X-Men #13 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-MEN vol 7 #13
“X-Manhunt, part 4: Gods and Monsters”
Writer: Jed MacKay
Penciller: Netho Diaz
Inker: Sean Parsons
Colourist: Fer Sifuentes-Sujo
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
THE X-MEN
Cyclops. He spends most of the issue unconscious. Despite the recap claiming that Storm “badly injur[ed]” him in the last chapter, the ice on his face doesn’t seem to do any lasting damage.
Psylocke. She takes command when Cyclops is unconscious. She has a grudge against Professor X for possessing her in issue #9 (during “Raid on Graymalkin”), but she’s more aggrieved by Storm for sheltering him. In part, that’s because Professor X is a danger to those around him, something that Storm doesn’t know (more on that below), and she’s brought him into a populated area – but mainly she views Storm as someone who’s bought into her goddess schtick and “can’t imagine being wrong”. This is a dubious reading of Storm’s character, but it’s a plausible view for Psylocke to hold of her.
At any rate, Psylocke certainly isn’t intimidated by Storm’s persona or reputation, and feels entirely comfortable lecturing her. Admittedly, even in taking the moral high ground, she threatens to kill Maggott , and claims that “we are just monsters”; the lecture gets Storm back to her senses, but doesn’t exactly her convince her of Psylocke’s moral standing.
Magik. She can tell that Storm is possessed, but can’t identify Eternity as the entity involved – though she describes it as “bigger” and “worse” than a demon.
Temper. She gets the ice off Cyclops’ face, and helps to fight Storm.
Kid Omega. He can shield the X-Men from Professor X’s “telepathic bleed”, but either his power or his skill level doesn’t extend to doing the same for the whole surrounding population. His psychic combat with Professor X doesn’t initially go well. According to the Professor, as omega mutants, they’re equally matched in power – so the deciding factor ought to be skill and experience, where he has the advantage. This results in Quentin being reverted to his initial appearance, before he became a teen revolutionary, and being manhandled by a school full of Professors – and he seems quite panicked about it.
However, Quentin has a fallback plan: the same “thoughtform” of Cassandra Nova that he fought in issue #5, when he encountered it as a trap in Ben Liu’s mind. In that issue, it attacked him with the same deluge of worms and such forth that we see here. Quentin has kept in reserve, and if he’s to be believed, he’s done so specifically as a weapon against the Professor.
Ultimately, Quentin does beat the Professor in psychic combat, though more through pre-planning than improvisational skill. Also, to be fair, the Professor’s got a tumour and may not be on absolutely top form.
The Juggernaut. He refuses to stay down in the face of cosmic Storm, claiming that he had worse beatings from his father Kurt Marko. He can reconstitute his damaged armour simply by re-summoning it – this is presumably still the magical armour he acquired in Juggernaut vol 3, even though the design has changed. However, he needs Magik to remind him that this is possible.
The Beast. Acts like any other member of the field team in this story. He helps to defeat Professor X once Quentin has him on the ropes.
GUEST STARS
Professor X. According to the X-Men, he has a “telepathic bleed” which is “driving insane” everyone around him, though Quentin can block it. This presumably explains the hallucinating guard in chapter 1 of the crossover. We didn’t see any signs of this problem in chapters 2 and 3, though. That’s not a major issue in chapter 3 since almost nobody was around, but chapter 2 was set in New York. Psylocke tells us at the end of the issue that the effects of the “bleed” weren’t even noticeable to Storm because of her strong psychic defences, and presumably some of the NYX cast might be in that category too – though in that case, would Quentin really need to innoculate anyone? Still, it didn’t seem to affect random New Yorkers, nor is there any sign of the hallucinations that the Professor himself was suffering in chapter 1.
He claims to acting in accordance with his “responsibilities”, and while he’s very aggressive in his psychic attack on Kid Omega, he does repeatedly make clear that he would accept a surrender. In their psychic battle, he condescendingly lectures Quentin and turns him into a schoolboy again – it’s not clear whether this is a tactical move to play on Quentin’s personal weaknesses, or whether it’s just Professor X being arrogant.
The sight of Cassandra Nova panics him into tearing off his Cerebro helmet, at which point he can be relatively easily subdued by whacking Magneto’s telepathically-shielded helmet on his head and injecting him with a knockout drug.
Storm. She remains in bombastic cosmic mode until being brought to her senses by Psylocke, but we’ve mostly covered that scene.
Maggott. He went into a cocoon after being healed by Eternity in the previous chapter (something that wasn’t actually shown), and he stays there for the whole of this issue.
