X-Men #17 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-MEN vol 5 #17
“Empty Nest”
by Jonathan Hickman, Brett Booth, Adelso Corona & Sunny Gho
COVER / PAGE 1: Just a generic action shot of Storm (by the regular artist Leinil Francis Yu, who doesn’t draw this issue).
PAGES 2-4: Deathbird calls for help after Xandra is kidnapped.
“[A]nnihilation events and celestial disruptions.” The lettering has both in lower case, but this is at least alluding to the various Annihilation storylines in the cosmic books, and to the periodic appearances of Kirby space gods the Celestials.
“Warlike or savage, ancient or cultured…” Um… are those meant to be opposing pairs?
The aliens shown in page 2 panel 3 don’t really matter – it’s all just generic space stuff – but the guys on the left are Kree Accusers, and on the right are their age-old enemies the Skrulls. (The war is now over, as seen in the recent Empyre crossover.) The big face in the background is the Kree Supreme Intelligence, and for some reason there’s also a random Kymellian in there – the horse-like aliens who tie in to the origin of Power Pack.
“Whether Shi’ar or Brood, Kree or Skrull, Wraith or Kymellian…” Most of whom should need no introduction to X-Men readers. The Wraiths are the Dire Wraiths, villains from 1980s toy tie-in Rom.
“[A]long with all galactic currency, worlds are collapsing…” The collapse of the galactic economy is a wider Marvel Universe storyline – I’m not sure where it first cropped up, but it was certainly referenced in the one-shot Empyre: Fantastic Four, which reported that the “credit’ – the intergalactic currency – had collapsed, leading interworld trade to revert to a barter system.
“…and are only kept in line by the might of our Praetor.” Gladiator. For some reason, the art shows him with fellow Imperial Guardsmen Maanta and Hussar dealing with what appear to be black-armoured Shi’ar soldiers.
“…and we have a new regent on the throne.” This is Xandra, who became the new Shi’ar empress in New Mutants #7. Calling her a “regent” is odd – that term normally refers to someone who reigns in the place of an underage or absentee ruler. Xandra is the ruler, and using “regent” in that sense is obsolete.
Xandra is shown along with Oracle, Deathbird and Mentor, all of whom were positioned as her advisers in that New Mutants storyline.
“My paramour…” As we see later, Deathbird is referring to Sunspot. Sunspot did claim in New Mutants #7 that she had finally reciprocated his advances, but this is the first evidence to support that.
PAGE 4. Recap (in form only, because we’ve just spent three pages on the recap) and credits. Maybe worth noting that although she’s sometimes been identified in the Krakoan era as Marvel Girl, Jean is identified here simply as “Jean Grey”.
PAGE 5. The X-Men arrive on Chandilar.
The Krakoan gate to Chandilar was established in the same New Mutants arc, which is also where Sunspot moved to live in Chandilar. Cannonball has been living there with his wife Smasher (Izzy Kane) for ages now.
PAGE 6. Data page, transcribing a conversation between Cannonball and Sunspot. This version of their relationship is par for the course in Hickman’s stories, where Sunspot is generally played for laughs. Obviously, as seen in New Mutants, Sunspot is very much bothered by his best friend getting married and having kids and leaving him behind.
PAGES 7-11. Jean psi-scans the palace staff.
All fairly self-explanatory. Jean is the consummate professional, and so she finds the person with something to hide not by trying to scan their minds directly, but by looking for signs of psychic defences.
The servant she exposes is a Stygian, the race that produced Neutron of the Imperial Guard. (That’s the big guy with the starfield effect on his skin – hence the colouring on these guys throughout the issue.)
PAGES 12-15. Urr and Xandra talk.
The ringleader, Urr, is a new character. He gives us a fairly standard speech about how his people have been subjugated by the Shi’ar and, frankly, have it coming. In line with Hickman’s usual approach to these things, Jean makes sure to point out that the underclass were bound to rebel in the end. Nonetheless, the basic structure of this story puts the X-Men in the position of restoring the imperial order. Xandra gets a speech to point out that nobody knows yet what sort of empress she will be.
Still, there’s always been something a little odd in the idea that the Shi’ar Empire is the sort of thing we should be siding with, and that it becomes okay when someone like Lilandra is in charge. The Marvel Universe is full of spacefaring societies which still run on feudal politics, not so much because it makes sense, but because they’re the tropes of sword-and-sorcery fantasy translated into a space setting. Democracy seems remarkably unsuccessful in the Marvel Universe.
As we see later, Storm has at least enough sympathy with Urr’s position to try and talk him down.
PAGES 16-21. The X-Men and the Smashers make their rescue.
Page 17 has some storytelling issues: Cyclops gets hit with the axe nice and prominently, but he’s such a trivial part of the next panel that it’s a bit of a surprise to reach the bottom of the page and realise that this was supposed to be a crushing blow.
