#anti hox pox
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"If there’s a Nazi at the table and 10 other people sitting there talking to him, you got a table with 11 Nazis." but it's about the Quiet Council of Krakoa.
#marvel#marvel critical#x-men#mister sinister#mr sinister#mr. sinister#nathaniel essex#anti mister sinister#anti mr sinister#anti mr. sinister#anti nathaniel essex#jonathan hickman#anti jonathan hickman#house of x#powers of x#dawn of x#reign of x#hoxpox#hox pox#anti house of x#anti powers of x#anti dawn of x#anti reign of x#anti hoxpox#anti hox pox
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“I’m Not Anti-Mutant Just Anti-Krakoa '' - Why We Should Compare Krakoa to Israel.
When HoX\PoX came out in 2019 I was living in Jerusalem and talking to a friend about it and eventually the question went up “Do we want to talk about Krakoa and Israel?” The answer was a resounding no. Unfortunately for me, some of the latest issues of X-Men titles made the connection between my actual homeland and my fictional favorite Island-state clearer and clearer. I don’t know if the writers meant to make the connections I see, but they are there and in order to truly understand what we’ve seen as the road to Fall of X is being published we need to look at the triangle of Israel, Anti-Zionism, and Anti-Semitism in real life.
Since we are talking about a volatile subject we do need to put on some very basic ground rules. Many critics of Israel claim Zionist would use the Anti-Semitisim card in order to ignore valid criticism. While my side of the issue needs to understand that not every criticism of Israel is antisemitic, the other side needs to understand that not all Anti-Zionism is automatically not Anti-Semitic. Anti-Semites also use criticism of Israel to ignore criticism of their own anti-semitism. In my opinion, both sides of this equation are not opinions rather basic recognition of reality needed to talk about this issue. The point of this article is not to prove that Israel is the source of all evil or to justify its existence/importance. This is about understanding what the plot of a comic book means to readers living in the real world and vice versa.
The Naive - Krakoa as Ugande.
While I decided to write this specifically during my reading of Duggan’s X-Men issue 23, I think it is best to start at House of X issue 1. It’s hard to ignore the parallels between Krakoa and Israel when Magneto, a Holocaust survivor, is hosting foreign ambassadors in Jerusalem. The new mutant nation was showing what Krakoa is, and what it has to offer to other nations. Host of the Cerebro podcast, Connor Goldsmith, brought up Krakoa as Israel without the Palestinian Issue. Since Krakoa is a newly formed island it can represent the good in the Zionist project without the bad - the fact that the country was formed in a land that was already populated. As an Israeli who is temporarily living in the US, this seems to be a desire shared by many left wing jews who want to love Israel but feel like they cannot due to the plight of the Palesstinians. Jonathan Hickman himself, while being a guest on said podcast, said that Magneto represented a form of politics evolved and better than humanity’s politics.
This aspiration, formed out of both of these hopes, reminded me of two Zionist naive works. The first one is a parody song by the Israeli comedic trio “Ma Ka’shur” - Why Not Ugande. The song, released in 2008 celebrating the 60th anniversary of the state of Israel, claims that Theodore Hertzel, as a symbol for the entirety of the Zionist leadership, was wrong to decline the British Uganda Scheme to create a Jewish national home in Uganda instead of our ancestral homeland. The chorus of the song begins with the words “Why not Uganda, why not Uganda, we do not go on busses” refering to the waves of suicide bombers who bombed Israeli busses during the time of the Oslo Agreement and during the first couple of years of the second Initifada. This naive view of the early days of the Zionist movement assumes that the Zionist project would not be opposed in Uganda.
The other work is from the writings of Rav Avraham Issac Kook, a rabbi who’s writing would eventually be the basis of the contemporary Religious Zionisim movement in Israel. Rav Kook was heavily influenced by European philosophers who believed that WWI was the last war in history. In his most famous book “Orot” (Lights in Hebrew) he writes “We have left the global political stage [after the destruction of the second temple and the beginning of the Diaspora YT] due to an external source forcing us, in a way that also reflected our inner wishes. Until that glorious time where a kingdom can be run without wickedness and cruelty.” (Orot, Lights out of Darkness, War, Passage 3)
Thinking that if only Zionism went a few dozen miles to the side everything would be perfect is as silly as saying that WWI is the last war in history and that’s why the Zionist project is going to be perfect. But this silly naivety can also become insidious. Krakoa started out as a perfect nation, harming no one while helping everyone. But that wasn’t enough. Setting the bar for what humanity expects of Krakoa so high that no other country could ever pass it, while expecting the mutant nation to do it is a ruse. Even when they ran a seemingly perfect country it wasn’t enough because Krakao’s actions were never the issue. Not when Krakoa is morally wrong, not when it is morally right. From its birth, Krakoa could never be accepted by those who prosecuted mutants. The problem would always be the existence of Krakoa because the world that hates and fears mutants cannot accept that they would have control over their own future.
