Cable #11 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
CABLE vol 4 #11
“Depression”
by Gerry Duggan & Phil Noto
COVER / PAGE 1. A close-up of young Cable’s face, with the Light of Galador superimposed on top. This is a companion piece for the cover of issue #12, which shows the other half of the older Cable’s face. The sword is placed over Cable’s eye, mirroring the familiar glow of Cable Classic’s left eye.
PAGE 2. Epigraph. Cable says the line later in this issue, but it’s at least a double meaning here, referring both to Cable’s knowledge of the future, and to the fact that the readers probably know where all this is going.
PAGE 3. The Five debate whether to resurrect Cable Classic.
Last issue, Kid Cable was pressing for the original Cable to be resurrected in order to help deal with the threat of Stryfe. As hinted at last issue, his plan seems to be to get the Five on side, and then use Cerebro himself to download the relevant mind. Hope is naturally keen to assist, since she views Cable as a father figure – and she makes the reasonable point that the Five are so essential to Krakoan society that they can never really be punished.
X-Factor #10 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-FACTOR vol 4 #10
“Finale”
by Leah Williams, David Baldeon, David Messina, Lucas Werneck & Israel Silva
COVER / PAGE 1. X-Factor dance at the Hellfire Gala.
This is the final issue of the series, and it’s a Hellfire Gala tie-in. So there’s an awful lot of racing to tie up loose ends here.
PAGES 2-4. X-Factor prepare for the Gala.
Jean-Paul and Kyle are discussing the Five’s practice of removing traumatic memories when resurrecting mutants – at least in those cases where they understand that it was requested. The most obvious case of that happening was with Domino in X-Force, though in that case Colossus lied about Domino’s wishes.
Rachel and Daken are talking about Daken’s relationship with Aurora, which has evidently just become common knowledge (at least within the team). Off to the side is the new Rockslide, resurrected in “X of Swords”, whose plot never really got a chance to go anywhere.
X-Men Legends #3-4
X-MEN LEGENDS #3-4
“Transformations” / “Tools!”
by Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson & Laura Martin
It’s been a long while since Marvel were especially preoccupied with the details of X-books history, and really, where Krakoa is concerned, they still aren’t. What has re-emerged in a big way, though, is an interest in inter-title continuity, and the sense of a bigger picture which helped to drive the X-books through the 80s and 90s. Perhaps in that light it makes a little more sense to commission a book like X-Men Legends, which brings back old X-books creatives teams from decades ago to provide one more story.
I must be close to the ideal target market for Legends – which is to say, I actually remember reading this stuff the first time around. But I’m not crazy enough to think that there’s money to be made in releasing books laser-targetted at the likes of me. There must be a temptation to throw in plot points that tie in to the Krakoan back story. But they’ve resisted that so far, in favour of straight encores. Still, thanks to Marvel Unlimited, the back catalogue is more available than it has been in years (legitimately, at any rate). Maybe there’s a certain kind of sense there.
Charts – 25 June 2021
It’s still Olivia Rodrigo’s chart.
1. Olivia Rodrigo – “Good 4 U”
9. Olivia Rodrigo – “Traitor”
17. Olivia Rodrigo – “Favorite Crime”
That’s 5 weeks at number 1 for “Good 4 U”. The chart compilers are claiming that as the longest run at the top for a – and I quote – “rock-influenced” track since “Spaceman” by Babylon Zoo in 1996. Which… okay? There does seem to be something of a resurgence in guitars right now. We’ll see if that lasts.
Way of X #3 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
WAY OF X #3
“Joy of X”
by Si Spurrier, Bob Quinn & Java Tartaglia
COVER / PAGE 1: Nightcrawler nurses his hangover while a mutant baby hovers nearby. Pixie and Dr Nemesis are still blind drunk.
PAGE 2. Data page, with pictures of the Hellfire Gala invitation, and a brief note from Professor X to the mutants present. Whether because he really means it or because he’s trying to make an argument that will appeal to the whole of Krakoa, Professor X is asking for everyone to at least behave civilly towards the humans, which he claims will be more intimidating.
He reminds everyone of the three laws of Krakoan nationhood, which is handy, because this issue wants the little-mentioned first law – “Make More Mutants” – to be at the forefront of our mind later on. Quite how the Professor is hoping people to act on it during the Gala is not so obvious, but maybe he’s anticipating a very enthusiastic afterparty.
S.W.O.R.D. #6 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
S.W.O.R.D. #6
“This is What Comes Next”
by Al Ewing, Valerio Schiti & Marte Gracia
COVER / PAGE 1: Abigail Brand distributing mysterium to assorted aliens (who we can see reflected in its surface).
PAGES 2-6. Captain America and Dr Doom.
Although this is a “Hellfire Gala” tie-in issue, we open with the Gala itself already finished, and Captain America looking up at Mars, terraformed an hour or so earlier in Planet-Size X-Men #1. We previously saw some of Captain America’s reaction in the epilogue to Marauders #21: “Well, you solved one big problem, but I’m worried you might have made an even bigger mess. I just hope you all know what you’re doing.” The “one big problem”, we now know, was what to do with Arakko.
