{"id":8270,"date":"2022-09-16T20:56:12","date_gmt":"2022-09-16T19:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=8270"},"modified":"2022-09-16T20:56:12","modified_gmt":"2022-09-16T19:56:12","slug":"a-x-e-judgment-day-4-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=8270","title":{"rendered":"A.X.E.: Judgment Day #4 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>A.X.E.: JUDGMENT DAY #4<\/strong>
\nWriter: Kieron Gillen<\/strong>
\nArtist: Valerio Schiti<\/strong>
\nColour artist: Marte Gracia<\/strong>
\nLetterer: Clayton Cowles<\/strong>
\nEditor: Tom Brevoort<\/strong><\/p>\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1.<\/strong>\u00a0Various characters look alarmed as the Progenitor poses with thumb poised.<\/p>\n

PAGES 2-3.<\/strong> Recap and credits.<\/p>\n

PAGES 4-5.<\/strong>\u00a0Captain America tries to calm the crowd at the Treehouse.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Progenitor’s narration here seems to confirm that everyone is being judged by their own standards, something which becomes even clearer as the issue goes on. (“They must decide what ‘hero’ means… He needs to believe the world is fundamentally a good place… The world may think differently.”)<\/p>\n

“He failed his test…”<\/strong> Last issue. Of course, since Captain America is fundamentally modest, and aware of the gap between his values and reality, he’s going to judge himself as a failure. Clearly, he’s having little or no impact on this crowd.<\/p>\n

PAGE 6.<\/strong>\u00a0The Avengers Mountain cast make plans.<\/em><\/p>\n

Left to right in page 6 panel 2, that’s Ajak, Iron Man, Sersi, Starfox, Makkari, Mr Sinister and Phastos.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sersi<\/strong>‘s plan is basically the take on Starfox that Gillen is trying to rehabilitate him from: he simply uses his powers to manipulate everyone into being temporarily better, in the hope that that gets past the test. This gives Starfox the chance to shoot it down, though note that he doesn’t do so purely on principled grounds – he identifies that it wouldn’t work, because he would\u00a0fail<\/em> the test and so would everyone else. That invites the question of what Starfox thinks the Progenitor’s criteria are. Sersi is also assuming that the Progenitor wants objectively better people, but Starfox may also recognise that it’s about fulfilling one’s own subjective values.<\/p>\n

PAGES 7-9.<\/strong>\u00a0Judgment montage.<\/em><\/p>\n

These pages adopt the six-panel grid format that were used with the six civilians in the previous two issues, but they’re mixed in with assorted heroes who aren’t central to the plot. The six civilians appear in the same order as usual.<\/p>\n

Tom<\/strong> is the rather right-wing Londoner we’ve seen in previous issues. He fails, apparently through lack of self-awareness; presumably the Progenitor is confronting him with his own behaviour and he’s judging himself without realising it.<\/p>\n

Luke Cage <\/strong>became mayor of New York at the end of\u00a0Devil’s Reign<\/em>. The Progenitor asks him directly to judge himself; ducking the question counts as a fail. Note the thumbs down among the raised hands.<\/p>\n

Thor<\/strong> automatically passes by dint of being able to pick up his hammer – or perhaps by virtue of the self-confidence that it gives him.<\/p>\n

Starfox<\/strong> meets with Sebastian Shaw and Harry Leland, as seen in\u00a0Immortal X-Men<\/em> #6. These Starfox panels are scattered throughout the montage, with no judgment involved (though the Progenitor did judge Shaw in\u00a0Immortal<\/em> #6).<\/p>\n

Ms Marvel\u00a0<\/strong>is tempted with being accepted into a higher order of elite heroes, playing on her insecurity about her status in the Marvel universe. Note that the Progenitor actually refers directly to “Marvel heroes” – in continuity, referring to Captain Marvel and those associated with her, but in reality an obvious reference to Kamala’s status as an ascended fangirl. Anyway, she rejects the notion that any hero would abandon Earth and passes.<\/p>\n

