House to Astonish Episode 197
We’re back once again with a full slate of comics news, remembering Ian Kennedy and Tom Veitch, and discussing the Hero Initiative’s JLA/Avengers reprint, DC’s upcoming Black Label titles, Marvel’s Wild Cards and Thunderbolts revivals, IDW’s Last Bot Standing and the Amazon/ComiXology disaster. We’ve also got reviews of Iron Fist and Nightwing, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe has a burnin’ love. All this plus an underground car park, trading cards with staples and Carnage, the most well-adjusted man in comics.
The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the embedded player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Twitter, via email or through our Facebook fan page. And if you wanted to buy a t-shirt from our Redbubble store, then well, we wouldn’t say no.
X-Men #8 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-MEN vol 6 #8
“The Buffet is Undefeated”
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Javier Pina
Colourist: Marte Gracia
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
COVER / PAGE 1: M.O.D.O.K. holding Jean Grey’s mask.
PAGE 2. Data page. A quote from Nick Fury, telling us that we should take M.O.D.O.K. seriously despite his appearance.
M.O.D.O.K. – the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing – debuted in the Captain America story in Tales of Suspense #94, back in 1967. Basically, George Tarleton is an A.I.M. technician who was turned into a human supercomputer to help with their investigations into the Cosmic Cube, only for him to overthrow them and seize control of A.I.M. The original M.O.D.O.K. was turned back to human form in Incredible Hulk #610 – the M.O.D.O.K. in this issue (and most stories in the last decade or so) is a clone who debuted in Hulk vol 2 #29.
Originally presented as a grotesque but basically serious villain, over the years he’s become mostly a comedy figure. Even though he isn’t played entirely straight in this issue, it’s actually a pretty credible outing for him by modern standards.
X Lives of Wolverine #3 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X LIVES OF WOLVERINE #3
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: Joshua Cassara
Colourist: Frank Martin
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Mark Basso
COVER / PAGE 1. In the foreground, western hero Wolverine stands over the defeated bone coils of an Omega Red that he’s evidently defeated. In the background, Department H-era Wolverine (recognisable by his mask) faces off against the real Omega Red.
PAGE 2. Professor X and Marvel Girl continue to monitor Wolverine.
Wolverine’s opening narration continues the theme of time. He casts his long lifespan as more of a curse. Bear in mind that one of the signature achievements of Krakoa is supposedly to enable all mutants to live forever; Wolverine apparently sees that as a bad thing that makes life less meaningful.
PAGE 3. Wolverine experiences flashbacks to various parts of his life.
Apparently, just like us, present-day Wolverine is in some sense experiencing all these events together. From left to right, the four recognisable flashbacks show:
- Top left, Logan in World War I, probably as a member of the Devil’s Brigade, fighting a German soldier possessed by Omega Red. We haven’t seen this segment in the main story yet.
- In the main panel (X shaped to mirror the Cerebro helmet), old west Logan fights an Omega Red gunslinger. We haven’t seen this in the main story yet either, and with only two issues to go, you have to wonder if we’re actually going to.
- At the top, Logan as a member of Team X, in a plot thread we’ve already been following.
- Department H Wolverine fighting what seems to be some sort of north African merchant possessed by Omega Red (bearing no resemblance to the fight seen on the cover).
X-Men: The Trial of Magneto
X-MEN: THE TRIAL OF MAGNETO #1-5
Writer: Leah Williams
Artist: Lucas Werneck with David Messina (#3-4)
Colourist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Design: Tom Muller
Editor: Jake Thomas (#1-3) & Jordan White (#2-5)
I know, I know. The backlog is building up. This series finished ages ago. We’ll get through them.
So: Trial of Magneto came out at an odd time for the X-books, not quite in the post-Hickman era, but certainly transitioning there. In one sense, it’s an extra arc for X-Factor… but that book ended with a rushed cancellation, and in the end, X-Factor’s role in Trial of Magneto is mostly procedural. Perhaps that’s inherent in the concept. This isn’t really an X-Factor story. Maybe as originally conceived it had more to do with them – there’s a germ in the published version of a focus on Polaris as the Other Daughter. But at its core, it’s the Scarlet Witch’s story.
But then… why is it called Trial of Magneto? In fact, why is it called X-Men: Trial of Magneto, since it’s not really an X-Men story either? You can ask that too. But mainly: Magneto?
One obvious answer is that they didn’t want to spoil the plot – and the end of “Hellfire Gala” – by promoting it as a Scarlet Witch story. That’s doubtless part of it. The first issue was solicited with a modified version of the cover, to avoid showing her as the body. Still, though – the trial of Magneto? Is there a trial? He’s a suspect, sure, but she comes back from the dead halfway through the plot, so there’s never a trial. The final issue casts around to try to justify the title, but the whole thing reeks a bit of changed plans.
Charts – 11 February 2021
Well, this just isn’t going anywhere, is it?”
There are still three Encanto songs in the top 10, with “Surface Pressure” climbing to 3, and “The Family Madrigal” hanging in there at 9.
5. ArrDee & Aitch – “War”
That matches the peak of ArrDee’s last single “Flowers”, and two of his other 2021 singles peaked at 6. He’s certainly consistent. Aitch gets his first hit of the year, and returns to the top 10 for the first time since spring 2020. It’s not bad at all, but I’ve heard better Aitch singles.
New Mutants #24 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
NEW MUTANTS vol 4 #24
“What is Deserved”
by Vita Ayala, Danilo Beyruth & Dan Brown
Hold on, is this book still going? It is! This issue was originally solicited for 1 December 2021 and now ships over two months late.
