Exceptional X-Men #8 annotations
EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN #8
Writer: Eve L Ewing
Artist: Carmen Carnero
Colour artist: Nolan Woodard
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Editor: Tom Brevoort
THE CORE CAST
Axo. He spends the entire issue as a prisoner of Mr Sinister, and so he doesn’t actually do or say anything. According to Trista, it’s out of character for him to enjoy Dazzler songs.
Bronze. She’s the only one observant enough to recognise that Sinister’s Axo clone is an impostor. She uses her powers in public to contain the guy who’s panicking in the shop fire.
Melée. She absolutely isn’t observant enough to recognise that Sinister’s Axo clone is an impostor, although she understands the clues immediately when Trista points them out. She’s open to Trista’s fashion advice (which does indeed seem to be appropriately tailored to her tastes). Her first reaction to a crisis is to try and contact Kate, followed by Emma – nobody seems to think of contacting Bobby – but she does correctly figure out that something has happened at Verate and decide that they’re going to have to do superhero things and get inside.
Kate Pryde. She sings Dazzler songs in the shower. She’s delighted to get a call from Nina, but apparently keeps complimenting her by calling her “normal” – something she does without any real prompting here. Nina has picked up on the fact that Kate seems a bit fixated with normality and won’t quite let her into her life. Unfortunately, Kate gets called away to deal with the crisis before she can answer. Broadly, Kate seems to be attracted to Nina at least in large part because she represents the possibility of a life outside the X-Men, and fears that bringing her too far into the mutant world will cause that to be lost.
Emma Frost. She doesn’t appear in this story. She hasn’t given the kids her contact details and instead gets in touch with them telepathically when she feels the need. After failing to reach Kate, Thao and Trista have a stab at contacting Emma by thinking very hard about her, with no result. Evidently, Emma isn’t monitoring the kids – although if she was, then she’d know about Axo anyway.
SUPPORTING CAST
Mr Luna and Ana Luna. Alex’s father and sister are baffled by the eccentric behaviour of his clone, and she wonders whether he’s on drugs.
Sophie Cuckoo. She doesn’t appear, but she does send some messages to Axo’s phone – asking whether he’s ghosting her, but also expressing concern that something might have happened to him.
Nina. She regards her relationship with Kate as one where they’re starting to get close, but Kate keeps pulling away from her before really letting her in. She seems tolerant of this to a degree, in as much as she seems to assume that Kate may need time, but she’s starting to gently press the point.
VILLAINS
Mister Sinister. The issue opens with him delivering a monologue to Axo without interruption for seven pages, which is what you might call a bold pacing decision.
His current pet idea is that you can’t fully understand the body without understanding the mind. He’s well aware that his lack of empathy is an obstacle in that regard, and sees Axo’s powers as a way of getting round that. He’s built a machine which can harness Axo’s ability in order to produce a more complex analysis of the DNA samples that Verate users are sending in. Quite what that achieves beyond More Data isn’t made clear, but given Sinister’s mad scientist agenda, that may in fact an end in itself for him.
He says that although he generally blocked Axo’s powers when they were together, he had to experience it at least once. Presumably he means that he’s allowing Axo to interfere with his mind during the monologue he’s delivering, now that Axo is safely restrained and it’s basically harmless – he does seem a bit more excitable than in previous issues, though not to any degree that’s out of the ordinary for Krakoan Sinister. This also implies that he was lying last issue when he claimed that he was immune to Axo’s powers because he lacked emotion altogether.
He thinks the prospect of people becoming mutants as jaded adults is a fascinating one – he made a similar point to Axo in the previous issue. This might be something to do with the fact that he (or at least, the original Nathaniel Essex) became a superhuman as an adult.
He knows at least one Dazzler song.
Sinister has created a clone of Axo which he seems to genuinely believe will keep people from looking for the real Axo. Given that this clone has basic gaps in its ability to act normally, doesn’t replicate Axo’s powers, doesn’t change colour and turns to goop within less than a day, either it doesn’t work properly, or Sinister didn’t think that he needed to buy very much time.