The Good - Krakoan Pharmawashing
Since its inception the island nation of Krakoa has performed many outreach programs. The krakoan miracle drugs were the big opener of the nation’s international activities, the X-Men team built and lived in the tree house to help people outside of the island and now we’ve also seen Mutant First Strike, a team meant to act as disaster relief. It would be one thing if those efforts would simply fail to move the needle of public opinion towards mutants, but we see how these efforts are being used in anti mutant/Krakoa propaganda.
The mutant medicines are seen in the pages of X-Force and Wolverine to be a point of contention by those who oppose the island nation. In X-Men 22 we even see that Orchis are blaming mutants for poisoning their medicines. Sure, the lie is because Orchis are the ones who put the poison in, but all I could see is Krakoa being blamed for poisoning wells. Israel was also accused several times in poisoning wells, but the source for these rumors seem to come not out of fact, since those haven’t been presented, but out of the centuries old antisemitic trope of Jews poisoning wells.
In the real world, Israel is being blamed for “Pinkwashing the Occupation”; later on it also evolved to other issues like Veganwashing. The pinkwashing campaign does not mean that the good Israel does can not cancel out its wrongs, which is an actual critique. It started, back in 2010 as a critique saying the Israeli government uses its LGBT community to hide our atrocities. It also evolved, and today, in its extreme form Israel is blamed that many of the good we do (such as promoting green energy and vegan products) are only done in order that we can continue and oppress the Palestinian people. Every other country has done both good and evil, and reasonable people can see that a country, or people, can be both at the same time. But if you view a group as demonic then even its best qualities must be viewed in that light.
The Bad - Why Is It always Sentinels
I started writing this after reading X-Men 23. In this issue, Orchis, a global union of many anti-mutant groups, use of a sentinel as a proposed vehicle for peace and feint of ignorance made my blood boil. Orchis propaganda claims they “do not know” why the X-Men decided to attack a sentinel. The intentional use of Sentinels, the most recognized symbol of mutant oppression, is not foreign to me. While being accused of being a Nazi is pretty common for most people on the internet, it’s different when it’s used against the victims of that regime. When Roger Waters wanted to ‘criticize’ Israel he chose to do so wearing Nazi uniforms. Many Arab countries who ethnically cleansed their Jewish population blame Israel for committing that act, without an inch of recognition for what they did to the ancient Jewish Communities they used to have. The choice of Sentinels was not meant only to bait a response from the X-Men, it was meant to hurt them by reminding them all of their shared trauma.
The only thing I was missing in the issue was the claim that Orchis isn’t Anti Mutant, it is simply Anti-Krakoa. But Duggan already wrote that scene in his original Marauders run at the Dawn of X. And while it is not said explicitly here, Orchis are asking us to believe that the use of sentinels is not out of mutant hatred but due to something else. The idea that mutants shouldn’t attack a sentinel is absurd, but claiming that mutants are not allowed to defend themselves in face of clear aggression actually does makes sense. Because even after Israel spent decades developing a defensive technology that doesn’t hurt any Palestinian, we are still being blamed for using it, as famously seen made by Jon Oliver regarding the Iron Dome. In the last year we have seen so much bad spewing out of Krakoa, but the hatred came before all of that. Krakoa is primed to be a quick excuse for mutant hating bigots, just like Israel is used by many anti-semites regardless of all the bad and good that comes out of my country.
One of the common conceptions surrounding X-Men comics is that the mutant metaphor is problematic since minorities are in a position of weakness while mutants have super powers. But while Jews and Israelis do not shoot lasers from the eyes we are at the bottom of every conspiracy theory. From space lasers from the right to being blamed for American police brutality on the left, we are attributed fictional powers and being blamed for them long before the forming of Zionism as a modern political movement in 1840. Krakoa isn’t Israel, it is better than we could ever hope to be and it is worse than we will be able to become. Krakoa is mostly a fictional state, something that we will never be again. So the answer to Israel-Palestinian conflict would not be found in the Fall of X, but looking at the hatred, be it justified or Antisemitic, surrounding Israel is a great way to write visceral scenes that sticks with the reader. Especially now as things are about to take a turn for the worse for my favorite made up nation.
