{"id":9577,"date":"2023-11-09T21:18:38","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T21:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=9577"},"modified":"2023-11-09T21:18:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T21:18:38","slug":"x-men-red-17-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=9577","title":{"rendered":"X-Men Red #17 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 #17<\/strong>
\n“The Avatar of Life”<\/strong>
\nWriter: Al Ewing<\/strong>
\nArtist: Yildiray \u00c7inar<\/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.<\/strong> Apocalypse holds… well, some sort of energy ball with the logo.<\/p>\n

PAGES 2-4.<\/strong>\u00a0Apocalypse and Vulcan.<\/em><\/p>\n

Last issue ended with Apocalypse, the hooded guy and his sidekick demon – named later in the issue as “Orc” – arriving in the Autumn Lands and declaring that he would “remake the world” there. He specifically mentioned a “sun caged below”, referring to Vulcan, who was imprisoned there in issue #10. Evidently Apocalypse has just freed Vulcan between issues.<\/p>\n

Vulcan assumes that Apocalypse is (as usual) recruiting a new Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and asks whether he’s going to be Death – though with an obvious double meaning, threatening Apocalypse. Apocalypse acknowledges that he’s formed plenty of Horsemen groups in the past, all named after the four children who he lost when Arakko was severed from Earth, and he claims to have had a hand in adding their names to “the sacred texts of humankind” – i.e., the Book of Revelation.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In this case, as we’ll see, Apocalypse is really more interested in his mutant magic idea from Excalibur<\/em>, and he wants to do something with the ideas of the four elements (earth, air, fire and water). Obviously, Vulcan will do nicely for fire, and Apocalypse is going to be “water” on shape-changing grounds.<\/p>\n

Apocalypse is rather vague about\u00a0how<\/em> he freed Vulcan from the prison. He describes it as an “oubliette you strained against for months”, and indeed we can see some bits of it lying on the ground on page 2. In issue #10, it was said to be lined with mysterium, the cosmic material introduced in SWORD<\/em>. Apocalypse seems to suggest that this has something to do with his ability to break the oubliette, and attaches significance to the fact that Abigail Brand chose to use it for economic leverage rather than exploiting its mystical potential. He may be saying that Abigail’s approach weakened mysterium by tying it to the mundane world, making it more vulnerable to his magic.<\/p>\n

We’ll see who the hooded character is later in the issue.<\/p>\n

PAGE 5.\u00a0<\/strong>Recap and credits.<\/p>\n

PAGES 6-9.<\/strong>\u00a0Storm destroys the Uranos trigger and argues with Jon Ironfire.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the refugee camp after Storm’s forces were driven into retreat by the Brotherhood last issue.<\/p>\n

Craig Marshall and\u00a0<\/strong>Peter Corbeau<\/strong> were seen arriving at Arakko last issue, and have departed off panel with some refugees.<\/p>\n

The Uranos trigger<\/strong> was recovered from the Red Lagoon bar last issue. As we covered last time, it’s the device that the Eternals gave to Arakko at the end of\u00a0A.X.E.: Judgment Day<\/em> to allow them to unleash Uranos on their enemies for an hour. Much of the previous issue was given over to the dilemma of whether to use him, and Jon Ironfire clearly wants to go for it. More fundamentally, he doesn’t see any prospect of the people under Genesis’s influence being freed from it. Interestingly, when he says “they cannot be saved”, we get a panel of the Annihilation staff’s face, which has nothing to do with the scene itself. The obvious reading is that it’s referencing the reason why they can’t be saved, but you could read it as suggesting some sort of influence over Jon.<\/p>\n

“Ask Doug Ramsey if the White Sword needed to be worshipped.”\u00a0<\/strong>During “X of Swords”, White Sword used his powers to save Cypher’s life when he was dishonourably poisoned before the tournament properly began. Unusually, this actually gets a footnote, presumably because somebody figured it was such an obscure reference that people needed a pointer. Unfortunately, the footnote has the wrong issue – it ought to point to\u00a0Marauders\u00a0<\/em>#15. In that scene, the White Sword specifically says “I release you from any obligation to me” after curing Cypher.<\/p>\n

“And when the mission was done, he gave me an honourable discharge. He ended my service.”<\/strong> This is not \u00a0what we saw in issue #12. In the flashbacks in that issue, White Sword releases Jon from his service because Jon simply won’t leave and warn Arakko otherwise. Jon reacts as if he’s “waking from a dream”, and was clearly under White Sword’s mental influence throughout his time with the Hundred, despite what he says here. Jon is trying to portray the White Sword in the most favourable light, but Storm has a point that the White Sword’s influence over his followers is similar to Genesis’s. That said, the White Sword does seem to have limited it to volunteers.<\/p>\n

PAGE 10.\u00a0<\/strong>Storm and Sunspot discuss Nova.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nova was infected by Pestilence last issue.<\/p>\n

PAGES 11-12.\u00a0<\/strong>Apocalypse arrives.<\/em><\/p>\n

Death<\/strong> is the only Horseman to switch sides last issue, regarding Storm’s forces as more in accordance with his notions of honour. He’s clearly looking for approval from Apocalypse and gets it in a vague way, with at least an indication that Apocalypse thinks he’s on the right track. Apocalypse is rather more approving of Death later in the issue when he isn’t around.<\/p>\n

PAGES 13-14.\u00a0<\/strong>Jon Ironfire and the White Sword.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Morrowlands<\/strong> is the artist district first seen in issue #2.<\/p>\n

The White Sword <\/strong>gave his eponymous sword to Jon in the flashbacks in issue #12, and Jon brought it to Arakko in issues #11-12. Genesis stole it in issue #13. Since the White Sword has been under her influence since issue #12, he doesn’t particularly care, or at least rationalises the sword’s absence away. With Jon gone, he now refers to the group as “my Ninety-Nine”.<\/p>\n

PAGES 15-17.\u00a0<\/strong>Apocalypse prepares for his ritual.<\/em><\/p>\n

Storm<\/strong> gives Apocalypse her reasons for not using Uranos, basically claiming that she has the power to do this herself, and needs to take personal responsibility for it, not least because she believes she would know when to stop. Apocalypse clearly signals that he thinks she’s fooling herself on that point.<\/p>\n

Apocalypse<\/strong> explains that he wanted to do this ritual with the Four Horsemen, but none of them have yet achieved anything approaching the level of enlightenment that he needs for this (and when you bear in mind that Vulcan\u00a0<\/em>meets the cut, albeit under magical duress, that’s really quite damning). As already noted, Apocalypse is water and Vulcan is fire. Orc is tenuously rationalised as air – as even the characters recognise. The hooded character representing Earth is…<\/p>\n

Sunfire<\/strong>, who has just returned from his arc in\u00a0X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic<\/em> #112-117, newly bonded to Redroot, the plant spirit mutant who used to serve as Arakko’s interpreter. (She’s analogous to Cypher’s role with Krakoa.) We saw Apocalypse rescuing Sunfire from Otherworld in\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #28.<\/p>\n

“When I came here, I took land for myself – and killed to keep it.”\u00a0<\/strong>In\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #9.<\/p>\n

“Rictor was my original choice.”<\/strong> A nod to the Rictor storyline from Excalibur<\/i>.<\/p>\n

PAGE 18.\u00a0<\/strong>A montage of mostly reprinted panels, somewhat similar to the one in issue #11, though this one also has plants.<\/p>\n