The X-Axis – 16 September 2026
DNX #1. (Annotations here.) I’m really not sure how Cyclops’ jaw is meant to work on that cover. Or where the light’s coming from if it’s glistening on both sides of his visor at once, come to think of it. But anyway. This event seems to be the climax of the 3K storyline that’s been running throughout Jed MacKay’s X-Men run. And I’m rather relieved to see it being kept to just X-Men and a couple of issues of Fantastic Four – DNX, after all, seems to be basically just extra issues of X-Men. But where “Age of Revelation” went wrong was in trying to turn the middle act of an X-Men storyline into a linewide event. By all means let’s keep it focussed.
This first issue is basically the X-Men showing up to stop 3K from releasing the X-virus in Philadelphia, while 3K continue to squabble amongst themselves, and the Alaskan Beast tries to get the Fantastic Four to help out with the plot. It’s fairly straightforward stuff, but I enjoy Federico Vicentini’s art, particularly on the Chairman. There’s a nice angle here with the way he can’t seem to understand why a bunch of people he only enlisted as an alliance of convenience to get this point are looking over their shoulders now that they’re about to become expendable. Despite being openly manipulative with them, he can’t understand why they aren’t true believers.
I’m less sure about the FF material. It’s been so long since Magneto was last a full blown villain that I don’t really buy Reed being this averse to fixing his powers. I can buy that Reed wouldn’t see it as a particularly high priority as long as he could save the guy’s life, or that he wouldn’t understand Magneto’s symbolic significance among mutants. But I don’t buy him seeing it as a moral line akin to making a WMD. Still, it doesn’t look like that’s going to be the core of the FF’s plot – it seems to be an argument that’s mainly there to give Reed something to do in this first issue – so I doubt that’s going to be a problem going forward.
X-MEN #37. (Annotations here.) We seem to be doing the format where the core miniseries has the main plot and the home title is doing the secondary tie-ins. So this is essentially an issue of Kid Omega fighting Cassandra Nova in the margins on DNX proper. But it does serve a point beyond that. For one thing, sticking Kid Omega on his own forces him into the hero role when he doesn’t have anyone to be insubordinate to, and MacKay has been slowly dialling up his tendency to take the heroic line in these situations. The bit about him talking up Magneto’s journey to rejecting his anti-human stance carries more weight if you remember that this is the argument Magneto was having with Quentin just a few issues ago.
It’s also the story that brings Phoenix back into circulation, even though she’s still out in the Shi’ar Empire. We haven’t seen her in any material way since her solo book got cancelled, and the art does a lovely job of dialling up the darkness in the run-up to her appearance so that the firebird makes more impact. I’m still not sure how you make Jean work in the long run as a cosmic powered character, but I suppose at least we already established in “Age of Revelation” that stopping the spread of viruses is beyond her. We’re probably overdue to say something about the state of her and Scott’s marriage, as well, which has barely come up at all in X-Men. But that’s probably a matter for after DNX.
X-MEN: OUTBACK #3. By Steve Orlando, Roi Mercado, Alex Sinclair & Joe Sabino. I have no idea why the cover shows Maddy and Alex in Inferno mode, because this story has nothing to do with that at all. There’s a bit about Madelyne wanting to be useful by going on a mission, and a passing mention of the dreams that are going to lead to her becoming the Goblin Queen, but it doesn’t feel like it really comes to anything much. The story actually involves the X-Men saving a hidden community of outback mutants from the Lava Men, of all people. It’s very much Orlando by numbers, I’m afraid – hidden community of mutants, new character whose personality is pretty much just being right about everything, random continuity reference to a king of the Lava Men who last appeared in 1994. Like most of this series, it’s not terrible, but it does feel pointless.
There was that horrible X-Men and FF mini during the Krakoan era (which never should have saw print) featuring Xavier and Magneto at the end cackling maniacally like 1960s supervillains at Xavier messing with Reed’s mind. That, following Magneto declaring to humanity that “they have new gods now” may have convinced Reed that Magneto might not have changed greatly. You have to watch your marketing when you declare yourself reformed, Magnus.
Re: X-Men Outback 4:
This issue’s cover is odd. The main cover features them scantily clad in a scene that has nothing to do with the story in the issue, while one of the variants features them fully clothed in a scene which actually relates to the plot. Usually it’s the other way around.
Orlando gets the continuity wrong again. Roma’s spell blocked the X-Men from detection powers as well as mechanical devices. We saw this is Uncanny X-Men 235- Hawkshaw tries to use his powers to determine if Maddie is a mutant but he can’t perceive her with his powers only with the naked eye due to Roma’s spell. So Bushranger shouldn’t have been able to find the X-Men through their auras either.
