Charts – 26 August 2022
Well, it’s another week where we’re relying on the album chart for activity. But first…
1. LF System – “Afraid to Feel”
That’s eight weeks. Still not the longest run of the year – Harry Styles’ “As It Was” stayed at number 1 for ten weeks. It’s holding off “B.O.T.A. (Baddest of Them All)” by Eliza Rose & Interplanetary Criminal, which spends a second week at number 2, and “Green Green Grass” by George Ezra, which has been hovering in the top five for ten weeks now, and gets its fourth (non-consecutive) week at number 3.
6. Aitch & Ed Sheeran – “My G”
And the prospect of a top 40 with no Ed Sheeran songs in it recedes just a little further. This is the release-week single from Aitch’s debut album “Close To Home”, which enters at number 2. That’s the sort of very technical “debut album” that follows two mixtapes that both made the top 10 in 2019 and 2020… but okay.
Marauders #5 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
MARAUDERS vol 2 #5
“Hell Can Wait”
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Andrea Broccardo
Colourist: Matt Milla
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Design: Tom Muller
Editor: Jordan D White
COVER / PAGE 1: Bishop fights Nemesis – I guess? I mean, in terms of the layout, it looks more like they’re fighting side by side, but that doesn’t make sense.
PAGE 2. Xandra is resurrected.
Xandra was assassinated by the Kin Crimson in issue #3. We already learned in X-Men Red #4 that Xandra survived her assassin by psychically transmitting her memory and her genetic code to Cerebro (don’t ask how she’s able to sequence her own DNA), and that explanation gets repeated in this issue.
PAGE 3. Aurora and Daken fight Chronicle and the Kin Crimson.
PAGE 4. In the past, the Acolytes react to the fight with Nemesis.
A footnote confirms that this scene takes place during X-Men #42 (1995). So, here’s how the story played out the first time round:
A.X.E.: Judgment Day #3 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
A.X.E.: JUDGMENT DAY #3
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Valerio Schiti
Colourist: Marte Gracia
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
COVER / PAGE 1: Makkari, Jean Grey and Iron Man, presumably inside the Progenitor.
PAGES 2-3. Recap and credits.
PAGES 4-5. The Progenitor judges Captain America.
The Progenitor is still going by the name he had in the Avengers arc that introduced him, despite his resurrection with an apparently altered personality. You have to wonder what the connection is between this guy and the very Celestial-like, though somewhat lower powered, Progenitors from various Al Ewing stories, most recently X-Men Red #2. But that’s probably a story for another time.
Ajak initially tries to rationalise away what she’s done. She’s apparently programmed to worship the Celestials as a religion, and so much of what she’s doing involves trying to explain or reinterpret that religion to get to a place she can live with.
Charts – 20 August 2022
After a lengthy summer logjam, we’re starting to see some turnover in the top half of the singles chart. But only starting.
1. LF System – “Afraid to Feel”
That’s seven weeks. It does have a serious challenge this time, with “B.O.T.A. (Baddest of them All)” by Eliza Rose & Interplanetary Criminal climbing from 10 to 2, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this turns out to be it.
15. Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl”
This is the lead single from her 15th album, and counting guest appearances, it’s her 40th top 40 hit. And yes, it’s come to this, someone else has decided that enough time has passed to get away with sampling “Super Freak” by Rick James, the track that formed the basis for “U Can’t Touch This”. It’s… Nicki Minaj doing the cartoon version of Nicki Minaj, I guess? And that’s maybe what people want from Nicki Minaj at this point in her career, since she hasn’t placed a solo single this high since “Anaconda” back in 2014.
New Mutants #28 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
NEW MUTANTS vol 4 #28
“The Labors of Magik, Book Four: The Queen is Dead, Long Live the Queen”
Writer: Vita Ayala
Main story art & colours: Rod Reis
Flashback art: Jan Duursema
Flashback colours: Ruth Redmon
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Design: Tom Muller & Jay Bowen
Editor: Sarah Brunstad
COVER / PAGE 1: Magik in chains before Madelyne Pryor as the new Queen of Limbo. Not especially connected to anything that happens in the issue, though if you squint a bit I suppose you could see it as representing their respective attitudes to reigning Limbo.
PAGE 2. Magik tries making her Soulsword.
That’s Magik’s castle, as last seen in issue #25.
Since rescuing her own younger self last issue, Magik and co have apparently been hiding out in a cave while she tries to recreate the Soulsword. Of course, symbols blurring with reality is a standard trope of magical stories, but Magik seems to literally believe that the key to regaining control of Limbo is to summon up the Soulsword again. Since the sword represents her soul, Magik seems to recognise that restoring the Soulsword is just the outward manifestation of restoring her soul – but it’s not clear what she’s actually been doing over the last week or so restore her soul.