In sharp contrast to the triumphalist tone of Planet-Size X-Men, the tone here is almost mournful, laying all the stress on the fact that the non-mutants are being excluded from the sort of interplanetary expansion that he always saw as a hopeful vision of the future. Cap sees the main lesson here in terms of division and separation instead. And he’s right, of course – the mutants will be in full-on hubris mode for most of this issue too, so this is a very interesting way of starting the issue. It’s no accident that Captain America, the Marvel Universe saint, is being used for this role.
Wolverine #13 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
WOLVERINE vol 7 #13
“What They Did in the Shadows”
by Benjamin Percy, Scot Eaton, Oren Junior & Matthew Wilson
COVER / PAGE 1: Wolverine fights Deadpool, unnoticed by the Hellfire Gala guests. Not remotely the central focus of this issue, but if the cover had shown the real main action, it would have spoiled the plot of X-Force #20. This issue is effectively the second half of that story, and more of a bonus issue of X-Force than a Wolverine comic. Wolverine is in it for five pages, and has five lines of dialogue.
PAGE 2. The John Paul Leon tribute page.
PAGES 3-7. Wolverine stops a Terra Verdan from attacking a partygoer.
In X-Force #20, we learned that after X-Force stopped the telefloronic plant creatures from taking over Terra Verde in X-Force #10, the Beast used the plants to take complete control of the entire country. The Beast brought a bunch of zombified Terra Verdean diplomats to the Hellfire Gala with the intention of having them mingle and sing the praises of Krakoa to anyone who would listen. At the end of the issue, Sage discovered that the diplomats’ coding had been hacked (by someone unknown). As we see in this issue, the result is a bunch of diplomats who now have plant powers, and are understandably very angry indeed. Why they’re attacking an innocent guest is less clear.
Heroes Reborn: Weapon X & Final Flight #1
HEROES REBORN: WEAPON X & FINAL FLIGHT #1
“Freedom or Death”
by Ed Brisson, Roland Boschi & Chris O’Halloran
There are two X-Men one-shots which tie in to the Avengers’ Heroes Reborn event. I reviewed Heroes Reborn: Magneto & The Mutant Force #1 a few weeks ago, and wasn’t exactly impressed. So let’s say right now that Weapon X & Final Flight is much better. Which is to say that it functions properly as a story, and finds some kind of angle on the characters it’s using.
Even so, we’re deep into completist territory here. It’s hard to imagine why you’d buy this unless you were a Heroes Reborn completist, a Wolverine completist, an Alpha flight completist, or a close relative of one of the creative team. Of those constituencies, the Heroes Reborn completists will doubtless get the most out of it. Otherwise… well, it’s there, and it’s perfectly decent.
The basic premise of Heroes Reborn is simple. It’s a timeline where instead of the Avengers, you have the Squadron Supreme of America, who are essentially an evil version of the Justice League. And so they basically run America. That means Brisson has a fairly obvious angle to take as his starting point: how do they get on with the neighbours?
Charts – 18 June 2021
It’s static at the top.
1. Olivia Rodrigo – “Good 4 U”
Four weeks at number 1, and she still has three songs in the top 10 (with “Deja Vu” at 5, and “Traitor” at 8). The top 3 is static, with the Weeknd at 2 and Doja Cat at 3.
12. Mimi Webb – “Dumb Love”
This is the follow-up to her debut single “Good Without”, which has been on the chart for 12 weeks now and is currently a non-mover at its peak of number 9. I thought “Good Without” was a bit obvious; I like this more, though it’s very much a record for Heart FM. That said, we don’t get too much of this in the top 40 at the moment, which makes it a welcome part of the mix.
X-Corp #2 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-CORP #2
“A Shark in the Water”
by Tini Howard, Alberto Foche & Sunny Gho
COVER / PAGE 1. A stylised picture of Monet at the gala, with the same mock pharmaceutical layout elements as we had in issue #1. The “mg” after the issue number seems to be standard, and the number of tablets is presumably the number of pages in the print edition (counting adverts).
PAGE 2. Monet prepares for the Hellfire Gala.
Sunspot was shown as being involved in X-Corp before he relocated to the Shi’ar Empire. We’re told later in the issue that he invested a lot of his own money, so he does indeed have a legitimate interest in what they’re up to.
Sebastian Shaw. Monet elects not to listen to his message at all. Again, though, Shaw has perfectly good reasons for contacting her – he’s the Black King of Hellfire Trading, with responsibilities for distributing the pharmaceuticals that X-Corp manufactures.
Professor X. Generally recapping the events of issue #1, and questioning Monet’s decision to reveal the X-Corp HQ at the end of the issue. He seems to be saying that she’s messed up the planned orderly release of a home office technology, and is exposing X-Corp to attention that it isn’t ready to deal with yet, since it doesn’t actually have the product ready to launch. Whether Monet actually has a proper plan, or whether she’s just arrogant, remains to be seen.
