X-Men #33 annotations
X-MEN vol 7 #33
“Anomaly, part 3”
Writer: Jed MacKay
Penciller: Tony S Daniel
Inker: Mark Morales
Colourist: Fer Sifuentes-Sujo
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
COVER: Magneto, in his classic costume, holding off a hail of bullets – precisely the sort of thing he can’t do any more.
THE X-MEN:
The Beast. Well, he’s still in charge in this issue, but it’s not really about him. Magneto rather marginalises him, and he can’t do much to help Kid Omega and Ben Liu. He does manage to persuade Department H to back off, though, even if it happens off panel, so you can chalk that up as another successful bit of diplomacy from him.
Ben Liu. Kid Omega references him being experimented upon by 3K and then dumped on the streets, which is the lead-up to his debut in issue #2. There are some brief flashbacks in this issue to the experiments themselves.
Kid Omega views him as a newbie who isn’t as hardened as the other X-Men (which is obviously right). This lack of faith seems to encourage Ben to step up and help to defuse Schwarzchild’s psychic traps, though really his only contribution is to experience some pain while Kid Omega does all the work. The booby traps set by Cassandra Nova are supposed to take the interlopers to their “Black Bug Rooms” – from New X-Men #116 – which Kid Omega describes as a manifestation of your shame and fear. For Kid Omega, this apparently works, though it takes place off panel. In Ben’s case, he ends up in Schwarzchild’s room – presumably because he has the same traps himself, which screws up how it works, but it’s not directly explained.
Ben’s initial reaction is to try and kill Schwarzchild. When Kid Omega catches up to him, he claims to be too exhausted to prevent the killing, but ultimately persuades Ben that killing Schwarzchild would just cost the X-Men a lead, slow down 3K’s defeat, and leave other innocents open to similar experiments. Ben accepts that, but makes clear to Kid Omega that he still intends to kill the guy later.
Kid Omega. He’s seemingly reluctant to press gang Ben into helping with Schwarzchild, and stalls for time (thoughtfully, by recapping the plot). It’s hard to tell how much he’s genuinely unwilling to force Ben’s hand and how far he’s trying to engineer Ben into making his own decisions – it may well be a bit of both. He claims to be willing to let Ben kill Schwarzchild, since it’ll stop the guy’s powers raging out of control. His argument for not doing it is entirely pragmatic; he says he’s not going to take the moral high ground given the things he’s done himself, presumably referring to his time in X-Force and as an outright villain.
Magneto. He tells Beast that he’s put a “failsafe” in place to kill Schwarzchild if need be. That seems to mean if Schwarzchild’s powers are still out of control when Magneto’s temporary power boost wears off. In practice, it’s not clear that he really does have a failsafe in place – it seems to be more of a euphemism for warning Beast that he’ll kill the guy if need be. His preference is still to take Schwarzchild alive, if only to interrogate him, and he’s willing to cut Beast out of the decision-making in order to keep his hands clean. (There’s a lot of emphasis in this series on Beast being not only more innocent than the Chairman version he replaced, but even than the rest of the X-Men.)
He seems genuinely surprised when Kid Omega actually manages to complete the job. Kid Omega tells him “This is why all your kids hate you”, which is a slightly harsh description of Magneto’s current relationship with Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Polaris.
Xorn. He’s healing the injured Department H men, as promised last issue.
Animalia. She’s delighted that Ben has saved some lives, though she seems not to appreciate that his motivations are more mixed than that.
VILLAINS:
Schwartzchild. Kid Omega takes Cassandra Nova’s psychic booby trap seriously. He acknowledges that he sorted out the trap that Cassandra Nova left in Ben Liu’s mind (in issue #5), but reasons that he needed Psylocke’s help for that, and that Schwarzchild, as one of 3K’s X-Men, is likely to have been a higher priority in terms of protection. In further support of that, he points to the fact that 3K bothered to replace the arm that Schwarzchild lost to Magik in issue #1.
In his own black bug room, Schwarzchild seems to be traumatised by the fact that 3K rejected him (in issue #24) despite his devotion to the cause. Ben interprets this as displacement – he thinks Schwarzchild is afraid and ashamed of the experiments on unwilling victims (such as Ben himself) that Schwarzchild was indirectly party to. This really isn’t what Schwarzchild says, though, and while there’s a legitimate parallel with what Ben sees, he could also just be projecting.
