X-Men Monday #339 – Gail Simone Talks ‘Uncanny X-Men’ • AIPT
AIPT asked Gail Simone my (and many others) question regarding Calico and Ember.
Simone – Gail
All posts tagged Simone – Gail
Writer Gail Simone
Artist Luciano Vecchio
Color Artist Matthew Wilson
Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles
Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed, Part Three
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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’ll find out next issue!
I’m really enjoying this arc.
Writer Gail Simone
Artist Luciano Vecchio
Color Artist Matthew Wilson
Letter VC’s Clayton Cowles
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.
Becca says Ember looks very dowdy, and he does!
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.
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.
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!
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.
Writers Gail Simone & Mikki Kendall
Arists Francesco Mortarino with Elisabetta D’Amico (inks)
Color Artist Mattia Iacono
Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles
We learn more about Logan’s connections to Haven House, and the St. Juniors, and another old timey adventure with Lady Henrietta.
But I’m just here to see Ember being a good horse boy.
Plus, we get Calitter, and I love them so much!
They are so fun together!
I like how we get Jubilee and Logan hanging out, that’s nice.
That’s pretty much the comic.
Writer Gail Simone
Artist Luciano Vecchio & Cover
Color Artist Matthew Wilson
Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles
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.
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.
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!
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.
I love so much how Becca loves Ember. Her character in the story has a horse, and now she’s very excited.
Such a cool page of the Outliers as Western characters.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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 got the great Scott Koblish ‘everybody’ cover.
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.
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.
Sentinel punching Superman is just something I wasn’t expecting to see.
Mary Jane shares that Spider-Man has a sad thing for bridges.
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.
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.
A very nice moment of the ladies sharing how lonely this life can be.
Gambit looking cool, but the Sentinel is super destroyed. Pun intended.
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.
Jonathan Kent & Ben Parker “The Bridge”
Jeff Lemire / Rafa Sandoval (A) / Ulises Arreola (C) / Beca Carey (L)
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.
Daily Planet & Daily Bugle “Bias”
Greg Rucka / Nicola Scott (A) / Marcelo Maiolo (C) / Ariana Maher (L)
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.
Power Girl & Punisher “Blind Date”
Gail Simone / Belen Ortega (A) / Jordie Bellaire (C) / Lucas Gattoi (L)
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.
Writer Gail Simone
Artist David Marquez
Color Artist Matthew Wilson
Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles
Such a great issue! I was surprised that we got Marcus continuing the bedtime story, but it makes sense that he is, as last issue wasn’t a done in one story.
I’m so happy that Marcus knows enough about Calico to make her in-story horse, Ember.
I also like how he may not know Jitter enough that, to him, it makes sense that she announces the character’s name that she is going to mimic. In case this case, that’ll be Hawkeye.
Meanwhile, the Uncanny X-Men are facing off against Elsa Bloodstone, Manphiban, The Living Mummy, Frankenstein’s Monster, Morbius, and Werewolf by Night. I always appreciate narration boxes naming characters.
In classic X-Men fashion, AND horror trope, the team splits up, and we get some fun combinations.
Nightcrawler teleports himself and Logan to Sweet Water Park. We get a reminder that Hurricane Katrina devastated the park, and they still haven’t recovered fully. We should remember that Louisiana still carries the scar of that disaster.
Logan fights Werewolf by Night, who bites Logan.
We are introduced to Elsa’s boss, a charming lady, who has a white wolf for a pet, Salem.
Nightcrawler has to confront German literary hero (?), Frankenstein’s Monster. He rather just talk it out.
Jubilee is confronted by Dr. Morbius, they have a nice chat about how freeing it is to be a vampire, but Jubilee rather not go back.
Gambit fights Manphiban.
I like Logan having such medical knowledge that makes sense. I start having the thought that it is nice that Logan is healing from the bite, and not turning into a were-wolverine. That would be troublesome.
I also like that we see a young Rogue, pre adoption, who really enjoyed horror movies. Scared out of her wits, but enjoys the thrill. Rogue has to deal with both Living Mummy, and Elsa Bloodstone. Elsa informs Rogue that her boss is on her way to Haven House. At least the Outliers are there.
Issue ends with Rogue having to deal with a new threat – Wereverine! So, turns out, not as nice as I thought. Ruh oh.
Writer Gail Simone
Artist David Marquez
Colorist Matt Wilson
Letterer Clayton Cowles
We’re back! Issue opens with MacKenzie and Kurt, who I really like together. In a lot of relationships, that first kiss is something to really anticipate. But imagine waiting to be bamfed? And four times?! She wasn’t ready for that.
Kurt wasn’t ready for his surprise birthday! I have to remember this issue come November 11, Kurt and Dave Cockrum’s birthday. That splash page is perfect for that post.
I like all of the love Kurt gets this issue.