X-Factor. They show up right at the end, to lead in to their own chapter. The roster here is Forget-Me-Not, Cecilia Reyes, Granny Smite, Angel, Pyro and Xyber. Since this is meant to be a serious crossover, they actually post dramatically and confidently. Don’t worry, they’ll screw up in their own book.
SUPPORTING CAST
Magneto. Remains at the Factory with the supporting cast, and has his helmet borrowed by Magik.
Xorn. For the first time in this series, he says that he thinks he ought to be helping the field team – though to be fair, he was going to defend the Factory against O*N*E in issue #10. Magneto’s counter argument is that Xorn’s powers are too dangerous – if Xavier drove him mad and made him remove his protective helmet, then it could be catastrophic. But can’t Quentin innoculate him against that?
Ben Liu. Ben also wants to get into action, just as he did in issue #10. Magneto makes a similar argument about his powers being too dangerous given his single-handed attack on San Francisco in issue #2, and given his lack of experience, this might be a more reasonable concern.
Jennifer Starkey. She’s still in the avian form that she changed into in issue #11. She’s now wearing a generic X-Men uniform. (Ben is also wearing something yellow, but it looks more like a shirt. It’s hard to tell with so many other people in the way.)
Glob Herman. Stands next to everyone else and has no dialogue.
FOOTNOTES
Page 4 panel 1: “Utopia” was the X-Men’s island base (and self-proclaimed nation state) in San Francisco bay during the Decimation period. “New Tian” is more obscure: it was the mutant puppet nation in the western USA which existed when the USA was taken over by HYDRA during Secret Empire in 2017.
Page 9: The “Xavier Institute for Higher Learning” is what the school was called during the New X-Men run where Quentin debuted as a student.
Page 12 panel 2: “Sarnios’ Storm of Swords” is a spell that’s shown up in several Jed MacKay stories, originally in Black Cat #3 and later in his Dr Strange run.
Page 13: Quentin is drawn as he first appeared in New X-Men #134; he gets his signature haircut at the end of that issue.
Page 16: Quentin’s crucifixion echoes the cover of Uncanny X-Men #250.
Page 22 panel 4: “I hear you like to settle things with knives” refers principally to Storm’s fight with Callisto in Uncanny X-Men #170.
Kwannon holding a grudge against Xavier for mind-controlling her seemed a bit of an overreaction. He only mind-controlled her into freeing him so that he could save their friends from Scurvy.
Some readers didn’t like Xavier being referred to as an Omega since Hickman made it clear he wasn’t an Omega.
Idie using her temperature powers to stop Storm’s winds didn’t really work. Storm can control temperature too and since Storm is an Omega and Idie isn’t, shouldn’t Storm be able to override Edie’s control?
Note that this issue confirms that Kwannon killed innocent people for the Hand, not just goons working for crime lords.
In this issue, Kwannon truly earned the mantle of Psylocke. Betsy threatened to kill Havok in front of Storm. And now Kwannon threatened to kill Maggott in fron of Storm. Bravo, Kwannon.
““I hear you like to settle things with knives” refers principally to Storm’s fight with Callisto in Uncanny X-Men #170.”
And her duel with Marrow. And her duel with Tarn. And…
So Cyclops had a backup visor. I guess that makes his destroying his visor in Storm 6 SLIGHTLY less stupid.
The crossover really made Scott’s team look like idiots. There was no mention of Xavier driving anyone insane in the Storm issue. But at the start of this issue they clearly know about it. So why on Earth didn’t they mention it to Storm and Maggott before the fight started? Kwannon’s dialogue at the end suggests that they just assumed Storm and Maggott knew about it. But even if Storm and Maggott felt some sort of psychic attack how would they know it came from Charles? As a leader, Scott should know that you always spell these things out just in case the people you’re talking to DON’T know it.
Plus, why on Earth didn’t they just bring Magneto’s helmet with them in the first place if they knew it could keep Charles’s powers from going out of control.
In fact, the entire conflict could have been avoided if everyone just talked out their problems. Scott wanted to stop Xavier’s out-of-control powers. Storm wanted Xavier to be sent somewhere other than Graymalkin. Xavier wanted to resurrect whoever was in the egg and help Xandra. So they put the helmet on Xavier, resurrect whoever’s in the last egg, Magik teleports the team to rescue Xandra and then they send Xavier somewhere other than Graymalkin.
(I’m still not sure why Scott thought sending Xavier to Graymalkin was a good idea in the first place.)
To be fair, Cyclops’s leadership abilities mostly come down to combat tactics. His actual communication skills are terrible to the point of disastrous.
Though speaking of communicating, they’ve already retconned away the reason Xavier was locked up, and Charles could just explain that, at least in one of the issues where he’s completely lucid.
