X-Men #3 annotations
As always, page numbers are from the digital edition, and this post contains spoilers.
COVER / PAGE 1. Cyclops and Emma Frost riding what are presumably meant to be dinosaurs. Other than the fact that the story visits the Savage Land, this doesn’t have much to do with the content.
PAGES 2-3. Mysterious bad guys come through the gate to the Savage Land flower farms.
The Savage Land. The Marvel Universe’s hidden jungle where dinosaurs still exist (not that we see any in this story). We established back in House of X #1 that the X-Men had set up a location in the Savage Land, and evidently it’s where they’re growing all the farms for those pharmaceuticals they’re making. From the X-Men’s point of view, it’s presumably place where they can grow the all-important flowers and be relatively confident of being undisturbed. The “harvest centre” has mutants picking the flowers by hand – the first time we’ve seen Krakoans actually working, I think.
The two X-Men supervising the gate are Pixie and Anole, both higher-profile student characters – but for the purposes of their role in this story, any old second-tier X-Men would do.
The bad guys are the debuting Hordeculture, but more of them later.
PAGES 4-5. Recap page and credits. Nothing much to see here.
PAGES 6-8. The Quiet Council meet to discuss disturbances on Krakoa.
The Quiet Council. The two empty seats around the Council table belong to Professor X (who’s still dead, following X-Force #1) and Kate Pryde (who can’t travel to Krakoa through the gates – her Marauders teammate Storm can, and presumably did). Cypher would normally be here to interpret for Krakoa, but he’s off in space in New Mutants.
Jean and Emma. This is the longest exchange they’ve had in the Hickman era, and indeed since Jean returned from the dead. In case you’re new to all this, Jean’s husband Cyclops had an affair with Emma in Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, and they became a long-term couple after Jean died at the end of Morrison’s run. As we’ve seen elsewhere, Scott and Jean are now back together, though apparently in a menage-a-trois with Wolverine; Scott and Emma’s current relationship has been left a bit vague. Despite them trading barbs, this is actually a comparatively friendly exchange by their standards, and Hickman seems to be treating them as somewhat reconciled.
PAGE 9. A data page about Krakoa. The main point is that Krakoa is deeply distressed by the interference with its Savage Land gate, but without Cypher around, the X-Men can’t ask it to explain.
Krakoan wildlife. We’re told that the animals of Krakoa have become suddenly more aggressive, and that until today there had been a month without any reported incidents. In fact, we saw a hostile Krakoan animal in X-Force #1 – so either a month has passed since then (and Xavier’s still dead), or Wolverine and Beast didn’t report it. The latter is plausible, since Beast seemed to be trying to make excuses for why it was happening.
Black Tom Cassidy is connected to Krakoa’s security systems, as seen in X-Force – though he can’t communicate with the island more generally.
Psychic feeding. We’re told, for the first time, that Krakoa is feeding on the psychic energy of its mutant inhabitants. This refers back to Krakoa’s first appearance in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975), where it did indeed imprison the X-Men and feed on their “mutant energies” (whatever that means). The claim here is that it’s very different when there’s a whole population of mutants living on the island, because Krakoa can take a tiny amount of energy from each mutant and everything’s great.
However, the X-Men have still got “aggressive protocols” in place to keep an eye on this – which seems to depend primarily on getting Selene and Emplate to keep an eye on Krakoa. Since they’re both psychic vampires and all-round villains, this doesn’t seem like the most robust solution. And the very fact that Krakoa is drawing on people’s psychic energy might reinforce the implication that all is not 100% right with the thought processes of the Krakoan residents.
PAGES 10-11. In which we meet the Hordeculture members.
While House of X and Powers of X were built around existing X-Men concepts in new orders, X-Men itself seems to be introducing more new characters, including… well, these oddities. Hordeculture is a group of four elderly women who are initially played as comic relief geriatrics. I’m somewhat reminded of Kade Killgore and his pre-teen Hellfire Club from Wolverine & The X-Men.
