{"id":6792,"date":"2021-06-16T22:32:51","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T21:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=6792"},"modified":"2021-06-16T22:32:51","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T21:32:51","slug":"planet-size-x-men-1-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=6792","title":{"rendered":"Planet-Size X-Men #1 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>PLANET-SIZE X-MEN #1
\n“Fireworks”
\nby Gerry Duggan, Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia<\/strong><\/p>\n

Planet-Size\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>X-Men<\/em>.<\/strong>\u00a0This one-shot is the first issue to bear the name. It’s a play on\u00a0Giant-Size X-Men<\/em>, of course.\\<\/p>\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1:<\/strong> Marvel Girl, Iceman, Storm and Magneto hovering on a rock in the shape of the X-Men logo, in front of a (presumably Martian) red background.<\/p>\n

PAGES 2-6.<\/strong>\u00a0The omega mutants begin terraforming Mars.<\/em><\/p>\n

What’s actually happening in this scene is fairly self-explanatory – really, the plot of this issue boils down to “the mutants terraform Mars and teleport Arakko there, and do it all live for the attendees at the Hellfire Gala to watch”. It’s an exercise in showing it at length to emphasise the scale of the endeavour.<\/p>\n

Attentive readers may be asking “Hold on, doesn’t Krakoa have a presence on Mars already?” Indeed it does, and the fact that it’s not mentioned in this issue rather suggests that it’s regarded as an unwelcome complication. We saw a flower being planted on Mars in\u00a0House of X<\/em> #1, and the resulting Red Farm in\u00a0Marauders<\/em> #8. But the script for\u00a0House of X<\/em> #1 clarifies that the Martian presence is in the Garden, a very small area of Mars which was already terraformed by Ex Nihilo during Jonathan Hickman’s\u00a0Avengers<\/em> run. This is the first time that the mutants themselves have tried to terraform the place.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

That aside, the Marvel Universe Mars is indeed largely depicted as a real-life dead world. As you might expect, there are a few horror\/sci-fi stories knocking about with Martian invaders, but most of them can be easily dismissed as using “Martian” as a generic term for aliens. Besides, there seems to be only one example that post-dates the debut of the Fantastic Four:\u00a0Tales of Suspense<\/em> #29, where the invading alien does indeed claim to come from Mars. Mind you, it’s also a story where the locals identify him as a Martian by recognising the Martian insignia on his flying saucer. So you could make a pretty good case for it being non-canon anyway.<\/p>\n

“You were promised fireworks…”<\/strong> The terraforming of Mars is the “fireworks” that were listed on the Hellfire Gala running order.<\/p>\n

PAGE 7.<\/strong> Recap and credits.<\/p>\n

PAGE 8.<\/strong> Quote from Emma Frost. This comes from\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #21 (the immediately preceding chapter of the crossover). The original context is that she was inviting people to join her telepathically in viewing the “fireworks”, acknowledging their right to decline, and strongly advising against it.<\/p>\n

PAGE 9.<\/strong> Flashback: Magneto speaks to Isca.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Arakkans are causing trouble by behaving towards the humans in a way that’s undiplomatic even by Magneto’s standards. We saw something similar in\u00a0Cable<\/em> #10.<\/p>\n

Isca<\/strong> continues to serve as the spokesman for Arakko, presumably because she’s the only member of the Great Ring (their version of the Quiet Council) that we’ve actually\u00a0met\u00a0<\/em>so far. She’s standing under a tree that seems to have all sorts of decorative tags hanging from it; the significance is not obvious. Isca expressed similar bemusement about the Krakoans’ tolerance for normal humans in\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #16.<\/p>\n

“Rii the Destroyer” is a new name and, presumably, just some random Arakkii. Chichibu is a city in Japan which does indeed have a distillery – the “master whiskey distiller” is Ichiro Akuto, who was also mentioned in\u00a0Marauders<\/em> #16.<\/p>\n

PAGE 10.<\/strong>\u00a0Flashback: Magneto speaks to Hellfire Trading.<\/em><\/p>\n

Emma’s statement about medicines being requested in higher concentrations is difficult to follow – haven’t we been told that the Krakoans specified the dosage rate?<\/p>\n

“We’ve lost our farms in the Savage Land.”<\/strong> In\u00a0X-Corp<\/em> #1.<\/p>\n

The Mercury<\/em><\/strong> is the mysterious shape-changing vehicle used mainly by Christian Frost in\u00a0Marauders<\/em>. Presumably Magneto is using it for transport into space, though it’s not entirely clear why, since the X-Men already have a gate to Mars.<\/p>\n

PAGE 11.<\/strong>\u00a0Flashback: Cyclops and Captain America.<\/em><\/p>\n

The old X-Men Mansion, serving as a symbol of the traditional X-Men set-up, and (as in\u00a0House of X<\/em>) overgrown with Krakoan plantlife.<\/p>\n