Sunspot has apparently somehow exchanged his Earth money for some sort of currency that’s still recognised in outer space, and he’s buying up tons of stuff at fire sale prices.
PAGES 22-23. Back in the throne room.
Page 22 panel 1 calls back to the scene of Xandra with her advisers from the start of the issue, but now she’s accompanied by Cannonball, Smasher, Deathbird and Sunspot.
Deathbird has “persuaded” Sunspot to use his new fortune to improve the position of the Stygian people. I’m not quite sure how this works, if he was making his money by buying assets at rock bottom prices during a financial collapse. That’s not going to turn a profit overnight, so whatever the source of Sunspot’s funding, it’s hard to see how it can be “recent good fortune”.
To show us that Xandra is “different”, she makes Urr a diplomat for his people – though since this seems to be a role intended to punish him, it’s less than obvious that it’s the most effective way of helping the poor Stygians, who might be better served by somebody with the faintest interest in and talent for diplomacy.
Oh, and Xandra now owes Storm a favour for helping to beat Urr, which is obviously a plot point.
PAGE 24. An election poster for an actual online poll to determine the final member of the X-Men team, who are going to be elected by the people of Krakoa as per last issue. Banshee, Polaris, Forge, Cannonball, Marrow and Armor have all been in the X-Men before. Boom-Boom, Cannonball and Sunspot have all been in the New Mutants and X-Force (not the current version). Strong Guy was in X-Factor. The odd inclusion is Tempo, best known as a member of the Mutant Liberation Front. That said, Tempo did actually come close to joining X-Force in X-Force vol 1 #29-30, before deciding to go back to college instead – so she’s not a completely crazy choice
PAGE 25. Trailers. The Krakoan reads NEXT: THE VAULT, which indicates that we’re going to catch up on the characters who got trapped with the Children of the Vault back in issue #5.
Yeah, the X-Men putting down forces rebelling against a subjugating regime is not a good look.
And given that said regime is led by their founder’s daughter… but yeah, space opera tropes, and princess Leia was a goodie, so it’s all good, move along.
Anyway. Those old X-Factor uniforms are rad, though I prefer when Cyclops doesn’t have a head sock. Which he’s had constantly for most of his appearances, unfortunately. It’s either head sock or 90’s pouches over pouches.
Has Marvel gone back to lower case lettering again?
The X-books have been mostly lower-case since the start of the Krakoan era ; reportedly, this gives writers and letterers more variety to denote emphasis.
I’ve been thinking for a while about how Marvel likes its royalty. Not just in space either, we have King T’challa, King Black Bolt and King Namor, after all. The superhero concept does lend itself strongly toward authoritarianism I suppose.
They finally told the story I have always wanted to see used in a Black Panther comic under Coates, when the forces rebelling against the monarchy were in favour of democracy.
Before that, it was always, “the forces against the monarchy are worse and just want to set up a draconian dictatorship”.
There was never a real moral challenge.
As far as this story, Krakoa is an absolute dictatorship.
It is run on Moira’s totalitarian lines, who is a behind-the-scenes puppet master, making it a synarchist society.
Then, Xavier and Magneto are absolute rulers.
There is no actual separation of powers, as the Quiet Council has been appointed by Xavier, Magneto, and Apocalypse.
Even still, their power is minimal and can be overruled by Xavier or Magneto.
Jean could very easily be pointing out the eventual fate of Krakoa, where a massive underclass with nothing to do (apparently) and not even the hope of democratic change to feel like they have any power/purpose in the society, may eventually rise against the system.
Sunspot was also in the Schism-era New Mutants book when all of them were considered “X-Men” just in a book called “New Mutants.” They were meant to be the X-Men Clean Up team.
This might be my least favorite issue of this run so far.
Very mediocre art and a nothing story.
Storm on the cover and her role was utterly generic.
This feels like they got behind and needed to slot an extra issue in.
———–
Chris V- yeah that was a really interesting set up for Black Panther. I thought for sure it was going to end up with either President T’challa or Black Panther having to work with the new president of Wakanda as a civilian.
Unfortunately the book was incredibly dull and I dipped out. Now it’s in space? Did anything ever happen with any of that?
Sorry, X-Ben. I got bored with it after that point too.
Those first couple story-arcs are really interesting BP comics though, and I highly recommend them.
I think I read the first… three trades?
Until I realized BP spent most of his time standing in front of a monitor with his hands behind his back while someone gave a power point presentation.
Interesting of Scott and Jean to commemorate being X-Men again by wearing costumes from when they weren’t X-Men.
Brett Booth really gives this issues a ’90s throwback feel. Urr even has saliva strands.