I do not know what the Fall of X has in store for us. I truly hope we are not about to witness the end of Krakoa, but I know it’s a possible outcome. Both from watsonian and the doylist perspective Krakoa was always going to fail. In the pages of Powers Of X issue 6 we learned that Xavier, Magneto, and Moira , the founders of Krakoa, knew the threats that are facing this miracle island and are not sure they will make it in the long run. From an industry perspective, many fans simply assume that Krakoa can’t last since every big change in comics gets pushed back eventually into the status quo. Not to mention that no one thinks that the MCU is going to let Krakoa in.
Even if Krakoa doesn’t fall, the threat of the destruction of the nation is on full display in previews we’ve seen. And that’s the point, most countries in the world are not under constant threat of complete annihilation, but Krakoa and Israel are. When we criticize most nation we demand a regime change, not promoting relocating millions of people, but that is always the explicit goal of anti Krakoa and Anti-Zionist campaigns. You do not have to support Israel in order to be a “true” X-Men fan, but it is my opinion that the best way to understand this age of comics, and the best way to write it, is to lean in on the Israel metaphor.
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Comics this week ?
rezonan asked:
What did you think about Ultimate Invasion #1? I thought it was pretty good and just barely justified the 9 dollars. 6160 man so excited
A great week all around for comic books! How nice to read good stories featuring both of my two favorite guys, Superman and Hulk.
Superman #5 - Another great issue, particularly for Jimmy who came off cool and competent, loved the shot of him donning his own jet pack and flying off with Superman to save the day, that's my pal! Williamson managed to win me over on a Silver Banshee who isn't a villain (for now). I've been leery about "redeeming" villains lately. Don't really see the point since all it does is further cut down on Superman's Rogues Gallery when he desperately needs for them to get used more not less. Banshee and Jimmy are cute enough together, and Marilyn Moonlight seems cool enough to stick around and take Banshee's place, that I've decided to get on board. Really it was seeing Banshee wear a bow tie on a date night with Jimmy that did it, who can resist the bow ties?
World's Finest #16 - Enjoyed this issue more than the rest of the arc, the Green Arrow/Batman banter was funny.
Nightwing #105 - A fantastic art showcase for Redondo. Oh hey and Heartless does actually show up again finally, so credit to Taylor for showing he isn't just sitting around doing nothing.
Wonder Woman #800 - Picked this up just for King's story and I'm on board for his WW run. First WW issue I've read in ages that left me eager to get my hands on the next issue. Nice feeling to have with regards to WW, haven't felt that way since Rucka.
Superboy #3 - Interesting twist to have the Cosmoteers potentially be new villains for Conner rather than friends. Forcing Conner to fight an evil/amoral version of the archetypes he was teammates with on YJ is a cool creative decision.
Vigil #2 - Another great issue even if it leaves me with more questions than answers. Love getting details on Indian conspiracy theories, that's an aspect of other cultures that you don't get in Western textbooks.
Cyborg #2 - Dropped. Take a look at the list, at this point I need a book to either be great or have a personal investment in the character to justify the cost, and Cyborg doesn't check either box.
Black Adam #12 - What an odd, odd book this ended up being. A story all about how there is no redemption for Black Adam, greenlit for synergy with The Rock's movie which starred an Adam who could barely be called a "villain", now ends long after the Adam movie flopped and killed the DCEU. The Adam parts I liked a lot, the Malik parts I didn't enjoy anywhere near as much. Much like the movie, I don't see this book leaving much of a legacy, but Priest did at least write a believable way for Adam to transition out of his anti-hero era and back to being a villain. Will the next writers to tackle Adam acknowledge what Priest did? Maybe Waid will.
