Legion of X #6 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
LEGION OF X #6
“Holding the Line”
Writer: Si Spurrier
Artist: Rafael Pimentel
Colourist: Federico Blee
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Design: Tom Muller with Jay Bowen
Editor: Sarah Brunstad
COVER / PAGE 1. An arrangement of hexagons with three showing Uranos and the rest showing the regular cast – Legion, Mother Righteous, Zsen, Nightcrawler, Pixie, Juggernaut and Banshee (in his “Ghost Rider” form). The significance of the hexagons isn’t obvious, since the Hex have nothing to do with this story – for that matter, Mother Righteous, Zsen, Pixie and Juggernaut aren’t in this issue either.
PAGE 2. The Progenitor confronts Legion.
Since the Progenitor is still in its day of judging people, we’re during A.X.E.: Judgment Day #4.
“Universe destroyer. Universe creator.” It’s not immediately obvious what the Progenitor is referring to here; he might mean Legion’s role in the events that created the “Age of Apocalypse” timeline, or the “Age of X” arc from Mike Carey’s X-Men run.
Immortal X-Men #7 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers and page numbers go by the digital edition.
IMMORTAL X-MEN #7
“Part 7: Red in Blue”
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Lucas Werneck
Colourist: David Curiel
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Design: Tom Muller, Jay Bowen & Kieron Gillen
Editor: Jordan D White
COVER / PAGE 1. Nightcrawler teleporting around.
PAGE 2. Obituary for Tom Palmer (1942-2022).
PAGES 3-5. Nightcrawler is optimistic.
This scene takes place at the end of A.X.E.: Judgment Day #4, ending at the point where the Progenitor (as seen in that issue) renders his judgment and starts trying to destroy the world. Nightcrawler is characteristically optimistic about everything – he has faith, after all. More to the point, Nightcrawler always wants to see the best in people, and fundamentally believes (or maybe needs to believe) that people are decent. Therefore, he expects the Progenitor to be satisfied with humans as a whole.
“Erik is dead, and we cannot return him without disrespecting his legacy.” Magneto died fighting Uranos in Judgment Day #4 and X-Men Red #7. He and Storm deleted their backups in X-Men Red #4 out of deference to Arakkii sensibilities on the subject of resurrection, to make themselves mortal. Magneto reiterated in X-Men Red #7 that he didn’t want to be brought back. Professor X implies here that Magneto could in fact be brought back even without the backups that were deleted, as did Storm in X-Men Red #7.
A.X.E.: Eternals #1 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
A.X.E.: ETERNALS #1
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Pasqual Ferry
Colourist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
COVER / PAGE 1. This is the third of the A.X.E. one-shots, and the cover forms a single image with the Avengers and X-Men one-shot covers.
PAGES 2-3. Recap and credits.
PAGES 4-7. The heroes inside the Progenitor.
The group are still fighting their way through the Progenitor’s body, which is where we left them in A.X.E.: X-Men. Jean ended that issue particularly determined to destroy the Progenitor.
“The gag we used on Sinister.” As seen in A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1, when he was a prisoner.
“The First Principle.” The Eternals are compelled to follow (or at least not to contravene) three principles, the first being “Protect Celestials.” The Progenitor counts as a proper Celestial to them, and apparently that extends to its immune system. In Judgment Day #5, the Eternals deliberately allowed the mutant psychics access to their minds in order to bypass the principles via mind control.
Marauders #7 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
MARAUDERS vol 2 #7
“Here Comes Yesterday, part 1”
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Eleonora Carlini
Colourists: Rachelle Rosenberg & Matt Milla
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Design: Tom Muller
Editor: Jordan D White
COVER / PAGE 1. Kate Pryde (and Lockheed) look up at… well, presumably that’s Amass in merged form.
PAGE 2. Obituary for Mike Pasciullo.
PAGE 3. Stringfellow and Scratch argue.