FOOTNOTES
- Mr Sinister correctly quotes Aristotle’s line “All natural bodies are organs of the soul.” Very broadly, the idea is that the soul or essence of a person (or animal) provides the purpose which the body serves.
- The song lyrics which are sung by Mr Sinister, heard on the car radio, and sung in the shower by Kate all come from “In the Darkest Light”, which was the lyric sheet at the back of the recent Dazzler #3.
- Mr Sinister refers to “these adult-onset mutants I’ve heard so much about”. That’s the 3K storyline in X-Men.
Have to say, I’m really enjoying this one. The languid pacing, the character focussed story, the grounded nature, the expressive art… It’s a treat. I’m desperately worried that it’ll be the next to be cancelled.
I like these new characters, but I’m also really enjoying the focus on Kitty. It feels like a sequel to Mekanix (her first attempt at “normalcy”!).
Given that in the past, Sinister has created fully functional clones of everyone from the Marauders to Maddie Pryor to himself, even BEFORE Krakoa… this slipshod Axo clone is inexcusably sloppy and defective. I wonder if Sinister (if this even is the -real- Sinister) has lost his touch, lost his normal technology/resources, or just didn’t care. Or if there’s something to do with Axo. Either way, it’s surprising for him.
I’d really like to get more of a sense of Kate/Kitty dating Nina and meaning it, rather than a normality rebound situation. Problem is just how little they seem to have in common and a lack of deeper chemistry. Hopefully this will last long enough to let it happen.
Note that Sinister claims to have discovered that the resurrection process left “minute remnants of genetic material”. I have a feeling this is related to R-LDS. It might also have something to do with why the clone malfunctioned.
it is a bit odd that the kids couldn’t contact Emma just by thinking about it, since Shaw has contacted Emma just by thinking about her on multiple occasions. Then again, maybe Emma was asleep while the kids tried to contact her. Of course, you’d think Emma would give the kids her number in case they need to contact her and telepathy didn’t work.
I think we’re supposed to assume that Nina doesn’t know Kitty was an X-Man. (Apparently she’s about as knowledgeable about mutant affairs as the kids.)
Agreed on all of that, Evilgus.
Exceptional X-Men and Nyx both do this odd maneuver of bringing up a conflict only to almost immediately defuse it (in this case ‘Will Axo’s clone fool everybody?’
@TheOtherMichael I wonder if Kate and Nina’s relationship is intentionally depicted as not a ‘true’ relationship, as in ‘Kitty is not actually facing her issues.’
Marvel Emma was in her diamond form in that moment. She can’t use telepathy when she’ in diamond form, right?
Or she was was busy helping Banshee, Husk and Skin in monday’s Astonishing X-Men
And while I’m at it, I suspect there’s an intentional parallel between Sinister allegedly not having empathy or allowing himself to have feelings and Kate’s relationship that isn’t a relationship.
This book indeed has above-average character writing. I hope Eve Ewing has the opportunity to keep writing for Marvel.
I seem to be in the minority with my opinion on this series. I want to like it, but the glacial pace really hurts it for me. I thought it would pick up when Iceman came on board, and it didn’t. Same when it tied in with X-Manhunt, no forward movement there either. Finally, Mr. Sinister would HAVE to signal some kind of progress, I mean he’s an A-list villain after all! Nope, still moving at a snail’s pace, still boring.
I also can’t stand the student characters, they’re all absolutely obnoxious. Just like with Uncanny, the actual X-Men are pushed to the sidelines in favor of a bunch of new teen characters; but at least the Outliers have some charm to them. The Exceptional kids all read like spoiled brats and I’ve had zero investment in them so far.
Like I said, I want to like this series. I’m a fan of Kitty, Emma, and Bobby. I want to see them in interesting stories. Plus, the artwork on this series is consistently solid, so that’s a plus. But the negatives far outweigh the positives for me.