That said… once you get past the old-people jokes, which do wear thin, Hordeculture are actually pretty conventional Silver Age style supervillains. As we’ll see later, they’re mad scientists who have a long-term plan to wipe out most of the human race by infiltrating the food supply. The new plants from Krakoa have knocked their plans off course and they’ve come to investigate. And while they see Krakoa as a bit of a mystery to be investigated, the fact that they were able to seize control of a key gate shows that they already understand Krakoa much better than the X-Men do. The X-Men have embraced Krakoa in an attempt to outflank human technology, but they’ve actually just wound up dealing with a different type of scientist. (Times have probably never been better for plant-themed supervillains. Plantman’s phone must be ringing non-stop.)
Their costumes have plague doctor echoes, though it’s not entirely clear why.
PAGES 12-13. Cyclops, Emma and Sebastian Shaw stop off in the Outback on their way to the Savage Land.
Again, we’re reminded of the practical problems caused by Cypher’s absence. More important, though, is that since they can’t go direct to the Savage Land, they’re picking up Gateway, the teleporter from the X-Men’s Australia era who was already shown to be allied with Emma Frost in Marauders #2. An obvious question is he doesn’t come to Krakoa to get them, and why he didn’t bring Kate to the island for the Quiet Council meeting. Perhaps he can’t, for some reason?
PAGES 14-23. Cyclops, Emma and Sebastian confront Hordeculture.
There’s a weirdly inconsistent tone in this scene, which can’t quite seem to make up its mind whether the Hordeculture women are comedy foul-mouthed old women, or serious villains who are putting on an act for their own amusement – notably, it drops the jokes entirely when it gets to their origin flashback, for no apparent reason. I think we have to take it that any characters who can hold their own with Scott in a fight must be joking when they claim it’s all due to their water aerobics courses.
Shaw’s approach to them is, at root, actually quite sensible. He assumes they just want free drugs; he offers to give them what they want in exchange for an explanation of how they hacked the system. He puts it across rather obnoxiously… but basically he’s trying to solve the problem by making a deal, which is what Xavier brought him on board to do. Ultimately, though, Hordeculture run rings around everyone and then depart, proclaiming that they will figure out Krakoa and either co-opt it for their own plans, or destroy it.
Included in this is a flashback narrated by Augusta, who seems to be the sanest of the group, in which she claims that the group were radicalised by the experience of working on creating “seedless slave plants that could no longer reproduce.” That sounds like a reference to the urban myth that GM seeds are sterile in order to force farmers to buy new seeds each year. (In fact, that technology was never brought to market.) However, Augusta’s flashback also includes a really weird panel which seems to show a man’s body buried under a flower bed in a laboratory, in which case she may be talking about something much more extreme and Marvel-Universe-specific.
PAGE 24. Emma and Shaw report back to the Quiet Council.
Self-explanatory.
PAGE 25. A data page on Hordeculture, largely spelling out what was already in the issue. It’s suggested here that Hordeculture have also genetically modifying themselves, explaining their resistance to telepathy – which would add them to the list of post-human villains.
Bromes, Vetiver, Leymus & Scutch. Their names have no obvious continuity significance – the unusual surnames are all types of grass.
Sedona, Arizona. The current location of Hordeculture’s mobile base is a town of around 10,000 people, but if there’s any significance to the choice, it’s not obvious to me.
PAGES 26-27. Trailers. Five books on December 18? Really? The Krakoan reads NEXT: A SEAT AT THE TABLE
Unfortunately, it means that most people grow bored with a majority of series in about six months.
However, if Marvel is publishing so many more titles than any other publisher, it means that there’s a good chance that the person bored with that series will end up trying a new Marvel title.
Then, growing bored with that book too.
Whoredeculture? / Hordeculture
It doesn’t have to be written to have a difference – Horde, culture, like 2 words. Whore-de-culture (to sound like horticulture, obviously), one word.
There’s also soft deh versus hard dee.
@Chris V
Yeah, that’s my take at least.
If a Marauders movie turns out to be the next Guardians of the Galaxy down the line, that’s a brilliant return on investment, even if the comics don’t sell at all.
If I were Disney/Marvel, I’d be putting major resources into revamping Storm. Such a major, culturally significant character who hasn’t worked at all in the movies, or done much in the comics for a long time. A revamp like what DeConnick did with Captain Marvel would be a solid investment for the eventual X-Men reboot, maybe even a solo movie.
