{"id":9320,"date":"2023-08-16T22:50:15","date_gmt":"2023-08-16T21:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=9320"},"modified":"2023-08-16T22:50:15","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T21:50:15","slug":"x-men-red-14-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=9320","title":{"rendered":"X-Men Red #14 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>X-MEN RED vol 2 #14<\/strong>
\n“To War We March”<\/strong>
\nWriter: Al Ewing<\/strong>
\nArtist: Yildiray Cinar<\/strong>
\nColour artist: Federico Blee<\/strong>
\nLetterer: Ariana Maher<\/strong>
\nDesign: Tom Muller & Jay Bowen<\/strong>
\nEditor: Jordan D White<\/strong><\/p>\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1.\u00a0<\/strong>Storm and her allies pose for action, with the giant statues of Apocalypse and Genesis from the Valley of the Fallen in the background. The stone texture is there, but the slight colouring and the positioning makes them look more like figures of the characters themselves.<\/p>\n

PAGE 2.\u00a0<\/strong>Tribute to John Romita.<\/p>\n

PAGE 3.\u00a0<\/strong>Genesis wakes Arakko.<\/em><\/p>\n

The narrator.<\/strong> The start of page 19 has the narration continuing directly from the extract from\u00a0The New History of Arakko\u00a0<\/em>on the previous page. So apparently all of the narration is from that source, and it’s the voice of Xilo.<\/p>\n

“Genesis reaches out with her mind, with her mutant weapon…”<\/strong> Genesis’s powers have never been very clearly defined. But in Hickman’s\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #13 (2020), she’s shown using her powers to conjure up plants that ensnare enemy monsters, so presumably the idea is not that Genesis has telepathic powers, but rather that she has plant control abilities. There may be a suggestion here that her powers brought Okkara – the island that later split into Arrako and Krakoa – to life in the first place. Note that Xilo calls her “the mother of Arakko”.<\/p>\n

Arakko<\/strong> has been dormant since the attack by Uranos during\u00a0A.X.E.: Judgment Day<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Great Ring.<\/strong> Those still present are Genesis (holding the Annihilation Staff and the Purity sword), Lactuca, Ora Serrata, Sobunar and Lycaon. Lactuca is not on Genesis’s side, and we’ll see later on that Sobunar’s support is at best half-hearted.<\/p>\n

PAGE 4.\u00a0<\/strong>Recap and credits. We get the “Fall of X” branding here, though as a series set on Mars, this is semi-detached from the rest of the line.<\/p>\n

PAGE 5.\u00a0<\/strong>Montage: characters react.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lactuca<\/strong> intervened directly last issue to get Storm’s side to safety, but apparently has no particular interest in the war beyond that, since it has no significance on the cosmic scale. The implication seems to be that if Genesis had simply been able to wipe out Storm and her senior followers in one go, and seize control of the planet without a civil war, something would have happened which\u00a0would<\/em> have been of cosmic significance.<\/p>\n

Craig Marshall<\/strong> was last seen dating Storm in issue #11. The two kids with him are Loolo and Kobb, the kids that he rescued in issue #6. Up until now, Marshall has been accepted as an honorary Arakki.<\/p>\n

The Fisher King<\/strong> detects that something is wrong with the oceans, presumably because something is wrong with their creator Sobunar. This sounds bad – whatever Genesis is up to may be destabilising the very terraforming of Mars.<\/p>\n

The Morrowlands<\/strong> is the artistic district of Krakoa, first seen in issue #2. Rho is new, but he’s a version of the “artist prophet” trope. Obviously, that’s Annihilation that he’s painted.<\/p>\n

“There were rumours of a shift in power on Earth.”<\/strong> The Orchis attack on the Hellfire Gala, of which more later.<\/p>\n

PAGES 6-10.\u00a0<\/strong>The Brotherhood of Arakko take stock.<\/em><\/p>\n

They’re in Sunspot’s office in his Red Lagoon bar.<\/p>\n

Kobak<\/strong> was indeed challenged by Genesis last issue, and accepted the challenge. He considers that by removing him from the fight against his will, Lodus Logo has both destroyed his honour and let to him committing a crime against Arakki values. The “fitting punishment” that he expects from Ora Serrata (as the Great Ring’s lawyer) is for Ora to use her powers to erase him from existence. However, slavish adherence to Arakki cultural tropes is precisely what this group are meant to be against, and Kobak dials back soon enough – perhaps prompted by realising that Lodus takes this so seriously that he breaks character and stops talking in verse for a change.<\/p>\n

