The X-Axis – 6 May 2026
X-MEN #29. (Annotations here.) Part 4 of “Danger Room”, and naturally it’s the turning point where the X-Men start fighting back. On the whole, I prefer this book when it’s doing shorter stories – this arc has most in common with the 3K attack on the Factory in issues #14-18, which also felt like it dragged on a bit. Five issues for what in plot terms is an extended fight seems a bit much. But there’s still plenty to like in here – Jed MacKay picks up the Psylocke/Greycrow relationship well, and Netho Diaz does a lovely splash page of the laser being bent around the Marauder. Quentin and Idie screwing up the X-Men’s relationship with the town because they can’t resist walking into a trap even when it’s been pointed out to them is a nice bit too. But I’m not sure Beyond themselves are interesting enough to merit five issues of this.
STORM: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST MUTANT #4. (Annotations here.) Well, this is as berserk as ever. But for the life of me I don’t see how this is going to get to any sort of satisfying resolution with one issue to go. The actual invasion of Earth hasn’t happened yet, and much of the issue is devoted to Bogey negotiating with Hela to even try to be in a position to make the invasion happen. I’m also completely lost about who she’s supposed to be working for – wasn’t the plot that she was trying to free Susanoo? Isn’t he a thunder god? So why is she now saying that her people are older than the gods? Meanwhile, Storm seems to have been dragged away from the main storyline entirely by a weird meta subplot – or to be fair, perhaps that’s the point, and the whole idea is to find a solution that bodyswerves the apparent plot even happening. But… is that interesting? Is it a Storm story, really? Ostensibly the big event in this issue is meant to be the appearance of Storm’s daughter, but as it turns out to be just another alternate reality character who barely interacts with Storm before sending her home, I’m genuinely baffled as to why Ayodele thinks this is a big deal – at least in the story as published, as opposed to however many issues this was meant to take in his original pitch. It does have some very good art, and it would be no bad thing if more Marvel books swung for the fences like this, but it’s ultimately a bit of a mess.
CYCLOPS #4. By Alex Paknadel, Rogê Antônio, Fer Sifuentes-Sujo & Joe Caramagna. Well, it’s the issue where Cyclops gets to take out the Reavers with his eyes shut, in preparation for fighting Pierce himself next issue. If I’m being honest, this is also a bit longer than it needs to be – five issues seems to be Marvel’s current standard for a miniseries, and it feels like four issues would have done the job perfectly well. But no matter, because you buy this book to see Cyclops do his hyper-competent thing, and that’s absolutely what you get. By modern standards, it’s using the space to decompress a bit. There is a nice idea in here that Cyclops is maybe a little bit more like Wolverine than he likes to let on, and that he takes as much pleasure in decimating the bad guys in his own ways, even if he rationalises it to himself as professional pride in a necessary job. The Reavers get a bit of personality as bozos who are regretting their life choices, and Pierce treating them as the latest in an endless stream of cannon fodder works for me – sure, he wasn’t so cavalier about most of the Australian Reavers, but they were basically competent professionals in a way that these freaks certainly aren’t. And there was a hint of this sort of thing even there. Five issues still feels a bit long to me, but it’ll read well as a collection.
JUBILEE: DEADLY REUNION #1. By Gene Luen Yang, Michael YG, Yen Nitro & Joe Caramagna. This is a Marvel Voices one-shot, but it’s Jubilee, so it counts as an X-book for our purposes. Still, it’s also meant to be commemorating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, so naturally it has to lean into that. That means we get a story about Jubilee’s family. Her immediate family were killed off before she even debuted, but there’s always the cyborg aunt that Robert Kirkman created for her solo series. I never much liked that character – I don’t think it helps Jubilee’s character to make her part of a wider family of oddballs and for most purposes it was a wise choice to sweep Aunt Hope under the carpet. But given the remit it makes sense to use her here, and besides, Yang’s main focus is on a rather more measured character, Jubilee’s cousin Eason, who’s an agent of the Hong Kong authorities. Hope is missing, so we get a pretty solid odd-couple story of Jubilee being dragged into helping this guy, and feeling uncomfortable about the trail leading her into Chinese places that she no longer feels connected to, even though she feels she should. Michael YG’s art is rather pretty – his Jubilee seems a bit tall to me, but he draws good kids, which a lot of artists seem to struggle with. One of the better Marvel Voices books I’ve seen in a while – it would have made a perfectly respectable Uncanny annual.
