{"id":8652,"date":"2023-01-06T21:59:35","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T21:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=8652"},"modified":"2023-01-06T21:59:35","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T21:59:35","slug":"x-men-red-10-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=8652","title":{"rendered":"X-Men Red #10 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"X-Men<\/a>X-MEN RED vol 2 #10<\/strong>
\n“The New Age”<\/strong>
\nWriter: Al Ewing<\/strong>
\nArtists: Stefano Caselli & Jacopo Camagni<\/strong>
\nColourist: Federico Blee<\/strong>
\nLetterer: Ariana Maher<\/strong>
\nDesign: Tom Muller<\/strong>
\nEditor: Jordan D White<\/strong><\/p>\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1.<\/strong> The cast pose. Of some interest, Nova is positioned as equal to the rest of the cast.<\/p>\n

PAGE 2.<\/strong> Text page – a poem by Lodus Logos about the battle between Storm and Vulcan that we’re about to read. If you need to be told that the Storm is Storm, the Summer is Vulcan (Gabriel Summers), the Earth is Wrongslide, and the Sea is Sobunar… well, this issue may not be the ideal jumping on point for you.<\/p>\n

Lodus Logos’ verses are written in a 6-4-5 syllable pattern (and the final verse is a modified version of the first). It’s obviously reminiscent of haiku, but as far as I can see it’s not a specific real-world verse form. His dialogue is also written in this style, but this is more obviously verse.<\/p>\n

He also repeat the “I was there” mantra which has come up throughout Ewing’s Arakko stories, with the Arakkii continually claiming authority from personal experience.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As a rule, it can be risky for writers to say “This man is the greatest poet in the world” and then actually show his poems, but I think Ewing gets away with it here, since this does work as a pastiche of epic poetry (plus, you do wonder how hotly contested the “best poet on Arakko” position actually is).<\/p>\n

PAGE 3.<\/strong>\u00a0Vulcan destroys the Autumn Palace.<\/em><\/p>\n

“The shell is broken and the fire inside is free.”<\/strong> This refers to the flashback in\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #10 (2020) where the three aliens alter Vulcan’s mind: “They will see you as changed – reborn, healthy and whole. But that is just a shell. Underneath it, buried alive in a shallow grave, is the real you. You can lie to yourself, pretend to be better, to be unbroken. But we know what’s waiting there inside you, waiting to get out.” (The last line is accompanied by an image of a mushroom cloud.)<\/p>\n

PAGE 4.<\/strong> Recap and credits.<\/p>\n

PAGES 5-7.<\/strong>\u00a0Cable’s team at the World Farm.<\/em><\/p>\n

The three weird-looking aliens are the unnamed characters from\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #10, who Orbis Stellaris described in the previous issue as his heralds. It seems pretty clear, though, that he’s not in proper control of them, and he’s deeply disturbed by the possibility that they could do damage to someone with cosmic significance like Manifold.<\/p>\n

Khora<\/strong> has come round to the idea of using her powers as teamwork (which fits with the general theme of the Great Ring members coming round to the importance of co-operation too). Back in\u00a0Cable: Reloaded<\/em> #1, she was very averse to this.<\/p>\n

Cable.<\/strong> The gunk in the tube was bred by Orbis Stellaris using the sample of Cable’s techno-organic virus that the Progenitors took from his body in issue #2. (Cable explained this in issue #8.) The plan backfires since Cable is able to control the virus with his powers, and he uses it make himself armour that intentionally echoes the designs of his creator Rob Liefeld from 1990 or so. I think there may well be a specific splash page from early\u00a0X-Force<\/em> in mind, but I’m not sure.<\/p>\n

PAGE 8.<\/strong>\u00a0Vulcan confronts Storm.<\/em><\/p>\n

Vulcan has spent much of this series loudly insisting that he never died and thus never truly lost the Shi’ar throne (which isn’t entirely wrong). He’s now claiming to be better\u00a0because<\/em> he died – and in fact, last issue he also tacitly accepted that he was no longer the Emperor, referring to his upcoming “second reign”. In part, he’s referring to the way his resurrection restored him to this personality. He’s also alluding to the fact that Storm doesn’t have this option, having pledged herself to mortality in order to win over the Arakkii in issue #4.<\/p>\n

On a purely practical level, Vulcan has a point that if he and Storm are “evenly matched” as she says, but he can be resurrected and she can’t, then logically he has the upper hand.<\/p>\n

PAGES 9-10.<\/strong> Abigail realises that Mentallo has betrayed her.<\/em><\/p>\n

This isn’t entirely surprising, since Mentallo has seemed as sceptical as anyone else about Abigail’s plans – and for all his mercenary tendencies, he’s liable to switch to a higher bidder, especially if he can see everyone else drifting away from Abigail. Whatever else Mentallo may be, he’s not someone likely to go down with the ship if he can avoid it.<\/p>\n

A.I.M.<\/strong> Mentallo was part of the A.I.M.-installed government of Barbuda in\u00a0Secret Avengers<\/em> vol 2. Sunspot led a version of AIM in\u00a0Ewing’s\u00a0New Avengers<\/em> vol 4.<\/p>\n