Ultimate Invasion #1 -
This was the good shit my fellow Hickmaniacs. Not HoX/PoX tier but absolutely reminding me of Hickman's Avengers and Ultimates. Of course I grinned at seeing "Earth 6160", perfect number designation, if that's the Earth which will be the one Hickman is using for the relaunch then this is indeed a proper reboot for the Ultimate line. Theory time: Maker chose this Earth because this is a world that doesn't have a Reed Richards. Hickman might even make it the Earth that Doom got his Sue from in Secret Wars, their origin had Dr. Franklin Storm in Reed's place, and I could see Maker wanting this Earth partly to spite 616 Reed for crying over that Sue on Battleworld. Maker's already prevented 6160 from having a Spider-Man, and it looks like he's going to prevent the other heroes from forming too. I'm dying to know what he's going to do to the Sue, Johnny, and Ben of this world if my theory is correct.
I predict that the ending of Ultimate Invasion will be 6160 getting rebooted to undo Maker's changes, and 616 Reed is going to fold Maker into this Earth's history somehow, rebooting him back to being Mr. Fantastic. The problem the Illuminati have with Maker is that they can't kill him and they can't keep him locked up, meaning they have to find another way to deal with him. Given this was kicked off in part by 616 Reed admitting he would like to erase Maker, I think the ending will be 616 Reed realizing that's the wrong approach and instead opts to try and redeem Maker. That would also explain rumors that there's going to be a lot more interaction between 616 and 6160 than there was with 1610. 6160 becomes Maker's prison, and the 616 Illuminati keep watch to ensure he doesn't fall back into being a villain again.
Incredible Hulk #1 - Shocker I know but I liked this. Great Southern Gothic atmosphere thanks to Klein's art, and PKJ is directly following up on Ewing while also taking advantage of the Banner/Hulk reset that Cates did. Seeing Betty under Eldest's control was surprising, I did not expect her to be in the first issue but I'm happy she's back. Eager to dive into this monster mythos surrounding the Mother of Horrors that PKJ is creating, Hulk vs. Man-Thing is a fantastic matchup that I don't think has ever been done before.
Scarlet Witch Annual - Orlando handled the MCU synergy very well. Agatha is straight up MCU-ified now, no real way to avoid that after the popularity of Wandavision, but he did a good job acknowledging Agatha's previous history with Wanda and at least tried to reconcile the differences between the two takes.
Avengers #2 - Plotwise this remains great, characterwise it's clear McKay is still finding his footing in terms of juggling the cast. Writes a great Black Panther though, so at least T'Challa is finally getting treated with respect. Too bad that only happens outside his solo.
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Analysis of X: Maurader’s #1 “I’m on a Boat”
Ahoy Muties! I’m Jacob Mattingly and in moving to Tumblr and print, this is my first text review. As for this segment, welcome to Analysis of X, where I cover the dawn of x and onward as it happens. I will get to X-Men #1 as I wasn’t sure wether to review it late or not soon enough, but for now I felt it best to start with Dawn of X’s first non-hickman stab at greatness, Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli’s pirate themed Mauraders. Come aboard after the break.
So Mauraders begins a few months back, with our book’s headliner Kitty Pryde, and her future teammates, close friend and surrogate mom Storm and ex-boyfriend and her best buddy, my faviorite X-Man and organizer for orgies on Krakoa: Nightcrawler, ready to head to Krakoa. For those two of you who didn’t read house of x or couldn’t afford it and powers, understandable the current status quo is simple: Mutantkind has formed it’s own nation on their former enemy Krakoa, the island that walks like a man but currently dosen’t because several people would fall off, and have planted gates globally so mutants can come to their new eden, finally done with all the racist genocidal bullshit mankind has put them through. Kitty tries to come along But welll....
Instead of letting her in for some reason Krakoa instead says come on and SLAM and your not welcome to the JAM. Kitty takes it well.
We get our character page, which is apparently NOT limited to Hickman’s work, but I find it a nice touch, and unlike the avengers books from other writers under his tenure not doing the same thing, unify’s things a bit. I also like this opening mystery a ton. Is it her powers? Or is it something else?
And how will Doug Ramsey aka Cypher, her former best friend who had a crush on her in the mutant equivalent in high school and Krakoa’s translator factor into this. I hope he does because most Kitty Pryde centric stories kinda forgot he existed entirely, as did New Mutants and All-New X-Factor on the Doug side. Seriously it bugs me as they were incredibly close yet because him being single might get in the way of her and other ships the writers had planned, this was just ignored and hopefully with Doug being a bigger player Duggan won’t ignore him this time, and given how strong this book is I expect this to come up.