Jubilee was a great surprise this week! Art punching way above its weight, even if it’s mostly by recreating Larraz’s style.
Of course Asian diaspora literature is way saturated right now but thank god this doesn’t make it feel embarrassingly personal.
Since this is comics, I feel obligated to call out the difference between non-speakers writing non-fluent dialogue, and actual speakers writing non-fluent dialogue. If you know, you know.
Storm is an odd character. She has mastery over the weather, and that puts her up their with Thor’s power level. There’s a temptation to try to push her in the direction of being Marvel’s Wonder Woman.
But she was designed to be part of a family of like minded X-Men. Personality wise, she works better in an ensamble cast of lesser powered characters. I can see why it could be hard to find the right tone for her.
Seems to me like some of the most interesting things done with any X-character involved Storm during the Krakoa years. Thinking primarily of how she was used in X-Men Red, which I thought was fantastic. (I’m thinking in particular of one scene in which she wins a battle because she views her teammates as peers rather than as subjects.) But there’s also the beat in Sins of Sinister where she’s one of the only heroes to avoid becoming corrupted….while also overlooking the fact that most of her friends have become corrupted.
There are some really interesting paradoxes in there, but I can also see the challenge of writing stories that bring them to the foreground without being incredibly heavyhanded about it.
“much of the issue is devoted to Bogey negotiating with Hela to even try to be in a position to make the invasion happen.”
That should be “negotiating with Hera”. Hela is busy organizing a different invasion of Earth.
Re: Jubilee: Deadly Reunion 1- I can’t believe that the creative team decided to give Jubilee a secret cousin we’ve never heard of in the all the decades she’s been around. Who do they think Jubilee is- Peter Parker?
Question: I recall Cyclops being revealed as having some control over his optics blasts sans visor back in Whedon’s ASTONISHING. Was that just a cool moment from a book that didn’t end up being influential that we’ve since ignored because it would remove an important aspect of the character?
In other X-news, Wade Wilson: Deadpool 4 was out this week. I liked that Hammerhead found the source of the omens before Wade. Writers often underestimate how dangerous Hammerhead is.
We finally found out what happened to Ellie. There’s an obvious way to bring her back if Percy wants. But this issue does demonstrate that someone like Wade should not be parenting a minor.
In general Marvel news, Marvel is introducing a new universe this fall called the Midnight Universe. It will be written by high-profile creators like Jonathan Hickman, Phillip Kennedy Johnson ,and , um. Ben Percy. It will feature versions of horror characters like Blade, Dracula, Ghost Rider and Morbius.
This is just odd. This seems to be Marvel’s answer to the Absolute Universe. But then why use lesser characters like Blade, Ghost Rider and Morbius instead of first-stringers like Spider-Man and the X-Men?
@Adam- At the end of Whedon’s run, Scott said that he couldn’t control his eye beams any longer and Emma said it was amazing that he controlled them as long as he did.
It sounds more like the Midnight Sons line mixed with the brief Strange Tales line from the late-‘90s or maybe how the MAX line evolved. High-profile creators writing “mature readers” horror titles which exist in the Marvel Universe but don’t interact that strongly with continuity. More of a Marvel version of the new Vertigo than the Absolute Universe.
I wonder if this is what they found for Hickman to do next. Another attempt at something like Imperial using the Marvel horror characters. Will Hickman write a main mini-series, then launch a bunch of spin-off books with different creators? If so, will it fail as spectacularly as Marvel’s attempt to reboot their cosmic line?
@New Kid, Tobias C- During Claremont’s first run, Storm’s control over the weather was treated as lesser than Thor’s. As Claremont put it, “I must work with the forces of nature, not ride roughshod over them”.
