X-Force #28 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-FORCE vol 6 #28
“Cerebrax”
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: Robert Gill
Colourist: Guru-eFX
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Mark Basso
COVER / PAGE 1: X-Force, with Kid Omega in his Juggernaut form (which we’ll come to in the story). It’s marked “after Rob”; I assume the intended homage is to Rob Liefeld’s cover for X-Force vol 1 #3.
PAGES 2-4. Cerebrax decides to eat some more mutants.
This is very much X-Force in grindhouse mode, which means it doesn’t call for a huge amount of annotation. Which is very welcome news in a week with five X-books.
What we seem to be establishing here is that Cerebrax (as it calls itself later) is instinctively consuming mutants as a version of its remit to catalogue them, and having absorbed Forge, it picks up his building instincts too. Presumably that means that Cerebrax’s personality will continue to develop as it eats more people.
New Mutants #25 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
NEW MUTANTS vol 4 #25
“The Labors of Magik, part 1: Best Laid Plans…”
Writer: Vita Ayala
Artists: Rod Reis (main story) & Jan Duursema (flashbacks)
Colourists: Rod Reis (main story) & Ruth Redmond (flashbacks)
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Editor: Sarah Brunstad
COVER / PAGE 1. Magik doing magic.
PAGE 2. Data page. This is indeed a quote from Heracles by the Greek dramatist Euripedes (c.480-c.406 BC), as translated by EP Coleridge. The story takes place after the twelfth labour of Hercules (the capture of Cerberus), and involves Hercules being driven mad by Iris and the personification of Madness, and killing his family in a frenzy. In the passage quoted, he’s lamenting what he has done and observing that he is now a social outcast. The ellipsis makes this rather obscure. The full passage reads:
Last, ah, woe is me! I have dared this labor, to crown the sorrows of my house with my children’s murder. I have come to this point of necessity; no longer may I dwell in Thebes, the city that I love; for suppose I stay, to what temple or gathering of friends shall I go? For mine is no curse that invites greetings.”
A more modern translation has it as:
“And this – ah, this! This here is my last labour! This bloody deed I performed and crowned the miseries of my house with the death of my own sons! And so, here I am! I have now arrived at this sorry state! Piety forbids me from living here, in Thebes, the city I love, because if I do stay here, to which temple or to what friends could I turn? The horror of my curse will not allow for friendly greetings.”
PAGES 3-4. S’ym produces a mace.
S’ym was Belasco’s henchman in Magik’s origin story, and served as Magik’s own highly untrustworthy henchman in New Mutants until he eventually turned on her. He was originally a nod to Dave Sim’s Cerebus the Aardvark, hence the waistcoat.
X-Men Red #2 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-MEN RED #2
“Man on Fire”
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Stefano Caselli
Colourist: Federico Blee
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Jordan White
COVER / PAGE 1. Storm fighting Vulcan. It seems to be going rather better for Vulcan than it does in the issue itself.
PAGES 2-5. Flashback: Professor X and Cyclops confront Vulcan.
This takes place before issue #1 (when Vulcan had already been kicked out of the Summer House), and shortly after X-Men: Trial of Magneto #5 (when the Scarlet Witch created the Waiting Room).
The Summer House is the Summers family’s home on the Moon – though with Cyclops and Jean Grey in New York with the X-Men, Kid Cable no longer in this timeline, and Rachel with X-Factor and now in Knights of X, it may just be Vulcan, Havok and Wolverine actually living there now.
The three aliens on page 2, and their dialogue, come from X-Men #10 of the Hickman run. It’s a straight recap of what was set up in that issue, which didn’t identify them or shed much further light on their plans.
Petra and Sway. Oh god.
Immortal X-Men #2 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
IMMORTAL X-MEN #2
“All Mankind’s Woes”
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Lucas Werneck
Colourist: David Curiel
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Jordan White
COVER / PAGE 1: Storm, Exodus and Magneto fight Selene.
PAGE 2. Hope reacts to Selene’s giant monster.
This is the creature that Selene created by bringing the Arakko gate to life at the end of the previous issue.
PAGE 3. Recap and credits. Hope’s image is shown in colour, presumably to indicate that this is her spotlight issue. (The same was done with Mr Sinister last issue, but it wasn’t as obvious because as a Winter member, his group colour is a dark purple.)
PAGE 4. Selene arrives in London.
Coven Akkaba are villains from Excalibur – basically an anti-mutant mystical cult which has somehow or other acquired influence over the UK government. We’re not told quite why they’re dealing with Selene, but evidently the plan is for Selene to get herself onto the Quiet Council by proving her point that the mutants need someone who knows how to deal with mystical threats. Whatever she planned to do after that, the Coven clearly think it’s going to be helpful.
