The X-Axis – w/c 19 June 2023
Well, all this week’s regular titles got annotations posts already, so we can take this one fairly quickly. Oh, hold on, there’s also…
X-MEN UNLIMITED INFINITY COMIC #92. By Jason Loo and Antonio Fabela. This is the start of a new arc, with the Madrox family and the Fantastic Four. If that seems random… well, it is, but Madrox did make his first appearance in an issue of Giant-Size Fantastic Four, which is something. It’s okay, I guess. It’s mostly inconsequential slice of life stuff, which isn’t especially gripping, though there’s a nice idea of X-Corp scientist-version Madrox looking for the approval of Reed Richards. And then a completely random villain shows up at the end, which is… choppy pacing, at least. But it’s fine.
X-FORCE #41. (Annotations here.) The previous issue seemed to set up one of those “jump after jump through time” stories, but it seems we’re just doing two. Which is cutting to the chase, I guess. I suppose the point of this arc is to give the rest of the X-Force cast their own showdown with Beast, in the form of alternate timeline versions, while Wolverine gets to deal with the real deal in his own book… but it does feel a bit secondary. There doesn’t seem to be much going on here beyond some time travel shenanigans, but there are a couple of likeably absurd ideas, like Beast concealing his clones in major world heritage sites so that nobody will disturb them. Mainly, though, it all feels a bit inconsequential to me.
New Mutants: Lethal Legion #4 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
NEW MUTANTS: LETHAL LEGION #4
“When I Was A Lad”
Writer: Charlie Jane Anders
Penciler: Enid Balám
Inker: Elisabetta D’Amico
Colourist: Matt Milla
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Design: Tom Muller with Jay Bowen
Editor: Sarah Brunstad
COVER / PAGE 1. The New Mutants face off against Nefaria and his Lethal Legion.
PAGES 2-5. The New Mutants fail to escape and make their stand.
The Voluptuous Cherry Orchard is not real, as far as I can tell. But residents of Westchester County who are looking for cherry blossom next spring can find a list of recommended locations here.
Moonstone. Escapade describes her as “the chaotic-neutral version of Captain Marvel”, admittedly with some uncertainty. Traditionally, I wouldn’t really describe her as chaotic – she’s a meticulous planner and manipulator, if anything – though “neutral” may be fair enough when looking at her career in the round. Karla is more interested in her own personal comfort than in power or wealth as ends in themselves. She is, however, comparably powerful to Captain Marvel, and served as the Captain Marvel stand-in in a version of the Dark Avengers. As Carol’s standing has risen over the last few years, Moonstone maybe gets some spillover credibility boost as a result.
Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #5 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
BETSY BRADDOCK: CAPTAIN BRITAIN #5
“Thou Art More Near Thy Death”
Writer: Tini Howard
Artist: Vasco Georgiev
Colourist: Erick Arciniega
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Design: Tom Muller with Jay Bowen
Editor: Sarah Brunstad
COVER / PAGE 1. Betsy and an assortment of other Captain Britains in action.
This is the final issue of the series, and this time round it doesn’t seem to be in line for a relaunch after the season break. While this book and Knights of X were more or less insta-cancelled, it’s only fair to note that between those two titles and Excalibur, Tini Howard’s run comes to 36 issues, which is a more than respectable total.
Taken together, this issue and the previous one show definite signs of racing to wrap up plots that were intended to play out over a much longer period, but that’s how these things tend to go.
PAGES 2-4. Captain Britain, S.T.R.I.K.E. and Excalibur make plans.
The pile of action figures and the doll’s house on the table belong to Maggie Braddock, who was using them to make plans for the attack on Morgan’s home at the end of the previous issue.
X-Force #41 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-FORCE vol 6 #41
“The Ghost Calendars, part 2”
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: Paul Davidson
Colour artist: Guru-eFX
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Design: Tom Muller with Jay Bowen
Editor: Mark Basso
COVER / PAGE 1: The makeshift X-Force on a mound of skulls – Colossus, Wolverine, Domino, Omega Red, elderly Kid Omega and alt-future Deadpool. (The real one was left behind last issue.)