COVER / PAGE 1. The New Mutants in a sort of stylised snakes and ladders in a Krakoan tree. It doesn’t have much to do with anything in the issue. (However, the actual content of this issue does match the original solicitation.)
PAGE 2. Magik and Rictor in the Green Lagoon.
Rictor developed an interest in magic while studying under Apocalypse over in Excalibur, and is now a rookie magician. He was briefly a member of the New Mutants in the latter days of the original run, though that was after Magik’s time; they don’t really know each other all that well.
“I’m a self-taught infernal sorcerer.” Well, partly. As covered in the original Magik miniseries, Illyana learned magic from Belasco and from an alternate version of Storm.
Generally speaking, this conversation is pushing (not very subtly) the theme of connection. Ayala’s run on this book has always focussed on the idea of groups of mutants being able to use their powers in such a way that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, though, and keeps coming back to stories about people trying to connect with one another with variable degrees of success.
X Deaths of Wolverine #2 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X DEATHS OF WOLVERINE #2
by Benjamin Percy, Federico Vicentini & Dijjo Lima
COVER / PAGE 1. Moira caught between the techno-organic Wolverine and Mystique. In the solicitations, Moira was shown as a blanked-out silhouette, to avoid spoiling the plot. Ironically, in the final version, she’s still got brown hair (which she dyed blonde last issue) in order to make her more recognisable.
PAGES 2-4. Moira robs a convenience store and calls Jane Foster.
Presumably Moira is picking up the things she needs for her home surgery later in the issue. (But if she’s relying on theft for everything, how did she get to America?)
Moira has special Krakoan cancer, interwoven with “floronic matter”. “Floronic” isn’t actually a real word – the DC villain Floronic Man was named after his home dimension – but apparently it means something to people in the Marvel Universe. Let’s assume it’s come to be understood as the sort of stuff Krakoan technology uses.
“The No-Place biome.” Moira concludes that she picked up the cancer from the hidden biome within Krakoa, where she was living throughout the Hickman era, and that “[t]hey” did this on purpose. This begs questions. Moira presumably isn’t suggesting that Xavier and Magneto were trying to poison her all along. Mystique and Destiny can’t have used the biome to do this. Is she suggesting that Cypher and Krakoa were always planning this, at least once they found out what she was up to? That doesn’t really make sense either, given that Cypher let her escape. But the idea that Krakoa was doing it makes a bit more sense.
The Incomplete Wolverine – 1997
Part 1: Origin to Origin II | Part 2: 1907 to 1914
Part 3: 1914 to 1939 | Part 4: World War II
Part 5: The postwar era | Part 6: Team X
Part 7: Post Team X | Part 8: Weapon X
Part 9: Department H | Part 10: The Silver Age
1974-1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979
1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991
1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996
Last time Wolverine turned into an animal and then Marvel backtracked from the whole plot at tremendous speed. And so the search is on for a new direction.
WOLVERINE vol 2 #110
“Lesser Beasts”
by Tom DeFalco, Joe Bennett, Joe Pimentel, Joe Andreani & Paul Becton
February 1997
The January 1997 issue was the end of a storyline, and we covered it last time. So we kick off with… a fill-in issue. Wolverine and Shaman team up to deal with a couple of murderous robbers who have accidentally released one of the Great Beasts.
WOLVERINE vol 2 #111
“Restoration”
by Larry Hama, Anthony Winn, Dan Green & Dana Moreshead
March 1997
Logan returns home from his jaunt to Japan and Canada, in time for Iceman’s leaving party – though he leaves early to go and drink on his own and mourn his supporting cast. A package arrives for Logan from Zoe Culloden, asking him to look after an “artefact” whose “nature and origin are not necessary for you to know at the present time”. Zoe’s message says that a dark time is coming, and malevolent energies are converging on him. Seems like a bad idea to give him an important artefact to look after, then. It’s a box with something glowing inside, but we never find out what it is, beyond that it has some sort of connection with both Ogun and Lady Deathstrike.
Charts – 4 February 2022
The Disney era continues.
Three weeks. The top 4 is static, which means “Surface Pressure” by Jessica Darrow gets a second week at number 4. And “The Family Madrigal” by Stephanie Beatriz, Olga Merediz & The Cast of Encanto climbs 11-7, giving Disney three top ten hits. It’s not the first time that the top 10 has contained three songs from the same soundtrack, but you have to go back to the late 70s (Grease and Saturday Night Fever).
As for new entries… yeah, it’s quiet.
25. Central Cee – “Cold Shoulder”
Already on to his third hit single of 2022, and it’s only the start of February. In fact, if you count his appearance on “Overseas” by D-Block Europe it’s four – that song entered at 8 just before Christmas, returned to the top 10 after the festive glut, and finally reaches a new peak of number 6 this week. Central Cee’s own 2022 hits have all peaked outside the top 20, but boy there’s a lot of them.
Sabretooth #1 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
SABRETOOTH vol 4 #1
“The Adversary”
by Victor LaValle, Leonard Kirk & Rain Beredo
SABRETOOTH. If you’re wondering, volume 1 was the 1993 miniseries, vol 2 was a 1998 one-shot, and vol 3 was a 2004 miniseries. This is another five-issue miniseries.
COVER / PAGE 1. A grinning Sabretooth in hell, with Krakoa visible behind him.
PAGES 2-5. Sabretooth is consigned to the Pit.
This is a reprise of Sabretooth’s “trial” and banishment at the hands of the Quiet Council in House of X #6. Sabretooth’s narration is new and replaces most of the spoken dialogue. But what remains is taken directly from that issue, except for Sabretooth’s final line: “No prison can hold me. I’ll be free before you even notice.” In fact, that issue came out in October 2019 and we haven’t seen him since.
