X-Men (General Discussion) Comic Book • Page 6

I wasn’t a big fan of him haha

 

I wasn’t either, but have loved the Cable series and he’s really grown on me. I also loved seeing Cyclops and Jean being parents, even a small bit.

 

I’ve paid attention to the Cable series but haven’t properly read any of it yet. Hoping it gets a nice oversized hardcover.

I am glad that “real Cable” is back, though. From what I’ve seen, I fully expect the brilliant Phil Noto to put “kid Cable” over for me, but I can only take that being the main Cable for so long.

It seems like Cable’s gonna be around in SWORD now? Between that potential, Storm being there, and the Arakko stuff, I’m all in on SWORD going forward.

 

SWORD really needs to tell its own story IMO. After the first issue it was like 3 King in Black tie-ins followed by the Hellfire Gala and this weeks is apparently a Last Annihilation tie in. It’s been easily my least favorite of the current X-Men books because of that but the Storm stuff moving forward should be really cool.

 

Well, SWORD is the official home of all things Storm & Arakko going forward, so… yeah. And, the Hellfire Gala issue was great.

…and, with all the love and respect in the world for Tini Howard, X-Corp is pretty easily the biggest Krakoan era disappointment for me since Fallen Angels.

For the back half of the year, my X-books in my pull box are gonna be New Mutants, Trial of Magneto, SWORD, and X-Men. (Not Inferno only because my policy with getting the Hickman stuff in print has been to get the oversized hardcovers.)

 

Also, while talking about SWORD and my Storm love…

I’m glad my shop uses ComicHub so I can easily request whatever open order stuff from my phone, so I could go with these covers for the next couple issues coming up:

 

I think SWORD has been great. It’s a book about space and political intrigue, it makes sense that there would be tie ins. The latest issue was one of the best.

yeah, X-Corp has been rooooough. But I still like it somewhat.

 

I'm really liking the relaunched main X-Men title. It's nice to have just a "straight-ahead superhero" book in Hickman's run after 2 years

 

Helps that it is absolutely beautiful too.

 

I'd expect nothing less with Larraz on art

 

but yeah X-Men is great. Duggan has been absolutely killing it recently. Nice little showcase for Sunfire too.

 

Pepe Larraz draws such a fantastic Polaris. What he & Duggan did with her in X-Men #2 was a perfect synthesis of how he drew her in House of X + what Williams & Baldeón did with her in X-Factor. I’m biased because I love her so much and have especially been on a Polaris kick recently, but… yeah, she was great in there.

It was subtle, but I also loved Synch telling Jean that Emma said Jean would teach him a lot. You got that Gen X history and Emma’s love of “the children,” but also that respect Emma & Jean have for each other now after their messy history. All just implied in a tiny bit of dialogue. X-Men writers always claim they want continuity to enhance what they’re doing without weighing it down, but this Krakoan era actually does it so naturally.

 

(Also, when I got my comics, I found a basically-cover-price House of X #2, first printing cover A, in the regular back issues. I already had a Skottie Young variant I’d gotten elsewhere at cover price, but as someone who loves that issue & waited for the collection for House/Powers, I HAD to grab that, lol.)

 

I know this isn't really Substack's fault, especially with Hickman writing his 'next big Marvel thing'

but, I'm gonna be hyperbolic anyway

CURSE YOU SUBSTACK

Exclusive: 'Inferno' will be Jonathan Hickman's last X-Men comic for now

 

I’m excited for what’s to come.

 

I wonder if this means act 1 is just going to go on for another year or so and that he will return when it’s come for act 2 or 3?

 

By the way, the lame catastrophizing over (a misreading of) this announcement reminds me how much I hate when people call this “the Hickman era” or “HiX-Men,” instead of what it should be called:

“the Krakoan era.”

This isn’t like that Avengers epic, or Fantastic Four before it. Vita Ayala, Al Ewing, Leah Williams, Gerry Duggan, etc., are doing incredible (and incredibly collaborative) work within a structure Hickman got going but didn’t want ownership of… and, I’m supposed to be upset that this “auteur” or whatever is getting out of the way of the monthly titles to develop some other big Marvel thing? lol.