Logan notices someone at the door, it is Mutina, who wants to join the X-Men. Logan isn’t having it, and they fight. He thinks she is all talk, that she hasn’t killed anyone, but even if that is true, she’s getting closer to finally killing. She has definitely cut some fools, as she gets two clean hits on Logan. Does she have a Nightcrawler like shadow power? She keeps fading into the darkness. Was she born in the darkness, molded by it? Or has she merely adopted the dark? Do the shadows belong to her?
Mutina has done her homework on the Uncanny X-Men.
As Logan is confronting her, nearly the full cast of The X-Pets comes out. Ember, the dog shaped Sentinel, all of Gambit’s cats. Mutina tries to feed good boy, Ember, but he doesn’t want her food. The cats literally eat up the cat food she brought for them.
Mutina discloses information about The Outliers. She implies Calico burned her family home down, but I feel like that was heavily implied before.
Ransom threw four kidnappers out a window, which we also knew.
Jitter hurt a girl so badly, she can barely walk. I feel like this may have been a bully, which you shouldn’t beat a bully until they can’t walk, but you have to stand up to bullies. Or tell someone at your school, as there should be zero tolerance for that. Or she hurt someone who shouldn’t have been hurt, and there’s a story there.
Where there is a story is Deathdream. He apparently has a brother, and the story is awful. We do know that he is almost on the verge of tears whenever Ransom calls him, brother, so there’s a story there that I want to be told about.
What was in her box? Cupcake or thumbs? It was cupcake!
So, I’m liking Mutina, until I don’t. Logan goes inside, and we see she has a knife up to MacKenzie’s throat. Poor MacKenzie is in tears. Kurt talks Mutina into a duel. Mutina gets a cut on Kurt. He tells her she’ll never be an X-Man, but there is a path, which is odd. So, she could be an X-Man?
I just like that we’re back!
Thanks to Marvel Entertainment for hosting their own video.
Huge THANKS to LaughingPlace.com for being at the panel. Their coverage made it possible for me to follow along.
I said earlier in the day, whoever has content from the panel, will get a follow from me, and that’s what I did.
So the big BIG announcement was that the Post-Krakoan Era is going to be called “From the Ashes” – which I still don’t love, as that’s a sacred title associated with my all time favorite fun of X-Men, the Paul Smith/Bob Wiacek era, but here we are.
We are getting three main teams –
Gail Simone & David Marquez on Uncanny X-Men, the clear main team
The Roster is going to be – Rogue, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Logan, and Jubilee.
So a pretty classic lineup, and if any fans of the new X-Men 97 cartoon, want a comic, this is the comic for them.
This team’s adventures will be set in Louisiana, so we can expect some Thieves Guild, but what I’m really excited about is the family dynamics of Rogue and Nightcrawler together.
plus, Gail Simone is clearly the head writer of this new era, and I love fun in my comics, so I’m hoping this is a fun new era. I’m sure there will be dark and dreary moments, but I’m hoping there’s at least an element of fun.
Marquez is quite the artist as well, so we’re in good hands.
The only problem is that . . . besides Nightcrawler and the creative team, its a team I don’t have any stakes in.
Also, how great that Uncanny is back! Especially now that we have issue 700.
. . .
The second team is my second favorite.
X-Men, written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Ryan Stegman.
The roster is Cyclops, Magik, NuOld Beast, Psylocke, Magneto, Juggernaut, Oya, and Kid Omega.
I really wish we got Magik on the third title, but then this title would be missable for me as well, but I do love it when Cyclops and Magik are together, those two are great together.
MacKay is on a career high with his Avengers run, a beloved Black Cat run, and an upcoming giant vampire theme company wide crossover, Blood Hunt. Which Magik has a one shot involved, but that is being brought to us by Ashley Allen and Jesús Hervás. But I had the thought it would be a good place to see MacKay handle Magik, but we’ll get there.
I find it interesting that Magneto is in a chair, we’re to make the connection to Xavier in a chair. Cyclops and Magneto are also a great pair, we are only missing Emma or this would be a reunion of the Bendis’ Uncanny X-Men team.
Juggernaut with a giant X on his helmet, I guess so you know where he’s hitting you when he’s charging at you?
Oya being on a main team feels like this is long overdue. Changing her name to, Temper, seems like a horrible back step, for multiple reasons. One obvious one, is that she went from a very unique name to a very copyright unfriendly name, but there’s plenty Marvel’s Temper like characters, so that’s an easy fix.
Quentin Quire is my least favorite character in all of these lineups, but I do like him when paired with Oya, so I guess they already figured that out.
This team will take place in Alaska, so that’s great for Scott, maybe he’ll visit his grandparents more often now?
. . .
Then we finally get to my absolute favorite title of the relaunch :
Exceptional X-Men!
Written by Eve L. Ewing, who I’m not familiar with, but have been recommended her Champions run, and Black Panther runs. As well as her poetry is supposed to very good.
Drawn by Carmen Carnero, who I’m also not familiar with, but from what I’ve seen, is very talented.
I also adore that this is a female creative team writing a mostly female lead roster, so that feels great too.