It’s not entirely clear how Schwartzchild is actually shut down. The story is more interested in Ben deciding whether to kill him. But presumably, once Ben decides to let him live, Kid Omega finishes the job off.
Department H. Their spokesman – the officer who was dealing with Beast last issue – is referred to simply as “Agent”. Not unreasonably, he wants to fulfil his orders by taking Schwarzchild into custody. This seems like the sort of thing that Department H should be doing, but Beast obviously has no time for them and, in the nicest possible way, tells them to stay out of the way while the grown-ups deal with it. According to Beast, the agent actually agrees and lets the X-Men deal with it in thanks for helping his men – they’ve tacitly agreed to present it as the X-Men overpowering Department H.
This cover is giving me “Eve of Destruction” vibes. It makes me want to start quoting Radiohead’s “Karma Police”.
I’m thinking I didn’t enjoy the late-‘90s/Y2K in my life a great deal, and Marvel’s retro cover designs meant to invoke that period is doing as much to alienate me from the current X-line as the uninspired storytelling.
“not clear that he really does have a failsafe in place”
The large, sharp and presumably heavy chunk of metal that Magneto has floating over Schwarzchild would likely kill Schwarzchild if Magneto lost power.
Did anyone else read the inker as Miles Morales? I read that twice, and only on the third time did I see Mark.
I think that’s a kickass cover. And I’m still enjoying McKay’s run. This science team arc is a fun diversion, but I’m also thankful that the book ships quickly so the story doesn’t drag.
“Ben interprets this as displacement – he thinks Schwarzchild is afraid and ashamed of the experiments on unwilling victims (such as Ben himself) that Schwarzchild was indirectly party to. This really isn’t what Schwarzchild says, though, and while there’s a legitimate parallel with what Ben sees, he could also just be projecting.”
Note that Schwarzchild asks Ben “Are you here to punish me? It would make sense if it was you. Or one of the others?” That implies that Schwarzchild is feeling guilty about the experiments. The reason why Ben was sucked into Schwarzschild’s Black Bug Room was because Ben is Schwarzschild’s shame.
The letters page says that Madelyne Pryor will be appearing in “a project coming toward the end of the year”.
I rather thought the “failsafe” was the giant metal spike Magneto had hovering over Schwarzchild’s forehead
I don’t like when people take Morrison concepts like the Black Bug Room and the White Hot Room and try to make them into mundane things that everyone can visit. It never makes any sense.
I sympathize to a degree, @Si, but it seems to me that there are only so many directions to go to after such concepts are introduced.
Using them may indeed make them somewhat less unique and special, or even create logical inconsistencies.
On the other hand, ignoring them is not always any more logical or consistent. And we _were_ told from its first appearance that the Black Bug Room is present in everyone’s mind, although it would be fairly easy to establish otherwise.
If it helps any, to the best of my knowledge every single use of the concept so far has been directly connected to Cassandra Nova.
I think the Black Bug Room was inspired by Twin Peaks, and was saying that everyone has an insane, alien part to their psyche. But surely only Cyclops actually has a room with black bugs that wear top hats. It just seems weird to me that there is a trap you can put in someone’s head called that.
It just doesn’t seem like a concept that was ever intended to be revisited.
Probably not – at least by Morrison.
But here we well over 20 years and so many issues of Omega telepaths later. Revisiting that concept is all but unavoidable.
Also, it seems fairly clear that the BBR was meant to be a visual representation of repressed feelings. If Morrison wanted to make it more exclusive to Cyclops, there would be means.
Morrison throws out ideas like the Black Bug Room and the White Hot Room to expand concepts like telepathy or the Phoenix Force. They freshen up the way we see things we thought we knew.
When other writers reuse those same ideas, they become solid and predictable, and eventually dull from repetition.
I always thought Morrison was not just coming up with new ideas, but showing other writers how to come up with their own new ideas. Sure, everyone might have a Black Bug Room, but why focus on that when you can showcase the Red Rage Machine or the Purple Diamond of Hope or whatever?
“Purple Diamond of Hope”
We just call that being a Sinister clone or occasionally as Sinisterized.
Upon reflection, I was kind of thinking maybe Emma in diamond form gets juiced up with Psylocke’s butterflies until she’s nice?
I think that is a valid question which you offer, @Thom H.
It is certainly possible to bring new and exciting concepts. To follow Morrison’s example instead of just his mythology and world-building.
So what are the pros and cons?
IMO, the main con is that it shifts the genre decisively and perhaps irreparably towards high fantasy. Which is an exciting genre to be sure, but not always the best for the stories that writers may want to tell.