How does Bushranger know that she can be killed if people stop believing in her? Did she run into a precook? Did she get killed and resurrected?
Bushranger’s people were called the Morlocks in the solicits but not in the actual issue. I guess someone realized that the Morlocks are called Morlocks because they live underground.
So Maddie told the X-Men that she was having nightmares of fire. And then when she starts dressing and acting more sexual and talking differently no one thought the cause might be something supernatural?
Why did Alex jump in front of an attack directed at Bushranger a few pages after being told she can’t be killed? Are we to assume he was thinking with his groin?
Basallo claims that the Lava Men can’t be killed. But Molto the Lavs Man was killed by Junku the witch-doctor. Maybe the Lava Men can only die through magic?
The X-Men allow both the mutants and the Lava Men to remember their presence. But that’s not how they usually did things when they were believed to be dead. In X-Men Annual 12 and X-Men 238, Betsy erases people’s memories so no one will remember them. In fact, X-Factor saved the Lava Men from being sterilized by the High Evolutionary around this time, so the X-Men are just lucky X-Factor didn’t find out.
This story was apparently rewritten, since Orlando said in an interview that the Morlocks would be introduced by a new character called “the God of the Rivers” and a new character called Cliffhanger would appear.
This issue was really a waste. This is a story that takes place after Maddie’s transformation into the Goblin Queen has statrted but while she’s mostly herself. There are several ways that could have been played. Alternately, Maddie could fight off the Lava Men with guns and a parallel could be drawn between her and Cable.
This issue could have done a much better job of exploring Alex and Maddie’s relationship. We really didn’t see as much of Alex’s and Maddie’s pre-Goblin Queen relationship as we could have. Maddie and Alex had feelings for each other but they also still had feelings for Scott and Lorna respectively. And Maddie didn’t want to become vulnerable again after what happened with Scott. There were any number of interesting directions Orlando could have gone. But instead, he has Maddie feel jealous over Bushranger because she thinks Bushranger is attracted to Alex when in reality Bushranger has a thing for non-human looking guys. That’s a plot worthy of a bad sitcom.
And this is Alex’s and Maddie’s spotlight issue but neither of them winds up saving the day- instead Storm does. Storm can’t cede the spotlight to anyone else in their spotlight issue?
Storm and Rogue appeared in Avengers Armageddon 4 this week.
Colton really shows what a horrible human being he is in this issue. The Russians launch nuclear missiles at 10 American cities as a result of Colton’s actions. But instead of cleaning up his own mess, he leaves it to the heroes to stop the missiles, rationalizing that they usually save the day.
Storm had trouble stopping missiles equopped with anti-superhuman technology this issue.So I guess that means that she’s back to her pre-krakoa limits.
So Bucky WAS helping Colton and not planning to double cross him? He was too stupid to realize that the Russians might launch their nukes in response to an American superhero destroying their missiles?
If Fury, Jr. handed the anti-superpower technology over to the UN Security Council, how did the Russians get it for missiles directed at the US? I guess we’re supposed to believe that Fury handed it over not to the UN as an organization but to all 5 Permanent members- the US., the U.K., France, Russia and China. That’s incredibly stupid.
Bucky was killed when Ross exploded. They killed Bucky AGAIN? The problem with bringing him back is that even if you undo his death, he still participated in actions that almost led to a nuclear war.
Carol was also caught in the explosion. The previews show Carol with shorter hair. She’s flying on one of the covers to Avengers 1 but only that one. And according to Zdarsky, only one of the new team of Avengers will have the ability to fly My guess is that Carol’s powers will be affected by the explosion.
Colton turns out to have the powers of Miracleman. How is this possible? The Origin Boxes were created by the Maker, and the other Origin Boxes involved heroes that were none either to the Maker or to the 616-Reed Richards. But Miracleman never appeared in 616 or the Original Ultimate Universe.
David’s body is described as “one of many, built by. a god, for a god”. So I guess this Miracleman’s origin is different from Moore’s version.
This has to be the most convoluted way possible to bring Miracleman into the Marvel Universe.
Why would anyone trust Colton after this? He killed civilians in Symarkia. tried to strip sovereign nations of the nuclear weapons but did such a dumb job of it that he nearly caused a nuclear war, and instead of taking responsibility to his actions, left the heroes to stop the nuclear missiles without being 100% sure they could do it.
I imagine that the upcoming conflict between Peter and Jonah is that Jonah doesn’t think Colton should be trusted with all this power after everything he’s done and shouldn’t be an Avenger. If that’s the case. I can’t imagine why PETER thinks Colton should be an Avenger after all this.