X-Men vol 7 #25
X-MEN vol 7 #25
“Involved Again”
Writer: Jed MacKay
Penciller: Tony Daniel
Inker: Mark Morales
Colourist: Fer Sifuentes-Sujo
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
COVER: The new leader of O*N*E in silhouette, with the X-Men viewed through sniper scopes behind him.
This is an anniversary issue (aside from the current numbering, it also has legacy number #325), which means we get a normal length story plus a five-page back-up strip.
THE X-MEN:
As usual, our field team is Cyclops, Kid Omega, Juggernaut, Psylocke, Temper and Magik. Cyclops’ top priority is for them to find Revelation and make sure that the “Age of Revelation” timeline is averted. (Beast points out that driving Revelation away from the X-Men may have made this more difficult, but on the other hand, it also creates a deviation from the history of the “Age of Revelation” timeline.)
In practice, they don’t get very far with their mission this time – on their way to Rio Verde, they run into Fenris and their white supremacist followers and have a fight with them instead. As you might expect, the X-Men take particular pleasure in defeating and humiliating these guys.
Bohannan declares the X-Men to be “citizen auxiliaries” of O*N*E, for the sole purpose of undermining their credibility with other mutants.
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS:
Magneto. Cyclops shares with everyone the fact that his “resurrection-linked degenerative syndrome” didn’t happen in the “Age of Revelation” timeline. The Beast’s first theory is that Magneto’s condition might instead be something to do with the timeline being altered. (Basically, the idea of resurrection being a potential health risk seems to be being kicked into touch.)
Beast. Aside from chipping in the insights already noted, he doesn’t go on the mission in this story, which is usual. We see what he gets up to in the meantime in the back-up strip.
The Morlocks. They’re still living in Rio Verde, as they were during the Krakoan era. The X-Men are planning to visit them, but don’t get as far as actually meeting them in this issue. There is, of course, a splinter “New Morlocks” group in Canada in current issues of Wolverine, but nobody mentions them, and as far as we know they only include two members of the original Morlocks.
Magneto suspects that Revelation might try to make contact with the Morlocks, but doesn’t explain why – perhaps it’s just that they’re the largest easily located community of mutants remaining.
VILLAINS:
Fenris. This is the first time we’ve seen Andrea and Andreas von Strucker since the “Fall of X” period, when they were in the version of the Mutant Liberation Front led by the Nazi version of Steve Rogers. They’re now leading a white supremacist militia group which seems to be mainly made up of humans; more attention than usual is given to the Norse mythology element of their name, and the group is clearly meant to be in that vein. The group incoherently believes that the distinction between humans and mutants is unimportant, but also that white mutants are the pinnacle of the white race.
In terms of how far the twins believe in any of this and how much of it is grift, they were always supposed to be white supremacists; the only bit that’s probably for the consumption of the rubes is the assurance that it doesn’t matter that they’re only humans. Fenris seem to have no particularly concrete plan here beyond attacking the Morlocks for the hell of it (though to be fair, they don’t get far enough for us to see whether there was anything more to the plan). Their followers are simply typical rural thugs, heavily armed, but not with anything beyond the conventional. They seem to have a couple of rocket launchers, but beyond that it’s pick-up trucks and regular firearms.
Andreas carries a sword, referencing his time as the Swordsman in Thunderbolts. When Psylocke seems to be about to kill Andreas, Andrea’s concern for her brother seems sincere.
Frank Bohannan. The new Director of O*N*E, as previously mentioned by Agent Lundqvist, is the former Crimson Commando. He debuted in Uncanny X-Men #215 (1986) as a retconned-in Golden Age hero who had taken to hunting down criminals as a vigilante; he went on to have a stint in Freedom Force and became a cyborg after getting injured in battle. He’s barely appeared this century, and he was killed by Wolverine in Uncanny X-Men #539 after kidnapping Hope Summers to try and force her to restore his mutant powers.