That is in fact my beef with the symbiote side of Marvel, where symbiotes can be anything and do anything even when it clashes with previously established facts of their cosmology and harms the coherence of the Marvel Universe. That happened already in the X-corner of the MU with the Phoenix Force, Phalanx, Technarchy and Shiar Empire. All of those are far-reaching ideas that ought to have wide consequences and even interact significantly, while also making the MU more obviously different from our own.
Great for a D&D one-shot, probably even adequate for a full campaign, but not nearly as good for exploring the nuances and subtleties of a human sensibility existing in a somewhat relatable world. Existing in a shared fictional universe meant to support ongoing stories for decades ahead makes the problem considerably worse.
In other news, CB “Akira Yoshida” Cebulski has been sent to Japan. And, because it seemed like a good idea to someone at the time for some reason, Steve Wacker is his replacement as Marvel EiC.
Also, like DC before them, they’re leaving NYC for LA, so expect some “editorial turnover”.
Mixed feelings on that front – Akira Yoshida getting shipped back to the Five Islands of Japan is *long* overdue, and I suppose we can be grateful the job didn’t go to Brevoort… but Wacker? One can only hope he got some personal growth and maturity while he was away.
Well, I said that these changes could lead to a major shake-up at Marvel, although I have no idea how to feel about Wacker replacing Cebulski. That’s an outside choice, sort of a stationary move, except that he has more experience with digital and TV aspects of Marvel. I’m not sure if he’s the person to make radical moves with Marvel’s comics, like remove Brevoort from X-Men and try something new with the franchise again. Not surprisingly, it seems like the new guard is trying to steer the comic ship closer to the Marvel Studios. Apparently, they are hoping to increase interest in their comics by appealing to moviegoers again. Of course, the two major problems with that are: they tried it under Jemas, and it worked for a short period before the casual movie fans realized they didn’t need to follow the funny books (which could never be exactly the same as the movie continuity anyway), and the fact that the MCU isn’t the powerhouse it was (say) ten years ago. They’re trying to prop up a niche, declining market with a part of culture which is on the decline.
I fed the Marvel announcement to Perplexity AI and asked about direction of the X-comics.
“How This Maps to Wacker’s Strategy
Portfolio thinking: The line functions like a product portfolio with clear segmentation—flagship (X‑Men), prestige character drama (Uncanny), solo “hero products” (Cyclops, Rogue, Storm, Wolverine), and genre probes (Magik/Colossus, X‑Force, Generation X‑23).
IP probes for screen: Every major book can be read as a hypothesis test: “Does this concept/team/character work as a 6–8 hour season or 2‑hour film?” Wacker’s animation/TV background makes this framing natural.
Cross‑media alignment: With Feige signaling a young, school‑focused MCU X‑Men film, titles like Generation X‑23, Uncanny, and student‑heavy team books become especially valuable as narrative sandboxes.”
Steve Wacker is far more likely than not to attempt to align the comics closer to the movies, which I don’t think is particularly advisable or useful. The silver lining is that it _might_ conceivably lead to a less difuse editorial direction. Who knows.
The feelings and hopes of Diana above and others notwithstanding, I think that it would be far, far better for the comics line if Tom Brevoort got the role instead of Wacker. But I doubt that was ever on the table, precisely because he _would_ prioritize the comics instead of the secondary merchandise.
“I fed the Marvel announcement to Perplexity AI and asked about direction of the X-comics.”
You could have asked a human the same question and gotten just as good results.
@Luis Dantas: Brevoort isn’t competent enough to successfully run the X-books, I shudder to think of the utter ruin and mismanagement that would come of him trying to oversee Marvel’s entire line.
@Luis: I’m not sure how writers coming up with new ideas rather than revisiting Morrison’s shifts the books towards high fantasy – especially if you don’t reuse those ideas to death, either.
I’d think of it as the exact opposite of the symbiote situation — instead of “What else can we do with this idea from 1984?” perhaps writers should be saying “Okay, we’ve done symbiotes, now what?”
It’s kind of like what Paul always says about the Fantastic Four, that they’re supposed to be about exploration and discovery, not “Oh, it’s the Mole Man again.” Maybe all comics need a bit of that.
Daibhid-I agree. I was going to write something similar, but got distracted by the Marvel news. I don’t see how adding original concepts to an already existing creation suddenly turns said universe into “high fantasy”. The “Black Bug Room” already exists. How does the “Red Rage Machine” somehow now defeat the “world outside your window”?