This continues the Theatre of Pain subplot which has been running in the background and looks set to stay there for a while yet. The previous issue also opened with a page of Scratch addressing a Theatre of Pain audience, while being watched by Lockheed, who in turn was being watched by Dirt Nap (the rat). The previous subplot was placed in Philadelphia; this one is in Waterbury, Connecticut.
X-Men Red #7 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-MEN RED vol 2 #7
“The Winning Side”
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Stefano Caselli
Colour artists: Federico Blee & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo
Letterer & production: Ariana Maher
Design: Tom Muller
Editor: Jordan D White
COVER / PAGE 1. Storm fights Isca in the Great Ring chamber. This is another Judgment Day tie-in.
PAGE 2. Obituary for Mike Pasciullo.
PAGES 3-7. The aftermath of Magneto’s battle with Uranos.
Issue #6 ended with Storm, Magneto & co setting off to confront Uranos. Magneto defeated Uranos in A.X.E.: Judgment Day #4, and this picks up directly from the end of that scene. (Despite what it says on the recap page, at least the vast majority of this story takes place during Judgment Day #4, not after Judgment Day #5.)
“You have new gods now.” This comes from the end of Magneto’s speech to the human ambassadors in House of X #1.
Resurrection. In issue #4, Magneto and Storm both destroyed their backups in order to disavow the possibility of resurrection, and prove themselves to their Arakkii colleagues. Magneto’s refusal to waver on this in his last moments was something that impressed the Progenitor in Judgment Day #4. Storm is clearly less wedded to the idea – at least when it becomes a reality – and immediately proposes resurrecting Magneto even without the benefit of a backup. She seems clear that this would work, despite having presented the backup deletion as a crucial factor in issue #4. Presumably she’s anticipating the return of a blank-slate Magneto in that situation.
A.X.E.: X-Men #1 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
A.X.E.: X-MEN #1
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Francesco Mobili
Colourist: Frank Martin
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
COVER / PAGE 1. Jean Grey in front of the Progenitor. It’s part of a single image with last week’s A.X.E.: Avengers one-shot. As noted last week, these three one-shots are essentially part of the A.X.E.: Judgment Day miniseries, albeit with different artists.
PAGE 2. Obituary for Mike Pasciullo.
PAGES 3-4. Recap and credits.
PAGES 5-7. The heroes (and Sinister) discuss their next step.
This picks up from the end of A.X.E.: Avengers, where Iron Man was judged by the Progenitor and realised that the very fact that the Progenitor was still judging him proved that it hadn’t really made a final decision to end the world.
“I’ve stolen one Celestial’s power before and it ended very badly for me.” Mr Sinister is referring to the time he co-opted the power of the Dreaming Celestial, in the early issues of Gillen’s Uncanny X-Men vol 2.
Iron Man. Wolverine describes him as “an addict on a hope high, and I’m glad one of us is.” A few points from that. Firstly, Iron Man is the only traditional Avenger in the group and therefore the most conventional and traditional superhero here – but by Avengers standards he’s normally the morally dubious one. Of course, he’s also a futurist and in that sense all about optimism for the future. Second, Wolverine is presumably alluding deliberately to Iron Man’s long history of alcoholism (which has recently reared its head again over in his solo title with a stint in rehab). Third, note that Wolverine suggests that Iron Man is the sole optimist in the group even though Ajak just agreed with him. Since Ajak’s religiosity is partly pre-programmed, Wolverine may not take it very seriously – or, not being that religious himself (unless Jason Aaron’s writing), Wolverine may attach rather more weight to Iron Man’s secular optimism.
X-Men #15 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-MEN vol 6 #15
“Collapse Theory”
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Joshua Cassara
Colourist: Guru-eFX
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Design: Tom Muller with Jay Bowen
Editor: Jordan D White
COVER / PAGE 1. The Children of the Vault with the defeated X-Men. Don’t worry, it’s only a dream.
PAGE 2. Data page. An opening quote from Forge. Note that he’s treating Krakoa as a government like any other. When Forge was first introduced, he was a weapon designer for the US government, and he designed the neutraliser device that led Storm to lose her powers for a while.
