Gambit rocked up to the club and immediately ordered himself a double whiskey and coke. This man was definitely on a mission but it had nothing to do with saving Sunspot.
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Extremely cool of Al Ewing to write a critique of regressing characters back to the one dimensional version of them that exists in the wider cultural consciousness at this particular moment in time.
Constructing the bridge using telekinesis, her hair forming the shape of the Phoenix as she rescues Xavier from an astral plane fortress: a work of genius from Quitely, and one of Jean’s best moments.
The end of the Krakoan era of X-Men comics has me feeling ambivalent. While I think it’s true that the line overall never quite reached the giddy heights promised by HoX/ PoX, it still delivered us some all time classic stories. Here are my top 10 runs / series of the era.
One of the defining images of Krakoa. The Green Lagoon by Josh Cassara from X-Force
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. The number of untold possible stories here encapsulates the sense of boundless potential the era had at the time.
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If the Sentinel thing doesn’t work out Bastion definitely has a future in comics. He drew this when he was a kid? Incredible! What a talent.
Like one of those daft magazines, I have made a “top 12 most influential mutants for 2023” list. These are the mutants who I predict will most influence the political, cultural and philosophical trajectory of mutantkind over the coming year. 🧵 over the next few days ⬇️
In honour of Vita Ayala and Rod Reis’ extraordinary run on New Mutants coming to an end here’s a list of five incredible moments that encapsulate the wonder of the series:
I really miss the little details like Tempo and Forge making Krakoan whiskey for Sebastian Shaw, or the coffee made by Fauna. These are the crumbs of culture than really brought the world to life, and I’ll maybe miss that most of all. Guess I just need to get over it.
X-Men Red has given us some huge moments that we’ll never forget, but its brilliance also lives its incredible lore creation and character relationships. Here are just a few of my favourite quieter moments. What are yours?
Ahead of Knights of X starting, I’ve re-read Excalibur from start to finish to refresh myself on all things Otherworld. I’ve created a primer for new or ongoing readers in the form of the 13 most vital plot points from issues 1-26. Roll on next Wednesday!
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🧵 (1/14)
Putting Omega Sentinel on my fake team has made me so nostalgic for the most motley crew of mutants to call themselves the X-Men. Carey and Bachalo made it possible, Rogue made it believable. Thanks to all involved.
2. “Did you honestly think that we were going to sit around forever and just take it?” - Revolutionary Mutant Leader Scott Summers.
The scene that confirms Scott’s buy-in. Gives me goosebumps every single time.
My favourite thing about Alpha Flight is that there’s absolutely no structure or any team missions until these two sense that Canada’s vibe feels slightly off.
I understand the storytelling long game being played in X-Force but some plots need incremental movement every now and then. Feels like the momentum has been totally lost out of one of the potentially most interesting storylines on Krakoa.
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The Five: soon to be a relic of a great forgotten era, of a place where mutants communed together and exalted themselves beyond the limits of human achievement. Unfortunately you cooked too hard and have now been cast out to narrative limbo but WE will always remember.
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This scene is absolutely stunning. The contrast between the “strong smiling man” of House of X
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with the man we see here, shoulders slumped, desperate and defeated shows just how far Xavier has fallen. (1/2)
“The marriage is just metaphorical, the marriage is just metaphorical” I mutter between heaving tears as read about their wedding, ripping the pages of the issue in half one by one, then organising them into a neat pile on the floor.
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As much as I got Sinister fatigue and saw the plot resolution coming, the conceit of the four Sinister clones’ stories being nothing but fodder for the main AI to learn and adapt from is a really contemporary and scary way of applying the machine-god paranoia from PoX.
This is one of my biggest Krakoa era sliding door moments. There was absolutely no need to precipitate such an accelerated fall when we could have seen the collapse and rebirth of mutant society from within.
X-Force was incredible in the early days. Percy wasn’t afraid to posit and explore opposing viewpoints within the same narrative, such as the treatment of death and violence toward the self, exemplified in these two contrasting scenes.
SCARLET WITCH
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cover! ✨✨ Wanda’s story continues in June with a new solo series — written by
@thesteveorlando
, interior art by
@jacopo_camagni
, covers drawn/colored by me!
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The perfect philosophical conclusion of X-Men Red. Vulcan’s power & ego-obsessed, fragile masculinity came too late in the evolution of Arrakko, a society that has now survived THREE fascist strongmen figures through the collective & shared resource of mutant powers.
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The effect the beacon of light from the Sentinel gives to shading this entire scene, and the way Moira is almost dancing in its spotlight, is absolutely stunning. Pepe and Marte, you geniuses!
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The Polaris parts of this issue were so camp and so much fun. Don’t let a coffee cup ruin your enjoyment, let it be the fact that not one major Orchis scalp was taken during this mission.
This panel is from X-Men Blue, just before the Krakoan era. It’s interesting if only as meta commentary on the nostalgia rut the franchise was in at the time, especially as this was an era with both a time-displaced o5 and Old Man Logan. And some people want to go back??!