The same with mentioning concepts like the Technarchy. Hickman added a very science fictional, rather than fantastical, addition to such concepts. Our universe is vast. How do we know there aren’t alien races somewhere out there? Maybe you, as an individual, don’t believe in aliens. Sure, but that doesn’t mean aliens don’t exist somewhere in the vastness of the universe or adding an alien race is anymore “world breaking” than radioactive spider powers existing in New York. Especially with Hickman having Earth contact with the Phalanx ten thousand years in the future.
Where do we draw the line? Is Nimrod too far? AI of that complexity certainly doesn’t exist in our world as of this time. Maybe something of that level of sophistication may exist in our world someday in the future. Maybe.
How does that compare to all these mutant powers existing in the Marvel Universe though?
If it’s truly the “world outside our window” maybe we could have characters like Batman stopping common criminals, anything else is perhaps a step too far into “fantasy”. The Marvel Universe has always been fictional, as otherwise, it wouldn’t be a fun place. Lee and Kirby introduced Subterranea in 1961. They introduced the Savage Land in 1964.
@Diana: you feel what you feel, but it seems to me that Brevoort’s merit as EiC can’t be assumed so casually – and far as I can see he has been busy healing the damage arguably caused by Cebulski and Jordan White.
@Daibhid C – it is precisely because new and utterly exotic powers, places, powers and situations multiply and are let go without having the logical consequences that it becomes high fantasy. There is only so much flamboyancy that can be ignored before it all becomes carnival-like, with characters having more abilities and resources that themselves can actually remember having.
That ship may already have sailed, though.
@Luis Dantas: I know you love being contrarian, but this would be one instance where I’d ask to see the receipts. Here’s what I know to be true about Tom Brevoort’s reign of error:
* He hasn’t managed to launch a single non-core book that made it to 18 issues (let alone 24).
* His three crossover events so far have been catastrophically mismanaged, to the point where writers very clearly had no idea what anyone else was doing issue to issue (see: “Red Rogue”, the entirety of X-Manhunt, etc.)
* He’s alienated talent that *he himself brought in*, as Mark Russell and Geoffrey Thorne are on record as being quite displeased they weren’t told about the “10-issue policy” that caused their respective runs on X-Factor and X-Force to end abruptly.
Nothing about any of that would lead me to the conclusion you’ve apparently come to that he’s the right man for the job. Frankly, nothing about any of that makes me think he should’ve kept his job while Darren Shan didn’t.
Luis-Yes, but the real problem is when it becomes common-place. The idea behind the superheroes is that they experience strange persons and places outside of the everyday world and the common man. That’s the appeal. It isn’t Ben Grimm getting drunk in the local pub and beating up a bank robber. When you continue to reuse all these ideas like The Black Bug Room or whatever that you are doing a disservice to the “world outside your window”. Now, it’s not some out-of-this-world concept that Scott dealt with that one time, it’s something that just happens.
The symbiotes are no longer something strange that Peter Parker once ran across and which became Venom. They are now omnipresent in the Marvel Universe. You’re as likely to run across a symbiote as you are to run across a coyote in the US or Canada. It’s no longer special. It’s no longer strange. It’s built into the “world outside your window” now, and it never should have been.
I understand about adding more and more, but that’s the hazard of a serial publication which has been on-going for 70 years.
I am frequently a holder of unpopular opinions myself, so I want to emphasize that this isn’t an attack.
@Diana – your comments on this post are perfect. No notes.
@Luis Dantas – JDW was an excellent editor, and great at communicating with creatives and fans alike. What “arguable” misstep are you alleging that he made while working directly under the Head of X, Tom Breevort that is now being “healed” by Head of X, Tom Breevort? I honestly don’t understand your point of view.
_______________
So my understanding, which might be wrong is that Dan Buckley was the number cruncher who kept pushing the cancellations with faster and faster turnarounds changing ongoings to minis with the argument that #1s sold better. This is clearly BOTH a factor of actual data driven sales data that reflects the market place and also a self fulfilling prophecy that places short term profits over maintaining a healthy product to sell to fans. Is this departure a move towards a more sustainable model or a sign of complete collapse into turning Marvel comics into only a vestigial IP farm to be leased like Harvard Lampoon became? I know nothing of David Abdo. Any thoughts or predictions about this?
I mean, I can see the “high fantasy” thing if I squint. Morrison had Cyclops trapped by bugs. Jean and Emma rescued Charles from a castle, for goodness sake.
