{"id":11402,"date":"2025-09-17T23:05:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T22:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=11402"},"modified":"2025-09-17T23:05:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T22:05:41","slug":"uncanny-x-men-21-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=11402","title":{"rendered":"Uncanny X-Men #21 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>UNCANNY X-MEN vol 6 #21<\/strong>
\n“Of Mice and Mutants”<\/strong>
\nWriter: Gail Simone<\/strong>
\nArtist: Luciano Vecchio<\/strong>
\nColour artist: Matthew Wilson<\/strong>
\nLetterer: Clayton Cowles<\/strong>
\nEditor: Tom Brevoort<\/strong><\/p>\n

COVER:<\/strong> Wolverine and Ransom at a comic convention. We’ll come to which one below.<\/p>\n

This is the final issue of\u00a0Uncanny X-Men<\/em> before it goes on hold for the “Age of Revelation” event. In practice, the next issue is\u00a0Unbreakable X-Men<\/em> #1.<\/p>\n

PAGES 1-3.<\/strong> Flashback: Ransom’s origin story.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is a significantly expanded version of Ransom’s origin story from issue #3. In the original version, Valentin says that he was born with no heart; that his parents were “wealthy and vain” and “my imperfection shamed them”, and “when I was kidnapped, they wouldn’t pay the ransom. His powers then activate when they try to kill him. He finishes that account by saying that “I ran away from home. 13 years old. Better to belong to nothing than to belong where you aren’t wanted.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A slightly altered version of the kidnapping scene appears in the previous issue. In that one, he also says that “My parents refused to pay the ransom”, but he gives his age as 10 (which he repeats in this issue). Decide for yourself whether that’s a continuity glitch or just Valentin tailoring the story slightly when he relayed it to the X-Men.<\/p>\n

In both previous versions of this story, Valentin specifically blames\u00a0both<\/em> of his parents for abandoning him to the kidnappers, but there’s no sign of his mother in in this account – whether that means his biological mother or his stepmother.<\/p>\n

Valentin recalls his father Patricio telling him at the age of 10 not to make friends – though if we’re being strictly accurate, what we actually see here is arguably just Patricio telling Valentin not to make friends with kids who Patricio believes are beneath him. Of course, that doesn’t mean Valentin’s point isn’t correct more generally.<\/p>\n

Valentin had his own driver, Balduino, who seems to have been a nice enough guy, even though he’s clearly drinking on the job. We establish later in the scene that Patricio is a crimelord, which is probably why the unwanted son gets these trappings anyway. Valentin seems inclined with hindsight to interpret Balduino as nothing more than a decent professional who he looked up to simply because he showed Valentin some degree of kindness; that may be a bit harsh on Balduino, who appears in the scene to be actively supporting Valentin to make friends against his father’s will, and who occasionally spoke of Valentin as his third child.<\/p>\n

In this version of the kidnapping scene, Patricio doesn’t simply refuse to pay the ransom, but goes on to claim that he controls the police and the underworld – which is new – and that the kidnappers will pay for crossing him. Valentin’s previous accounts have presented this as simple abandonment, but on one view, Patricio is actually trying to intimidate the kidnappers into releasing him. Mind you, even if you think that’s what he’s trying to do, he’s going about it in a very limited way. Valentin evidently\u00a0does<\/em> hear what his father is saying on the phone, because he refers to specifics in his narration.<\/p>\n

PAGES 4-7.\u00a0<\/strong>Wolverine and Ransom face down Patricio Correa.<\/em><\/p>\n

Patricio showed up with a shotgun at the end of last issue, but we establish here that he isn’t working with the Word of Strength cult. In fact, he’s come on his own mission to rescue Benicio, his favoured child (and Ransom’s half-brother). Naturally enough, Ransom takes great delight in seeing his new father figure Wolverine stare Patricio down.<\/p>\n

Valentin is the child of Patricio and a woman with whom he had an affair. Valentin acknowledges that Patricio “took me in”. But in the same exchange, Patricio claims that Valentin is one of “many” illegitimate children, and in his view they are “not my sons”. He surely can’t be housing all of them in the family home, so it’s not clear why he took in Valentin. It certainly isn’t because he wanted the boy; it might be something to do with him being a mutant. Possibly Valentin’s biological mother is simply dead – Valentin certainly doesn’t seem to regard her as worth talking about, and doesn’t appear to have regarded her as an option when he ran away from the Correa family home.<\/p>\n

Last issue, Valentin’s narration claimed that “the word ‘mutant’ wasn’t allowed in my house… because of shame”. Interestingly, Patricio firmly objects to the suggestion that he’s anti-mutant. He seems to object to the symbolism of his son having no heart – that is, it’s the specific mutation that he has a problem with.<\/p>\n

Patricio seems to think that his name will carry weight with Wolverine, though that may just be his default way of dealing with anything. (It’s odd that he didn’t bring any back-up with him.) Wolverine ultimately just takes the guy’s car and leaves him.<\/p>\n

The cultists point them in the direction of Rosario and “La Crack”. There is indeed a comic convention with a similar name in Rosario, Argentina.<\/a><\/p>\n

PAGES 8-9.\u00a0<\/strong>Marlys invites Hotou to the school dance.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hotoru has seized on “X means home” as a mantra following the end of issue #16, but this now seems to take the form of him insisting on hanging around with Becca and Sofia rather than talking to anyone else. Now that Hotoru is less determined to stay in persona at all times, it’s apparent that he really doesn’t have the social tools to deal with others; even Becca seems to be coping better with the situation. When pressed, Hotoru lapses back into persona to deflect awkward questions.<\/p>\n

Psylocke taught Hotoru to dance in the\u00a0X-Men: Hellfire Vigil<\/em> one-shot, and he parrots word for word the instructions that she gave him.<\/p>\n

Hotoru mentions again the “cartoon otters” from the\u00a0Otter Party<\/em> film that he wanted to see in issue #17.<\/p>\n

Marlys is a new character; she’s either into death motifs too (with added pink and sparkles) or she’s trying to appeal to Hotoru’s schtick.<\/p>\n

PAGES 10-12.<\/strong> Wolverine and Ransom at the comic convention.<\/em><\/p>\n

Obviously, there’s a bunch of cosplayers here. Aside from the woman in the Argentinian flag-themed Phoenix costume, there’s…<\/p>\n