That’s an odd slate for X-Men. Sam and Bobby are going to be getting attention whether they win the vote or not. Tempo’s probably the most interesting, as it means someone would have to give her a personality after 30 years, but Marrow would work for some Morlock representation.
Bobby Da Costa: Disaster Capitalist. Coming soon from Marvel.
Is it too much of a nitpick to note there’s no anthropological record of any society ever running mainly on a barter economy and the implication otherwise is a weird loaded idealogical choice (not aimed at Paul, just tossing it out there)
Marvel is frustratingly vague about the exact condition of their major space empires after all the cosmic carnage from and after the Annihilation era. The Skrull homeworld was consumed by Galactus back in the 80’s, then they like everyone else were hit by the Annihilation Wave, and their invasion of Earth in Secret Invasion was presented as an act of desperation by a species struggling to survive. After all that, they had the invasion of the Builders, the invasion of the Cotati, the invasion of Knull, etc etc. The Kree faced those last three invasions and the Annihilation Wave as well, they additionally were one of the main parties in the War of Kings against the Shi’ar, and then their homeworld was also destroyed during the Black Vortex event. It sure sounds like their empires should be in ruins, but now after Empyre the Kree-Skrull alliance is supposedly one of the universe’s dominant powers.
The Shi’ar should have got off easier than the other two empires, seeing as they didn’t seem to face the brunt of the Annihilation Wave, and Chandilar is still miraculously standing. So how are the Kree and Skrull presumably still strong enough to prevent the Shi’ar from swooping in and annexing both of them?
@Chris V
I have not seen Xavier or Magneto overruling Quiet Council decisions. Do you have an example?
We have seen Krakoa itself overrule them though.
The Kree and Skrull alone were like #2 and #3 vs the Shiar but together they dwarf the Shiar. That was set up in Empyre
JCG-They basically go along with the Quiet Council.
They put them in power (along with Apocalypse), so why wouldn’t they?
However, if the Quiet Council were to, say, vote to resurrect Destiny, then Xavier and Magneto would have to overrule the Quiet Council.
There is really no accountability for Xavier or Magneto.
The fact that they are the only ones with access to Moira, the true power behind Krakoa, would seem to be proof.
No one else on the Quiet Council even knows what Krakoa is working towards.
I can’t get over how little I’m enjoying these books at this point. HoxPox bought so much goodwill, and I’ve also been going back and revisiting X-eras that I had forgotten or not fully engaged with (Fraction/Carey) so I’ve been generally remembering how much I like the X-books when they’re well done — so I keep sticking with these, but … man, it’s all just leaving me completely cold. This week, only Excalibur felt even close to what I want from my X-books.
The interesting thing is that even in Black Panther they are all old style absolute Monarch like Saudi, rather than a modern constitutional monarch like the UK or Norway.
You would thing the end of the Coates Black Panther story would be giving the people back power and Tchalla remaining a figure hear which would give him more time for Avenging.
This issue makes no sense, right? Deathbird’s “discreet” option, the X-Men, start by blatantly mind-scanning the entire palace staff and end by calling in a whole squadron of Superguardians-in-training. Not to mention, Oracle was already involved in the operation — can Deathbird not count on the Superguardians to be discreet?
And is Oracle so bad at her job that she overlooks the first method that Jean tries? And is Sam so stupid that he can’t figure out the reason his wife is calling even though they had already agreed on a plan? I’m baffled.
I think the Oracle problem is a microcosm of the alien civilization problem CitizenBane outlines above. Individual alien characters need to be inept to show how Earthlings are experts in the same way that alien civilizations need to be routinely conquered to show how Earth will always repel conquerors. They exist to raise the stakes for our heroes and not much else.
Marvel could sort out its space civilizations, but that would mean individuating them in some way, as well as identifying some specific figures from the faceless hordes of Skrulls, Kree, etc. And then we get more boring stories about how each civilization is going to govern itself.
The other solution is to use aliens more sparingly, but that horse seems to have left the barn. In Hickman’s X-Men alone, we’ve seen the Brood, the Shi’ar, and the Cotati mixing with Earth mutants for no good reason. Not to mention the whole Phalanx set-up in HoXPoX. If Chris V. is right, then outer space is where this entire X-era is headed.
I’m sure Hickman has plans for all the characters on the X-Men vote roster. Which is a shame, as he’s dreadful at writing characters. I’d vote for them to be saved and given to other writers.
Evilgus: I just assumed that he came up a single, solitary plan and that he’s determined to use it regardless of who wins the vote.
I think at this point, the aliens have just thrown up their hands, tentacles, and pseudopods and accepted that they’re always going to be stuck dealing with Earth drama. The Shi’ar are ruled by a half-human, and that was inevitable since every Neramani sibling seems to be super into humans. The Kree and Skrulls’ ruler is human-raised and married to a human.