PAGE 12.<\/strong>\u00a0Flashback: The Quiet Council sign off on Magneto’s plan.<\/em><\/p>\n

More or less straightforward. Magneto has two basic arguments here: first, they need to get the Arakkii away from the rest of humanity; second, this is an opportunity for the mutants to set themselves up as the spokesmen for the solar system in interstellar matters. (What everyone seems to be overlooking is that they’re\u00a0not<\/em> setting themselves up in that role. They’re setting the Arakkii up in that role, and the Arakkii are not on the same page with them at all. In Magneto and Professor X’s case, though, this may all be part of the grand plan.)<\/p>\n

Everyone votes in favour, including both heroes and villains.<\/p>\n

PAGE 13.<\/strong>\u00a0The Omega mutants set off for Mars.<\/em><\/p>\n

Presumably that’s the Mercury, and we really are just quietly ignoring the fact that the mutants already had gates to Mars. The S.W.O.R.D. space station can be seen in the background.<\/p>\n

The collection of omega mutants here include three members of the Five, very rarely seen away from Krakoa due to their importance for resurrection – which illustrates how important this is. Magneto, typically, is talking about embarrassment as a “human emotion” as if there were any evidence to suggest that it doesn’t apply to mutants.<\/p>\n

Two other high-power mutants are suggested as possible participants: Legion (currently appearing in Way of X<\/em>), whom Magneto understandably views as far too unpredictable; and Franklin Richards, under his rarely used codename “Powerhouse”. Franklin was retconned into being a non-mutant over in\u00a0Fantastic Four<\/em>, hence Magneto dismissing him as a “pretender” (and thus analogous to the Scarlet Witch).<\/p>\n

PAGE 14.<\/strong>\u00a0Magneto in Otherworld.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mercator.<\/strong> The first panel shows Magneto trying to enlist the aid of “Mercator”, an Otherworld kingdom which had a very peripheral role in\u00a0“X of Swords”. According to the Otherworld cosmology established there, Mercator used to be populated by a race called the Telmenetes, but a mysterious force took over the land, renamed it Mercator, installed an anonymous king, and declines to explain further.<\/p>\n

The fact that Magneto approaches the place in response to a question about further omega mutants may suggest that Mercator is in fact connected with Absalom Mercator, the reality-warper from\u00a0District X<\/em> (also known as “Mister M”). Way, way back in House of X<\/em> #1, we were given a list of omega level mutants. Literally every other mutant on that list is either on this mission, or expressly dismissed by Magneto. And nobody is on the mission who is\u00a0not<\/em> on the list (aside from a couple of new arrivals from Arakko). So the implied connection between Mister M and Otherworld Mercator is… pretty strong.<\/p>\n

Monarch.<\/strong> Jamie’s attempt to trade for Magneto’s cape is a callback to\u00a0Hellions<\/em> #5, when he tried the same thing with Mister Sinister. That thing he’s wearing in the final panel is actually called a mantle, but it’s a\u00a0type<\/em> of robe, I guess.<\/p>\n

PAGE 15.<\/strong>\u00a0Magneto meets the Great Ring.<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s the first time we’ve seen any of Lactuca, Sobunar or Xilo. The first two were named in a data page in\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #16. They were part of the “Day” group on the Great Ring; perhaps Xilo is the third, redacted name.<\/p>\n

Isca is very clearly presented here as the de facto leader of the Great Ring – at the very least, a “first among equals”. It’s notionally a round table for discussion just like the Quiet Council, but only Isca actually sits at it.<\/p>\n

PAGE 16.<\/strong>\u00a0Sobunar contributes the water to kickstart the Martian ecosystem.<\/em><\/p>\n

“It’s no wonder Dryador fell.”<\/strong> In\u00a0X of Swords: Creation<\/em>, when the Arakkii forces invaded it.<\/p>\n

Arabia Terra<\/strong> is a large area in the north of Mars.<\/p>\n

PAGE 17.<\/strong>\u00a0Storm terraforms.<\/em><\/p>\n

Feilong Industries.<\/strong> Feilong is a mythical Chinese dragon. There’s no shortage of real-world Chinese companies already using the Feilong name. As far as I know, it’s the first mention of the Marvel Universe company.<\/p>\n

PAGES 18-19.<\/strong> Elixir and Xilo terraform.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m not sure when Elixir’s powers got upgraded to figuratively healing ecosystems, but sure, whatever.<\/p>\n

PAGE 20.<\/strong>\u00a0The Arakkii are brought to Mars.<\/em><\/p>\n

The idea here seems to be that the hyper-competitive Arakkii need to be presented with a challenge in order to feel comfortable that they’ve earned their island.<\/p>\n

The External Gate<\/strong> was the gate to Otherworld created by Apocalypse in the run-up to “X of Swords”. Quite how it can be converted into a transport to Mars… look, don’t think about it too closely.<\/p>\n

