{"id":4854,"date":"2019-11-06T22:52:30","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T22:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=4854"},"modified":"2019-11-06T22:52:30","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T22:52:30","slug":"x-force-1-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=4854","title":{"rendered":"X-Force #1 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers are from the digital edition<\/em>. And really, this does contain spoilers<\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

X-FORCE:<\/strong> This is the sixth volume of X-Force<\/em>. The first ran from 1991 to 2002 and covered the adventures of the New Mutants after Cable restructured them into a more paramilitary group (and then turned into X-Statix<\/em> near the end). The second was a six-issue reunion mini from 2004-5. The third is the Kyle\/Yost run from 2008-10, where X-Force was reused as the name for the X-Men’s black ops unit during the Utopia era; it was followed by another 35 issues as Uncanny X-Force<\/em>. Volume 4 was the Marvel Now version from 2014-15 (the Si Spurrier book with Cable, Psylocke, Fantomex and the like). And the fifth volume is the run with the teen Cable that came immediately before House of X<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The running theme in all this is that “X-Force” tends to be attached to an X-Men spin-off team which is either a black ops unit or takes a more paramilitary approach to matters than the regular X-Men. This first issue, however, doesn’t actually feature an X-Force team at all, or even many characters doing anything particularly X-Force-like. Presumably all that emerges over the course of the first arc. But it does<\/em> take a much grimmer tone than any of the other Krakoa-era books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1:<\/strong> The team shot, though several of these characters only make brief appearances in the issue, and one doesn’t appear at all. From left to right, these are Black Tom Cassidy, Sage, Beast, Marvel Girl, Wolverine, Domino, Colossus and Kid Omega. Marvel Girl, Colossus and Beast are unusual inclusions on an X-Force team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kid Omega’s T-shirt (which always changes from issue to issue) has the first names of the original<\/em> X-Force line-up: Nathan (Cable), Neena (Domino), Gaveedra (Shatterstar), Tabitha (Boom-Boom), Maria (Feral), Sam (Cannonball), James (Warpath) and… actually, the list ought to end there. Strictly, Domino wasn’t really a founder member of X-Force, because she had been replaced by Copycat at the time… but never mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 2-6. <\/strong>Domino infiltrates a meeting of anti-mutant zealots, but is exposed when they insist on blood tests to check for infiltrators.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domino<\/strong> has been a member of various X-Force line-ups, including the most recent. She’s a mercenary with luck powers, and hence (depending on who’s writing her) a tendency to march into very inadvisable situations and literally trust to luck. She’s a completely natural choice for this sort of mission, if you leave aside the fact that she’s instantly recognisable without the mask. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The villains<\/strong> are not identified and seem to be new. The script, which is included in the digital edition, contains nothing to suggest that they’re meant to be established characters (though there’s also a redacted passage). The big hulking henchman is named in the script as Finnegan<\/strong> and he appears to be new. As far as I can tell, the only Finnegan in Marvel history was a wrestler from Fantastic Four<\/em> vol 1 #15 (1963). We’ll see later that this bunch are associated with a new version of the Reavers, which might suggest that the guy in charge is Donald Pierce – but if it is, he’s got a peacock tattoo on his hand for some reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s not hugely prominent, but the art is meant to indicate that these people come from all corners of the globe, hence the vast range of clothing beneath their masks. The blank masks have a half-black, half-white design which doesn’t look familiar, though it’s vaguely reminiscent of the white masks worn by members of the Sapien League from Peter Milligan’s run. At any rate, it’s yet another hidden conspiracy against mutants, of the sort that’s familiar for the X-books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 7-9<\/strong>. The usual recap and credits page; the small print just says “Mutant espionage, Law Order X, Probe.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 10-12. <\/strong>On Krakoa, Wolverine rescues Beast from a weird animal thing with loads of teeth.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Self-explanatory, really. Wolverine and Beast don’t need any further introduction here. But this animal is the first time we’ve seen anything remotely dangerous wandering around Krakoa, and it’s a weird creature too – a sort of giant boar with massive sharp teeth. Beast approaches it with scientific interest, but also seems to be trying to rationalise away what such a thing is doing on Krakoa. Wolverine seems more sceptical – he doesn’t seem especially interested in where it comes from, but takes it as read that there will be predators everywhere. Interestingly, the way he puts it is that Krakoa “makes everyone feel safe”, which he thinks makes them vulnerable – it’s not clear how literally Wolverine means this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 13.