The zeitgeist is also very much ready for a major transgender superhero, and the X-Men comics are ideally situated to make that happen… but Disney’s strategy on social progress is to cower in the bunker until the battle’s long won, then get showered in praise for heroically climbing over all those bodies.
>Good point, YLu. I’d much rather have a readable FF comic again.
I haven’t enjoyed the book since Hickman left, and Slott is definitely not the correct choice.
No, I just meant Ewing’s style and tastes are perfectly suited for that book, more so than for the X-Men. It has nothing to do with the quality of the current run, which I’ve never even read.
@Krzysiek Ceran
“didn’t Gillen write Star Wars after saying no to corporate comics? I’d guess this would be negotiable…”
More like he decided to turn away in the middle of that run and then finished it up as his final commitment.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to do a mini-series somewhere down the line but the days of Marvel ongoings seem well and truly behind him.
@Arrowhead
I mostly agree with this except for the X-MEN. I do not think they have yet decided what to do with the franchise strategically. The deal was only done this year and Hickman’s plan was in the works before that if I remember correctly.
If Disney were going to do a revamp to push certain characters, they would not go in for an elaborate messy concept like Krakoa which puts everyone in one barrel. Some of the characters you mentioned like Jean and Emma have been prominent X-Men for a long time so I do not think the emphasis on them in Hickman’s run is indicative of anything for the movies. If anything, Disney will either go for a complete integration of the X-Men or separate universe. The Inhumans debacle is clear evidence that they want integration with a franchise they have control over. Thankfully no one cares about the Inhumans.
Storm could use a revamp but Claremont really was thorough with her character development. She does need a more central role in the comics though.
I do not blame Disney for avoiding transgender heroes. They are running a business with very popular franchises that have a very mainstream appeal. I wouldn’t risk that cash cow until absolutely sure myself. There is nothing at all certain that mainstream audiences are ready for a transgender character. Sexuality has never been an explicit central focus of most Disney material (which is primarily geared towards children and young adults). It is easy to show strong females and keep it PG13 but beyond that I am not so sure. You can of course show the character as being just like anyone else and not emphasize their sexuality but then what would be the point.
As secretive as Marvel Studios is, no way have they let a small horde of comic book creatives in on what their plans for the X-Men are.
@Adrian –
There is nothing inherently sexual about the inclusion of a transgender character, or at least no more than there would be for the inclusion of a cisgender character.
“You can of course show the character as being just like anyone else and not emphasize their sexuality but then what would be the point.”
The point would be all the other things the character would bring to the table — their personality, backstory, interesting premise, role in the story, whatever. The point would be the same point any other character has for existing. There’s no reason trans people should only be defined by their sexuality in a story.
I think you’re all overestimating how unified Disney is with all this stuff. Remember, until recently, there was a hard wall between Marvel Studios and Rest of Marvel (Comics & TV, mostly. Also, note that the Inhumans IMAX fiasco was Marvel TV, not Marvel Studios). Marvel Studios can and do pick up on things that Feige or his lieutenants like the look of, but they don’t exactly read every comic. And that doesn’t mean the Comics section has any idea what Studios wants.
[This might change somewhat now Comics editorial ultimately reports to Feige, but probably not majorly.]
The reason Marvel Comics pump out so many titles is much simpler – profit. And *short-term* profit at that – remember, Comics has been entirely under Perlmutter until recently, and the actual publication still is. There are six X-titles being pumped out at an accelerated rate because Age of X-Man flopped, and the X-Office needs to make their numbers up for the year.
You can make profit X from a small number of books selling a lot, or a large number of books selling enough to make small profits. And Marvel have forgotten how to do the former. Hence accelerated publication, high-ratio variant covers, repeated #1s (Jason Aaron had, what, six Thor #1s?), first issues more expensive than the rest of the series, etc. It’s not healthy for a series’ longevity, but when you need to make $$$ *this quarter*? Mr Perlmutter is disappointed in you.
@YLu
And when the movie gets banned in China because of the trans character? Avengers Endgame made US$614m in China. Think Disney will make that up elsewhere? (Hell, they might not even “break even” in the US on it – would the Americans who would go *because* it featured a trans character outweigh the regressives who boycott because of it?)