Katrina<\/strong> is the social media civilian from Vancouver who seems to do nothing but tweet, albeit with supportive opinions and expressions of solidarity. Basically, Katrina seems to spend all her time expressing the right opinions rather than acting on them in any way, and therefore fails to live up to her values.<\/p>\n

Professor X\u00a0<\/strong>fails because of his guilt over his failure as a father – and probably more generally his failure as a person rather than an icon. The complete lack of relationship between the Professor and Legion is a recurring theme in\u00a0Legion of X<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Komali <\/strong>is the widow of the random man who died to provide the life force to resurrect Syne in issue #2. The Progenitor doesn’t seem to know quite what to make of her.<\/p>\n

Starfox<\/strong> is now in Wakanda, talking to the Black Panther.<\/p>\n

Starbrand<\/strong> from\u00a0Avengers<\/em> passes simply by doing some superhero stuff, presumably able to prove something to herself simply by succeeding as a rookie hero.<\/p>\n

Daniela<\/strong> is the gig economy civilian from the last two issues. Unlike Katrina, she chooses to prioritise those she cares about when the chips are down, and passes.<\/p>\n

Dr Doom<\/strong> passes because he thinks he’s brilliant. This is another indication that the Progenitor is basically letting people judge themselves.<\/p>\n

Jada<\/strong> is the conflicted civilian; apparently her efforts to understand the big picture are enough to qualify as being true to her values.<\/p>\n

Daredevil<\/strong>, in contrast, is premised on his vigilante activities being in tension with his ethical and religious values, and naturally fails.<\/p>\n

Starfox<\/strong> gets two panels; the Progenitor tells us directly that he’s already judged himself a failure but it working to change.<\/p>\n

Miles Morales<\/strong>, the second Spider-Man, is judged by the original in whose shadow he unavoidably exists; the Progenitor has no difficulty at all in passing him.<\/p>\n

Kenta<\/strong> is the schoolboy civilian from previous issues.<\/p>\n

PAGE 10.<\/strong>\u00a0Starfox addresses the United Nations.<\/em><\/p>\n

The UN logo is obscured by lettering in both panels where it appears, which makes me wonder if there was some sort of issue there. Anyway, Shaw has rightly figured out that Starfox is making offers of Celestial technology that he can’t deliver on. But give him time…<\/p>\n

PAGE 11.<\/strong>\u00a0The Avengers Mountain cast discuss.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Well, that’s a Panglossian perspective, Ajak.”<\/strong>\u00a0“Panglossian” usually means irrationally optimistic in the face of all the facts, but Sinister seems to be using it here in its original sense from\u00a0Candide<\/em> (1759), a satire by Voltaire (Fran\u00e7ois-Marie Arouet, 1694-1778), where the character of Pangloss was specifically an attack on the philosophy of Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716).<\/p>\n

Leibniz, best known today as the co-inventor of calculus, argued that since God is\u00a0all-powerful, all-knowing and perfectly good, he must have the knowledge, the power and the inclination to create the best of all possible worlds. Therefore this must in fact be the best of all possible worlds, because if a better one was possible, God would have created it instead. While it may look imperfect to us, this must be due to the limits of our perspective, and there must be reasons in the grand scheme of things why the world is better for having things like evil, disease and so forth in it.<\/p>\n

Candide<\/em>\u00a0isn’t really a novel in the conventional sense so much as a venomously sarcastic takedown of Leibniz’s whole worldview. It consists of the naive Candide and his mentor Pangloss being exposed to an increasingly absurd barrage of horrors that cannot possibly be serving a greater good, while Pangloss insists that “everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds”. This is essentially Ajak’s view here – she insists in the face of all available evidence that the Progenitor’s behaviour must serve a greater good, or else he wouldn’t be doing it.<\/p>\n

“This is what Uranos did when Druig let him loose.”<\/strong> Uranos’s attack on Mars is shown in\u00a0X-Men Red<\/em> #5-6.<\/p>\n

“The Uni-Mind selected [Druig] as a compromise candidate.”<\/strong> In this year’s\u00a0Eternals<\/em> #12.<\/p>\n

