{"id":7364,"date":"2021-12-03T20:03:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T20:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=7364"},"modified":"2021-12-03T20:03:22","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T20:03:22","slug":"marauders-26-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=7364","title":{"rendered":"Marauders #26 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>MARAUDERS #26<\/strong>
\n“Many Happy Returns”<\/strong>
\nby Gerry Duggan, Matteo Lolli & Rain Beredo<\/strong><\/p>\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1:<\/strong> Iceman fights Fin Fang Foom.<\/p>\n

PAGE 2.<\/strong> Data page. It’s an opening quote by Iceman, talking about how his participation in terraforming Mars in\u00a0Planet-Size X-Men<\/em> #1 has led him to rethink (again) the upper limits of his powers. This is a common theme for Iceman stories.<\/p>\n

PAGES 3-4.<\/strong>\u00a0Sebastian and Emma take Harry Leland to the Hellfire Club Mansion in New York.<\/em><\/p>\n

We’ll find out in a few pages time that this is Emma helping to ease Harry back into life after his resurrection. Harry Leland was a member of the classic line-up of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club who debuted in the Dark Phoenix Saga; he died fighting Nimrod in\u00a0Uncanny X-Men<\/em> vol 1 #209, as shown in flashback on page 4. By the standards of an Inner Circle member, he did show some genuine loyalty to his colleagues and he died semi-heroically fighting by their side; his depiction in this story as a basically genial fellow is broadly in line with his earlier appearances.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“It’s nice to see that you two have buried the hatchet with the white<\/strong> queen.”\u00a0<\/strong>I assume those last few words aren’t meant to be there, since Emma\u00a0is<\/em> the White Queen. Emma wasn’t there when Harry died, for reasons which I don’t think are explained on the page, but this line might be alluding to that. (She\u00a0was<\/em> a member of the Inner Circle at the time, and appears in that role in the following issue.)<\/p>\n

“Our friend Chantel.”<\/strong>\u00a0Harry is referring to Lourdes Chantel, Shaw’s former lover. Harry believes that she was killed by a Sentinel in the back-up strip in\u00a0Classic X-Men<\/em> #7. We established in issue #22 that she actually survived, and Emma Frost helped her fake her own death in order to escape her abusive relationship with Shaw.<\/p>\n

Port Genosha<\/strong> whiskey is a recurring background feature in\u00a0Marauders<\/em>. Since Harry died before it became public knowledge that Genosha was enslaving mutants, there’s no particular reason why the name should mean anything to him.<\/p>\n

PAGES 5-6.<\/strong>\u00a0Harry learns the truth.<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s not immediately obvious why Harry had a panic attack on being resurrected (other than to provide an excuse for the preceding scene). It’s certainly not a standard response. Still, he seems genuinely delighted about the idea of a mutant nation. Since the Hellfire Club had been involved in Sentinel building, this is maybe a bit of a stretch, but he’s hardly the only character to make this sort of volte-face in Krakoa. Also, the Club’s rationale for building Sentinels was to achieve political control over mutantkind.<\/p>\n

Harry’s back story is not exactly fleshed out, but according to\u00a0Classic X-Men<\/em> #7, he was a successful lawyer. Given the talent pool available, he’s a relatively sensible choice for an ambassadorial role.<\/p>\n

Banshee, Rogue, Storm, Jean Grey, Angel, Iceman and one of the Cuckoos are visible in the background along with some generics.<\/p>\n

“Nimrod is back online.”<\/strong> Emma is referring to Orchis’s contemporary version of Nimrod, seen over in\u00a0Hickman’s\u00a0X-Men<\/em> and\u00a0Inferno<\/em>. The Nimrod that killed Harry the first time round was a different one, which originated in the Days of Futures Past timeline.<\/p>\n

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

PAGE 8.<\/strong>\u00a0The Marauders on their ship.<\/em><\/p>\n

The flying galleon here is the Mercury<\/em>, the shape-changing alien ship that Christian Frost has been using throughout the series. The Marauders retrieved it last issue. The Marauder<\/em> itself was destroyed at the end of the “Hellfire Gala” as part of Solem’s schemes over in\u00a0Wolverine<\/em>. Despite what Christian says here, he wasn’t attacked in Madripoor – the\u00a0Marauder<\/em>‘s hijackers threw him over the side into the North Atlantic, and then took the ship itself to Madripoor.\u00a0Wolverine<\/em> #14 covers that.<\/p>\n

PAGES<\/strong>\u00a09-18.\u00a0<\/strong>Iceman defeats Fin Fang Foom.<\/em><\/p>\n

Obviously, this is all about Iceman showing his full power levels, reaching his potential, and all that.<\/p>\n