Lodus Logos<\/strong> not only steps out of his verse form to address Kobak, but briefly talks in a normal font too. Kobak describes his verse as a “haiku” – with a 6-4-5 syllable structure, it’s not a\u00a0traditional\u00a0<\/em>haiku, but it’s closer to that than anything else.<\/p>\n

Sunspot\u00a0<\/strong>basically recaps the plot of\u00a0X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023<\/em> for us. He tells us that he wasn’t at the Gala itself but was “just keeping an eye on it” and “planning a late entrance.” He makes sure to mention something about “very secret” “business on Earth”, just to indicate that this isn’t simply a device to explain why he knows about the Gala\u00a0<\/em>plot yet didn’t leave with Emma. Roberto is particularly upset about the death of his closest friend Cannonball, with the two becoming practically a double act under Hickman.<\/p>\n

Sunspot is a bit vague about what he knew about events on Arakko. He mentions hearing about “political upheaval on Mars”, and people were indeed mentioning such rumours in the\u00a0Hellfire Gala\u00a0<\/em>one-shot. But he also seems to already know that Genesis showed up and caused truble at a meeting.<\/p>\n

Storm<\/strong> is correct both to think that Orchis encouraged Genesis’s return (as seen in issue #12) and that Genesis is not actively collaborating with them.<\/p>\n

Xilo\u00a0<\/strong>stresses that Genesis’ public support is dependent on having Sobunar by her side. That seems significant, doesn’t it?<\/p>\n

The war\u00a0<\/strong>is presumably the mainstream universe’s equivalent of the “Genesis War” that Jon Ironfire and Storm mentioned in Storm and the Brotherhood of Mutants<\/em>.<\/p>\n

PAGE 11.\u00a0<\/strong>Data page: an extract from “The New History of Arakko”, as in previous issues. The chapter title “X weeks into the war” mirrors the “X weeks later” time jumps in other “Fall of X” books… though see the next page.<\/p>\n

Isca<\/strong> was last seen heading into self-imposed exile in issue #7.<\/p>\n

The Locus Vile<\/strong> were Tarn’s creations and followers, mostly seen in\u00a0Hellions<\/em>. Tarn himself died in issue #3. Apparently his leaderless followers are defending his creation and not aligning themselves with either side.<\/p>\n

Sobunar<\/strong> is again drawn to our attention: he still controls the sea, not Genesis, and she doesn’t seem willing to risk a confrontation by pushing the point.<\/p>\n

“The moon Phobos remained loyal to Earth.”<\/strong> It’s an Orchis outpost.<\/p>\n

“…the orbiting Keep loyal to Ororo…”<\/strong> The S.W.O.R.D. station, but following the fall of mutantkind, who’s actually on it?<\/p>\n

“The bulk of the Earth mutants Orchis had exiled to Arakko…”\u00a0<\/strong>Not the ones who went through the gates in\u00a0Hellfire Gala<\/em> (who were sent elsewhere), but the stragglers who have been rounded up since. as seen in\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #25. Presumably the Orchis plan was\u00a0to send all the mutants to Mars and hope that they would all get annihilated in the civil war. The mutants have been diverted elsewhere – probably thanks to Destiny – but that makes Storm’s position even worse than it would otherwise have been.<\/p>\n

The Valley of the Fallen<\/strong> was first shown in\u00a0Planet-Size X-Men<\/em>. It was supposed to be a commemoration to those who died in Amenth and didn’t make it to the new world. It’s dominated by giant statues of Apocalypse and Genesis, who at that point had both decamped to Amenth to rule it following “X of Swords.” Obviously, Genesis has no attachment to the place, and her very presence on Arakko makes a mockery of the whole idea of the statues.<\/p>\n

PAGES 12-17.<\/strong>\u00a0The Battle of the Valley of the Fallen.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Day 70 of the Genesis War.”<\/strong> Well,\u00a0that’s<\/em> specific. Presumably that’s Martian days, but it’s actually about the same (it would be day 72 in Earth time). So apparently “X weeks later” isn’t just coyness for Marvel time – it’s ten weeks.<\/p>\n