Devil’s Reign: X-Men
DEVIL’S REIGN: X-MEN #1-3
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Phil Noto
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Jordan White
Three issues, huh? There’s a trade paperback of this listed on Amazon for August, with a page count of 112 – I can only assume they’re pairing it with something to be announced. Anyway, I skipped over this when it came out, since it’s not a core X-book. It’s closer than many, though.
Publishing it in X-Men might have been a stretch, since it’s an Emma Frost story, and she’s not in the cast of that book. But it’s by Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto, an established Krakoan creative team. And it picks up on a subplot from Duggan’s Marauders run about Emma having some sort of back story with Wilson Fisk, running missions for him in exchange for him helping Lourdes Chantel to start a new life away from Sebastian Shaw.
House to Astonish Presents: The Lightning Round Episode 9
Lightning keeps striking! Good lord! It’s just bizarre by this point! We’re back to look at Thunderbolts issues 22, 0 and 23 (in that order) and Avengers 12 (not in that order). Thrill to Hawkeye losing his AirBnB deposit! Be wowed by Vision’s capacity for complaining! Wonder aloud at whether Hercules and Atlas had a fling! It’s all go here!
The episode is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the embedded player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Twitter, via email or through our Facebook fan page. And look, far be it from me to say, but our t-shirts are very reasonably priced and would look amazing on you.
Charts – 13 May 2022
Well, at least the album chart is busy. Meanwhile, on the singles chart…
That’s six weeks. It heads up a moribund top ten, with four other non-movers, one climber (Lizzo) and four records going down one place. I mean, I’m all for records having decent runs in the top 10, but a bit of turnover would be nice.
19. Jack Harlow featuring Drake – “Churchill Downs”
33. Jack Harlow – “Dua Lipa”
Two tracks from his album “Come Home the Kids Miss You”, which enters the album chart at number 4. He also has “First Class” as a non-mover at number 2.
It’s his second album, and the first to reach the album top 40. His 2020 debut “That’s What They All Say” made the album top 10 in the USA and Canada, but in the UK it could only limp to number 73. His profile has risen a lot since then.
X-Men #11 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-MEN vol 6 #11
“A Busted Hand”
Writer: Gerry Duggaan
Artist: Pepe Larraz
Colourist: Marte Gracia
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Jordan D White
COVER / PAGE 1. The female X-Men standing over defeated thugs from Gameworld. They’re wearing their Hellfire Gala costumes from last year.
PAGE 2. Opening quote. At the end of last issue, Gambit put Rogue in touch with Rocket, to get information about Gameworld (where Rocket happened to be anyway). Rocket clearly doesn’t fancy Gameworld’s chances now that the X-Men are coming.
PAGES 3-4. Flashback: Mojo steers Gameworld towards Earth.
Mojo. The last time we saw Mojo was in X-Factor #9, when a group led by Magik forced him to put a stop to slavery and mutant exploitation. That issue left him still notionally in charge, albeit under a forced pact. (“You’re partners with Krakoa now. Sign the #$%& dotted line.”) However, this flashback could easily take place before that, because X-Factor #9 was shortly before the Hellfire Gala, and Mojo is setting in train a plan which will become apparent shortly afterwards (in issue #1).
Life of Wolverine Infinity Comic
LIFE OF WOLVERINE INFINITY COMIC #1-10
Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Ramon Bachs
Colourist: Java Tartaglia
Letterer: Joe Sabino
Editor: Mark Basso
Life of Wolverine was a companion piece to the ten-week X Lives and X Deaths of Wolverine – mainly to Lives, really. Technically it takes place during X Lives of Wolverine, as Jean Grey is sending Wolverine back in time and seeing his whole life. What that means in practice, of course, is openly acknowledged in the listing for issue #1: “For the first time ever, explore the history of Wolverine in chronological order!”
And that’s exactly what it is. It’s a recap book. There are a handful of original panels but no new events, unless you count Logan arriving in Madripoor for the first time. For continuity nerds, the book has some further details about the precise sequence in which assorted flashback stories take place; and yes, I’ll go back and revise some of the earlier Incomplete Wolverine posts to reflect that (and X Lives) at some point.
Charts – 6 May 2022
Well, at least someone released an album.
Five weeks, still leading by quite some margin, though it is trending downward. It’s not in any danger from the records in the rest of the top 10, though, all of which have been there for a while. Except for…
8. Future featuring Drake & Tems – “Wait for U”
Feels like more of a mood than a song, but oddly pleasant. It’s the current single from Future’s album “I Never Liked You”, which enters the album chart at 2 – his highest place to date, though his previous solo album, “High Off Life”, got to 5.
Future’s track record on the singles chart is decidedly mixed; he’s been around for a decade plus, but this is only his second top ten hit. The other one was “Life is Good”, which reached number 3 in 2020 – and that had Drake on it too. That said, it’s not just a case of getting in a guest star with a bigger fan base; there are plenty of guest verses by Drake that go nowhere. (He’s also on “Bubbly” by Young Thug, for example, and that got to number 60.)