PAGES 2-5. Beast buries clones of himself at world heritage sites.
It’s not entirely clear whether this is something Beast is actually up to now, or simply part of the back story of the future timeline, but it doesn’t really matter. Beast’s basic idea here is audaciously silly: the best way to make sure his clones survive into the future is to hide them within world heritage sites, because nobody’s going to mess about with them. Which kind of begs the question of how he got in in the first place, and how he expects that shallow grave in Stonehenge to go unnoticed, but let’s assume he’s bribing or mind controlling people or whatever.
Over in Wolverine, Beast was paranoid about his clones undermining his control, but presumably he’s not so bothered about these guys, because he doesn’t expect to be around. Or perhaps these are more spare clone bodies in which he can be resurrected with his own mind, as happened (somehow) in the epilogue of Wolverine #30. But probably not, because Quentin’s explanation last issue was that Beast “has planted various versions of himself to influence the future.” He described them as “experimental hatchlings and mutations”.
Charts – 16 June 2023
Intro.
1. Dave & Central Cee – “Sprinter”
Dave and Central Cee hang on for a second week, and the other two tracks from the “Split Decision” EP both climb – “Trojan Horse” moves 14-12, and “UK Rap” 17-14.
2. J Hus featuring Drake – “Who Told You”
More UK rap, but it’s not quite enough to shift Dave. This is comfortably J Hus’s biggest hit – he made it to number 5 in 2019 with “Must Be”, but he hasn’t made the top 10 since then. His only other top 10 hit was in 2017, when “Did You See” managed a week at 9. This is the second single from his upcoming album, following “It’s Crazy”, which could only manage number 15. Drake’s name is likely hurting here, even though his actual contribution is on autopilot. But the record itself is also one of J Hus’s more commercial tracks.
The X-Axis – w/c 12 June 2023
WOLVERINE #34. (Annotations here.) This is the heaviest week we’ve had in a while, which is not usually a good thing. It’s also a week with a lot of middle chapters where there isn’t much new to be said. This, for example, is part 4 of “Weapons of X”, with half an issue of action sequences in a curiously icebound North Sea, followed by a weird scene of Wolverine and Beast in a restaurant. Beast is a cartoon villain at this point, and you’d struggle to say there’s any real character interest to this, but there’s still something surreal about the way this arc is playing out that I do find quite endearing. Juan José Ryp is okay on the routine action scenes, but he excels when he’s asked to do something grotesque. Two pages of Beast repulsively eating a lobster is an unusual request, but Ryp can certainly pull it off.
X-MEN RED #12. (Annotations here.) Jon Ironfire fills in the back story of how he wound up on Mars, which means most of the issue is the White Sword and his 100 champions, plus a bit of Genesis. Al Ewing has done sterling work on this book in reinventing Arakko and making it much more interesting than the one-dimensional concept that had been established beforehand. As a result, he has got me interested in the characters on Arakko itself. But the White Sword and Genesis haven’t had the benefit of that work, and while they’re given a bit more nuance here than they had in the past, I can’t say I’m immediately interested in seeing more of either character. Honestly, we’ve barely seen Genesis when she wasn’t under the influence of Annihilation, and despite her prominence in “X of Swords”, her main function has been as something for Apocalypse to react to. I’m somewhat interested in knowing what Apocalypse has been up to. Genesis, though, still needs serious work to persuade me that there’s anything to her.
Wolverine #34 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers and page numbers go by the digital edition.
WOLVERINE vol 7 #34
“Weapons of X, part 4”
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: Juan José Ryp
Colourist: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: Cory Petit
Design: Tom Muller with Jay Bowen
Editor: Mark Basso
COVER / PAGE 1: Wolverine attacks Beast’s giant walking skull base thingy.
For the purposes of this post, there isn’t very much to say about this issue – it’s pretty much self-explanatory, much of it is an extended action sequence, and there aren’t many references to other issues. None of that is a criticism, by the way; it’s just the sort of issue this is.
PAGES 2-7. Wolverine and Maverick get Jeff Bannister to call off the army.
