a huge fan of Vecchio’s art. But sometimes it is hard to tell Jitter and Deathdream apart, when they are both wearing New Mutants uniforms. They both have short black hair, and are very slender.
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Becca says Ember looks very dowdy, and he does!
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Ransom wants Calico to “Valley of Gwangi” Devil Dinosaur, a movie that is fully available on YouTube, thanks Adam of ComicsXF, for cluing me onto this! Will I watch it? Could be fun, but I’m three Daredevil episodes behind, and barely started the Punisher second season, but I’ll add it to my list.
Ember does continue to look dowdy here.
Moon Boy attacks Jitter. She tries translates Moon Boy’s language to English, which is handy.
Unfortunately, Mutina is also too handy, and cuts off Moon Boy’s head. Yikes!
So they did survive the experience, which is nice.
Beast tells them that they usually don’t destroy / kill their opponents, but good job.
Nightcrawler alerts everyone Sentinels are at the door, and we get even more twists!
Sentinels hunt mutants . . . to eat them! We have Zombie Sentinels, ya’ll! They’re inmates that the Trasks turned into robots who eat mutants. Imagine the blue prints for these guys?!
Nightcrawler teleports Deathdream and Jitter, and we learn he has two extra, but short, arms. So we are definitely in a different time line.
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We get Calico, Ember, and Mutina team up! Mutina was willing to be Becca’s friend, but Becca wants to help out, which is a turn off, which is fun.
Doctor Moira MacTaggert mentions the Professor, and it is around here, that I’m remembering that she keeps saying Professor, but I don’t think she ever said X. Though we do know it is the Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.
Jitter takes out a Sentinel thanks to field testing the shock gloves that Spider-Man gave her. That feels weird, right? So the Outliers are in the bodies of their counterparts here? I do wish they had their memories of their time together, but it is fun to see their friendships get reestablish here as Random and Deathdream seem to be getting along like brothers.
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Mutina decided to stick around, so that’s nice. Ember doesn’t look as dowdy now that he’s lit up again. Becca continues to be a delight, calling the Sentinels “doodyheads.” She’s the best.
Just in time, we get the reinforcements!
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Professor S, Sauron, is here with his X-Men! Magikossus, Cologik, Siryn, and Warpath.
Magik has Colossus powers, and Colossus has Magik powers, so there’s a whole backstory there I want to see. Siryn is a prisoner of Graymalkin, I’m sure we’re supposed to be reminded of that. I imagine this is Warpath to go with Siryn’s inclusion. Sauron is always a fun pull.
Where is Xavier? Does it matter?
Haven House. Rogue almost touches Cannonball’s hand, and this makes the New Mutants freak out, as her touch is death to men. Rogue tries to reassure them, but they don’t need it.
They’re cool with Rogue and her mission . . . to KILL THE AVENGERS!
So so many twists this issue.
Is this a three or four parter? It seems like we need an explanation issue before we get a concluding issue. We are only getting wilder from here.
Woldenberg Park, New Orleans, Louisiana. Issue opens with Rogue and Gambit on a date, which is very sweet. They are thinking about adopting the Outliers. Which seems to be a bit much. I would love to see the Outliers side of the story, where they are like, “um, we’re in our 20s, you can’t adopt us, we thought we were on the X-Men track?”
Though in Age of Relveations – Unbreakable X-Men, we see that Calico is their daughter.
Their date is interrupted by a punk robbing an older lady. He wants to be part of the Thieves Guild, and I like so much how quick Gambit is to tell them that he wouldn’t want some punks who rob old ladies, that isn’t impressive at all. But doing all of this, he’s coming off very intense, causing Rogue to try to calm the situation down.
Haven House. Kurt believes MacKenzie broke up with him, so he is very down, so this all makes sense to me. He’s wallowing in the fact that he can’t play the piano, though I am certain that there are hundreds of people with only three fingers one each hand that actually do play the piano. I imagine they do the classics, but have created beautiful music to match their abilities.
Jubilee is trying her best to be a friend, and I like that we’re finally getting these two hanging out. They probably have less time together than Jean Grey and Kitty Pryde.
Kurt is going to sleep, and Jubilee is going to check on the kids. Are they teenagers or are they young adults? I can’t get a feel for their ages anymore.
Ransom is having a nightmare from his hostage days. Taking on the Ransom moniker, he’s probably never far from this pivotal day.
Jitter is having a nightmare involving her mother’s lack of understanding of how she can do what she does, making a cheese souffle. Did she not even consider mutation? I just imagine all public schools include mutations when they talk about puberty. I imagine in elementary schools, that kids tease each other, cruelly, about who might turn into a mutation. Kids can be cruel. Her mother sends her to school, knowing poor Jitter will get taunted there. This is shown as a nightmare, but I can only imagine this happened all the time to her.
Deathdream sleeps the way I pretend to, with my arms crossed on my chest. Like, if I’m waking up in a hotel room with my family, I’ll like to strike the pose before opening my eyes. I’m usually up first, so no one sees. He’s having a nightmare involving his younger brother not breathing.
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Calico is having a nightmare. I do NOT like her mother, at all. A boy asked Becca about a lost dog, and her mother is just losing it. She claims Becca has a filthy mind just like Becca’s father, and anyone who uses the phrase “filthy mind” just isn’t right. Somehow Ember is next on the hitlist, Becca’s mother thinks the horse is coming between them, so naturally, she burned the stables. The heck?!