We’re told that he was resurrected off panel during the Krakoan era but promptly left to return to the USA. Obviously, his mutant powers will have been restored as part of that. His powers were essentially the same as Captain America’s, combined with long life – on a day to day level, he’s superhuman, but not by much.
This version of Bohannan seems considerably more jingoistic than he was in the past, though resistance to social change is in character for him and might reasonably account for him rejecting Krakoa. He regards other American mutants as having rejected their nation and come crawling back. Publicly, he claims to detest Nazis (probably true, since he was a World War II hero, though a dangerously liberal opinion for anyone appointed by the current American administration). In every other respect, this is basically a MAGA interpretation of the character (“the only part of the world I care about is this country”), though he stops short of actually wanting to expel mutants, and to some extent he seems to be reacting to the X-Men’s more hubristic claims of being above the law. His stated policy is to deputise mutants to control other mutants, which seems to be at least in part an exercise in trolling, and he publicly claims to be a “proud mutant”, though he seems openly disdainful of them otherwise.
O*N*E. The usual armed and masked goons accompany Bohannan.
CONTINUITY REFERENCES:
- Cyclops’ mind was swapped for his future self in the “Age of Revelation” event.
- The Morlocks started living in Rio Verde, Arizona in Marauders vol 1 #7.
- Future Cyclops drove Cypher and his allies to leave the X-Men and go underground in issue #23.
- Cyclops learned that “Age of Revelation” Magneto had never had “resurrection-linked degenerative syndrom” in Amazing X-Men vol 3 #3.
- Psylocke refers to being “raised to believe in nothing but the kill”; extensive flashbacks to her childhood training by the Hand appear in the recent Psylocke ongoing.
- Agent Lundqvist told Cyclops that the new director of O*N*E was a mutant in issue #20.
- As the footnote says, Cyclops threatened reprisals against the US government when arguing with Lundqvist in issue #10.
- The footnote to Bohannan’s death is wrong, however – he died in Uncanny X-Men #539, not #529.
“Inside Joke”
Writer: Jed MacKay
Artist: Agustin Alessio
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
THE X-MEN:
The Beast. He decides to contact 3K now that he’s “solved their riddle”, but he does it in Jen’s presence. Somehow, he actually figures out the clue seemingly hidden for him in 3K’s name, which he believes was supposed to make him recognise his own sense of humour.
Jen Starkey. She’s quite taken with her future self in the “Age of Revelation” timeline, not so much for the future timeline itself but because it’s a version of her who isn’t simply a reactive victim. She rather likes the codename “Animalia”, despite recognising the logical paradox if she takes it now.
VILLAINS:
The Chairman. He addresses the Beast as “Dr McCoy” and seems to disavow that name itself (or least prefers “Chairman”). According to the Beast – and the Chairman doesn’t seem to disagree – the name 3K isn’t a reference to mutant dominating the world by the year 3000, but rather refers to the Roman numeral MMM, standing for the Krakoan law “Make More Mutants”. The creation of new mutants has always been 3K’s primary objective.
CONTINUITY REFERENCES:
- Animalia was seen as a future X-Man in “Age of Revelation” and, in particular, Amazing X-Men.
- Wyre gave the 3K business card to the Beast in issue #18.
Of all the mutants who could have been tapped to direct O.N.E., the former Crimson Commando does seem like a good pick.
He’s always been more pragmatic and ruthless than some–when we first met him, after all, he was hunting down criminals with his pals, and then joined Freedom Force as a government agent. (let’s not talk about his stint as a cyborg though). So this sort of position feels in line with his personality and history, and as someone with an extended lifespan who’s seen everything from the ’40s on… well, let’s just agree that he’s ripe for a more conservative outlook.
And he never did have a huge mutant identity in the time we saw him, so why hang out on Krakoa when he didn’t feel at home? (Hey, where are Stonewall and Super Sabre these days anyway?) He’s a good choice for this. I think he’ll be an interesting antagonist, especially if he’s media savvy like he seems here.
The Struckers are, as always, the worst people in the room. Again, this feels entirely within their nature as (white) supremacists. They’ve always felt like they have more than a little grifter in them, going where the biggest score is, and hating whoever is most convenient.
