Storm #9 annotations
STORM vol 5 #9
“Sinister Schemes of the Stars and Stripes, part 2”
Writer: Murewa Ayodele
Artist: Lucas Werneck
Colour artist: Alex Guimarães
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Editor: Tom Brevoort
STORM
Her relationship with Eternity is sharply deteriorating. She tells Manifold that “something has taken possession of my body” – which was Eternity, in issue #5 – and that she feels she’s been made to watch helplessly as it commits atrocities in her body. More recently, she’s been experiencing blackouts, though she’s not clear whether this is Eternity taking even more control, or just a sign of mental collapse. She doesn’t seem to have done anything about it so far, and while she claims to be unable to resist Eternity when it takes control, she seems able to speak freely about it to Manifold the rest of the time.
She then goes on compare the experience to the time in her childhood when she killed a man who was trying to rape her (in a flashback in Uncanny X-Men #267), and declares that she wants to kill Eternity. The original scene carries a rather stronger implication that she kills the attacker in self-defence before he’s able to rape her; this one is played more as if she killed him in retaliation, given the analogy that she draws between him and Eternity.
Laura Kinney, Wolverine #7 annotations
LAURA KINNEY, WOLVERINE #7
“My So-Called Perfect Life, part 2”
Writer: Erica Schultz
Artist: Giada Belviso
Colour artist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Mark Basso
WOLVERINE
Last issue consisted entirely of Laura hallucinating about a world in which she lived a happy family life with Logan as her father and Gabby as her younger sister, with Julian Keller (Hellion) showing up at the end of the issue. As it turns out, all of this is the result of Beautiful Dreamer (see below) being used to sedate Laura while the Badoon try to experiment on her.
Laura’s dream life includes Julian as her boyfriend, which fits with the way their relationship was written in NYX #8. For some reason, Julian’s arrival also seems to destabilise what was previously a fairly ingrained illusion: not only does he lead her to step outside the house (which she didn’t do at all in the previous issue), but he proposes marriage to her.
X-Men #17 annotations
X-MEN vol 7 #17
“Visitor”
Writer: Jed MacKay
Penciller: Ryan Stegman
Inkers: JP Mayer, Ryan Stegman & Livesay
Colourist: Fer Sifuentes-Sujo
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
THE X-MEN
Cyclops, Psylocke, Temper, Magik and Juggernaut are all still fighting the 3K X-Men throughout this issue, and their plot doesn’t advance that much.
Kid Omega. He survived the explosion in issue #14 thanks to a psychic “macro” that created a telekinetic shield around him while he was unconscious, only to be opened on the arrival of an “authorised ally”. We’ve seen him do something broadly similar when he used pre-prepared mental traps to beat the more experienced Professor X in issue #13, though that was reusing a trick he’d picked up from Cassandra Nova.
Charts – 30 May 2025
It never ends.
1. Alex Warren – “Ordinary”
9. Alex Warren featuring Jelly Roll – “Bloodline”
“Ordinary” has now been number one for 11 weeks. And it’s still way ahead of Chappell Roan at number 2, so it’s really a question of when it gets hit by downweighting. Unfortunately, it outperformed the market this week, so it’s several weeks off that happening. An 11 week run matches Ed Sheeran’s “Bad Habits” from 2021. To find a longer number 1 than that, we’re going back to “Shape of You”, which was number 1 for 13 weeks in early 2017.
Meanwhile, the highest new entry this week is from… Alex Warren. It’s Mumford & Sons stuff, with a guest verse by a very obviously autotuned Jelly Roll, making his first appearance in the singles or albums top 40. It’s Perfectly Competent.
The X-Axis – w/c 26 May 2025
ASTONISHING X-MEN INFINITY COMIC #23. By Tim Seeley, Edoardo Audino, KJ Diaz & Clayton Cowles. Well, it’s a fight issue, but it’s a fight issue that also has the task of selling us on the revamped “Mutant Salvation Front”. The original Mutant Liberation Front always had some memorable character designs going for them – something that was genuinely one of Rob Liefeld’s strengths. But conceptually they’ve been more generic. This pared-down version of the group aren’t so much anti-human as pathologically pro-mutant, throwing themselves into a utopian vision of a restored mutant society. Using Wildside in the leader role seemed a weird choice at first, but Seeley actually makes a good case for it here: Wildside’s power is to create hallucinations, but there’s a thin line between a hallucination and a spiritual experience, which is how he can resposition himself as a preacher. That actually makes sense, complete with the suggestion that Wildside may not literally believe his visions but does believe in the importance of inspiring hope in his followers. And for the core group, sure, why not these three? Forearm is highly recognisable. Reaper is also highly recognisable, but now claims to have a higher perspective on the world because he’s also been to other universes. Which is true! He was in the Ultraverse Exiles for a while, and nobody remembers that. But as a guy who’s had weird experiences that he thinks make him open-minded… that works. And… well, okay, Strobe’s an odd choice because she was one of the more generic designs. And that design has been reworked here anyway, quite well. But sure, Strobe. Why not. Anyway, I like what Seeley is doing with these characters – they’re underused and this legitimately gives them something to do.