I’m also in the ‘not nearly enough happens’ camp. Not much to add to that, except that I’d have let Sinister have a rest for a lot longer than this after the Enigma business.
Is Sinister the last non-reformed X-villain heavy hitter? Maybe that’s one of the problems with the X-books these days — not enough really good villains. I say regroup the Brotherhood/Sisterhood and let them be really awful. Or stop pretending that Mystique is somehow morally ambiguous.
I think Cassandra Nova is supposed to be the “big bad” of this new era, but they haven’t gotten around to really establishing her as a major character in FtA yet.
There is also Prisoner X, locked up in Greymalkin, unless they forgot about that plot or dropped it.
The new era seems very haphazard, directionless, or moving slow (depending on where events move). Ideas are introduced, then they are put in the background. Are they dropped plots? Are they introduced without knowing where the plot is supposed to go? Are they just not being developed? “Prisoner X”, “3K”, “R-LDS”. It seemed as if these were supposed to be things driving major plots in “From the Ashes”, but either the progression has been glacial or the plot hasn’t been touched on in months.
I agree that Sinister needed to go away for a few years after the Krakoa era. They did so much with him during that period that there’s no interesting directions left to use him (no, I’m not saying that Enigma was an interesting use of Sinister). In fact, I think his story should have ended after “Sins of Sinister”, which was most likely Hickman’s intent.
I still say that ruining Orchis after Hickman was a horrible decision. Hickman’s Orchis could have given the X-books years of story potential. They just needed to get rid of the threat of Nimrod at the end of the Krakoa era and tone down the genocide elements about 90%, then Orchis could have lasted beyond Krakoa.
Yeah, I never got the impression from HoXPoX or early in the Krakoan era that Sinister was going to be a BIG part of it. Even Sins was probably more than the original plan. Highlighting that past Moira lives had his big betrayal seemed to me to preclude that the same would happen again.
Back on the subject of Moira’s lives (as this is the first time in months I’ve been just about caught up) – has anyone previously raised the issue that you’d have thought Xavier should have known from Moira’s past that Sarah Gaunt was a thing that was coming? I can’t see how the Krakoan experiment is something that caused her origin to be a new event in this timelime.
Oh wait, “Prisoner X” will probably end up being Legion.
So, they may not have dropped any of the plots, but they set them up but are developing them very slowly. Perhaps no progression of “Prisoner X” is suddenly revealed as Legion just in time for the anniversary of Giant-Size X-Men.
Introducing Wyre as the second member of 3K…
Dave-“Sins of Sinister” was based on Hickman’s plans for where he was going with Krakoa next. Gillen said he was working off of Hickman’s idea. The idea of the four different Essexes wasn’t something Hickman would have done. I think “Sins of Sinister” was Hickman’s next stop on the timeline for Krakoa to eliminate Sinister.
Hickman always planned for Sinister to do something to sabotage Krakoa though. Moira warned Xavier and Magneto to have nothing to do with Sinister, but they refused to listen. When Hickman introduced Sinister in House/Powers, he showed that Sinister outsmarted Xavier, and that Sinister had years to tamper with the DNA collection that Xavier and Magneto wanted him to acquire for them. Hickman wouldn’t have set up that foreshadowing if he didn’t intend to have Sinister betray Krakoa.
“Is Sinister the last non-reformed X-villain heavy hitter?”
Basically, yes – EXCEPTIONAL needed a well-established villain for the kids’ first major threat and all the other options are kind of reformed right now.
I quite like the slow pace and low stakes. It’s a bit like the Cozy subgenre of computer games.
How long until the other playing card suits of Sinister show up? Oh, they all died in Krakoa, but we all know how much that means in comics. Maybe Prisoner X is one of them.
@Thom H, Paul- Well. Mystique seems to be no longer reformed considering the ending of her limited series. But considering the condition she was in at the end of that series. she’s in no shape to fight a Girl Scout, much less a super hero. And Sabretooth hasn’t reframed but he’s still dead. Basically. Sinister is the only major villain left who hasn’t reformed and is still able to fight the heroes.