Storm’s control over the weather wasn’t really described as “limitless” until the Krakoan Era. And she often struggled against moderately powerful villains who used their skills creatively. Shaw defeated her the first time they fought before she truly understood the nature of his powers. Deathbird managed to capture her during the Brood Saga and Mastermind defeated her with an illusion of Dark Phoenix and then nearly tricked her into killing Scott.
It should be noted that Thor often struggled with “ordinary” villains while in the Avengers. In Avengers 222, for example, Moonstone, Scorpion, Whirlwind and Tiger Shark were able to hold Thor at bay for a few pages. In Avengers 277, Thor spent the bulk of the issue fighting Erik Josten.
The point is that it was usually possible for Avengers writers to come up with a good challenge for Thor by flipping through the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe. And in general, the readers were willing to accept that as the price of having Thor as an Avenger. When Thor fans complained, like during Siege when Thor fans complained about the U-Foes defeating Thor despite the fact that the U-Foes are supposed to be a serious threat to the HULK, the writers and editors ignored them.
The problem is that Storm’s fans aren’t willing to accept her being challenged by “normal” villains. If Storm had trouble with Whirlwind, Scorpion, Moonstone and Tiger Shark or spent the better part of an issue fighting Erik Josten, her fans would cry foul. And the writers and editors wouldn’t ignore them.
@Michael
@Adam
That’s why other X-fans (aside from myself , I didnt originate it) have No-Prize theorized that the “Punch Dimension” is actually a proverbial fig leaf for The Crimson Cosmos , which is why Scott can NEVER fully control his optic blasts until and unless he somehow shuts down/off his secondary mutation of channelling Cytorakk’s extra-dimensional kinetic energy* (his primary mutation is being an energy sponge like his brothers Alex and Gabriel; best for Scott is solar radiation , but like apparently every other 616-energy absorbing mutant , he can canonically also absorb other energies like electricity and arguably maybe even kinetic energy, to explain why his physical stats are already arguably super-soldier-level at this point)
* and if X-editorial decides to confirm that Gambit is indeed biologicaly related to the Summers lineage (as Chris Claremont did in XMen The End) like they really wanted in the 1990s , then they cam say that Remy also channels from The Crimson Cosmos to explain why he generates bio-kinetic energy 24-7 (which also caused him to become a superhuman acrobat/gymnast) and why his eye are also red
@Tobias C: I’m always thoroughly confused when Red gets brought up as a contrast to the current situation – because to me, it’s pretty clear that Ayodele’s fanfic nonsense is a *direct* continuation of how Ewing wrote Storm, as the all-powerful goddess who takes foes down with single blows, is never wrong or morally conflicted, and comes to be venerated by her supposed peers (lest we forget that she becomes a *literal* deity to the Arakki in Sins of Sinister).
Even the one bit of criticism sent her way – that she was blind to Sinister’s takeover of the Quiet Council for five years – came from Gillen, not Ewing, who’s too busy contriving ways to keep Storm in a position of power even when she feigns giving it up.
It’s all an overcorrection to her being sidelined for so long pre-Krakoa, of course, but Ewing is just as guilty as Ayodele is of completely losing sight of Ororo Munroe the person and seeing only Storm the All-Powerful Mutant Sorceress Goddess.
The Jubilee book definitely felt like the author had a preconceived story he wanted to tell and grafted it onto Jubilee as the vessel. All the sudden we get a never-before-mentioned cousin and Chinese name. Has she ever shown any struggles about her (racial) identity before? She grew up in LA, hard to believe she’d feel like she didn’t fit in, at least with her peers at school.
I still think it was dumb that when given the option of being resurrected on Krakoa with his brain damage that made him unable to control his powers fixed, Scott chose not to. I get that it’s become an integral part of his character over the years, but in practical terms it’s just a stupid choice for him to make.
I haven’t read the Jubilee or Spider-Man issues, but I see no problem with previously unmentioned cousins even within long-running series. I am positive that I have never mentioned multiple cousins of mine to my lifelong friends. I am not ashamed of those cousins, they just never come up, even in my private thoughts. I have one cousin I’ve never even met. It’s a common enough experience.