Fin Fang Foom<\/strong> debuted in\u00a0Strange Tales<\/em> #89 and is a continuity train wreck. Depending on who’s asking, he’s an alien shape-shifter, or he’s been reduced to human size and lives on Earth, or he’s a Chinese dragon, or he’s the Midgard Serpent from Thor\u00a0<\/em>(which is why he calls Earth “Midgard” here).\u00a0There’s really no consistency in it from series to series. He’s one of those M.O.D.O.K. level characters who used to be depicted as a major threat but has been a joke for a decade or more.<\/p>\n

“I’ve come from a tournament beyond the stars…”\u00a0<\/strong>I don’t think that refers to anything in particular. So far as I can tell, Fin Fang Foom was last seen in\u00a0Beta Ray Bill<\/em>\u00a0#1, which was a King in Black tie-in. The two rivals he mentions, Brevoid and Karn, seem to be new.<\/p>\n

PAGE 19.<\/strong> Harry and Sebastian argue.<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s a drunken squabble before the two of them make up. Harry accuses Sebastian of keeping him back in the resurrection queue, which rather suggests that Shaw sees him as a rival. The main reason why Harry was revived now, as best we can tell, is\u00a0not<\/em> so that he can serve Krakoa as an ambassador, but because he has a track record of modest success in fighting the original Nimrod.<\/p>\n

Harry seems to soften Shaw, even in the role of a drinking companion, though Shaw has been somewhat more on the same page as the rest of the case over the last few issues anyway.<\/p>\n

PAGE 20.<\/strong> Data page. A memo from Emma to Harry, rather oddly placed before the scene where Harry makes his debut in the UN (but plainly taking place after).<\/p>\n

This memo attempts to plug the plot hole of how Harry, who has been dead for years, can be wheeled out as a high-profile ambassador without giving away the secret of Krakoan resurrection. Their attempts to keep this secret are a major plot thread in\u00a0X-Men<\/em>, which is what Emma is referring to when she mentions a reporter from the\u00a0Daily Bugle<\/em> (it’s Ben Urich). Pyro is named as contributing to the back story because he’s a published novelist.<\/p>\n

The “barbarian that Logan asked we board in the New York club” is Conan the Barbarian, probably going unnamed here for licensing reasons. Emma agreed to let him stay in the unoccupied New York Club building\u00a0in\u00a0Savage Avengers<\/em> #21.<\/p>\n

PAGES 22-23.<\/strong> Harry is revealed as Shinobi’s father.<\/em><\/p>\n

Emma previously insinuated that Harry was Shinobi’s father in issue #17, and this confirms that. Shinobi’s mother was not married to Sebastian, despite some suggestions to the contrary in his earliest appearances, so basically the claim here is that either of them\u00a0could<\/em> have been the father, and Sebastian chose to accept responsibility for him. We’re not really told\u00a0why<\/em> Sebastian did that, or why Harry didn’t, particularly as everyone was apparently aware of the uncertainty at the time. Maybe there was something in Harry’s personal life that would have created more problems with that. There may be a hint here that Sebastian simply had more of a sense of responsibility for the situation than Harry did, even though he was temperamentally utterly unsuited to parenthood.<\/p>\n

PAGE 24.<\/strong>\u00a0Harry makes his debut at the United Nations.<\/em><\/p>\n

The “ambassasdor of the United Kingdom” in the stupid cape is\u00a0Reuben Brousseau<\/strong>, a villain from\u00a0Excalibur<\/em>. Quite why he’s wearing his silly uniform when he’s publicly acting as an ambassador, I’m not quite sure. The two characters sitting next to Reuben and shown in full colour are\u00a0Donald Pierce<\/strong> (the Madripoor ambassador, as established in previous issues) and\u00a0Natalia Vollock<\/strong> (the Russian diplomat previously seen in\u00a0House of X<\/em> #1) – both part of Brousseau’s anti-mutant bloc.<\/p>\n

PAGE 25.<\/strong> Lourdes at the Washington Square Park.<\/em><\/p>\n

You’re supposed to recognise her from her teleporting powers and the beauty spot on the left side of her face. The last time we saw Lourdes was back in the flashbacks surrounding\u00a0Classic X-Men<\/em> #7, when she was a rather meek character – she’s evidently changed. She’s also now travelling to Krakoa for what seems to be the first time. I don’t know if her French name explains the decision to give her a beret, although she’s actually meant to be Spanish.<\/p>\n

PAGE 26.<\/strong> Trailers. The Krakoan reads NEXT: BON VOYAGE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition. MARAUDERS #26 “Many Happy Returns” by Gerry Duggan, Matteo Lolli & Rain Beredo COVER \/ PAGE 1: Iceman fights Fin Fang Foom. PAGE 2. Data page. It’s an opening quote by Iceman, talking about how his participation in terraforming Mars in\u00a0Planet-Size […]<\/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-7364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7364","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=7364"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7366,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7364\/revisions\/7366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}