Always nice to see the X-Men just beat up some nazis. A little surprised that they didn’t actually kill any of them – I get not killing Fenris, with resurrection off the table, but I figured they wouldn’t pull punches against a few goons. And, as noted, it was too bad that Magneto had to sit this one out.
Was Crimson Commando anyone’s guess for the new O*N*E director? I like a Mackay deep cut, but this is a really deep one – even when he was in Freedom Force, it was only at the tail end of their run together. He also seems to have largely taken on US Agent’s personality, except as a mutant instead of hating mutants.
Always good to see an OHOTOHOTMU alum back in circulation.
“Hey, where are Stonewall and Super Sabre these days anyway?”
Hmm. You know, Crimson Commando wore an all red costume (obviously, given the name) while Super-Sabre’s costume was entirely blue. Maybe they could play up the red/blue thing. If Commando’s gone MAGA, maybe they could have Sabre go the other way and show up to object to Bohannan’s new gig (but not actually do much about it except vent his disapproval).
And I guess Stonewall could struggle with torn allegiances.
Magneto guessing that Doug was with the Morlocks made no sense. Wouldn’t Doug try seeking help from Kitty or the New Mutants? Magneto seems to be confusing the figurative meaning of underground with the literal meaning. It worked when Factory Beast decoded the 3K message because Factory Beast and the Chairman are different versions of the same person. But Magneto guessing that Doug was heading for the Morlocks made no sense. It’s not as ridiculous as the time Magneto correctly deduced that a villain was after Wanda because of an electromagnetic disturbance in the Mole Man’s tunnels but it’s close.
There was another community of Morlocks that included Caliban in New York City shown in NYX.
I wonder if Magneto’s condition is somehow the result of Future Beast’s attempt to warn the X-Men about the Chairman.
I’m not sure if it makes sense that Andreas is racist against Japanese. His father founded Hydra out of Japanese secret societies so you might think he’d make Japanese an exception to his racism. Or he might not.
Kwannon cut off one hand of each of the Strucker twins in Uncanny Avengers 4, but not only only they have both of their hands in this issue but they don’t seem to have a grudge against Kwannon.
Crimson Commando will appear in the upcoming Danger Room arc of X-Men working with Maxine Danger. After that, he will appear in the Baxter Building arc of Fantastic Four working with Buzz Baxter. 🙂
It’s good that MacKay had Factory Beast and Animalia find out the Chairman of 3K was Krakoa Beast this issue instead of dragging it out. Similarly, it’s a good thing MacKay revealed who the leader of ONE was this issue instead of dragging it out.
@The Other Michael- Super Sabre and Stonewall were last seen as among Selene’s army of the dead in Necrosha. In the recent Magik and Colossus 1, it was mentioned that Mikhail was never resurrected. So it’s possible that Stonewall and Super Sabre were never resurrected either.
@John- Brevoort hinted that the Crimson Commando would be appearing somehow in last issue’s letter column. So some readers guessed he would be the head of ONE after that.
“ And I guess Stonewall could struggle with torn allegiances.”
Workshopping a joke involving Stonewall Jackson an/or the Stonewall Riots as to whether he is progressive or conservative.
Is Bohannan wearing his original “Punisher meets Santa Claus” costume in this?
“Beast points out that driving Revelation away from the X-Men may have made this more difficult, but on the other hand, it also creates a deviation from the history of the “Age of Revelation” timeline”.
But he doesn’t point out the deviation.
“Basically, the idea of resurrection being a potential health risk seems to be being kicked into touch.)”.
Which is odd, because it’s this writer in this title who introduced the idea, only a year or so ago. So if Wiz-kid in the days leading in to planet Doug hadn’t heard of Magneto’s condition, it’s going to be caused in the past by a time-traveller from AFTER AoR? That’s if Beast is right about retrocausality.
I am glad that the book finally addressed the issue of mutants repatriating back to the United States and how Crimson Commando is going about it.