The X-Axis – w/c 29 July 2024
X-MEN: FROM THE ASHES INFINITY COMIC #8. By Alex Paknadel, Phillip Sevy, Arthur Hesli & Clayton Cowles. Havok’s demon nurse takes him to Limbo to try and get him healed, but it turns out that the plan is just to do a deal with N’astirh. Fair enough, and it’s all done quite efficiently. I raise an eyebrow at Havok actually taking the deal, but then he’s always been a flawed hero at best. What surprises me more is the reveal that the Goblin Queen didn’t botch Havok’s magical resurrection, but did it this way on purpose. I get that From the Ashes seems to serve the function of repositioning some characters for the relaunch and saving the regular books the need to do the job, and I get why they want to extricate Havok from this plot before he shows up in the new X-Factor, but it does feel like we’ve had two stories in a row rather obviously trying to re-write plots from the outgoing regime. And even if the specific things they’re doing are fine, there’s a sense of being able to see the strings here.
X-MEN: HEIR OF APOCALYPSE #4. (Annotations here.) This was a patchy miniseries. The basic idea of Apocalypse deciding to withdraw to Arakko but being egotistical enough to think that he has to anoint somebody to shepherd mutantkind on Earth seems reasonable, and it’s done in a way that avoids just resetting him to villain status. The art is very 90s but quite readable, and it has some strong moments – I really like the page of successive teen teams hanging out. The eventual choice of Cypher as the heir works for me; the story makes a convincing argument that Cypher was much more closely bonded to Krakoa than even the other mutants, and is accordingly much more traumatised by its loss. (It’s also much more recent for him, since he was in suspended animation for the whole of “Fall of X”.) And while his redesign doesn’t look great, there’s something in the idea of Cypher as someone both peaceful and very angry, with Bei and Warlock still hanging around as his followers. On the other hand, the actual contest which has provided the A-plot of these four issues feels mostly like busy work that doesn’t have a great deal to do with the outcome; the attempt to tie the final four to the Horsemen in this last issue is too strained; and twelve characters was probably too many to try and juggle. Still, I think the end result has potential.
X-Force #1 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-FORCE vol 7 #1
“Where Monsters Dwell”
Writer: Geoffrey Thorne
Artist: Marcus To
Colour artist: Erick Arciniega
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Mark Basso
X-FORCE:
The new X-Force is a team put together by Forge to deal with a hazily defined problem of “fractures” that are causing the world to break apart. Aside from the fact that Forge and Sage were both regulars in the previous run, it doesn’t have much connection to previous versions of X-Force. (In fact, the book was apparently pitched under a different name and assigned the “X-Force” name after the fact.)
Forge is effectively the lead character. When we first see him, he’s replaying some sort of video or simulation of a 1980s X-Men team fighting the Brood, for some reason or other. The art doesn’t really match up with any specific event. Forge is apparently obsessed with this, enough to spend over a day watching it and losing track of time.
Forge’s main project is “the McCoy Project”, which Forge says is inspired by the Beast’s research into mutantdom – i.e., the work that led to him become blue and furry back in Amazing Adventures #10 (1971). Forge claims that the Beast was “tr[ying] to run away from his mutation and stumbled into a power-up”, which is not what happened in the original story – the Beast was just investigating the “chemical cause of mutation”. Perhaps Forge construes any investigation into that topic as some sort of attempt to create a cure. In the context of an X-Force book, any suggestion that Forge is following in the steps of the Beast should probably be seen as some sort of warning.
X-Men: Heir of Apocalypse #4 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-MEN: HEIR OF APOCALYPSE #4
Writer: Steve Foxe
Penciller: Netho Diaz
Inker: Sean Parsons
Colour artist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Annalise Bissa
APOCALYPSE:
Well, he selects an heir. Or at any rate, he refers to it as “my decision”. But it’s not clear how much choice he actually has in the matter, beyond selecting the contestants in the first place. The function of the contest seems to be to whittle the field down to four. But before Apocalypse goes off to speak to the final four one at a time, he also says that “my heir must accept their role”. On one view, only one of the contestants actually does accept the role (or perhaps Apocalypse is exercising some judgment about what amounts to acceptance). Note that in their dream scenes, Apocalypse appears to the three “losers” in his pre-Krakoa villain design, while only the winner sees him as Krakoan Apocalypse – which is how he still appears in the real world.
Once again, Apocalypse says that his heir will continue his work, but also that he expects them to oppose him. It’s not clear how this squares in Apocalypse’s mind; perhaps he wants someone who thinks for themselves, but has such confidence in his agenda (or in the effects of the power-up he’s going to give them) that he’s sure they’ll wind up on his track in the long run.