<\/strong> A data page on the security features of Krakoa, all of which are linked to Black Tom Cassidy. Basically, Krakoa is surrounded by tiny spores in the air and plankton in the sea, which let it sense what’s happening miles away. Plus, the X-Men have insisted that all vehicles stay far, far away from them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black Tom Cassidy:<\/strong> His role in Krakoan defence was previously mentioned in Powers of X <\/em>#4. Black Tom is Banshee’s cousin, and originally he was just an all-purpose rogue with the mutant power to fire energy blasts through wood (in practice, he was an Oirish villain who fired blasts from a shillelagh). A botched experiment with a healing serum left him with much more extensive plant-control powers, as seen in Generation X <\/em>#25; later, that was made permanent by declaring it to be a secondary mutation in Uncanny X-Men<\/em> #411 (2002). He’s evidently been selected for this role principally because of his convenient powers. From time to time he refers to himself and Krakoa as “we”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 14-16.<\/strong> The Marauders return to Krakoa by boat, bringing mutant refugees with them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m not going to attempt to identify the characters standing on the beach as the Marauders arrive; they’re shown only vaguely, and the script just asks for some generics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Marauders <\/strong>already visited Russia in Marauders <\/em>#1, but this is a different mission. They’ve stolen a new boat, brought a bunch of refugees back with them, and they have a badly injured Colossus aboard. Colossus has been in Russia as part of Professor X’s plan for dealing with hostile nations, which we learn more about on the upcoming data page. It’s not entirely clear why the Marauders have brought the rescued mutants back to Krakoa by boar instead of using a gate, but perhaps they just didn’t have any seeds left by the time they stole the boat. (It might also be that there’s just nothing to plant the seed in, but if that was it, you’d have thought it would be simpler to stop at any old island.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Tom, Krakoa and Marvel Girl are all concerned that there’s something not right aboard that boat. We’re led at first to believe that it’s to do with either Kitty smuggling stuff onto Krakoa, or the general psychic pain of the refugees – but our attention is also drawn to the fact that when people arrive by boat, Krakoa doesn’t get the chance to screen them in the same way as it does when they use gates. We’re meant to pick up, later in the issue, that something isn’t right with Colossus in the medical bay; I’m not sure how clearly that comes across without reference to the script.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colossus<\/strong> and Kate Pryde had a long-running on and off again relationship dating back to the 80s, which nearly resulted in a wedding during X-Men Gold <\/em>until Kate cancelled it on the day. That’s why she doesn’t “want to see [him] hurt anymore”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 16<\/strong>. A data page with the X-Men’s official and unofficial plans for dealing with nations who won’t recognise Krakoa. Basically, the official line is to be nice to them, as long as they don’t do anything actively hostile towards mutants. The unofficial line is to shut down any black market trade in mutant drugs that isn’t sanctioned by the Black King (this is part of the set-up of Marauders<\/em>), and to have cells of mutant operative working to undermine the government. We’re told that those mutant operatives are mainly working on helping mutants to escape, but bear in mind that the list of non-treaty nations in the past also included Wakanda. It’s unlikely that the Black Panther is refusing to let his nationals leave for Krakoa if they want; presumably, then, there’s a mutant cell in Wakanda quietly working towards his overthrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 17<\/strong>. The Stan Lee page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 18-19.<\/strong> Some sinister looking people get on board a passenger airline.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are some of the people who are going to attack Krakoa later in the issue. None of them are named, and they’re all supposed to be new characters. According to the script, the guy with the mole on his forehead is meant to give the impression of a “CIA spook”, and he’s referred to as such (in quotes) throughout the rest of the script.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 20-21.<\/strong> After another unsuccessful attempt to find Domino, Professor X goes to the nation of Sokovia, which has supposedly just decided to recognise Krakoan sovereignty. They put a tiny thing in his drink<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The script describes the thing in his drink as a tracer device – the idea is that the attackers later will use it to hunt him down. It’s barely even visible in the actual art. Quite why Professor X is going to a potentially hostile nation entirely alone, relying on their authorities for his protection, drinking potentially dubious drinks, and not mind-reading someone to check for a scam… is difficult to fathom. Unless he’s playing along for some reason, I suppose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sokovia<\/strong> is one of the Marvel Universe’s many, many fictional eastern European microstates. It actually comes from the Captain America: The Winter Soldier <\/em>film, but also appeared in Captain America: Steve Rogers<\/em> during Nick Spencer’s run. It used to be overrun by Hydra, but presumably it’s better now. The capital of Sokovia has previously been identified as Novi Grad, which makes it a curious example of a fictional country that appears to have a real capital city<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 22.