{"id":5960,"date":"2020-12-02T21:18:38","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T21:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=5960"},"modified":"2020-12-02T21:18:38","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T21:18:38","slug":"hellions-7-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=5960","title":{"rendered":"Hellions #7 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

HELLIONS #7<\/strong>
“Whetstone”<\/strong>
by Zeb Wells, Stephen Segovia & David Curiel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1:<\/strong> Mister Sinister pretends to mourn the deaths of the Hellions. (Not something that literally happens in the issue, since they don’t have a gravestone, but the thrust is there.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 2: <\/strong>Mister Sinister addresses the Quiet Council.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My Hellions are dead!”<\/strong> In the last two issues, Mr Sinister sent the Hellions on a suicide mission, supposedly to try and stop Saturnyne’s contest of swords, but actually with a view to retrieving DNA samples of mutants from Amenth \/ Arakko – something even the Hellions didn’t find out until it was too late. Some of them died in Amenth, while the others made it back to Krakoa only to be murdered by Sinister in order to cover his tracks. Although he knows that the Krakoans will resurrect them, they’ll only have memories up to their most recent back-up, and so they won’t know what happened on the Amenth mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

“And you dare tell me resurrections are halted because of a vile superstition?”<\/strong> As established in “X of Swords”, mutants who die in Otherworld proper can’t be resurrected, because of the magical nature of the place. Any attempt to do so results in a sort of re-born, alternative version of the character – essentially an alternate-reality version, but created from Scratch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Sinister points out, Nanny, Orphan-Maker and Wild Child died in Amenth (not strictly in Arakko proper), which isn’t in Otherworld. Quite how he knows that isn’t entirely clear, since he didn’t go on that mission – he sent a duplicate, who also died in Amenth. But Sinister is telepathic, so maybe he picked up this information from the surviving Hellions before he killed them. At any rate, Professor X is already resurrecting the Hellions for precisely the reasons Sinister gives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Apocalypse did just buy a house there.”<\/strong> In X of Swords: Destruction<\/em>, Apocalypse left Krakoa to be reunited with his wife Genesis in Arakko. Sinister is trying to blame him for what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Quiet Council.<\/strong> Oddly, Marvel Girl is shown as a Council member. She appeared to quit the Council in order to go on Cyclops’ rescue mission to Otherworld in X-Men<\/em> #15. Maybe it’s a continuity error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 3-4.<\/strong> Professor X and the Five discuss Orphan-Maker.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re new, then the Five – Proteus, Egg, Elixir, Tempus and Hope – are the mutants who combine their powers to create new bodies for resurrected mutants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter<\/strong> is the former Orphan-Maker. This scene alludes to a subplot from 1980s X-Factor<\/em> where it was repeatedly suggested that Nanny had encased Peter in armour in order to prevent his mutant powers from emerging, which would for some unspecified reason have been disastrous. It was always left ambiguous whether Peter was a boy inside adult-sized armour, or an adult with arrested development and the mind of a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nanny<\/strong> apparently emerges from her husk in a new egg-shaped cyborg form. This calls for more explanation than it gets in the issue. Nanny’s back story is that she was a Right scientist who got turned into a cyborg against her will. That drove her mad, and explains her well-meaning but erratic behaviour. You might expect, then, that she’d be restored as a normal person. And we’ve been told in the past that resurrected mutants are often improved in some modest way. But Nanny’s new body appears to have emerged in outright cyborg form. This makes a certain degree of sense – it suggests that the husk exercise is something more than mere cloning, but involves some sort of outright copying of the original body, presumably via the reality-warping powers of Proteus. That would explain why Wolverine still has adamantium on being resurrected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trouble is that the plot of this issue hinges on the fact that Peter doesn’t <\/em>come back with his armour, and the Hellions will have to retrieve the equipment to rebuild it. The distinction might <\/em>be that Nanny is a cyborg (it’s all part of her body), while Peter is just wearing armour – but it’s confusing enough that a bit more exposition would have helped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 5.<\/strong> Data page on the resurrection of Nanny, Orphan-Maker and Wild Child. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps because Arakko is linked to Krakoa through Otherworld, they seem to have experienced a lesser version of the scrambling that we saw when Rockslide was resurrected in “X of Swords”. (The power spikes mentioned here were also seen in his case.) This page also confirms that Gorgon was resurrected despite dying in Otherworld, and that he has undergone a similar scrambling effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author is presumably Professor X, and note that he takes Mister Sinister’s confirmation with a pinch of salt as a source of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 6.<\/strong> Recap and credits – a new revised design following “X of Swords”. This week’s X-Factor <\/em>uses the same layout, which is presumably going to be the new standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 7. <\/strong>The usual epigraph from Nightcrawler, back after the trip to Arakko in the previous issues. Here, Nightcrawler seems to be expressing real concerns about the spiritual implications of the resurrection process. For him, death was a transition to the afterlife and eternal rest; on Krakoa, there is only eternal life, with no reward. Nightcrawler seems to be resigned to this and trying to find an alternative route to peace. This might tie in to X-Men<\/em> #7, where Nightcrawler was talking about starting a mutant religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 8. <\/strong>Emma and Alex talk.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Havok asks to be removed from the Hellions. Quite what he’s doing on this team has always been a little bit unclear; in issue #1 he seemed to be briefly under some outside influence, and had to be stopped from killing low-level villains. Emma seems to have a much clearer idea of what he’s doing on the team, and for some reason isn’t willing to tell him – perhaps because that would also tip off the other personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 9.<\/strong> Empath, Greycrow and Psylocke discuss their return.