…this crossover is a bit of a mess.
The good: the action was pretty fun, especially Storm vs. Juggernaut and the psychic duel. I liked Illyana’ and Cain’s banter. Netho Diaz & co. continue to produce really good visuals. The switch to penciled art and a darker coloring style for the psychic duel was a standout. The scenes with Magneto’s helmet were funny. This issue was playful in a way that worked.
The bad: what’s going on with Storm? Would’ve been nice if those of us not reading Storm got a little more clarity. Oh, San Fransisco’s going crazy? How about showing some of that instead of repeating it! Psylocke threatens Maggott, and Storm/the entity can’t find a way around it? I don’t buy it. More crossover inconsistency re: Xavier and his problems.
With regard to Xavier’s inconsistency, it appears writers were told multiple things, but since they were all so all similar nobody noticed.
I’ve seen each of the following in various solicits and press releases from Marvel.
-He has a psychic virus, driving everyone else mad.
-He has a mutant tumor driving him mad and affecting his powers.
-He has a telepathic bleed, driving everyone mad (this appears to be the explanation in this week’s X-Factor as well).
-He has a mutant tumor, driving him mad and affecting his powers that also drives others mad with some kind of psychic infection/bleed. This seems to be the fullest explanation that can be parsed from the solicits, press releases, and stories.
Not sure what they told the NYX writers but it clearly wasn’t that Xavier was sick, infectious, or mad.
Gosh. I love Jed McKay’s writing.
His voices for Psylocke and Kid Omega are so darned gratifying. Storm and Charles had it coming, big time.
I really don’t know why you disagree, Paul. “Bought into her goddess schtick who can’t imagine being wrong” is a 20/20 accuracy description of Ororo since early issues of X-Men Red. About time _someone_ said it to her face in-world.
And isn’t it impressive how Psylocke slids into a leadership voice utterly and organically under McKay? I actually wondered if there was a scene were she is established as second-in-command for field operations.
@Michael, Scott having a spare visor with him makes a lot of sense indeed, goes back a looong way (Uncanny #150, 1981 has the then-active X-Men carry one such spare with them, despite not even knowing that he is a captive of Magneto) and fits entirely with his established personality.
Boy, I knew that I found that story weak the first time. I had forgotten just how weak.
Ihaven’t read any of the comics so I might be way off, but it all sounds a bit too close to “various groups harrass a mentally ill person”. Not a terribly sensitive story hook.
By the way, why does Eternity need an avatar? It would be like having a tiny version of yourself inside yourself, making your arms and legs move for you.
As uneven as everything in this crossover, but there were at least some good moments. It was nice seeing someone finally talking sense to Storm and bursting her ego a little bit. Magik literally saying “Yoink” to Magneto made me laugh (though it would be nice to see him do something other than scowl and explain why everyone has to stay home).
It was nice seeing Beast in the combat team. There’s really no reason why he can’t be, unlike Xorn (powers can kill everyone), Magneto (broken powers) or Glob (useless powers).
As folks noted above, Psylocke is a good second in command. But Magik would also be a fine second… indeed, three of the five Krakoan captains are on the team. And of all the X-teams, Bishop would fit best on this one, especially since Cyclops seems to be over that time Bishop tried to kill his son and granddaughter for two decades.
This was a very fun issue. And I’m starting to develop some schadenfreude towards Brevoort, so the clear lack of cohesion in this crossover – an obvious editorial failure – somehow becomes amusing instead of infuriating.
(Also Angel calls Graymalkin a federal prison over in X-Factor; it was repeatedly stated to be a private one before, right?)
I wonder about the egg. We didn’t see Xandra die, so it’s not necessarily for her. But it shouldn’t be for someone who would enable Xavier to reach her, since there are multiple teleporters alive he could reach telepathically (Lila Cheney, Manifold) to portal him over to Shi’ar space.
The way they emphasized the word “hope” twice when talking about the egg, I have to wonder if Hope is in there. I know she’s supposed to be part of the Phoenix now or whatever, but I wouldn’t rule out the possibility.
The problem is we don’t know WHY Xavier’s gone to all this trouble yet. And we still have 2 more issues (plus a “collateral damage” side issue) of this storyline.
I think that hope line was meant as misdirection. (For the readers).
Also, I can’t think of a reason Xavier would want to resurrect Hope when his objective is helping Xandra. Hope can’t do anything on her own,* and if all Xavier needed was a power mimic, then, well, Mimic was right there over in the NYX issue.
*- Unless it would be for something Phoenix-related, Hope does have an innate connection there. But they can’t be going back to that well already, can they?
