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.
(more…)Juggernaut #1-5
JUGGERNAUT #1-5
by Fabian Niceza, Ron Garney and Matt Milla
Is this an X-book? It’s from the X-office, and the Juggernaut is an X-character. But it doesn’t follow the style and layout of the Krakoa-era line – it has its own colour coded recap pages, I suppose, which are something of a nod to modern X-Men design sensibilities, but that’s about it. Professor X shows up in a couple of issues, but only to tell the Juggernaut that sorry, he’s not welcome on Krakoa, due to being a human.
That’s something of the point. The rest of the X-cast have decamped to Krakoa, and the Juggernaut – who was dutifully trying to reform the last time we saw him, and had briefly joined the Rosenberg-era “last X-Men” squad – is stuck behind in New York. And Fabian Nicieza is an X-Men writer of an earlier era, which in a meta sort of way feels very appropriate for where the Juggernaut is left.
(more…)X-Factor #1-5
X-FACTOR vol 4 #1-5
by Leah Williams, David Baldeon & Israel Silva
The thing about bringing back X-Factor is that the X-Factor name has been attached to a whole bunch of unrelated concepts over the years. It’s been the original X-Men’s reunion; it’s been the US government mutant team; it’s been a detective agency; it’s been a corporate team. There’s not much common thread beyond some recurring characters.
For the Krakoan era, we’ve only really got Polaris as an established team member. And we’re calling back to the well-received detective run, by making the new X-Factor Investigations into the people who investigate missing persons on Krakoa.
(more…)Charts – 22 January 2021
As the charts settle back down to normal, the first new number one of the year is settling in for a residency.
1. Olivia Rodrigo – “Drivers License”
32. Olivia Rodrigo – “All I Want”
Two weeks. “Drivers Licence” is – deservedly – an enormous hit, coming from nowhere to set new streaming records worldwide. Its streaming total this week was 13.7 million, not a record, but still the highest weekly figure in a couple of years. A couple of weeks ago Olivia Rodrigo was essentially unknown outside the Disney Channel demographic, which makes it all the more impressive. As a spillover, we have a surprise entry into the top 40 for “All I Want”, a track she wrote for Disney’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. It wasn’t technically released as a single but it does have a video and it made the top 100 on streaming when it was released a year ago.
(more…)X-Force #16 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-FORCE vol 6 #16
“Into the Deep”
by Benjamin Percy, Joshua Cassara & Guru-eFX
COVER / PAGE 1: Wolverine, Kid Omega and Forge fighting a giant sea monster.
PAGE 2. Memorial page for Mike Hobson.
PAGE 3. The Beast and Cecilia Reyes examine one of the zombies.
This is one of the zombified sailors that attacked the island last issue. Evidently they didn’t put up much of a fight.
“[Krakoa] is at once our protector and our destroyer.” It’s not immediately clear what the Beast has in mind by the latter point. Perhaps he’s referring to the fact that Krakoa still ultimately feeds on mutant energies. It’s unlikely he’s referring to any deep secret, given that he’s talking about it openly in front of Cecilia.
(more…)Cable #7 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
CABLE vol 4 #7
“Gritty Days in the City of Brotherly Love”
by Gerry Duggan & Phil Noto
COVER / PAGE 1. Cable holding a baby. Unusually for this series, Cable is holding his more traditional Big Gun rather than his shiny new Big Sword. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the 2008 Cable series, in which Cable was on the run through time with baby Hope in tow – though it doesn’t seem to be a homage to any specific cover.
PAGE 2. Epigraph. The “past that comes back to haunt” Cable is presumably the villain who gets identified at the end of the issue.
PAGE 3. Gorgon is remembered.
Gorgon died in “X of Swords” (specifically, in the previous issue). Grasscutter and Godkiller were the swords he was using in the tournament, arranged in an X design. They’re “wait[ing]” for Gorgon because he’s presumably going to be resurrected. But because he died in Otherworld, he can’t be resurrected as normal; instead, he’ll return as some sort of alternative incarnation of himself. Hence, everyone else is treating him as dead.
(more…)X of Swords
X OF SWORDS:
X of Swords: Creation #1
X of Swords: Stasis #1
X of Swords: Destruction #1
X-Factor vol 4 #4
Wolverine vol 7 #6-7
X-Force vol 6 #13-14
Marauders #13-15
Hellions #5-6
New Mutants vol 4 #13
Cable vol 4 #5-6
Excalibur vol 4 #13-15
X-Men vol 4 #13-15
by various creators
The first major crossover of the Krakoan era is an important point for the line. Not just because of the plot itself – much of the appeal of Jonathan Hickman’s run turns on a sense that there’s a bigger picture. Although his X-Men mostly tells short and self-contained stories, they depend on the sense of a wider context for their weight. And the aura of a grand plan was important to get buy-in for the radical change of direction represented by Krakoa in the first place.
Read moreThe Incomplete Wolverine: 1980
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
This is a big year, as the X-Men enter the 1980s with the Dark Phoenix Saga – the storyline that elevated them into A-listers. After this year, other writers will have a lot more interest in using the X-Men. But we’ve got to get there first.
X-MEN vol 1 #129 (part 1)
“God Spare the Child…”
by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Terry Austin & Bob Sharen
January 1980
After a few days recuperating on Muir Isle following their fight with Proteus, the X-Men set off home (leaving behind Banshee, who finally quits the team). Professor X is waiting for them – he’s come back because he’s worried about Phoenix losing control, though he doesn’t explain that to the team just yet.
At this point, there’s a break in the action for the X-Men to do some training. A few other appearances fit in here.
Chris Claremont Anniversary Special #1
CHRIS CLAREMONT ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1
by Chris Claremont, Bill Sienkiewicz, Sean Chen, Diego Olortegui, Brett Booth, Marc Deering, Roberto Poggi, Adelso Corona, Chris Sotomayor, Rachelle Rosenberg, Erick Arciniega & Guru-eFX
Now there’s a title. You don’t often get creators named in the title of a comic – not unless they’re Stan Lee, at any rate. But Chris Claremont is a special case, and this issue is intended to celebrate five decades of his contribution to Marvel Comics.
I confess to being a little unsure what exactly this is taking as the starting point for its anniversary. His first credited script wasn’t until 1973; his first uncredited contributions were for stories that came out in 1969. But whatever. When you’re talking about a half-century career, a year here or there is no big deal.
(more…)Charts – 15 January 2021
It’s still a quiet week for new entries, but we do have the first big hit of 2021 to deal with.
1. Olivia Rodrigo – “Drivers Licence”
Stop me if any of this sounds familiar. Olivia Rodrigo is a 17-year-old singer and actress who has spent several years as a teen star on the Disney Channel, now breaking with the Disney brand by releasing her first mainstream single. It’s even got swearing! It’s also very good indeed. This is her own song – the only other credited writer is producer Daniel Nigro – and it’s a really strong debut. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that she cites Lorde as an influence.
(more…)