UNCANNY X-MEN #15. (Annotations here.) “Dark Artery” has been the strongest arc of the series so far, though this is something of a middle chapter issue. I assume the flashbacks are heading towards how Henrietta wound up as guardian of the Artery, and since the suggestion is that she’s looking for one of the Outliers to release her from that role, it’s an interesting reversal from her ultra-sympathetic role in the flashbacks. I’m looking forward to seeing how we pull that off next time. As for this issue, I like the way Deathdream is handled, and obviously David Marquez can sell the atmosphere of the Penumbra. I’m not so sure about the goth costumes for everyone, though I guess they help prevent the vibe of the Penumbra being polluted by too many bright colours, so they serve a function there.
Deadpool / Wolverine #5 annotations
DEADPOOL / WOLVERINE #5
“Soldiers of Misfortune”
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: Joshua Cassara
Colour artist: Guru-eFX
Letterer: Joe Sabino
Editor: Mark Basso
So… I skipped the last two issues of this book because there wasn’t much to say about it, and also because it’s a Wolverine team-up book with a character who’s at best on the fringes of the X-books. I’m certainly not doing the Wolverine & Spider-Man team-up book. But this issue looks like the story might have some wider importance to the X-books after all, and it is an ongoing, so…
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Wolverine. By way of recap, then: Stryfe is putting into plan a scheme to cause mass destruction, which involves controlling Wolverine and Deadpool via nanites that they were infected with years ago. Wolverine was initially immune to this, presumably because his Krakoan resurrections gave him a new body without the nanites, but he’s been infected now.
Magik #5 annotations
MAGIK vol 3 #5
“Fate Unbound”
Writer: Ashley Allen
Artist: Germán Peralta
Colourist: Arthur Hesli
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Editor: Darren Shan
MAGIK
She’s upset and passive-aggressive about Mirage going behind her back last issue and asking Cal to keep an eye on her. She privately accepts that Mirage is right to be concerned about the threat from Darkchild, but she’s still hurt by their distrust and by not being told about this “back-up plan”.
The three weeks that Liminal gave her in issue #3 to endure the Darkchild without her mental blocks have elapsed – this must have happened between issues #4-5.
When Liminal escapes into Earth, the wards that Magik placed as holding measures in issues #1, #2 and #4 are broken, causing her pain. (These are the locations at the bottom of page 6.) She claims the pain is normal when a magical spell breaks, particularly a complex one. This allows Darkchild to briefly take control, until Magik uses literal self-harm to focus on the pain and suppress her.
Uncanny X-Men #15 annotations
UNCANNY X-MEN vol 6 #15
“The Dark Artery, part 3: As Close to Evil”
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: David Marquez
Colour artist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
THE X-MEN
Rogue. She’s “more embarrassed than injured” by her defeat by Sadurang last issue. And she’s s understandably annoyed that Gambit has brought her to Haven without being honest with her about what it actually is.
Gambit. He already knew that Haven guarded the Artery, and for whatever reason, he chose not to tell the X-Men about it. Given its historical status as a mutant burial site and the fact that, well, they’re the X-Men, it’s not really clear why he was keeping it secret – especially as Marcus seems to think that mutants have the right to know about it. The only explanation Gambit offers is that it’s “not an easy conversation to have”, suggesting that he thought the Artery was essentially inexplicable – perhaps he views it as too weird and magical for the other X-Men’s frame of reference. (There’s no Magik on this roster, after all.)
House to Astonish Presents: The Lightning Round Episode 25
An odd little selection of issues this time round, as Paul and I look at Thunderbolts issues 63 and 64, and Thunderbolts: From The Marvel Vault. Want to know what Zemo’s sulky face looks like? Want to know what Nomad sings to himself to when he’s wandering the highways? Want to know how many gratuitous instances of nudity one issue can contain? Well then this might just be the episode for you!
The episode is here, or available via the player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Bluesky, or via email, and don’t let us stop you from buying one of our lovely t-shirts, you know we would never want to hold you back from making the greatest sartorial choice of your or anyone’s life!
Daredevil Villains #53: Eric Slaughter
DAREDEVIL #159 and #161 (July & November 1979)
“Marked for Murder!” / “To Dare the Devil”
Writer: Roger McKenzie
Penciller: Frank Miller
Inker: Klaus Janson
Colourist: Glynis Wein
Letterer: Jim Novak (#159) and Diana Albers (#161)
Editors: Mary Jo Duffy & Al Milgrom
As I explained last time, Roger McKenzie’s run largely rested on existing villains. There are only two candidates for inclusion in this feature, and even they both debut playing second fiddle to more established bad guys. The new Ani-Men were henchmen of Death-Stalker, and Eric Slaughter is hired by Bullseye.
But their stories are also the earliest issues to be drawn by Frank Miller. And Slaughter has a better claim to inclusion than the Ani-Men, since he makes several repeat appearances over the next few years. Most notably, he’s the villain in issue #168, the debut of Elektra. He’s not exactly the focal point of that story either, mind you, but he does enough to justify us looking at him.
Slaughter’s debut story is simple. Bullseye hires him to kill Daredevil. The story is rather vague about Slaughter’s actual role in the underworld. He’s an elderly man who has a gang of thugs working for him, and who it seems are expected to do the actual killing. Daredevil has heard of Slaughter, but “thought he’d retired years ago”. Still, there’s no suggestion here that Slaughter has to round up some men in order to take on this contract. So apparently he’s some sort of gang leader who’s managed to avoid Matt’s notice. Frank Miller isn’t much clearer on this point, to be honest. Issue #181 describes Slaughter as running a “freelance assassination operation”, but in issue #168 he’s providing bodyguards. Either way, the operation can’t be particularly elite, because Turk holds down a job there, and he’s a comic relief moron.