PAGE 11.<\/strong>\u00a0Cable punches Orbis Stellaris.<\/em><\/p>\n

Orbis really does collapse into cowering when things go wrong.<\/p>\n

The three “heralds” appear to be connected to the Phalanx, given their own ability to control the techno-organic virus, and their reference to the “glory of the Phalanx Contagion”. However, there’s no apparent indication that these characters are themselves infected.<\/p>\n

PAGE 12.<\/strong>\u00a0Manifold banishes the heralds.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lactuca<\/strong> is one of the Great Ring, with the power to know the location of everything. It’s not clear how he makes contact with Manifold here – some sort of telepathy, presumably, but he also suggests that he and Manifold are somehow linked; perhaps Lactuca is Manifold’s counterpart from the dimension of Amenth where the Arakkii came from. It’s unlikely that he\u00a0literally<\/em> means they share a parent. But for what it’s worth, we don’t know anything about Manifold’s mother, as far as I’m aware.<\/p>\n

Evidently contact with Lactuca’s powers gives Manifold the orientation he would normally have from being able to see the sky, which makes sense.<\/p>\n

PAGE 13.<\/strong> Cable’s team set off home.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Progenitors come after them and blast the ship, but evidently Manifold teleports the actual crew away. This has the happy side effect that Orbis presumably assumes the crew have died. The Progenitors, it seems genuinely are under Orbis’s control.<\/p>\n

When Manifold says he sent the heralds “all the way outside”, he presumably means he’s expelled them from the universe – and he’s pointing out that they can probably get back again.<\/p>\n

PAGE 14.<\/strong>\u00a0Abigail escapes from Xandra.<\/em><\/p>\n

Abigail justifies herself by pointing to the danger posed by strong neighbours and, like the Arakkii, appealing to her own personal experience. This is doubtless intentional on her part, attempting to shore up her legitimacy with the people she’s addressing. But given her persistent disdain for Arakkii culture throughout this series, it’s doubtful that it’s anything more than an appeal to the audience’s known sympathies.<\/p>\n

She escapes using Cable’s signature “bodyslide” teleportation technology, which she copies from “kid” Cable when he was her security officer in\u00a0S.W.O.R.D.\u00a0<\/em>vol 2.<\/p>\n

PAGE 15.<\/strong>\u00a0The Fisher King confronts Abigail Brand.<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s not clear where this is, but evidently the Fisher King was anticipating it. By talking about the destruction of all that she is, leading to “what comes next”, he seems to be foreshadowing some sort of transformation.<\/p>\n

Axus.\u00a0<\/strong>Abigail previously mentioned Axus as her homeworld in S.W.O.R.D.\u00a0<\/em>vol 2 #11, where she also repeated the previous information that “Brand” is a codename referring to her mutant power. This is the first time we’ve had her actual surname.\u00a0The name Axus probably comes from\u00a0S.W.O.R.D.\u00a0<\/em>vol 1 #1 (2009), where her half-brother Lothithanriaxiaxus appears.<\/p>\n

PAGES 16-18.<\/strong>\u00a0Storm and her allies defeat Vulcan.<\/em><\/p>\n

Despite Storm surrendering the chair of the Great Ring (and the casting vote) to Lodus Logos, she’s still clearly portrayed as a “queen” figure here. She takes the line that they have learned to work as a team of equals, while Vulcan takes the traditional Arakki line of seing that as weakness.<\/p>\n

PAGE 19.<\/strong> Data page: Cable’s report back.<\/p>\n

Sunspot. <\/strong>Cable wasn’t exactly Roberto’s headmaster, since the school was out of the picture for a while, but he\u00a0did<\/em> lead the New Mutants for a short period while Sunspot was still on the team.<\/p>\n

Agent of S.W.O.R.D..<\/strong> Cable is comparing himself to Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., though it doesn’t really make sense in-universe.<\/p>\n

Orbis Stellaris.<\/strong> Zsen’s portrait of him apparently shows him as an elderly steampunk figure with playing card motifs, because…<\/p>\n

PAGES 20-21.<\/strong>\u00a0The identity of Orbis Stellaris is revealed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Like Mr Sinister and Dr Stasis, this is another of the four clones seen in the flashback story in\u00a0Immortal X-Men<\/em> #8, who have apparently gone their separate ways and all believe themselves to be the original. We’ve yet to see the “heart” Sinister, but the theory that it’s Mother Righteous seems pretty plausible.<\/p>\n

PAGE 22.<\/strong> Trailers. Next month’s issue is part of the “Sins of Sinister” crossover, titled as\u00a0Storm & The Brotherhood of Mutants<\/em> #1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition. X-MEN RED vol 2 #10 “The New Age” Writer: Al Ewing Artists: Stefano Caselli & Jacopo Camagni Colourist: Federico Blee Letterer: Ariana Maher Design: Tom Muller Editor: Jordan D White COVER \/ PAGE 1. The cast pose. Of some interest, Nova […]<\/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-8652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8652","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=8652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8654,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8652\/revisions\/8654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}