X-Force #30 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-FORCE vol 6 #30
“The Hunt for X, part 1: Dawn of the Hunt”
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: Robert Gill
Colourist: GURU-eFX
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Design: Tom Muller with Jay Bowen
Editor: Mark Basso
COVER / PAGE 1: The new X-Force line-up, complete with annoying Deadpool. This issue is bannered as a “Judgment Day” tie-in despite having no apparent connection to the crossover at all. In fairness, though, X-Force #30-33 are all listed as tie-ins, so perhaps this plotline will connect to it somehow over the next few issues.
PAGES 2-4. Wolverine yells at a tree.
Wolverine blames Krakoa itself for the disappearance of Kid Omega, who vanishes while fighting a Cerebrax-possessed Krakoa at the end of issue #29. Nothing in that issue gives Wolverine any particularly concrete reason to blame Krakoa, but Percy has repeatedly written Wolverine as the one guy on the island who really doesn’t trust the place. Quentin’s disappearance is the catalyst for Wolverine’s wider doubts to come to the fore.
X-Men #13 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
X-MEN vol 6 #13
“Resurrection Blues”
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: C F Villa
Colourist: Matt Milla
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Design: Tom Muller with Jay Bowen
Editor: Jordan D White
COVER / PAGE 1: Cyclops and Jean in action alongside Ikaris and Sersi from Eternals. This is an A.X.E.: Judgment Day tie-in.
PAGE 2. Opening quote: Jean Grey. It’s obviously meant to be ironic in the light of the plot of Judgment Day, in which an artificially-revived Celestial judges the whole planet.
PAGE 3. The X-Men in battle against the Hex.
Or rather, all of them but Forge, who we’ll get to on the next page. But the rest of the newly-elected team from X-Men: Hellfire Gala are here.
This is the Hex’s attack on Krakoa from A.X.E.: Judgment Day #2. The one seen here is Thieaka the Harpsicus. The narrator gives us the very basic version of the Eternals’ motivation; the fuller version is that Druig sees this as a way to cement his authority as Prime Eternal, but that’s not really relevant to this issue.
Charts – 12 August 2022
Activity!
1. LF System – “Afraid To Feel”
Six weeks and counting. That’s bad for an act who are currently on the list of pure one-hit wonders – one number one hit and nothing else, ever. Wikipedia understandably doesn’t add names to their list until a year has passed, on the logic that you’re not really a one-hit wonder until you’ve had a reasonable opportunity to achieve a follow-up. Right now, the latest name on their list is Nathan Evans. Remember sea-shanties? Strange times.
4. KSI featuring Tom Grennan – “Not Over Yet”
Even though he reminds us at the start of the video that he’s a YouTube guy, KSI is emphatically a proper pop star in the UK – this is his tenth top ten hit, and it’s certainly not a novelty record. Presumably it’s the first single from his next album. As for Tom Grennan, this is his highest chart position; he’s had three previous top ten hits, but his previous best was number 7 for “Little Bit of Love”.
Ms Marvel & Wolverine #1
MS MARVEL & WOLVERINE #1
Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Zé Carlos
Colourist: Erick Arciniega
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Editor: Mark Basso
Well, here’s one for the completist file – at least from an X-books’ perspective. Not so much for Ms Marvel, of course. I really don’t get Marvel’s publishing approach to this character – you’d have thought the TV show would be a good reason to get her solo series up and running again, but instead we’re getting Infinity Comics and team-up books.
In classic Marvel style, while this is labelled Ms Marvel & Wolverine #1, it’s actually the first issue of a miniseries where, you guessed it, every issue is called Ms Marvel & Insert Name Here #1. Because you wouldn’t want people to be able to figure out what issue to read them in, would you? Or have something that they can actually call the series? Or make it straightforward to find them on Marvel Unlimited?
A.X.E.: Judgment Day #2 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
A.X.E.: JUDGMENT DAY #2
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Valerio Schiti
Colourist: Marte Gracia
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
COVER / PAGE 1. The reanimated Celestial looms over the heroes (not looking quite the way it ends up in the actual story).
PAGES 2-3. Recap and credits.
PAGE 4. Meet the civilians.
The first appearance of all six of these characters, as far as I’m aware. Arjan’s confidence that the heroes will save him is ironic given what happens to him later in the issue. There are of six of them, matching the number of the Hex, which may or may not be significant.
The narrator is identified later in the issue as the new Celestial god that Ajak is in the process of raising. The caption style is clearly reminiscent of the “machine” narration from Eternals, though.
Tom’s T-shirt has the image of Bruttu, a one-off character from Tales of Suspense #22 (1961). That story involves Bruttu being a comic book character who then inspires one Howard Lindley to become a real-life Bruttu, so the existence of Bruttu merchandise in the Marvel Universe is entirely reasonable.
