Children of the Atom #4 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
CHILDREN OF THE ATOM #4
“Captured”
by Vita Ayala, Paco Medina & David Curiel
COVER / PAGE 1: The Young X-Men – as I guess we’re calling them – in battle with the new U-Men. Since it’s his spotlight issue, Marvel Guy is front and centre.
PAGE 2. Benny wants to be left alone.
Peter Corbeau Preparatory. In issue #1, the school was simply called “Corbeau Preparatory” (and we saw the sign on the building). The establishing shot in that issue bears very little resemblance to what we see here. Peter Corbeau was a scientist supporting character who originated in Incredible Hulk but showed up from time to time in X-Men as a friend of Professor X, particularly in the early years of the Claremont run.
Benny basically doesn’t like the company of others beyond a small circle of friends he feels comfortable with. Following the pattern of the previous issues, we’re taking turns with each character getting a spotlight issue, and it’s now his turn.
X-Men #21 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-MEN vol 5 #21
“The Beginning”
by Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta, Russell Dauterman, Lucas Werneck, Sara Pichelli, Frank Martin, Matthew Wilson, Sunny Gho & Nolan Woodward
PAGE 1 / COVER. Simply a generic image of some of the cast members of the X-books during the first phase of the Hickman run, with Krakoan vines arranged in a (largely obscured) X-pattern.
PAGE 2. Tribute to the late John Paul Leon.
PAGES 3-7. Professor X and Magneto talk to Namor.
Namor seems to have no desire to be here, which begs the question of why he showed up. Presumably, for all his disdain, he thinks that what the Krakoans are up to is at least sufficiently important to be worth keeping an eye on first hand. At the same time, while the Krakoans are succeeding in their immediate goals, he seems to have no real confidence in the goals themselves.
Professor X and Magneto have colour co-ordinated costumes, down to the customised Cerebro helmet. They’re very clearly positioned as a pair here. They remain keen to get Namor on side, as they have been from the dawn of the Krakoan era. Professor X’s first attempt to recruit him was in Powers of X #5, where Xavier similarly framed the pitch as “come home”. But despite some short stints with the X-Men, Namor has never identified particularly as a mutant, and certainly not primarily as one; he’s an Atlantean first and foremost. At any rate, in that issue Namor suggested that he didn’t think Xavier truly believed in his new posture of mutant superiority, and told him “don’t come back until you really mean it.” Clearly he remains unconvinced – but equally clearly, he has no interest in a mutant-centric agenda. He goes out of his way to claim that he’s superior to everyone, mutant or otherwise.
Excalibur #21 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
EXCALIBUR vol 4 #21
“Don’t Feel Like Dancin'”
by Tini Howard, Marcus To & Erick Arciniega
COVER / PAGE 1: Rictor storms out of the Hellfire Gala, leaving earthquake-related chaos behind him. It doesn’t happen quite so literally in the issue itself.
PAGE 2. Excalibur prepare to head to the party.
As we’ll see later, Rictor’s basic objection to the Hellfire Gala is that he sees it as another example of how everyone has moved on and forgotten about Apocalypse. When, clearly, everyone should be spending their days brooding about Apocalypse like Rictor does. He does have a point that nobody else appears to be especially bothered about Apocalypse’s departure, and you can see that by this point he might well be reading that as a personal insult too – not only has Apocalypse’s interest in mutant magic been sidelined by everyone else, but what must they think of Rictor’s attempt to keep it alive?
The butterflies hovering around Betsy’s dress reflect the butterfly image that appears over her face when she uses her telepathy.
PAGE 3. Recap and credits. As with all “Hellfire Gala” tie-in issues, the layout has been altered to vaguely resemble an invitation. And there’s a big red circle, for reasons that will become apparent in this week’s X-Men.
The Incomplete Wolverine – 1989
Part 1: Origin to Origin II | Part 2: 1907 to 1914
Part 3: 1914 to 1939 | Part 4: World War II
Part 5: The postwar era | Part 6: Team X
Part 7: Post Team X | Part 8: Weapon X
Part 9: Department H | Part 10: The Silver Age
1974-1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979
1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988
We’re deep in the Australia period, and we left off on the eve of…
UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #239-243 & X-FACTOR vol 1 #37-39
“Inferno”
Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont, Marc Silvestri, Hilary Barta & Glynis Oliver
X-Factor by Louise Simonson, Walt Simonson, Al Milgrom & various colourists
December 1988 to April 1989
Wolverine isn’t particularly central to “Inferno”, which mainly focusses on Madelyne Pryor, the Summers family, and Magik (over in New Mutants). The X-Men return to New York in pursuit of the Marauders, only to get caught up in an invasion of demons from Limbo. This force is led by N’Astirh and S’ym, who have deposed Magik and formed an alliance with Madelyne Pryor, who now calls herself the Goblin Queen. Manhattan is demonically warped by the invasion, and the X-Men themselves become distorted, demonic and aggressive. They team up with X-Factor, after the usual misunderstandings, and defeat the invasion – specifically, Jean reclaims the part of her soul that animates Madelyne, Madelyne dies, and New York returns to normal. The X-Men’s costumes remain weirdly transformed.
The final two issues are a coda – still billed as “Inferno” – in which the X-Men and X-Factor team up to battle Madelyne’s creator Mister Sinister. This is the first time the X-Men actually encounter Sinister, who is seemingly destroyed by Cyclops’ optic beam. Of course, it eventually turns out that he was faking.