@Michael: Ah, thank you! I didn’t remember that scene.
@Jdsm24: I have never before heard of the Cytorrak fan theory! That’s fun, thanks for sharing.
@Michael This seems to be Marvel’s answer to the Absolute Universe. But then why use lesser characters like Blade, Ghost Rider and Morbius instead of first-stringers like Spider-Man and the X-Men?
Because they already have their own version of the Absolute Universe with its own versions of Spider-Man and the X-Men, I guess. It even has a very similar name.
@Adam- In the Spider-Man issue, he’s fighting a villain who can sense that people are related that’s become Carnage’s host and the villain reveals that Peter and a man named Crane are related. This comes as a surprise to both Peter and Crane. And it’s hinted that Crane might be the son of Uncle Ben and/.or Aunt May.
In the Jubilee issue, a never before mentioned cousin of Jubilee shows up. At first Jubilee doesn’t remember him. Then Jubilee realizes that she met him as a child, saw him use his mutant powers, and forgot about him.
In both cases, Peter and Jubilee didn’t know about the cousin or forgot about him even though there was something significant about them.
@Daibhid C- But the Uitimate Universe is ending.
Some more news about X-Men Outback:
It takes place before Inferno.
Each issues falla between a different point in the original series.
We will see the things like Storm’s costume change. Psylocke’s change to her armor, and Colossus’s reaction to passing himself off as a ghost to his sister.
Maddie will wrestle with her place on the team as well as seeing Jean and Scott on TV. And that will lead her onto the battlefield.
Now here’s where we might be getting into continuity problems. We saw Maddie getting tricked by S’ym and turned into the Goblin Queen shortly after finding out about Jean and Scott. Although she DID try to help save Jenny Ransome after that so obviously there’s some wiggle room- she seemed to retain much of her original personality until Genosha.
I couldn’t even tell you how many cousins I have, let alone name all of them. They live in another country. I haven’t seen them in decades.
Bleeding Cool’s Weekly Bestseller List is out. X-Men 29 came in 8th. Storm 4 and Cyclops 4 didn’t make the list. It’s understandable that Cyclops didn’t make the list because it’s a mini but I wonder if its sales are fading. It’s surprising Cyclops did as well as it did so far considering minis usually don’t sell well after the first issue.
As a side note, Daredevil came in 2nd. I’m surprised that Daredevil did that well since Stephanie Phillips drove away the audiences on Phoenix and She Hulk.
Give it until issue #3 to see how it’s really doing. The first issue was a “blind bag” gimmick, and those books do really well. Most comic readers either forget to ask the comic store to remove a comic from their pull list after the first issue, or they are willing to give the second issue another chance.
@Daihbid: Ah.
@Michael and Chris V: People might be a little more pumped for a new Daredevil series due to the second season of DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN having come out.
@Chris V- My point is that there was seemingly less of a drop between issues than Percy’s Deadpool or Ewing’s X-Men United. (I know- we don’t have precise numbers.) It’s possible Adam is right- people might be excited about Daredevil due to the TV series. Or it’s possible that the first issues of both those series were so poorly received that readers made sure to remove the second issues from their pull lists.
I don’t think Midgnight is Marvel’s direct response to the Absolute line, so much as getting their spooky characters lined up in time for Halloween.
I kind of fear this will be a rerun of Imperial. Something feels forced about some of the Hickman led inititives. They keep promising these connected families of revamped titles before they’ve even hooked any readers on the idea that they need new cosmic or horror titles. In this economy people are looking for excuses NOT to pick up four or five new books that will inevitably lead to a big crossover.
It’s because Hickman charges more than other comic writers. Marvel has to justify any book they give him by making it into an event. He’s running out of properties. Next year, it’ll be “Hickman unveils the new Star Line featuring Misty.”
I don’t think this approach is doing Hickman any favors. No one seems to be asking for writers to be showrunners, some halfway point between writer and editor. Also, krakoa kept going after Hickman left, so Hickman fans might be concerned they’re going to start something that will be handed off to creative teams they’re less passionate about.