<\/strong> The Healer looks after the refugees and Colossus, who seems to be feigning something.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s not desperately explicit, but that’s Colossus they’re treating, and he was feigning unconsciousness until they looked away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Healer <\/strong>is the Morlocks’ medic from 1980s stories, apparently back thanks to Krakoan cloning. He survived the massacre of the Morlocks, but seemingly died in Uncanny X-Men<\/em> #291 (1992) when he burnt himself out while trying to heal Callisto. As far as we know, the Healer isn’t a trained doctor, just a mutant with healing powers. For some reason the script specifically calls for him to be wearing bandages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 23-25.<\/strong> The four sinister people hijack the plane, knock out everyone else aboard, and prepare to parachute to Krakoa.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s one of those lovely overly elaborate plans, where instead of just hijacking a plane, you feign a pressure drop and then gas everyone through the face masks. Which is endearingly silly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Reavers.<\/strong> The helmets which the attackers wear are clearly intended to evoke the helmets worn by Cole, Reese and Macon, the three normal-looking ones from the classic Reavers. The script has various redactions here, but pretty much confirms that this is intentional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 26-36.<\/strong> The Reavers attack Krakoa and seemingly kill Professor X.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somehow, the Reavers are able to trick Krakoa into mistaking them for Domino – it might have something to do with the black spot on the “CIA spook” character’s forehead, which echoes the huge spot that covers much of Domino’s face. Or maybe they’re just all carrying chunks of Domino – it’s X-Force<\/em>, after all. Presumably the advantage of this is to confuse the mutants long enough to get past Krakoa’s early warning system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“All mutants can be trusted.”<\/strong> Xavier is weirdly emphatic about this when speaking to Black Tom. It reads as another signal that something’s up with Krakoa, since otherwise Xavier has no apparent reason to believe this. On the other hand, if Krakoa is generating peace-and-love vibes for the mutants, it clearly doesn’t work on the Reavers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There are always predators.” <\/strong>Beast is obviously referring to the Reavers, but since he’s just leaped on the blond guy snarling in the same way that the weird creature did at the start, there’s also a suggestion that Beast himself is the predator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Your anger and surprise – I just don’t understand it.”<\/strong> The Reaver is being absurd about the anger, but he has a point about surprise – given the history of mutantkind, everyone really does seem weirdly taken aback by the idea of Krakoa coming under attack. Maybe we’re just meant to take it that everyone’s been too caught up in the hype and they’ve let their guard down, or maybe there’s more to it than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’re your only chance at…” <\/strong>Professor X’s final words before the Reaver shoots him seem to be starting some sort of point about how the mutants are going to save the humans – which, at least in terms of his public statements to date, is curious. It makes a little more sense if his agenda is really about the machines from Powers of X<\/em> – and indeed these Reavers are already part-machine, which is a Big Warning Sign in terms of Powers of X<\/em> cosmology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The death of Professor X.<\/strong> The art only shows a shattered and blood-stained Cerebro helmet and Xavier’s hand as he lies on the ground, which by comic book standards counts as ambiguous. The script is much more clear that this is what it appears to be. Of course, we know that the X-Men can bring anyone back from the dead… but Professor X presents particular difficulties there, because he’s the one who restores their minds from back-up. House of X <\/em>#5 indicated that in principle other telepaths could do it too, but also made it fairly clear that none of them were trained up yet. So the Professor’s restoration could be more complicated than others. And, of course, the shattered Cerebro helmet is shocking just because it’s destroying a symbol of Krakoa-era X-Men in the very first issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cameos:<\/strong> The script simply calls for any old mutants not otherwise engaged, but recognisably present are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n