Hellions #12 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
HELLIONS #12
“Gatecrashing”
by Zeb Wells, Stephen Segovia & David Curiel
COVER / PAGE 1: The Hellions cause chaos at the Hellfire Gala.
PAGES 2-4. Mr Sinister, Havok and Kwannon prepare to go to the Gala.
We’re not told directly why the rest of the Hellions didn’t get invited, but it’s pretty obvious. This is a diplomatic mission, it’s meant to build bridges with the humans, and you really don’t want Orphan-Maker and Wild Child running around. Ideally you wouldn’t have Mister Sinister either, of course, but he’s on the Quiet Council. Kwannon’s not a villain; she’s on the team as a supervisor. And Havok… well, aside from the fact that there’s a suggestion that he’s been put there for reasons he isn’t aware of, Havok’s a member of the Summers family and his absence would be notable.
X-Force #20 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-FORCE vol 6 #20
“The Secret Garden”
by Benjamin Percy, Joshua Cassara & Guru-eFX
PAGE 1 / COVER. X-Force work security at the Hellfire Gala, which apparently means skintight tuxedos. Quentin has a psionic velvet rope. The invitation in the foreground is the same as the one shown as a data page in Marauders #21.
PAGES 2-4. Kid Omega greets guests.
This is an expanded version of a scene from Marauders #21. In this version, Iron Man gets a bit more space in which to explain why he isn’t wearing the Krakoan flower or using their portal – basically, he knows a tracking device when he sees one, and he quite understandably doesn’t trust the Krakoans an inch. This being X-Force, the book will go on to confirm that he’s absolutely right.
Marauders #21 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
MARAUDERS #21
“You are Cordially Invited to the Hellfire Gala”
by Gerry Duggan, Matteo Lolli & Edgar Delgado
COVER / PAGE 1. Emma Frost welcomes you to the Gala. Though really, by the time you’ve got this close, it’s a bit late to be offering you an invitation.
PAGE 2. Data page: the invitation to the Gala, which also appears on the cover of this week’s X-Force #20.
“On the evening of the summer solstice.” That would be 21 June. Apparently in the Marvel Universe you can see a starry sky on Mykines “a few minutes after midnight”, and enjoy a fireworks display, all on the summer solstice. But the Faroe Islands are so far north that it doesn’t actually get dark in midsummer. Let’s politely ignore that and move on.
PAGES 3-4. Kate, Sebastian and Emma await the arrival of the guests.
Mykines, which is a real place in the Faroe Islands, was acquired by Emma in Giant-Size X-Men: Magneto #1. The Faroes are actually an autonomous territory within Denmark.
Heroes Reborn: Magneto & The Mutant Force #1
HEROES REBORN: MAGNETO & THE MUTANT FORCE #1
“Beware! Psychic Rescue in Progress!”
by Steve Orlando, Bernard Chang & David Curiel
So.
This is a thing.
Why is this a thing?
I do not know.
I do not know why this is a thing.
Well. Maybe I know why this is a thing.
Heroes Reborn was name of the 1996/7 event where Avengers, Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Captain America were relaunched by Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. The 2021 Heroes Reborn has nothing to do with it whatsoever. I can only assume the name was chosen for trademark renewal.
That’s always a good impression to put front and centre, isn’t it? Trademark renewal.
It’s an Avengers arc which has sprawled into an event comic. History has been changed, the Avengers never existed, and now the biggest heroes of the Marvel Universe are the Squadron Supreme of America. Who are basically a hard-right JLA.
I couldn’t care less about Jason Aaron’s Avengers and I couldn’t care less about Heroes Reborn. I gather the gimmick of the main series is something to do with “the Marvel Universe, but if it was a bit more like the DCU”. Is that interesting? It’s an own-brand Amalgam, isn’t it?
Charts – 28 May 2021
Well, that didn’t take long.
1. Olivia Rodrigo – “Good 4 U”
4. Olivia Rodrigo – “Deja Vu”
7. Olivia Rodrigo – “Traitor”
Yes, it’s the release of Olivia Rodrigo’s album “Sour”, which enters at number 1 on the album chart, and promptly places the maximum three tracks in the single chart. Demonstrating her ability to write about her break-up in any musical genre, “Good 4 U” is the Paramore version, and climbs to number 1 on its second week out. It’s her second number 1 single and, if you care about such things, she’s the youngest artist to have had simultaneous number 1s on the single and album chart. To be honest, having simultaneous number 1s isn’t that unusual – it happened four times in 2020 – but while the list is lengthy, it’s also mainly made up of A-listers. And Olly Murs.
New Mutants #18 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
NEW MUTANTS vol 4 #18
“Homecoming”
by Vita Ayala & Rod Reis
COVER / PAGE 1: Karma, apparently readying herself to fight in the Crucible. Behind her, a symbolic representation of her brother Tran, via the white rabbit that he manifested as in Otherworld via Mirage’s powers.
PAGES 2-4. Dani calls up Tran so that Xi’an can speak to her.
Basically, Karma explains the plot. The best telepaths on Krakoa can’t get Tran’s mind out of her body, so they’re going to have to kill her and resurrect her instead. Since Krakoa frowns on outright suicide, this means the Crucible. We’re seeing an increasing undercurrent of scepticism about Krakoan rituals in books like Way of X, but this story plays the Crucible pretty much straight – it’s a second chance, it’s liberation, it’s paying a symbolic price.