Daredevil Villains #33: The Man-Bull
DAREDEVIL #78-79 (July & August 1971)
“The Horns of the Bull!” / “‘Murder!’ Cries the Man-Bull”
Plot: Gerry Conway
Script: Gerry Conway (#78), Gary Friedrich (#79)
Penciller: Gene Colan
Inker: Tom Palmer
Letterer: Sam Rosen
Colourist: not credited
Editor: Stan Lee
We’ve skipped issue #77, which is the comic that the Teardrop Explodes got their name from. It’s another random crossover – a prologue to Sub-Mariner #40, where Daredevil doesn’t appear. And it doesn’t have a villain anyway.
That brings us to the Man-Bull. It’s been a while since we had a new villain with any staying power whatsoever. He may be a Z-lister, but the Man-Bull does still show up from time to time. Why, he was in Miles Morales, Spider-Man just this year! Admittedly, he was teaming up with the likes of Mr Fish and Lady Stilt-Man. But hey, at least he was still in print in 2024. It’s more than you can say for most Daredevil villains of the early 1970s.
These two issues are part of the Mr Kline storyline, which was running through both Daredevil and Iron Man at the time. Kline is a complicated matter, and I’ll come to him properly next time. Fortunately, the details of Kline’s much-maligned arc don’t really matter for the Man-Bull. For present purposes, all you need to know is that Mr Kline kept showing up as a shadowy manipulator who got people to do seemingly arbitrary things with no apparent connection, all in service of a mysterious masterplan. In fact, for present purposes, you don’t even need to know that. All that really matters is that the future Man-Bull is a hapless henchman who’s been dragged into a larger scheme that he hasn’t got a clue about.
The X-Axis – w/c 22 July 2024
X-MEN: FROM THE ASHES INFINITY COMIC #7. By Alex Paknadel, Phillip Sevy, Arthur Hesli & Clayton Cowles. Since they aren’t keeping the “From the Ashes” branding beyond the first few months, I suppose this is also going to be renamed or relaunched at some point? It certainly seems as if it has a specific remit at the moment, which is to bridge the gap between old and new status quos while saving the regular titles the hassle of taking up time on it. This is the first part of a Havok storyline, seemingly designed to explain why he’s not looking dead any more in the upcoming X-Factor book. There are worse ways to use the Unlimited books, and it’s a better solution than just saying “we’ll come back to that later” when telling that story isn’t really a top priority for the new books. This first part is basically set-up: Madelyne’s attempts to heal Havok still aren’t really working, and eventually the demon who’s charged with looking after him takes pity on the guy and tells him that they could sort him out properly in Limbo. It’s got a job to do and it’s decently entertaining along the way.
DEADPOOL VS. WOLVERINE: SLASH ‘EM UP INFINITY COMIC #6. By Christos Gage, Alan Robinson, Carlos Lopez & Joe Sabino. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there’s a Deadpool and Wolverine film out. I guess somebody’s sat down and run the numbers and decided that it makes more sense to take advantage of that by commissioning random new Deadpool/Wolverine stories for Unlimited rather than promoting decent ones that already exist, but it seems odd to me. This is the concluding part of a functional mini which elevates itself with a few good moments but doesn’t actually have much going on under the surface. It’s absolutely fine, it has a nice enough ending, but it’s still hard to see why it’d be of much interest beyond completists like me.
NYX #1 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
NYX vol 2 #1
Writers: Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly
Artist: Francesco Mortarino
Colour artist: Raúl Angulo
Letterer: Joe Sabino
Editor: Annalise Bissa
The original NYX was a 7-issue series from 2003/4 about teenage mutant runaways in New York, best remembered for featuring the comic debut of X-23. This book is also set in New York, and also has Laura in the cast, but otherwise has nothing to do with the original NYX. Instead, this seems to be the street level book, about the mutants whose response to the fall of Krakoa was to move back to the big city and try to make a life there.
THE MAIN CAST:
Ms Marvel. Despite the title of the book, Kamala Khan still lives in Jersey City with her family, though she gives us an opening monologue about how she’s always been dazzled by New York across the river. She’s signed up for an “after-school school” at Empire State University where David Alleyne is teaching a course entitled “Examinations of Post-Krakoan Diaspora”. She uses her powers quite openly to swing or stride around the city at speed, and nobody seems to have any problem with that. Despite her openly associating with the X-Men during the “Fall of X” period, the general public (and even the anti-mutant bigots) seem to assume that she’s a non-mutant. She’s back to wearing her normal costume, rather than her X-Men uniform, and generally behaves as a solo superhero.
Daredevil Villains #32: El Condor
DAREDEVIL #75-76 (April & May 1971)
“Now Rides the Ghost of El Condor!” / “The Deathmarch of El Condor!”