But I agree that the X-books have already gone there and in much larger ways. Demons, aliens, sorceresses, alien sorceresses, sentient machines — the “fantasy” ship has definitely sailed.
I think the power of the Black and White rooms is in their specificity. And if they lean a little mystical/fantasy, that’s probably because they were created by Morrison. But as Chris V said, they could just as well lean sci-fi or Victorian or action/adventure or psychedelic, etc. Just as long as we move away from generic “psychic blasts” and featureless “astral planes,” then I’m happy.
@Woodswalked: I vaguely recall Paul making the point way back in the X-Axis days that abrupt cancellations and relaunches essentially train readers to treat new series with suspicion. I imagine that’s been proven accurate over the years.
The thing about the “10-issue mandate” is that, on paper, it was at the very least a way of assuring that something like Joe Casey’s Weapon X-Men wouldn’t happen again. In practice, it failed because the writers *weren’t told about it*, which means they couldn’t structure individual issues and overall story arcs accordingly (bigger cliffhangers in the first few issues, closure by issue 10 but with enough of a hook to keep going, etc.) So instead of the message being “every new book has 10 issues to find its audience”, it became “every new book will only last for 10 issues.”
I think that Brevoort will be retiring soon. Brevoort is in his early 60s and Marvel is moving to California. Brevoort said when years ago that he wouldn’t have accepted a job with DC if it meant moving to California:
https://tombrevoort.substack.com/p/72-im-the-x
“I did take a lunch or two with Dan Didio, but he didn’t seem particularly interested in me. Which I’ve arrogantly seen as something of a loss for DC, in that at the height of the craziness at Marvel, they could have offered me half my then-current salary and I’d have gone. On the other hand, I wouldn’t have wanted to make the move to California, so something would have had to give at some point, and all seems to have worked out for the best.”
Brevoort is probably going to retire instead of move to California.
Regarding Brevoort’s performance- I think that it’s fair to say that the X-Books are currently the biggest problem at Marvel. Spider-Man is currently one of Marvel’s best sellers and the FF often make it in the top 30 (admittedly under Brevoort) but the X-Men often have some of their flagships beaten by books like Black Cat.
If you want evidence of how bad Brevoort;s turn as Head of X has been, look at Wolverine. Wolverine is supposed to be one of Marvel’s core 7 solo titles along with Spider-Man, Hulk, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. Spider-Man is often one of Marvel’s best selling titles as noted previously, Daredevil is having its best sales in years, Captain America and iron Man are experiencing resurgences in sales under Zdarsky and Williamson, and Infernal Hulk is building up to Hulk War. Even Mortal Thor seems to be improving sales as of late and will likely further improve once the quest for the real Thor begins. And all of these are outselling Wolverine. And lesser books like Punisher, Moon Knight and Black Cat also outsell Wolverine. Yes. Wolverine outsells Venom when there’s no crossover, but that’s because Mary Jane is Venom instead of Eddie and Queen in Black seems to be the end of MJ’s turn as Venom.
In fact, last month, Black Cat outsold all but one X-Book. That’s just embarrassing.
FF is selling well because a talented writer in Ryan North is being allowed to tell any crazy science fiction concept he wants while North also understands the core of what makes those characters work. Plus, it’s one title.
X-Men, on the other hand, features some kind of undefined status quo of “back-to-basics except not exactly back-to-basics” while trying to churn out eight to ten different X-books a month. Brevoort has no vision for the mutant characters. Granted, his vision for FF isn’t exactly a high concept, but it shows that one isn’t truly needed as long as there is some sort of coherent idea.
The editorial move seems like a good one. The only big successes of Cebulski’s reign that I can recall were Krakoa and Ultimate 2.0, both of which Hickman speared, plus a couple of solo breakouts (MOON KNIGHT, a FF resurgence). Maybe I’m forgetting stuff; nine years is a long time.
Wacker has a lot more creative notches on his belt, from my recollection, and he’s a legend at keeping books on schedule. He certainly has the skills.
@Adam- There was also Immortal Hulk. Does Cates’ Venom count?
@Michael: Oh yeah, sure. There’s my recency bias at work. I think IMMORTAL HULK was a contained, well-regarded solo run but Cates got Venom carrying multiple books and crossovers, even if I didn’t care for the direction as an old head.