The Genesis<\/strong> Horde\u00a0<\/strong>were called the Annihilation Horde back in Amenth, weren’t they?<\/p>\n

Orrdon the Omega Rocket<\/strong> makes his only appearance here, and instantly dies. He might be overstating the “omega” bit. He’s a reference both to Nova (“the Human Rocket”) and Cannonball (he claims to be “fully invulnerable while I’m blasting”, in comparison to Sam’s “nigh invulnerable while ah’m blasting” tag line of the 1980s). Apparently his invulnerability doesn’t extend to orifices.<\/p>\n

Isca<\/strong> is holding everyone at bay from her mountains, and choosing not to get involved. Isca’s power is “never to lose”, but we’ve seen before that that sometimes just results in her being compelled to join the side that’s going to win anyway – Isca may, therefore, just be expecting Genesis to win, and reluctant to get drawn in to helping her. Isca makes a point of saying that everyone on both sides knows her “rules” – is she trying to define her own game?<\/p>\n

Nova<\/strong>, as per usual in this book, defaults to claiming that it’s up to him to hold the line even when he’s got a whole army of allies with him.<\/p>\n

Storm<\/strong>, also as per usual for this book, is delayed elsewhere and\u00a0yet again<\/em> nearly misses showing up in time for a major event. But this time she does get there in time to block the pass.<\/p>\n

PAGE 18.\u00a0<\/strong>Data page: more of\u00a0The New History of Arakko.<\/em><\/p>\n

The fact that Xilo calls the pre-Fall of X period “the Storm Era” implies that we don’t revert to the status quo ante<\/em> after this storyline. But bear in mind that she already stepped aside from her main seat in favour of Lodus Logos in issue #7; Xilo could simply be referring to that.<\/p>\n

“She held the Annihilation Staff in one hand, as her battle standard – her proof of the final victory over the ancient<\/strong> enemy.” <\/strong>We saw last issue that Genesis is firmly under the influence of Annihilation, but since the Arakkii spent millennia fighting the Annihilation army led by Genesis, that’s hardly a selling point. With Annihilation in this more subtle form, Genesis is apparently presenting the staff as a trophy, the equivalent of mounting a defeated opponent’s head on a pike.<\/p>\n

“The great powers of humanity – those same powers that had informed her of Arakko’s path.”<\/strong> Orchis. That also explains why she’s able to notice them – she’s referring to Orchis’ activities on Phobos and, perhaps, their regular dumping of mutants at Port Prometheus.<\/p>\n

PAGES 19-21.\u00a0<\/strong>After the battle, everyone discusses what happened to Apocalypse.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jon Ironfire<\/strong>, who doesn’t know Apocalypse, infers that he’s a traitor to Arakko just like his wife. The others aren’t so sure, recognising that Apocalypse is missing altogether. Mind you, as Ironfire points out, the Horsemen haven’t shown up either, and we know from\u00a0X-Men: Before the Fall – Heralds of Apocalypse\u00a0<\/em>that they’re on Genesis’s side. For whatever reason, she hasn’t yet drawn on her resources from Amenth.<\/p>\n

“I’ve danced with Death before.”<\/strong> Literally. Storm and the Horseman Death were set up as having some degree of romantic tension (certainly on his part) during “X of Swords.”<\/p>\n

Khora<\/strong> seems to be looking at a picture of Wiz Kid on the screen.<\/p>\n

Once again, we’re reminded about Sobunar; apparently Genesis has been avoiding naval attacks.<\/p>\n

Xilo has merged with Fisher King, in the same way that he merged with Cable in the “Sins of Sinister” timeline. Fisher King, presumably, is better placed to help Xilo restore his knowledge of history, partly lost when he was injured during “Judgment Day.”<\/p>\n

PAGE 22.<\/strong> Trailers. The Krakoan reads THE WEBS WE WEAVE.<\/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 #14 “To War We March” Writer: Al Ewing Artist: Yildiray Cinar Colour artist: Federico Blee Letterer: Ariana Maher Design: Tom Muller & Jay Bowen Editor: Jordan D White COVER \/ PAGE 1.\u00a0Storm and her allies pose for […]<\/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-9320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9320","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=9320"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9322,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9320\/revisions\/9322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}