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciller: Gene Colan
Inker: Syd Shores (#75) and Tom Palmer (#76)
Letterer: Sam Rosen (#75) and Artie Simek (#76)
Colourist: not credited
Editor: Stan Lee
In certain parts of South America, January 1971 was an exciting time to be a diplomat, particularly if you fancied leaving the house. In Brazil, guerillas kidnapped four diplomats, and ransomed them to secure the release of 130 prisoners. At around the same time, in Uruguay, the Marxist-Leninist group Tupamaros kidnapped the British ambassador.
What, you might ask, does any of this have to do with Daredevil? And… well, yes, that’s a good question.
What it has to do with Daredevil is this two part story, billed on the cover of issue #75 as “A shocker… ripped from today’s screaming headlines!” Just to prove the point, it includes a Daily Bugle front page story about a kidnapping in Buenos Aires (or a “kidnaping”, as the cover says in three separate places). But this being the Marvel Universe, the story is not set in Argentina. We’re in the previously unheralded nation of Delvadia.
The X-Axis – 15 July 2024
X-MEN: FROM THE ASHES INFINITY COMIC #6. By Alex Paknadel, Diógenes Neves, Arthur Hesli & Clayton Cowles. Hmm, so we are indeed already retconning the bit from Fall/Rise about Professor X killing the crew of the Agnew. I’m not especially hostile to the retcon in principle – I’m willing to buy that he fakes it if he has the chance, and that he’s convinced himself that the best thing he can do for mutantkind is to present himself as the villain and draw fire from everyone else. And the way in which he’s trying to cover his tracks hardly tries to rehabilitate him as a straight hero, rather than just getting rid of the single worst thing he did in Fall/Rise. But… honestly, blowing up one ship doesn’t seem so extreme in a world where Wolverine is a hero as to call for urgent reversal. And this does feel way too early. It only happened a couple of months ago and even if you do think it was a beat too far, it’s not obvious what’s so urgent about undoing it. That aside, the story makes a reasonable fist of selling it, but I don’t get why we’re doing this now.
DEADPOOL VS. WOLVERINE: SLASH ‘EM UP INFINITY COMIC #5. By Christos Gage, Alan Robinson, Carlos Lopez & Joe Sabino. Serviceable movie tie-in romp, innit? Decent for what it is, has some good lines, looks perfectly decent, but there’s not a great deal going on beyond that.
Phoenix #1 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
PHOENIX #1
Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist: Alessandro Miracolo
Colour artist: David Curiel
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Tom Brevoort
I haven’t decided yet how many of the second-tier X-books I’m going to do in the “From the Ashes” era, but I’ll probably cover at least the first issues of everything and see where we go from there. So: this is the first Phoenix series, although there was a short-lived Jean Grey ongoing about the time-travelling Silver Age version of the character.
PHOENIX
Phoenix is Jean Grey, and following Rise of the Powers of X, she’s now at full-blown cosmic power – but presumably without the risk of going mad like in the Dark Phoenix Saga. At least, nobody seems very worried about that. As foreshadowed in the X-Men: From the Ashes Infinity Comic, Jean is off in outer space, doing cosmic things.
Her power levels are pitched as insanely high here. She can stabilise a star by absorbing energy from it. She can stabilise a black hole by… dancing with it? It seems to be a way of trying to visually represent her being in harmony with the universe, and it’s certainly more interesting to look at than a page of her thinking really hard. She can casually hold telepathic conversations with Cyclops back on Earth. It’s suggested that – much like classic Superman – the risk with Jean is not that she gets outpowered by anyone, but that she’s tricked into doing the wrong thing or overlooking the real threat. Specifically, there’s a suggestion that she’s a god who still thinks like a mortal and risks getting her priorities wrong as a result. She’s still too inclined to save the lives right in front her rather than look at the bigger picture. Or so the narrator suggests.
Daredevil Villains #31: The Committee
DAREDEVIL #74 (March 1971)
“In the Country of the Blind!”
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Gene Colan
Inker: Syd Shores
Letterer: Sam Rosen
Colourist: not credited
Editor: Stan Lee
We’ve skipped issue #73, which is a crossover with Iron Man. The villains are Zodiac and Spymaster, but they’re not getting an entry because it’s not a Daredevil story. It’s an Iron Man story, and there’s absolutely no reason for Daredevil to be in it, other than (presumably) a vague hope of boosting sales. Daredevil’s contribution is to join in some fight scenes and to stand around listening patiently to pages of exposition about the origin of the Zodiac Key. Two issues in, Conway has yet to write anything for Daredevil which isn’t a complete dud.
Issue #74 is better, though it’s still not exactly good. It’s the second of Conway’s two stories about blindness. We open with Daredevil fighting some random thugs, getting clocked over the head, and miraculously regaining his sight. But alas, it was all a dream. This takes up a quarter of the book, because Daredevil‘s eccentric pacing decisions are unaffected by the change of writer. We still have languid opening scenes, and a desperate rush to finish the plot at the end.