“various groups harass a mentally ill person” who may or may not be trying to save his daughter.
Talented writers like MacKay and Simone keep missing major character notes and quite literally missing the plot… but Brevoort wants everyone doing everything different. Not just different storytelling approaches, but also no continuity editors. Here’s what that looks like! Traditional Marvel crossover, old school style.
…also “a mentally ill person” causing hallucinations is forth wall breaking. Any inconsistencies you perceive as a reader is Xavier’s fault. /end snark
Are the hosts the “Avians” or are the “mutant tumors” the Avians? One explanation for the inconsistencies of the hallucination between titles could be that it isn’t only Xavier that is bleeding out telepathically.
Cyttorak’s avatar versus Eternity’s avatar sidestepped the whole unstoppable momentum with just an assault on Marco’s soul/dimensional connection/helmet. That was a nice touch.
“Yoink” made me laugh too.
@John, at the start Beast was in reserve because A. he was a wanted war criminal which is the kick of for Raid. B. He was still adjusting to the new status quo and team he had never met except Scott who has change so much over the years that one of the first significant all out dickish acts form Bad beast was to bring his teen self to the future.
Actually, Alistair reminds me – the O5 remembered their Bendis-spawned time in the “future” after their younger selves went back to their original time. Shouldn’t Beast remember a chunk of “present-day” stuff from that time in his life?
John> It was nice seeing Beast in the combat team. There’s really no reason why he can’t be, unlike Xorn (powers can kill everyone), Magneto (broken powers) or Glob (useless powers).
He’s meant to be working on the
Legacy Vir–RLDS thing.Beast was restored from a backup made before the memories were unlocked, so I think we have to assume that the lock also prevented them from being included in the backup. Otherwise, as you say, he’d know more about later events. (The other possibility is that the memories are there but they remain locked because he missed the unlocking event – but if that was the case then most likely someone would have unlocked them for him by now.)
@Luis, John- I would have no problem with someone bursting Storm’s ego. The problem is that in this particular situation the problem was 100% Kwannon’s, not Storm’s. “I didn’t tell Storm that Xavier was causing people around him to hallucinate. Storm brought Xavier to San Franisco. Therefore this is Storm’s fault. I am very intelligent.”
@Krzsiek- What Angel probably meant was that it was a private FEDERAL prison, as opposed to a private state priso9n. (Most private prisons are state prisons.)
I had no idea there is such a thing as private federal prisons.
Then again, the idea of private for-profit prisons is hard enough for me to believe anyway.
“the idea of private for-profit prisons is hard enough for me to believe anyway.”
Sadly, it’s definitely an American thing.
We really are the worst.
@Sanity Beast may have got to the part of his research on internal history where he found out that when ever he starts to research mutant extinction threats, he starts to cross the line, (giving up Threnody, working with doom and sinister after decimation, anything Dark beast has done, ) If I had that history I would want to stay out the lab.
The Other Michael-It’s actually not just the US. England, Australia, and (slightly) New Zealand also use the model. In fact, while the US has far more prisoners in private prisons (due to its high rate of incarcerations), percentage-wise, all three of the other countries have a higher percentage of prisoners in private prisons than the US.
The UK was the first country to use the private prison model, historically speaking. Although, the model was abolished for a very long stretch before England again contracted out a prison.
Has Cassandra Nova ever done that hand through the face move in the comics before? Or is that just more shoehorned MCU synergy with Deadpool & Wolverine?
Cassandra stuck her hand through a Trask’s face shortly after her introduction in E is for Extinction by Morrison/Quitely.
Yeah, the hands-through-face thing is s very strong, early visual for Cassandra Nova, which the movie picked up on – not the other way around.
I think I get some of the appeal of McKay’s writing, though I’m not completely sure Kwannon’s leader turn reads as earned to me. At least not when thinking back to Krakow.
I kind of which the crossover sillyness was just halted completely, though. This one feels as unmotivated as the first one (if not less so), and the team-vs-team mechanism just reads as very lazy to me…
At least it’s not trying to present itself very seriously, I guess. But between the Avians and the early 3k material, it’s strange how so much time seems wasted across such a wide number of ongoing titles…
(Uff, *spelling…)
One more thing- in Uncanny X-Men 5, one of Harvey X’s visions of the future was what looked like Xavier with Magneto’s helmet on his head. Now we know what that meant.
[…] #13. (Annotations here.) Well, back to “X-Manhunt”. Fortunately, this week’s issues are rather more […]
In X-Force 41 (2023), Quentin was an old man and although he returned to his original shape as a teen, he’s still old and experienced. Wouldn’t that count for the battle against the professor?