I remain unconvinced that the Absolute line either can be made to work as an ongoing concern or was ever meant to.
I always perceived it as an interesting idea with a very obvious shelf life. It sits solidly inside the range of unconfortable distance from the mainstream versions that makes it an unconfortable clash while it lasts, but that is a double-edged sword; they aren’t original enough to stand on their own merits without being some form of reaction to the mainstream takes, and it is self-defeating to simply keep publishing two alternate takes that are meant to be different. It would be a continuous invitation to decide
Besides, the Absolute line is too tied to Darkseid specifically. Its appeal comes from that tension and in that sense it has been working fine.
But that can’t last far much longer. At some point we will want to read something that does not exist under the shadow of Darkseid.
So I don’t know what exactly would be a proper take on the Absolute line for Marvel to implement. I don’t think Ultimate 2.0 qualifies; even more than Absolute, it is an idea with a very rigid shelf life, and I am all the happier for that.
That’s the problem with revamps like the Ultimate and Absolute line. They get a huge amount of attention at first. Fans are looking for a self-contained story, starting fresh, without sixty years of baggage. The longer the new universe exists, the more it defeats the original purpose and appeal. The new universe begins to accumulate its own continuity. It starts to rely too much on the Prime Universe for swerves (this character is so moral in the Marvel Universe comics, but in the Ultimate Universe they are…evil?!), and that leads to diminishing returns. The publisher will attempt to milk it for as long as possible, but the huge sales figures will start to drop off after the first year or so. Marvel already learned this with the original Ultimate line, so they brought back the Ultimate Universe for a limited time. DC has never tried this approach, so I expect that it’ll be drug out after the point it should be stopped, much like the original Marvel Ultimate U.
Launching a new Ghost Rider origin isn’t going to be Marvel’s answer to the Absolute U. I’m expecting that it’ll spin out of Queen in Black somehow, leading to the creation of a new universe in the Marvel Multiverse based in darkness, and the Marvel horror characters will be shunted to that universe. Kind of a Heroes Reborn starring Midnight Sons meets MAX.
Dc kinda tried it with their, uhh, All-Star line? Or something? The one where Alfred was more of a bruiser type . They were OGNs tho so maybe that is different
Also I probably have the name wrong
The Absolute line continues to sell well due to its quality. Sure, there is some interest in the comics as a contrast to the mainstream DC line (Abs. Batman practically runs on this mentality, not to its detriment), but title like Abs. Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter are just plain excellent. I don’t think very many readers are chomping at the bit to find out how Giganta and Despero changed in the new reality. Scott Snyder said the line will run until readers lose interest. If so, I can’t argue with that reasoning.
Jubilee was a pretty good comic. Speaking of cousins, I was at a wedding last weekend and saw a lot of family members for the first time in a decade or more. I didn’t recognize some of my cousins at first because we were kids or young adults last time I saw them. It was nice to catch up, guess I’ll see them next wedding or funeral.
@Tobias C: As someone who doesn’t care about power levels or seeing a favorite character being the bestest oh so special hero ever… I loved the first 12 or so issues of X-Men Red and dropped Storm after 2 issues. Ewing gave us a likable protagonist put in interesting situations. I wish we’d seen more of Ororo trying to balance being part of the Arakki society with dating and being involved in Krakoan drama. Ayodele gave us a comic I didn’t connect with. I think the challenges you mentioned in writing Storm just weren’t interesting to him or what he decided to write about. Fair enough, he just lost me. The power level issues are easy enough to deal with, though, if someone decides to depower her. I don’t think it’s necessary- Superman, Thor, Wonder Woman, Hulk, Flash, Green Lantern, and other ultra-powerful super-heroes have been both solo characters and members of teams for decades without being depowered.
@Jaymes: you’re thinking of DC’s Earth One OGN line, which launched with Superman and Batman books that were not well-liked.
@Chris V: what you’re writing about sounds like some sort of Dark Universe, starring older horror characters. How could it possibly fail?