 

I mean, I think it's fair to say that Hickman's work (HoxPox, the Giant-Size One-shots, and the main book) has been by far the best part of the line, and so this announcement is disappointing. It makes it seem as though the "conclusion" that Hickman planted seeds for in HoxPox will be deleyed or abandoned.

While I've enjoyed some parts of Marauders, Hellions, and the new X-Line, I've been enjoying them assuming that they are working toward a Hickman-plotted conclusion. To be honest, I don't really trust the "big picture" ideas with any of the other writers, particularly Tini Howard or Gerry Duggan. That might not be fair, but I'm just basing it on how I feel.

In short, I think some freaking out/disappointment is warranted.

 

I dunno, outside of HoX/PoX itself, my favorite part of the X-line these past couple years by far has been Vita Ayala’s New Mutants, so I’m just not gonna agree, lol.

(Also, I could not possibly care less about “plot” or “plans” or any of that shit as long as good comics are being made. If this grew bigger than Hickman’s initial vision, and he wants to get out his friends’ way for a while so they can do their thing, that’s only a win, just like it’s a win that Marvel let this even start. Talk of Kevin Feige’s MCU “plans” also make me wanna take a power drill to my temple, though, lol, so I’m just not on the same page as a lot of superhero nerds.)

By the way… Hickman made it clear he isn’t leaving Marvel. He’s just not doing the whole ongoing monthly comic thing right now. He’s gonna start working on his next big Marvel story as soon as he’s done with Inferno. I think it’s pretty safe to say that, when the X-line is ready for its next shake-up in what promises to be “several years” of exciting stories, he’ll come in to help.

 

If the creatives behind this whole Krakoan era think they have a lot of story left to tell that wasn't anticipated when Hickman came up with his outline and he trusts them enough to let them write their stories despite it not necessarily being the initial plan, I don't see any cause for concern. I'd much rather that than some potentially interesting plot threads get cut short cause there's a defined beginning-middle-end that Hickman/Marvel demands they stick to for this whole era of X-Men.

 

Well, I appreciate your optimistic takes on it. I understand your opinions come from a general approval of the state of the books right now that I don't share. I will admit to not reading the Ayala New Mutants run (I dropped it after issue 12 or so - whenever the Beak/Angel story was). We just disagree about the idea that "good comics are getting made." Obviously, I'd agree with that sentiment if I trusted any of these writers.

The fear is that - speaking of plot threads getting cut short - Hickman won't return to wrap this up, and instead someone like Gerry Duggan will try and write Hickman's ending. The fact of the matter is that HoxPox clearly "plants the seeds" (that's a pun) for future arcs moving forward and I don't particularly like the idea of these plot threads 1) being ignored, 2) being mishandled, 3) being rushed into "Inferno" or 4) being indefinitely delayed in favor of generally ok but nothing special X-Books.

Anyway, I hope y'all are right and we get some good books out of this, before Hickman shows up in a few years and we get some decent closure. I agree btw about the MCU, and when I admire Hickman's plotting, I think that's very different than the micro-management/focus grouping of Feige & Co.

 

X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #1 fucking ruled.

I’m an easy mark, as someone who’s been in love with both Scarlet Witch & Magneto for years, and whose Polaris love has grown immensely in recent years. But, my goodness, Leah Williams cut straight to the heart of “the house of M” so perfectly. And, I really mean the heart.

Erik’s rage over Wanda. His brutal exchange with Lorna. Pietro’s response to the death. The… whole Wanda of it all. Built wonderfully out of these characters’ years of continuity, and using it to deal with real life emotion shockingly well.

(Maybe not that shocking, since Williams did the same thing with the X-Men: Black - Emma Frost one-shot years ago, & the better parts of a certain Disney+ show with Wanda this year did too.)

 

Reminder that Vita Ayala’s New Mutants is the most exciting ongoing X-title, with the most interesting work within the whole “mutant” concept, since Grant Morrison’s New X-Men.

 

Wow an X-Corp comic where the heroes don’t all look like fucking fools at the end! A miracle! I like Tini and don’t hate X-Corp as much as most others but Jesus it feels like every issue up until this was making X-Corp look like the most incompetent band of losers ever.