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For once, Empath and Greycrow actually agree on something: Sinister has given them the same account of their deaths that he gave to the Quiet Council, and they don’t believe it either. Psylocke shuts down the discussion, and we’ll see more about why later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is our first clear shot of Nanny’s new body. It’s still ovoid, but it’s a lot less comedic than it was before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 10.<\/strong> Mister Sinister begins briefing the Hellions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wild Child.<\/strong> Greycrow seems to think this quieter, more focused Wild Child is an improvement. Psylocke, in the background, looks distinctly worried. Recall that Wild Child had imprinted on her as his pack leader in earlier issues. It’s not quite so obvious how he views her now – he certainly doesn’t make a beeline for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“To me, my Hellions!”<\/strong> Sinister is parodying a catchphrase associated with Professor X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 11.<\/strong> Sinister explains the plot.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nanny’s ship<\/strong> is the one seen repeatedly in her X-Factor<\/em> appearances in the 80s. As Sinister says, she used it “almost exclusively to steal babies” – her schtick was to “rescue” infant mutant orphans and take them into her custody. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Right<\/strong> was an anti-mutant group from 80s X-Factor<\/em>, which hasn’t appeared that much since. As far as I can tell, they were last seen in a cameo in All-New X-Men<\/em> vol 2 #12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A ghoulish habit, we can all agree.”<\/strong> Sinister is being facetious, and referencing his stealing of baby Nathan Summers in late-80s X-Men<\/em>, ultimately leading to Inferno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nanny<\/strong> speaks in nursery rhyme here, but she does at least explain the plot correctly. She speaks normally later in the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 12-13.<\/strong> The Hellions challenge Sinister.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Havok, Greycrow and Empath all challenge Sinister’s claims about what happened on the previous mission. Psylocke defends him and tries to shut down the rebellion, for reasons which will become apparent shortly. Note that the two Arakkii resurrectees stay out of this. They don’t appear to care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 14.<\/strong> Mister Sinister “shows” Psylocke her daughter.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This refers back to the Fallen Angels<\/em> series from the first wave of Krakoan X-books. Psylocke’s long-lost daughter was seen in Fallen Angels <\/em>#1, using the Overclock techno-drug that was linked to the Apoth artificial intelligence – she was seemingly killed in a train crash that she engineered under Apoth’s influence. Eventually Psylocke retrieved Apoth and handed it over to Sinister. This scene clarifies that the mind of Psylocke’s daughter survives within that AI, that Sinister has located it (or so he claims), and that this is the hold he has over Psylocke. Hence, she’s trying to shut down potential rebellion that might expose her deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 15-17.<\/strong> Greycrow and Wild Child talk; Havok confronts Psylocke.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the first time we’ve seen Sinister’s personal jet the Sonic Sinister, with its pathetically loyal AI “Clive”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greycrow<\/strong> is weirdly delighted by Wild Child’s transformation, though Wild Child himself seems quite troubled and subdued. Greycrow is usually written as the most stable of the “villain” Hellions, so his reaction here is a little strange; perhaps he sees this more focussed version of Wild Child as someone a bit closer to him, and someone a little more reliable. Although Wild Child is in some ways more animalistic, his body language doesn’t generally reflect that – he’s standing upright, and seems more controlled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 18-20.<\/strong> Psylocke crashes the plane.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psylocke won’t explain herself to Havok, but this seems to be her gesture of rebellion towards Sinister – something which, as Nanny points out, can be more or less justified as a scheme to break through the defences. Poor loyal Clive begs for his life and gets ignored. (Sinister seems more concerned about the loss of Clive, who is basically a glorified Alexa, than he did about the Hellions – Clive is his creation.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 21-23.<\/strong> The Hellions fight the Right.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, the Right were normal humans wearing battle armour with ridiculous smiley faces on them. (One of these ones seems to be frowning.) A couple of them got infected with the techno-organic virus, too. But the two Smileys seen here appear to be robots – when Wild Child tears them open, there’s “no blood”. The Smileys did not<\/em> traditionally talk in this computer-speak style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 24.<\/strong> Cameron Hodge emerges.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cameron Hodge was the founder of the Right, and a major character in early X-Factor<\/em>. He was a childhood friend of Warren Worthington who posed as a supporter of mutants in order to influence him, and talked the founding X-Men into setting up X-Factor as a supposed group of mutant-hunters (the supposed idea being that they would be able to leverage anti-mutant sentiment to get close to vulnerable mutants, but the actual plan being to use them to raise tensions). Hodge is immortal thanks to the techno-organic virus and a deal with a demon that he made in the Inferno storyline. Since he forgot to specify “invulnerable”, he spent a lot of time after that as a several head on a monstrous robot body. Note that you can see the techno-organic elements on his face and neck, despite his claim to represent the “pure human race”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hodge was last seen in X-Men: Legacy<\/em> #235 (during the “Second Coming” crossover), in which Warlock seemingly killed him by removing his techno-organic parts. However, Hodge is magically immortal, so it’s not a huge surprise that he returned – though how he got a normal body again remains to be explained. He was mentioned as the Right’s leader in All New X-Men<\/em> vol 2 #12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 25<\/strong>: Trailers. The Krakoan reads NEXT: SMILE WIDE. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition. HELLIONS #7“Whetstone”by Zeb Wells, Stephen Segovia & David Curiel COVER \/ PAGE 1: Mister Sinister pretends to mourn the deaths of the Hellions. (Not something that literally happens in the issue, since they don’t have a gravestone, but the thrust is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5960"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5962,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5960\/revisions\/5962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}