As much as I like Marvel’s ‘70s horror comics and the Strange Tales line (Liam Sharpe and Leonardo Manco on art!), I don’t have high hopes. When is the last time Ghost Rider was a top seller? He’s more popular than any of the others, and Marvel can’t even keep a Ghost Rider ongoing.
Hickman’s name isn’t enough to launch a line anymore. I don’t think any writer has enough juice to revitalize Marvel’s sales at this point.
I wasn’t jonesing for an Absolute Giganta, but how fun is she? Hilarious. I’ve had a soft spot for her since the Super Friends TV show, though, so maybe I’m biased.
I like the idea that the Absolute and new Ultimate lines have logical endpoints. Writers can end the series on their own terms. Or, if interest fades, they move to their final story and neatly wrap things up.
I imagine you could rinse and repeat as necessary. There are infinite alternate universes, so why not explore a few more? Give each one a planned two-year run or whatever, and see what happens.
What I’m not super interested in is an Absolute line-wide crossover, although I’m sure that’s on the way.
Here’s my take on the extra family thing.
For Spider-Man, it’s integral to the character that he comes from this messed up family unit, a kid with no friends, who is doted on by a much older childless couple. The tragedy of Spider-Man is he feels responsible for the death of one of the two people who were his entire world. And even as Peter becomes well-liked, with a large circle of friends, he can’t trust anyone with his secret identity and he’s still to this day driven by guilt. Adding extra family members doesn’t take away from any of that drive, but it does dilute it from a storytelling perspective.
Jubilee, on the other hand, doesn’t really rely at all on being a homeless mallrat. Most X-Men are orphans of one kind or another. It’s not a theme that’s integral. A forgotten cousin isn’t harmful to Jubilee in the same way it would be to Spider-Man. Though it would raise awkward questions about why she wasn’t put in the custody of family members back in the day.
I didn’t even remember Jubilee was an orphan, I guess because she had normal, alive parents in the ’90s cartoon (where she’s essentially just Kitty Pryde with different powers, even moreso than in the comics) and being on the main cast of that show is still her main claim to relevance.
The Mad Magazine “Absolute Cash-In” parodies (not one, but two!) wouldn’t be funny if they didn’t ring true as entirely conceivable.
Personally, I think they made these jokes too soon.
If Storm is a goddess, she is the Goddess of Broken Promises. From her first page, she has been abandoning responsibilities, a trend that has accellerated this decade.
I wonder, now that she’s taking a meta turn, if there’s some hay to be made about her being linked to Jonathan Hickman. He is powerful writer who is great at setting up a story, but can’t write an ending to save his life.
@ Alexx Kay: Hickman’s original idea was to make Storm pregnant. It got vetoed by Marvel editorial. Later, the Krakoa-era writers wanted to follow their own paths and not stick to Hickman’s timeline for Krakoa. Rather than stay aboard, Hickman quit the X-books. If Storm 5 ends with Ororo saying, “screw you, I’m going home,” and leaving the other characters to sort it all out, you might be on to something.
Maybe Storm is Inmate X. The timing works out.
What do you mean “the timing does not matter”?
What do you mean “Storm can’t be in two places at the same time”?
What do you mean “that would make no sense”?
“I still think it was dumb that when given the option of being resurrected on Krakoa with his brain damage that made him unable to control his powers fixed, Scott chose not to. I get that it’s become an integral part of his character over the years, but in practical terms it’s just a stupid choice for him to make.”
100%, but that’s true for all of the characters with permanent damage, unwanted modifications, or inconvenient mutations. Why does Angel still have metal wings? Why can’t Cyclops control his optic blasts now? Why did Karma choose to keep her metal prosthetic leg? Why didn’t Beast ask for a new, de-furred body with just his original oversized hands and feet mutation?
We all know the real reasons, which are half IP driven and half for future storytelling potential. But they never really bothered giving in-universe explanations for most of those (save Karma, I think), because none of them would be genuinely satisfying. Fans are used to seeing Scott with a visor and Warren with metal wings and Hank with blue fur. That’s it.
