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.
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.
I’ve been wanting a Luciano Vecchio Kitty Pryde style variant for so much! I own the Magik one (X-Men V7 25), and I have the Calico one on my wish list (Uncanny X-Men V6 11).
Honestly, I almost bought it right now for $10 on eBay, but I’m trying not to buy back issues until the summer is over.
Now we just need the Russell Dauterman Kitty costume gallery cover, and Lovable Lockheed in print, and things-in-my-heart-now-in-the-real-world wishlist will be complete.
I saw it was listed on DCBS, and took a chance on ordering it, hoping the cover will be Kitty related, and here we are!
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 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.
So rare for a modern comic to reach issue 25! Though Uncanny will be doing it with its next issue. Just to get it out of the way, here is your Fenris trigger warning. I treated myself to the Luciano Vecchio variant cover. We weren’t given this theme cover for Exceptional X-Men, which I would have gladly bough the Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost, and Melee covers. Actually, I probably would have gotten all of them, as I do love the format. Maybe with X-Men United we’ll finally get them? I’m still waiting for the Russell Dauterman Kitty Pryde costume gallery cover.
Issue opens with Cyclops telling the team about the Age of Revelation. I do like the idea that you can just skip AoR, and what you really need to know, you’ll be told through X-MEN dialogue. Future bad because of Doug Ramsey, and 3K (more about them later).
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Scott’s new goal in life? Fix the Present, Save the Future. Such a good team shot here.
Arizona, three miles from Rio Verde. Which is three and a half hours away from Yuma. When I was growing up, there was a popular blue shirt that had, “Yuma, four hours from everywhere else” that is burned into my mind.
We catch up to Fenris, who are eternally gross. Now, they’re super prideful of being white mutants, so they have a new lower level to their grossness.
I do love how out Jed MacKay is with calling the Strucker twins and Fenris (the name of their hate group) Nazis. Why hide behind code words? Also a good time to mention I was wrong about 3K being a clever way of not writing KKK, which makes sense now that we know Krakoa Beast is the Chairman of the Board.
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Then. Cyclops really needs to find Doug.
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Now. Cyclops sends Magik and Psylocke to join the fight. Once we’re done with the Psylocke retro series (which apparently is selling quite well), I would love to get a Magik & Psylocke miniseries.
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These two are great together!
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Then. I love the X-Men sharing a meal together, this team is very close.
Cyclops reveals that AoR had never heard of R-LDS. 70s Beast let’s out a “retrocausality” which sounds very fun to say aloud. I wonder what that would have looked like as a Mortal Kombat finisher?
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Magik telling Psylocke that her sword is sharper, and Kwannon calling Magik a brat. These two are the best.
Again, I just love Juggernaut and Magik being besties. This series has been great with showing Illyana being actual friends with people. I love to see it.
Juggernaut throws a car at Fenris, he’s so upset that they blasted Magik. Taking her out of the fight for the rest of the issue, which one has to do as she can end a fight rather easily.
Psylocke fights Andreas, and Oya fights Andrea.
Quenten Quire, who also can end a fight easily, has been holding back, as he really doesn’t want to enter a white supremacist’s mind – completely understandable.
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Juggernaut helping Magik up, they’re the best!
We finally learn who the mutant is who is in charge of O*N*E* . . . The Crimson Commando, who I barely remember. He’s on the cover of Uncanny X-Men 215, with Stonewall and Super Sabre. I mostly only remember Stonewall because of the historical event, and the cool flight helmet. He’s a WWII veteran, with the mutant power of peach physical health. I own his first appearance, so that’s cool. He is a Claremont / Davis creation.
The Crimson Commando arrived with a crew, and a press conference, announcing O*N*E*, and Cyclops’ X-Men are working together, then immediately has them stop recording, so mutants everywhere should have some distrust of Cyclops now. Which seems silly, as all it’ll take is for him to reach out to Rogue and Emma, and clear the whole thing up – he’ll probably do that in-between issues.
Cyclops references how the last time he fight Crimson Commando, he died, in Uncanny X-Men 529. Which was the issue Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost with Fantomex were searching for Sebastian Shaw, so I only remember that plot from the issue, but I owned his first and last appearance (until this issue, which I also own, so that’s nice).
We do get a reference to how Cyclops hadn’t realized Crimson Commando was resurrected on Krakoa, so that’s nice that era exists so any mutant can be brought back with ease. As long as they didn’t die in Fall of X (or Rise of X).
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Crimson Commando leaves, knowing he’ll win the long battle.
We get a back up where 70s Beast chats with Animalia, who likes the codename, another legacy of AoR.
70s Beast figures out 3K is actually 3000, otherwise written in Latin, MMM, Make More Mutants, and learns the Chairman of 3K is . . . Krakoa Beast! So, everyone knows what they are up against.
Shadow and Flame with Magik 