PAGE 12.<\/strong>\u00a0Druig consults with Uranos again.<\/em><\/p>\n

The weak Druig persists in looking to Uranos as a sounding board – but still refuses to take the suicidal step of releasing him permanently.<\/p>\n

PAGES 13-16.\u00a0<\/strong>The Uni-Mind attacks Krakoa.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sinister must have got back to Krakoa off panel. One of the Eternals could have teleported him.<\/p>\n

The mutant psychics infiltrate the Uni-Mind<\/strong> and “vote” to make Starfox the Prime Eternals. In page 15 panel 1, Jean Grey\u00a0<\/b>is in the centre. The left-hand group\u00a0are Mr Sinister,\u00a0Proteus<\/strong> (mainly a reality warper, but occasionally written with psychic powers),\u00a0Mentallo<\/strong> from S.W.O.R.D., four of the Stepford Cuckoos<\/strong>, and a woman in a cape that I’m guessing is\u00a0Captain Britain<\/strong>. The right hand group are Chamber, M, Exodus<\/strong>, a man who seems to be\u00a0Kid Omega<\/strong> (if so, it’s a continuity error, since he’s missing in\u00a0X-Force<\/em>),\u00a0Cassandra Nova, <\/strong>a woman who might be\u00a0Rachel Summers<\/strong> and\u00a0Professor X<\/strong>.\u00a0Glaringly obvious omissions are Psylocke from\u00a0Marauders<\/em> and Legion, whose absence is presumably to do with the\u00a0Legion of X\u00a0<\/em>tie-in that hasn’t come out yet.<\/p>\n

Druig releases Uranos in a last-ditch attempt to retain power, and Uranos promptly betrays him, leaving Starfox to become Prime Eternal for whatever that’s worth.<\/p>\n

PAGES 17-20.<\/strong>\u00a0Uranos attacks the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s not clear what’s going on with Ikaris on page 18 – he doesn’t seem to be killed since we see him again a few pages later. Presumably we’ll get more of this in the next issue of\u00a0A.X.E.: Death to the Mutants<\/em> (the\u00a0Eternals<\/em> book).<\/p>\n

Magneto<\/strong> is “heartless” because Uranos tore out his heart in\u00a0X-Men Red<\/em> #5; he’s using his powers to keep himself alive. He “deleted himself from the database” in\u00a0X-Men Red<\/em> #4, for the reasons that the Progenitor explains. As the Progenitor notes, there’s nothing to stop Magneto (and indeed Storm) from reversing that decision and allowing backups to be made after all – and indeed it’s not obvious that Magneto could stop Professor X from making backups anyway. It’s not like he got consent forms from all of mutantkind when he started the whole exercise. At any rate, Magneto certainly doesn’t reverse his decision before apparently dying here.<\/p>\n

“I take the form of the one he thought lost.”<\/strong> Presumably his murdered daughter Anya. The Progenitor apparently passes Magneto for standing by his word on immortality.<\/p>\n

PAGE 21.\u00a0<\/strong>The Progenitor judges Ikaris and Sersi.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ikaris, an uncomplicated hero, passes. Sersi, the morally compromise schemer, fails. Iron Man still doesn’t seem to have twigged to the fact that this isn’t simply about objective good or bad.<\/p>\n

PAGES 22-25.<\/strong>\u00a0Starfox tries to talk the Progenitor down.<\/em><\/p>\n

With no success.<\/p>\n

PAGES 26-27.<\/strong> Trailers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition. A.X.E.: JUDGMENT DAY #4 Writer: Kieron Gillen Artist: Valerio Schiti Colour artist: Marte Gracia Letterer: Clayton Cowles Editor: Tom Brevoort COVER \/ PAGE 1.\u00a0Various characters look alarmed as the Progenitor poses with thumb poised. PAGES 2-3. Recap and credits. PAGES 4-5.\u00a0Captain […]<\/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-8270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8270","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=8270"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8273,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8270\/revisions\/8273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}