@Chris M- Preview images for next issue have been released and they show Kitty. Emma and Bobby fighting Sinister. So It looks like we’re finally getting somewhere.
@Chris V- I don’t think that Cassandra Nova is supposed to be the Big Bad. I think it’s clear that the Chairman is supposed to be the Big Bad, because he’s her patron. The current theory is that the Chairman is Doug.
@Dave- remember Sinister made the point that ten realities is too small a sample size to draw meaningful conclusions. Also. we were shown that Moira’s knowledge of her lives is limited to her personal knowledge- even though Logan knew that Mary Jane was Spider-Man’s lover in some of her lives, he never told Moira this in any of her lives., so Moira had no way of knowing this.
Sarah Gaunt’s origin requires that she and her son be in the path of a flood and no one rescued them. It’s possible that in some of Moira’s lives. Sarah moved to a different area that was unaffected by the flood or a superhuman happened to be in the area and saved her and her son. Alternately, if Sarah sought vengeance on Xavier in Moira’s first or second lives., Moira would have no way of knowing about Sarah. Also, note than in our reality, Sarah only sought vengeance after meeting Warden Ellis- it’s possible Sarah never sought vengeance in any of Moira’s lives.
I’m happy with the relaxed pace of Exceptional. And I like these kids – they’re not stealing the spotlight from Kitty and Emma, it’s their book, so it’s not an issue like in the Uncanny Outliers.
(Although we circle back to ‘Exceptional X-Men’ being a misleading title, it should have been the All-New New Mutants or something).
I liked Sinister’s opening monologue. He comes off as somewhere in between Classic and Krakoan Sinister (Krakoan Sinister sounds like a Gen VII Pokemon). More exuberant than Classic, less off-kilter than Krakoan. It works.
As for the available X-Men baddies:
– Apocalypse isn’t reformed and it’s hard to see how his goals might align with the scattered x-teams of today. But he pinkie promised to leave Earth alone, so he’s probably on a back burner. (This week he was in Cosmic Time-Lost Power Man or whatever that book is actually called, but he seems to be staying on Arakko for now).
– Sebastian Shaw never reformed and, again, it’s hard to see how he could be an ally at this point.
– Selene never reformed. She might be dead, but that never stopped her.
– Shadow King always comes back, often without a good explanation. And I doubt the remorseful Amahl Farouk will make another appearance.
– Sabretooth is also just a resurrection away… but he’s not really an X-Men villain, just Logan’s. He’s useless against any half-decent team, anyway.
– There’s always Donald Pierce and the Reavers, though the last time Pierce was a major antagonist instead of just muscle for somebody else was probably in… Guggenheim’s Young X-Men?
– And how could we forget Hordeculture.
No, really, I’d like to but I can’t. From the visionary mind of Jonathan Hickman himself.
That list just makes me want the Hellfire Club to regroup. Shaw, Selene, Pierce, throw in the Shadow King in a new host, and you’ve got a formidable group.
Hmm, maybe what I’m missing is a good villain *team* for the X-Men. Enough with the all-powerful individual villains, and frankly enough with the human organizations. The X-Men/X-books need an evil counterpart group.
Will 3K be it? I doubt it. Turning Doug into Apocalypse-lite was dumb. And Cassandra’s not really a team player.
I agree that FtA suffers from pacing issues across the board, but give me good characterization and art and I don’t care too much about the limited use of physical action or slow plot progression. I get why Exceptional is not everyone’s cup of tea, and I’m worried about its long-term prospects, but it’s the X-book I enjoy the most.
I thought it was a funny that Emma summons the younger characters when she feels like it and doesn’t give them a way to get in touch with her. The Axo clone was also amusing. I’m ok with some story beats not making a ton of real-world sense if I get something else out of it. Characters who are into mutant history not knowing about X-Men basics continues to baffle me, but that’s a minor complaint all things considered.
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