It’s not nice, but Disney isn’t nice. That façade is, and always has been, a façade.
@SanityOrMadness
The discussion about transgender heroes was about the *comics* creating one, at least initially. They have a lot more freedom than the films, if for no other reason than because barely anybody reads them.
I find the Disney/Marvel inside baseball stuff fascinating. This Michael Eisner quote sums their corporate ethos up perfectly:
“The pursuit of making money is the only reason to make movies. We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement.
Our obligation is to make money, and to make money, it may be important to make history. To make money, it may be important to make art, or some significant statement. To make money, it may be important to win the Academy Award, for it might mean another ten million dollars at the box office.” — Michael Eisner
Did you know they focus-screened EIGHT different endings for the next Star Wars? Gotta hit that sweet spot of *just* enough diversity to avoid offending any racists.
@Arrowhead
…the part that surprises me about that is not that it’s why they act the way they do, but that they actually said in public.
“ The point would be all the other things the character would bring to the table — their personality, backstory, interesting premise, role in the story, whatever. The point would be the same point any other character has for existing. There’s no reason trans people should only be defined by their sexuality in a story.”
@Ylu so why does it matter if a story features a transgender person or not. If I understand you correctly, you are basically saying that good characters are what is important regardless of orientation. I am all for that. Or is there a unique perspective you think a transgender character would bring that does not involve their sexuality that other sexual orientations cannot (bi, pansexual, straight etc)?
@Adrian – You seem to be asking, “Why make a character trans if their being trans isn’t relevant to the story?”
But that’s only as meaningful as question as, “Why make a character black if their being black isn’t relevant to the story?” “Why make a character female if their being female isn’t relevant to the story?” Or, heck, “Why make a character cis if their being cis isn’t relevant to the story?”
“There are six X-titles being pumped out at an accelerated rate because Age of X-Man flopped”
Do you think they’d have put out fewer books if AoX was a big hit?
All the news/rumours about Rise of Skywalker sound very uninspiring. I’m a big SW fan, and even I’m not looking forward to ‘It was Palpatine all along’ (to some degree – don’t know what degree).
Important point (as YLu has already brought up): being trans has nothing to do with sexuality. It’s to do with their biological gender not matching their actual gender, and has nothing to do with who they’re attracted to. I know you guys probably didn’t mean any offence, but it’s an important distinction.
And to answer the question of why have a trans character if their story has nothing to do with the fact that they’re trans: representation. Koi Boi in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is trans; this is never brought up, it’s just their as a facet of how he is. This makes me very happy, as it’s someone I can relate to. It matters to see a character reflect that side of you, it matters so much, especially when there either aren’t many trans characters around or they’re the butt of a joke. Plus every time there’s a trans character who just exists without a story having to make a big deal about them being trans, it helps normalise it for other people and helps make it that little bit more accepted.
So what, is Krakoa going to end up being the sinister force behind this utopia, having enticed all the mutants into becoming its willing snack food? Or at the very least is a Krakoan heel turn going to be the reset button for the franchise down the road a bit?
@Ylu
That is not what I am asking. I am asking you why it is necessary for a character to be trans in a story if that angle is not being played up. Alex understood and answered the question for me. Representation. Fair point. People want to see themselves reflected in stories. So that’s cleared up.
re: Dazzler
My local comic shop, who I finally had a chance to visit recently, tells me the X-books are doing fantastic in their location (they’re a chain and have four locations). For the main X-Men book, their subs have quadrupled (compared to the Blue/Gold numbers). New Mutants have skyrocketed compared to the 2010s series. X-Force has roughly doubled. They didn’t have comparable numbers for Excalibur or Marauders, but they’re doing “really good,” or “better than they expected.” The book doing the “worst” is Fallen Angels (no surprise in my eyes). I couldn’t tell you what their other locations are doing, but the lady that runs “my” shop has always been very smart about ordering books, so I trust her judgement.
Also, for what it’s worth, Immortal Hulk is doing “holy shit fantastic” at “my” shop.
I frequent a different chain for back issues, but haven’t had the chance to stop in and chat with them yet.
I’m in the American Midwest, for what it’s worth.