For the record, I have no interest in engaging in some sort of attrition guessing game on the editorial capabilities, blames and merits of people that I barely know, and I am certainly not willing to be name called by people who hasten to judge me with no basis either.
I am just pointing out that Brevoort has to deal with the fallout from previous writer and editors, and it turns out that the Krakoa Era left an impressive mountain of incoherent unresolved plots and situations that built over plenty of others, going back to Morrison and Claremont. Those are just facts, unwilling as some are to accept them and eager as they may be to insult Brevoort instead.
If anyone here prefers to make things personal instead, please do so without my participation and try to ignore my existence and my posts. I am not your sparring partner and I have no reason to crave such a role either.
@Chris V: There’s also something to be said for the fact that North’s FF has been fairly self-contained: there was a single indirect tie-in to Blood Hunt, and then One World Under Doom, of course – but then, North spearheaded that event so one could easily make the argument that was just another FF story at its core.
Compare that to the train wreck of X-Manhunt derailing X-Factor, X-Force and NYX an issue before their respective finales, or the bloated mess of Age of Revelation. Maybe Brevoort’s questionable skills are better-applied to singular titles than entire lines, or maybe North is just that talented a writer that he can rise above a mediocre editor.
“In fact, last month, Black Cat outsold all but one X-Book. That’s just embarrassing.”
That might say more about Black Cat than about the X-books, though. I have never had any interest in the character (and not much more in the Spider-line more widely), and in reading an issue here and there of the previous couple of volumes was never inclined to pick it up, so I’ve been kind of shocked at how much I’m enjoying Willow Wilson’s version. I’d go so far as to say it’s the book I look forward to second-most each month, behind the Ryan North FF y’all have been discussing.
@AQ: Isn’t that the whole point, though? If we’re not talking about the X-books in terms of looking forward to them the most each month, or getting us interested in characters we’ve never cared about before (especially with season 2 of ’97 currently running), that rather suggests there’s something very wrong with the line. Whether it’s the creative team lineup, the types of stories being published, or something else entirely.
Luis-OK, but is he succeeding? It may be a hard job but that’s what he is paid to accomplish. If he cannot do the job, it is up to someone higher-up to find someone to accomplish the job. That’s usually how businesses work. Usually the bosses don’t say, “Well, he had a hard task. He’s not really doing the job we expected, but that’s not his fault. Cut him some slack. We’ll just keep on as is and not bother fixing a problem.” It’s been nearly three years of Brevoort “trying to right the ship”. At some point, you have to stop blaming things that happened three years ago or trying to blame the direction of the line dating back to Morrison. Either the person put in the position should have made progress, or they’ve proven incapable of doing the job at this point.
Can anyone do a better job? No idea. Maybe the X-Men is a dead property. Maybe it is meant to fail from this point forward and never be what Marvel wanted it to be again. Maybe. How do we know if Marvel only continues to do the same thing going forward?
@Diana: Naturally I agree that it’d be better if *all* the books were compelling, and if you’re an X-fan in particular (and here we are on Paul’s X-Axis site), then of course you’d like to see some of what we’re seeing on FF, Mortal Thor, etc., brought to the X-books. And yes, for nearly fifty years now they’ve had a stature that would make you expect them to outsell a random Spider-Man spinoff book. I’m just sayin’, Michael’s assertion that underselling Black Cat was “embarrassing” made it sound like Black Cat was a dog of a book, while I think it’s surprisingly great. (I don’t really follow the sales charts, so it was cheering to hear that it’s doing relatively well.)
How much value does the ‘world outside your window’ even have? Unless I’m missing something it feels like a sacred cow that’s overvalued. Perhaps that’s a matter of taste, but I care about stories being good before relatability of the setting.
The real world strikes me as a baseline. A place to begin and end, something to contrast the altered environment with.
Re: Brevoort. I think he’s been fumbling hard for years, at least with X-Men. Confidence in titles is low in my extended sphere of influence. I don’t really see anyone excited for what comes next. Maybe the cherry picked letter writers
“The world outside your window” shoiuldnt be too close to actual reality or it becomes much too politically controversial (why is why 616 virtually stopped mirroring our the current geopoliical events of our reality exactly a decade ago with the first Trump administration until the present momemy with the second Trump administration) and/or too trends-dated , especually since Marvel doesnt age in real time , but in sliding timescale . 616 isnt supposed to be the Simpsons after all. And reasonably, in-universe 616 stopped being identical to “the world outside your window” the moment non-human intelligent civilizations were already confirmed by moderm global authorities.