Moving Right along after the intro page, with the wonderful welcome of ahoy muties and a cast page, showing this isn’t exclusive to Hickman’s book and something I like we get a captain’s log of sorts, with the reveal that, with no way to portal there, Kitty just stole a boat, said i’m the captain now (Because you can’t escape that refrence and why would you) and then .. muses a bit about how left behind she feels as seen above.
And it’s an intresting dilema: without the portals, how can she ever REALLY feel at home on Krakoa when she’d basically be trapped there, alone amongst everyone else.. and not for the first time.
Longtime fans or those who’ve binged Claremont’s run will recall this little scene: after taking the bullet for Rouge during Mutant Massacre Kitty was left basically a ghost. No tangeblity, no way to interact, just trapped in a world she could see. While it DID get better from here it was only marginally: she could speak, she could talk.. but for the early part of her days with Excalibur, basically the british X-Men and something i’ll save more for next week, her powers of phasing through objects had reversed. She had to concentrate to stay SOLID and it was hell for her. It eventually righted itself, somehow I haven’t read far enough into Excalibur to know, but it had to leave some scars. The fact it happened AGAIN after that time she made a bullet meant to destroy earth intangiable and was only saved about a year or so later in story, or month given the weird timescale for marvel but moving on, by Magneto.. and left like this AGAIN until right before Schism. So to me, wether intentional or not, and it feels intentional, Kitty’s been isolated and trapped, alone amongst those around her before.. and she probably dosen’t want that again but worse. So she sails to Krakoa unsure with logan’s grocery list in tow. Which gloriously, we get to see.
And this also explains where the hell the beer used in the big party at the end of HOX and POX came from, though it’s equally likely Logan had magneto steal a beer truck for them and then spent a full day with him carting it all through the gate. But before this gloriousneess Kitty arrives and tries going through the other way.
So before Kitty, or Kate as she prefers to be known now, gets down to a rousing round of killing a child, Bobby shows up. Kitty assures him her problem is be handled by top men, which your saved from the indiana jones refrence because I can’t find a picture for that, logan goes diving for booze.
Because let’s face it Logan without enough Booze to murder Bojack Horseman just isn’t Logan. Bobby heads into a gate to find out why it has no traffic, while Kitty.. gets a phone call from her good old buddy Emma Frost, white queen. As a refresher the two went from sniping at each other constantly to mutaual respect with still a good deal of pot shots during Joss Whedon’s run on the book. That has not really changed. For those of you just joining us Emma was, and now is again, the white queen of a hellfire club and the first evil mutant kitty ever met, so naturally, shit’s complicated. But the important takeaway is that Emma trusts kitty. And has a job opprotunity for her. Those who read HOX and POX probably know that the ruling council of krakoa has an open chair.. and Emma wants her to .
See these days Emma’s old running buddies in the hellfire club, which she’s now in charge of, are the Hellfire Trading company, a vital economic partner and thus were naturally courted by Xavier as a vital part of Krakoa and shipping the life giving plants Krakoa gives worldwide. Where Kitty Kitty Bang Bang comes in is that not everyone is happy about Krakoa or welcoming of their gates: HOX and POX outright showed some countries refused to partner with them, and even some that have agreed to soverignty have taken to some drastic measures to keep mutants from leaving.
Yeah, and it makes sense. The Marvel universe was prejudiced against mutants on a GOOD day, and now they’ve outright declared superiority, strong armed their way into acceptance, and want to take all of the rest away to their eden. While they had every right to after multiple, and i’m not exagerating, attempted and two sucessful GENOCIDES, of course they have to play hard ball to get this and of course extremist anti-mutant groups wouldn’t stand for it. But it works because it makes sense: the portals are a big target and several assholes aren’t going to let mutantkind escape their service, or alive, without a fight. So that’s the mission Emma is offering: a seat at the table as Red Queen of Hellfire and a misson saving muties, getting drunk and fightin round the world. And she also, cleverly, juxtoposes her being a pirate with what pirates in the past did: the pirates and traders of old were slavers. Kitty and her crew would be liberators, saving mutants from Humankind, bringing the live saving drugs in even to countries who refused and the mutants out. Speaking of mutants who are out let’s check on Iceman. But first lockheed with a crab.
Awww. So bobby heads to mother russia.. and finds a nice warm reception.