The Roster is – Shadowkate, Emma Frost, and three new mutants, but not New Mutants – Bronze, Axo, and Melee.
two of those names the copyright office must have really loved – but its hard to come up with original names.
took a new twitter friend to point out that this new design for Kate Pryde is very X-Men Evolution coded.
I kept saying its her original basic yellow suit, but blue, as a homage to her Excalibur coloring . . . but just writing X-Men Evolution is so much faster. That, and I never thought about her Evolution costume being her trainee uniform, but blue.
but it totally is, and just being blue, makes me not even think of it as a trainee uniform, but instead, her own unique uniform.
We’ve seen it before in the Women of Marvel V5 1 comic as well :
and it looks great every time I see it.
When Emma Frost comes to Fortnite, I hope they use that hoverboard of hers as her glider. Seems so silly to include, that there’s only one explanation for it, she’s coming to Fortnite.
There was a fan survey sent out recently that asked which X-Men people would be interested in, and the options were Cyclops, Magneto, and Colossus. Two of those makes sense to me, and I’ll probably play Fortnite again for a season if they even brought one new mutant to the game, or even one New Mutant. I love this joke.
If I had to get Colossus, I’ll probably make a series of videos, using each one of my emotes, and have him land somewhere, and emote until he was eliminated. Maybe that’ll make for a better live stream?
Issue starts with Kate becoming a barista (really putting that Mekanix bartending skills to good use), trying to get away from the mutant nonsense (that will only last for the first few pages of the title), then has to protect these three new mutants, and then gets assistance from Emma Frost.
So it is nature’s best friends, Kate and Emma, teaching, which I’m already sold on.
I really wish Lockheed had made it to the promo art, or any of the promo art. It is the only thing giving me pause, but also, I’m fully committed to Exceptional X-Men.
Also, a very fun new adjective for the X-Men to have.
Their stories will take place in Chicago, so I love how the X-Men are scattered, and I imagine that is because the X-Office wants to make it so you don’t feel compelled to get every single title, you can get what you want, and there’s no pressure to get everything.
. . .
Which is great, as we’re not just getting three titles, we’re getting all of the titles!
Phoenix, Storm, and Wolverine are all getting solos. From the Women in Marvel oneshot, it appears Storm will be going on a press tour, so no more Queen of Arakko – which really, anything would be a step down from Queen of Mars so a press tour is at least something.
I really love the return of those classic logos.
NYX is a confusing title to bring back, as I only remember it as Joe Quesada’s comic he wrote himself, that was Laura Kinney’s first official comic book appearance, and he made the ‘brilliant’ choice to make her a sex worker who cut herself.
So instead of bringing those memories back, a more friendly District X title could have been nice, but maybe it is a copyright issue? That’s why we got so many New Mutants miniseries and such, as Marvel has to keep that title published x amount of years or lose the rights to it.
I’m going to guess that this is going to be the New York team of X-Men, with maybe Laura as the lead, and maybe Ms. Marvel too? Or is her time with the X-Office over?
I made the comparison to the Avengers Initiative, where they have an official Avengers team in every state, and this launch is like that, but with the X-Men, they could actually make 50 titles (most of them one shots), and I wonder which X-Men will be on the Arizona and Montana teams.
Arizona – Rachel Summers and Betsy
Montana – Outlaw
were the first ones to come to mind
I had to look it up :
Avengers Initiative Arizona was the Desert Stars – Two-Gun Kid, Komodo, Blacksmith, Johnny Cool, and Supermax.
Avengers Initiative Montana was Freedom Force (heck yeah!) – Challenger, Cloud 9, Equinox, Think Tank, and Spinner.
Then we have X-Factor and X-Force, and a slew of all star X-Men that are still unaccounted for, so at least 16 to 20 mutants will make up those two rosters.
July 2024 is when the three flagship titles come out, then maybe the rest in August?
Free Comic Book Day 2024 is May 4, 2024, and will be the second look at this new era, after the epilogue in X-Men V6 35, which is also Uncanny X-Men 700 (for some reason – should have just called it Uncanny X-Men 700)
So I’ll be taking the family up to Kelly’s Comics in Great Falls, ideally early, and devouring the comic.
which of course, ends the Krakoan Age, and hopefully, not the last we see of Lockheed.
. . .
From the trailer, Jubilee starts a hand gesture with what looks like Mercury, who does a response gesture :
I cannot get my middle fingers to want to do the Jubilee M, and I can barely do the response one, so I have to get better at that as I want to be a mutant ally.
I also like how we have co-opted the Spider-Man web fingers. He’s had it uncontested for too long.
Also from the trailer, the Xavier Mansion is rebuilt, and this time, is a prison for someone in the basement, Inmate X. Who has to be Xavier, right?
. . .
What are you, dear reader, most excited about?
I’ll be curious to see how long we get these titles before there is a crossover, issue six? issue twelve?
The first run of Krakoan Age comics all had great lengths, so I’m hoping we get to at least issue 25 before we get new number ones.
Shadow and Flame with Magik 