If there’s a cosmic disaster, it’s probably related to humans. The guy who snapped his fingers and wiped out half the universe is a human descendant. The War of Kings, both kings were from Earth. The time a robot conquered the entire Kree galaxy, it was from Earth. Phoenix or Knull or whoever is probably going to destroy a few planets on the way to Earth. Etc.
I imagine Deathbird calling a few X-Men said something like “Sure, we have hundreds of highly trained superbeings, but let’s face it, it’s going to be humans who solve this anyway. Let’s just skip to the end.”
It was fun seeing Brett Booth on art. It’s been a long time and it brings that very early 90s energy to it.
The inclusion of the old mid-period X-Factor costumes (the colour schemes and designs of the Walt Simonson era rather than the early Bob Layton ones or the late-period Whilce Portacio ones) was fun.
I assume Booth got the call since he was already in the neighborhood – isn’t he doing that book with Nicieza about the Third Summers Brother?
The Coates Black Panther stuff is just about the most boring comics work I’ve ever read. The space arc is maybe less boring but is now twice as confusing.
His Captain America is marginally better, but most issues seem to be drawn by “some new guy looking for work,” some of the most stiff and uninspired art seen since the 90s.
The setup with Marvel Earth is kind of fascinating. Everyone knows the universe is full of aliens that visit regularly. But most people would never have met an alien, and live exactly like humans in the real world, using substandard 21st century cars, suffering from easily curable medical issues, working in an obsolete job using primitive tools. On the other hand, a select few Earth people have technology and abilities that surpasses that of the aliens, but choose to live on backward old Earth instead of settling on some futuristic space world where they’d fit in more. I suppose it’s better to be Mr Fantastic than Mr Average Guy.
Though I think I prefer the cinematic universe better, where there was that line from Rocket where he tells Stark he’s only a genius by Earth standards.
I am excited by the voting. Obviously marvel had scheduled to coincide with the US election, but the pandemic through that timing out.
I am surprised to see Polaris in the public voting – as Magnetos daughter I thought he would have made a good surrogate to campaign for her to the Krakoan public. I woud have assumed she was a shoe in.
I voted Banshee. I started reading x comics just before GenX and have every issue of that series. He is a good character.
Last time I read a book that was this much like a mid-90s WildCATs spinoff was almost certainly the actual mid-90s.
Nice to see Scott and Jean wearing their X-Factor costumes, it certainly suits Jean more than her awful Marvel Girl costume that she’s worn thus far in the Hickman era. It’s just a shame that the story was terrible, even by the standards of that era.
I found this issue to be a painful read. The Brett Booth art was just so ugly and chaotic, I found it hard to focus. And yeah, I find it uncomfortable to see the X-men helping a specs empire to effectively subjugate their slave race. I mean, they came to save Xandra, and saving a child from being murdered is a fine thing to do. But either way, nobody seems too bothered.
This is why Izzy always kinda baffles me- I get that her powers come from being a Smasher, but does she even care that she’s helping the bad guys?
Also- Cannonball has been an X-man! Remember, he left X-Force to join the X-men for a little while. Then he went back to X-Force and grew that goatee.
Oh, I almost forgot- Sam joined the X-men again during the Mike Carey run. He was on Rogue’s team.
Wait… Sam was also on the X-treme team, and then he returned to the main X-men team when X-treme ended (not that Claremont used him much). Then Rogue’s team after that.
I promise this is my last comment about this.
Jean did mention that “this was a long time coming”. I’m surprised she didn’t mention that the Shi’ar Empire killed her family. Araki may have been acting without orders, but he and the Death Commandos were never punished by the empire (unlike William Strykerin the US).
Is the art on the final page supposed to sell us a bit more on the idea that Storm is conflicted over how things have played out with the Stygians?
I didn’t mind the issue overall but the space adventure Shi’ar stuff has never been my favourite part of X-Men lore.
This issue is a collection of what I haven’t enjoyed in this run, or in X-Men in general:
-space opera, taking time away from exploring mutant themes (and as others have wondered: couldn’t Oracle have done this?)
-X-Men being so out of character that they are suppressing the rebels instead of fighting for equality
That being said, the Brett Booth art surprised me so much that I was fascinated and nostalgic for the 90s again. And those X-Factor costumes made me smile. Jean has progressed from the 60s to the 80s at last.
I loved the X-23/Darwin/Synch issue so much that I’m willing to just forget this one and enjoy the cross-hatching and spit-strands.
Cannonball’s joining the X-Men in the 90s was right when I started collecting, so he and Sunspot have a special place in my heart. They were never going to replace the X-Men, so at least in space they have a chance to shine and not totally live in their shadow.