“The one island is now two forevermore.”<\/strong> “X of Swords” and the run-up thereto hammered repeatedly the fact that Krakoa and Arakko were parts of a single island that had been separated long ago.\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #16 established that they didn’t really want to reunite.<\/p>\n

PAGE 21.<\/strong>\u00a0Hope and Kid Omega enjoy the new beach.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nil Fossae<\/strong> is a plains region on Mars.<\/p>\n

“If the Arakkii hadn’t fallen and fought, there wouldn’t be a Krakoa – or Earth.”<\/strong> Hope is referring here to the Arakkii’s sacrifice when the islands were split into two, and they spent centuries in Amenth continuing the war against invading monsters.<\/p>\n

PAGE 22.<\/strong>\u00a0Arakko arrives on Mars.<\/em><\/p>\n

The caption tries to claim that it’s a week after Arakko arrives on Earth in\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #16. That only really works if there’s a surprisingly long gap between\u00a0X of Swords<\/em> and\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #16, since there’s no possible way that everything from “X of Swords” onwards has taken place in two weeks. That would include five issues of each title, plus the entire\u00a0King in Black<\/em> crossover, and enough time to set up the entirety of the new S.W.O.R.D. operation.<\/p>\n

PAGE 23-24.<\/strong>\u00a0The Arakkii settle in.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sobunar’s speech doesn’t entirely inspire confidence. The X-Men seem to be handing over a planet to a bunch of obsessive warmongers. But, to be fair to them, the Arakkii culture did become war-dominated when they were\u00a0defending<\/em> themselves against endless attacking armies. Yes, they attacked Otherworld in\u00a0X of Swords<\/em>, but that was under the influence of Annihilation. Maybe they’ll mellow out with no one to fight… or maybe they’ll turn on each other.<\/p>\n

PAGES 25-26.<\/strong>\u00a0Introducing the Lake Hellas Diplomatic Ring.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is part of Magneto’s plan to set up Mars as an interstellar diplomatic post (and thus claim the initiative for mutantkind). Again, the problem is that he’s giving that initiative principally to the Arakkii. Then again, maybe the hope is that this will draw enough trouble to keep the Arakkii occupied and happy.<\/p>\n

PAGE 27.<\/strong> Xilo creates statues.<\/em><\/p>\n

These are statues of Apocalypse and Genesis, who remained behind in Amenth to rule there, in\u00a0X of Swords: Destruction<\/em>.<\/p>\n

PAGES 28-31.<\/strong>\u00a0Monarch creates S.W.O.R.D. Station Two.<\/em><\/p>\n

He’s a reality warper, so he just conjures up a duplicate of the one from Earth. His rather literal interpretation of “giving birth to an idea” seems to be just his own eccentricity.<\/p>\n

PAGE 32.<\/strong> Monarch creates Port Prometheus.<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s a spaceport. Prometheus was responsible for creating humanity from clay, and stealing fire from the gods; I suppose the analogy is that the mutants are similarly challenging their station with this whole enterprise.<\/p>\n

PAGES 33-34.<\/strong>\u00a0Arakko is unveiled.<\/em><\/p>\n

Magneto expects this to go down badly with the normal humans. Emma Frost, who makes it the centrepiece of her diplomatic party, presumably thinks otherwise.<\/p>\n

PAGE 35.<\/strong>\u00a0Data page: Arakko announces itself to the interstellar community, declares itself the capital of the solar system, and claims that someone-or-other is “the regent of Sol”. All going smoothly, then.<\/p>\n

PAGE 36.<\/strong> Data page: a map of Arakko, with a mixture of Martian locations and as-yet-unexplained Arakkan locations. The “Hellfire Farms” are presumably the new Martian flower farms.<\/p>\n

PAGE 37.<\/strong> Data page: a memo from Delores Ramirez, the CIA monitor from\u00a0Marauders<\/em>. She’s reporting back, fairly straightforwardly, from the Hellfire Gala. Consistent with her depiction in that book, she’s relatively trusting of the mutants, and expects that to be vindicated when her mind is scanned for interference.<\/p>\n

PAGE 38.<\/strong> Data page: NASA give us some pseudoscience about how this all works, and throw in the information that even some sympathetic humans are a bit annoyed by the hubris of claiming the whole planet. DiRocco is a new character.<\/p>\n

PAGE<\/strong>\u00a039.<\/strong> Trailers. The Krakoan reads NEXT: BACK TO EARTH.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition. PLANET-SIZE X-MEN #1 “Fireworks” by Gerry Duggan, Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia Planet-Size\u00a0X-Men.\u00a0This one-shot is the first issue to bear the name. It’s a play on\u00a0Giant-Size X-Men, of course.\\ COVER \/ PAGE 1: Marvel Girl, Iceman, Storm and Magneto hovering on […]<\/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,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6792","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=6792"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6794,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6792\/revisions\/6794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}