PAGE 3. Forge and Cyclops make their way through the jungle.
This is apparently part of the simulation which Forge creates for the Children of the Vault (as explained later), but it’s repeated on page 16 in the real world.
“You wanted to know what I was doing for the Council so much that you put me on the X-Men.” Cyclops did indeed nominate Forge onto the X-Men without asking him in X-Men: Hellfire Gala, leading Forge to assure Professor X that it wouldn’t interfere with “Project Blackbox.” We’ll find out in this issue what Project Blackbox actually is.
A.X.E.: Avengers #1 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
A.X.E.: AVENGERS #1
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Federico Vicentini
Colourist: Dean White
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Although it’s billed as a separate one-shot, this is essentially A.X.E.: Judgment Day #5 1/4. Note though that it doesn’t have the Progenitor’s narration from the regular series.
COVER / PAGE 1. Iron Man in the shadow of the Progenitor.
PAGES 2-3. Recap and credits.
PAGES 4-6. Inside the Progenitor, the team make plans.
“For an Avengers, Eternals and X-Men get-together, this Avenger is feeling distinctly outnumbered.” This feels like a nod to the Avengers’ somewhat peripheral role in the crossover, which only has a peripheral tie-in issue in Avengers itself. It might be said that so far, this is more of a story about the Eternals, the X-Men, and the Avengers’ house.
New Mutants #30 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
NEW MUTANTS vol 4 #30
“Still Classic”
Writer: Vita Ayala
Framing story art: Alex Lins & Bryan Valenza
Moonstar art: Justin Mason & Bryan Valenza
Karma art: Jason Loo
Wolfsbane story art: Emma Kubert, Roberto Poggi & Antonio Fabela
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Design: Tom Muller & Jay Bowen
Editor: Sarah Brunstad
COVER / PAGE 1. Members of the cast pose – specifically, that’s Galura behind the logo; Warpath, Magik and Karma in the top tier; X-23, Anole and Dani Moonstar in the middle tier; and Cosmar, Wolfsbane and Sunspot at the bottom.
PAGE 2. Letter from the author. This issue is an anthology special celebrating the 40th anniversary of the New Mutants’ debut. It’s not connected to wider storylines and I wouldn’t have done annotations for it if it had been a one-shot, but it’s part of the regular series, so we’ll run through it quickly.
PAGE 3. Recap and credits.
PAGE 4. Data page. Sunspot invites us to the 40th anniversary celebration (or whatever it is in continuity).
PAGES 5-6. Sunspot is unhappy about the preparations for his party.
“Cidade do Paraíso.” “Paradise City.”
Legion of X #5 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
LEGION OF X #5
“A Canticle for Liebenden”
Writer: Si Spurrier
Artist: Jan Bazaldua
Colourist: Federico Blee
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Design: Toom Muller with Jay Bowen
Editor: Sarah Brunstad
COVER / PAGE 1. Legion, Banshee, Pixie, Nightcrawler, Juggernaut and for some reason Storm, standing around.
PAGE 2. Data page. Obviously, this is Professor X writing about his son Legion (David Haller). By likening Legion to something that he “crafted”, Professor X could just be referring to his status as Legion’s biological father – but it’s more likely a reference to the data pages in Powers of X #6 which indicate that Moira MacTaggert deliberately identified genetic partners for herself and Professor X to produce powerful reality-altering mutants. The obvious implication was that this was the genesis of Proteus and Legion. (Professor X’s continuing discomfort with Legion’s power and lack of controllability should probably also be seen in this light.)
PAGE 3. Recap and credits.
“A Canticle for Liebenden.” The title is probably a reference to Walter Miller’s novel A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959), about a monastic order preserving knowledge in the centuries after a nuclear war, until humanity is ready for it again. Liebenden means lovers or loving. A canticle is a kind of hymn. If this sounds familiar, the same book was referenced in passing in Immortal X-Men #3, though that’s probably just a coincidence.