@Chris V
I think the original Ultimates line could have had a much longer shelf-life if they hadn’t given all the readers whiplash by shifting from Millar/Hitch to Loeb/Madureira.
Ultimate Spider-Man was still great, and there was plenty enough good-will to keep tinkering with Ultimate X-Men and FF.
But Ultimates Volume 3 was so hyperbolically off-model (story- and artwise) from what made Vol 1-2 so acclaimed that, it was like shooting the fastest horse in the middle of the race. It literally killed the entire line in one fell swoop.
Ultimates was a thing people were still absolutely enjoying, and Loeb just missed the entire point of why people liked it.
@Drew- None of those are really in the same category as Scott refusing to have his brain damage fixed. Warren’s metal wings are more useful in combat than his feathered wings. And Beast seemed to prefer his furred body by the time he became the Chairman.
But Scott’s inability to control his eye beams make him a danger to everyone around him. And to make matters worse Duggan had him insult Alex and then criticize Alex for being reckless when Alex punched him and he lost his visor. (Yes, Alex’s behavior was inexcusable.) The net result was to make Scott look like a sociopath.
I understand if you don’t want to write/publish a story that’s able-ist, but having every character make the same decision rings hollow to me.
Metal wings and whole-body fur can actually be useful. Brain damage that keeps your eye blasts set to “on” all the time? That’s just dangerous. A (relatively) recently lost limb? It’s got to be more comfortable to regenerate a flesh-and-blood limb than to use a metal one, even if it is a magical metal leg created by a mutant.
It would have been more interesting for Xuan to get rid of her metal leg and Forge to keep his. He at least lost his leg in a meaningful way. Xuan was just wounded in a random fight.
Scott, in particular, would have been an interesting case. He was Hickman’s poster boy for “Krakoa has solved all our problems” at the beginning. He gets his brain damage fixed, but as Krakoa falls he has to be brought back without the fix. Paradise fallen in one symbol.
Scott could have been resurrected without the brain damage but still need the visor to help him control and focus his blasts. It would have fit in with the more relaxed version of the character we saw in the early days of Krakoa.
Xuan keeping the prosthetic was explained, most likely because Vita Ayala bothered to think through how the characters would act while also understanding the importance of disability representation. I doubt anyone writing Beast or Angel put thought into their situations beyond the fact that the characters look better in their current forms.
There could have been an interesting story about mutants using resurrection as an opportunity for plastic surgery. Percy played it for laughs with Quentin Quire and Ayala played it for drama with Kosmar. We didn’t get stories of visible mutants trying to become human-passing, though (unless it happened in a series I missed), and I think that’s a missed opportunity.
Why would they when Krakoa was isolating itself from humanity? Krakoa was telling mutants they were “superior to humans”. It’d be like the novel Passing being rewritten as Black Like Me. I thought the Kosmar storyline was a thorough look at the issue (although, I think Ayala’s intent was to comment on the transindividual’s experience rather than to truly look at the issue of mutants, or that was the sense of it I had at the time reading the comics).
I don’t understand Karma’s decision, in the least. Disability representation is important, yes, but Karma’s situation would be the equivalence of a person losing a limb in a terrorist attack, getting a chance to have their limb back, but deciding that their life after experiencing the terrorist attack was for the better, which is something that I don’t see as realistic. She was the victim of a hate crime, not born like that. “I love my body given to my in an act of hatred.”
Surprised Storm and Black Panther didn’t have a kid in the 616, given a number of them exist in alternate timelines.
IIRC, in the excellent FF Annual by Kesel and Immonen, Franklin Richards’s wife is from Wakanda, ut don’t specifically say who her mother is. Given she’s a Princess, I presume T’Challa was her dad.
@Chris V- I seem to remember that some people complained when Xavier regained his ability to walk in Uncanny X-Men 167 and Tony Stark regained the ability to walk after Kathy Dare shot him. Xavier and Stark were injured in attempts to kill them, so it makes sense that they would want to get rid of their disabilities if possible, since any injury serious enough to rob some of the use of their legs, even temporarily, is the kind of thing that is extremely traumatic. But some readers value disability representation over other things.