Jubilee wakes up Kurt, who sleeps in white briefs. I feel like, with how sexy Kurt is, he has a responsibility to his housemates to wear pajamas. That’s right, right?
MacKenzie shows up, and she was afraid for Kurt and his life. She wasn’t that thrilled with Mutina, but it is Kurt’s life she’s worried about. Plus, Kurt is talking to her in his underwear, so there are no hard feelings that we can see.
Waffles, the Sentinel shaped dog, shows Jubilee that the Outliers are all missing.
Sentos Island. Singapore. Elsewhen. This is odd. We just had the Outliers as Outlaws, and now we’re having a maybe time travel adventure with them? This is going to be interesting. Dr. MacTaggart recues Jitter. Beunos Aires, Argentina. Cyclops rescues Ransom.
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Loudoun Metallurgical Mine, Virigina. Calico and Ember rescue some miners. One thinks she may be a mutant, but the other believes she must be a miracle. Bro, she’s both. C’mon.
Logan and Beast picks her up.
Nightcrawler rescues Deathdream, so we know something is off if Deathdream doesn’t recognize Kurt.
Westchester County, New York. Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. The Outliers are brought together. There is a sixth member . . . Mutina!
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We have The New Mutants! Becca as Cannonball is a fun idea. They’re both from the country. She’s rich compared to his working class. They both have a flame element, I guess? Ransom as his cousin, Sunspot, seems to be the inspiration for this adventure.
I thought it would be Mutina from the cover, and we were right, though Simone tried to throw us off. I know Cannonball will eventually show up. Time will tell if we get Magik.
And, of course, who is behind this? Must be pretty massive if they were pulled from around the world, but also, were they?
Such a great anniversary issue! We get two stories, one with the Uncanny X-Men, and the back up, an Outlier story.
Writer Gail Simone
Artists David Marquez & Luciano Vecchio
Color Artist Matthew Wilson
Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles
This is Part 3 of 3 of the Where Monsters Dwell arc. Marcus St. Junior is wrapping up his bed time story.
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I love so much how Becca loves Ember. Her character in the story has a horse, and now she’s very excited.
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Such a cool page of the Outliers as Western characters.
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Seriously, I would buy an ongoing adventure of the Outliers as Western characters series.
We finally get the name reveal of our mystery villain. Agatha Timly, so it was Agatha All Along. It is very odd that we have two Agathas and two Lunas running around the Marvel Universe right now. But we also have multiple Spiders-Man, so these things happen.
Marcus is very brave trying to hold her off with a shotgun.
With the X-Men, Nightcrawler is being attacked by Frankenstein’s Monster, but he’s no longer taking the hits, he’s fighting back.
Morbius is trying to turn Jubilee, but she blasts his serum away.
Gambit is fighting off the Manphibian, until Sadurang eats Manphibian. Gambit willfully gives back the Left Eye of Agamotto. We’re getting close to a years worth of time since the first issue. Comics are very complicated when it comes to time passing.
Rogue fights off Wereverine.
Meanwhile, Waffles is fighting Salem, Agatha’s big wolf. We learn she is from Marvel Spotlight on Werewolf by Night 3, thanks Tom, from 1972. Fandom states her name is Andrea, but she must have changed it to Agatha when she become quasi-immortal.
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I have missed actual Ember so much!
I also really love that Becca has (hopefully) made peace with the fact that she isn’t a monster, she’s a mutant, and proud. And a hero.
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Calico & Ember attack Agatha.
I like Jitter has incorporated calling out her attack move from her Age of Revelation self. I’m not sure if she was given those memories.
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Such an awesome call back to their Western counterparts from mere pages ago (or seen above).
I thought we had lost a few pages, but we’re shown the next page how we got everybody back to Haven House.
Apparently, Agatha had every mesmerized. Logan’s healing factor cured him, and the “monsters” are back to their proper characterization.
Issue ends with Gambit keeping the left Eye of Agamotto, for some reason.
. . .
They Dwell Too in the Human Heart
Writer Gail Simone
David Messina
Color Artist Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer VC’s Travis Lanham
Nice title hold over from the main story.
Willow is missing, and the police department was hoping the X-Men would help. They are unfortunately in either Alaska, Latveria, or who knows where. The Outliers are here, and they’ll help.
Jitter uses the skills of a French detective to become a human lie detector. Jordy Dukes’ cousin has Willow. The two of them have been killing young ladies for years now.
Deathdream scares the rest of the information out of Jordy.
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Calico, Ember, and Ransom immediately take off to the rescue.
I love Calitter so much! Them referring to each other as girlfriends is such a delight.
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They arrive at the cousin’s trailer, and see they have been buried their victims under slabs of concrete. Poor Becca, she’s not ready for the true horrors of the world.
Ransom goes full hero mode, and takes out the cousin, and save Willow.
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“Even Ember seems glad.” This struck me. Is he not usually a glad horse shaped spirit boy? I don’t like the idea that he’s usually down. I much prefer a mood neutral horse, if he’s going to be anything. Poor guy.
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.
/ Jorge Jimenez (A) / Tomeu Morey (C) / Tom Napolitano (L)
Shadow and Flame with Magik 