This picks up from the end of the previous issue, where Beast had just blown up an oil pipeline between Norway and the UK, drawing the attention of both Wolverine and Maverick on the one hand, and Jeff Bannister on the other – who, for some reason, has been put in charge of a military unit. They’re attacking Wolverine because they’ve mistaken him for one of the Beast’s Wolverine clones.
X-Men: Red #12 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-MEN: RED #12
“Storm Warning”
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Jacopo Camagni
Colour artist: Federico Blee
Letterer & production: Ariana Maher
Design: Tom Muller
Editor: Jordan D White.
COVER / PAGE 1. Jon Ironfire in the foreground, with Nova, Sunspot and Storm surrounding him, and an image of the White Sword in the background.
PAGES 2-6. Flashback: The White Sword frees Jon Ironfire and sends him to Arakko.
Essentially, the White Sword knows that Genesis’s forces are coming and that he’s going to wind up under her control. He sends Jon Ironfire away with his sword, partly to save Jon, partly to alert Arakko, and partly to keep the sword itself out of Genesis’s hands.
The White Sword and Genesis‘s back story was covered in “X of Swords”. Basically, the Sword and his personal army of 100 champions battled the enemy forces on Amenth for centuries, with the Sword using his omega healing powers to resurrect them all daily. On page 3, the White Sword refers to Genesis’s shifting alliances in the past. Originally, she led the forces of Arakko in their battle against the demons of Amenth – the Sword regards them as bringing up the rear. Later, she fell under the control of Annihilation, via its demonic helmet, and led the Amenth forces against the White Sword.
Charts – 9 June 2023
So, “Miracle” doesn’t hold on for a ninth week at number 1. Instead…
1. Dave & Central Cee – “Sprinter”
14. Dave & Central Cee – “Trojan Horse”
17. Dave & Central Cee – “UK Rap”
For once, this isn’t three tracks from an album. “Sprinter” was released as a regular single and dutifully sails to number 1 with 13.4 million streams in its first week. The other two tracks are from a surprise follow-up EP, “Split Decision”. “Sprinter” appears on the EP too, but the remaining track, “Our 25th Birthday”, gets disqualified by the three-song rule. As that title might suggest, even though Dave has been having hits for longer, they’re the same age – their birthdays are one day apart, and the EP was timed for that.
The X-Axis – w/c 5 June 2023
IMMORTAL X-MEN #12. (Annotations here.) The Colossus spotlight issue was always going to be interesting, given his weird status quo as the puppet of a Russian novelist. For the most part, Immortal has been content to leave that as a lurking issue in the background, but the premise suits Kieron Gillen’s style perfectly – in fact, it’s arguably more at home in this book than it was in X-Force. I’m still not sure how far we’re meant to take this narration as literally describing Piotr’s state of mind and how far we should see it as reflecting Scrivener’s, but that’s fine – it’s an interesting tension in itself. A bit more consistency on the ground rules between titles wouldn’t have gone amiss, but this works well. And again, Gillen and Lucas Werneck get plenty of visual interest into a very talky, political story – nearly half of this issue by page count consists of people talking in the Quiet Council chamber, but you wouldn’t know it. What’s surprising me somewhat is how quickly the Council seems to be falling apart after Sins of Sinister, but then maybe that’s in the nature of a system with no checks and balances that concentrated all the power in twelve secretive people. It works up until it doesn’t, at which point it goes really, really wrong, really, really fast.
X-MEN #23. (Annotations here.) One of those stories that exists largely to build up a new threat, in this case the Stark Sentinels. I’m not entirely sold on the concept of these things – the Iron Man iconography feels like it doesn’t have much to do with this book – but I can see the point that if you’re going to do the Sentinels, they need a bit of rehabbing. And borrowing some credibility from Iron Man might not be the worst way to do that. It makes for a decent enough fight scene, at any rate, though I’m not altogether sure it plays to Joshua Cassara’s strengths as an artist. . It’s the opening scene with Mother Righteous and Dr Stasis that works best for me, though, since the relationship between the various Sinister iterations seems like something worth exploring.