Yeah naturally this dosen’t go well. Russia is , unsuprisingly, being a dick about the whole thing and it turns out the asshole’s armor can temporarily depower mutants, so bobby books it back and tells kitty.. who’s Mr. Lahey levels of plastered and gets Storm to tag along on her boat, with Storm likely doing so Kitty dosen’t start declaring that she is the liquor or something.
We cut to china where a woman is claiming her husband disappeared.. but Bishop shows up looking into it, and claiming he never showed up. She refuses to talk to him and Bishop calls it a night, but like the audience can tell something’s not right, and given he’s on the cover but doesn't join the team this issue, we’ll likely find out soon enough. Meanwhile ON A BOAT. The future Mauraders are filled in that the people surrounding the portal aren’t with the goverment but an extremist group, and find they have a stowaway aboard.
Yup it’s everyone’s faviorite aussie aronist Pyro, back from the dead after years of being dead, a quick ressurection that reset his character development, and then disappearing and being replaced by one of the very few intresting parts of X-Men gold. I wasn’t even aware he’d been ressurected which shows just how much they gave a shit. Duggan wisely gives him amnesia and reveals the tragic truth of how he came back.
Yup, true to Xavier’s new regime being one part hope and compassion and another part cold detached dickery, which really isn’t that far from the old regime he’s just open about the last part now, Pyro was only brought back first so the “Important mutants” would be sure to be safe. Even with his actions post ressurection, going back to petty crimin.. even though his death, despite never having read the issue, is still a great moment in X-History. Pyro, having failed several desperate attempts to cheat death at the hands of the Legacy Virus, uses his last moments to save someone who fears and hates him: Senator Kelly.. and in the process until the man’s own death changed the man from Mutantkind’s greatest enemy to a great supporter. And after that great selfless sacrifice... all Xavier and Magneto think of him is a lab rat, an unimportant mutant to use first to make sure their plan works. A throwaway slab of mutant meat. Understandably he was about to slide right back into crime but is instead drafted by storm and likely thinks “Eh, what else am I gonna do. “ So with our roster complete for now, our heroes dive into battle with kitty suggesting they swarm the power suit asshole so she can take him out and it works, but leaves her with just herself, pyro and lockheed to fight back.. and we get one of the best marvel fight scenes in recent history as a result. I’m only showing what’s necessary, but I can’t resisit a few choice shots
The fight as you can see is fast paced, fun, and uses kitty’s powers in creative ways we haven’t seen in some time. It’s been a LONG time since her powers weren’t boiled down to “I can’t be hurt” and “I can disrupt tech by phasing through it” and it is GLORIOUS, with Lolli’s art utterly shining and promising more tasty action and creative fights to come. Also i’d be remiss if I left this out
KItty using lockheed to give pyro a boost and blow away the Calvary. Our heroes win the day, save the grateful mutants the group had been holding from the gulag, and send them home, with all three deciding to stick with her: Pyro because it’s fun and because as established he’s pissed at Xavier and Mags for using him as a lab animal, and Iceman out of loyalty. With that Kitty has one of the mutants presence pull out her phone and gives one hell of a series, and team, tagline...
The issue closes out with a nice little scene where Kitty asks storm to join her. And while storm, understandably given the last mutant group of maurders caused aforementioned massacre, not crazy about the name, she affirms her loyalty to her old friend’s new cause.. and to her in this beautiful line of dialogue.
And with that, Kate takes Emma up on her offer and we get a great group shot to close us out.
Well okay not entirely. Like in powers of x we get some plot revant gossip from bar sinsiter. Mostly just foreshadowing for the future.. that emma may of asked someone before storm, a clan of racists in hoods, and some “red tides” at hellfire bay. nothing to dig into much.
Final Thoughts: An excellent start that I hope keeps going like this. Marauders is one of my faviorite kinds of comics: a quirky team, loads of laughs and great likeable characters. Pyro is an easy faviorite and the book took Kitty from creators pet for Benids and Guggenhiem into new territory while building on what Claremont, Ellis and Whedon started. It’s also a welcome breath of fresh air after the more plot based house and powers to have more character focused stories and reactions to Krakoa and see the world build as we see how the globe is taking the Mutants new status. An excellent addition to what hickman has built. If you liked this follow me for more as i’ll be reviewing X-Men #1 sometime soon, Excalibur #1 next week, and more fun stuff and if there’s something you’d like me to review you can slip me a fiver to commission me for it. Until we meet again my fair muties.
#mauraders#x-men#kitty pryde#gerry duggan#matteo lolli#dawn of x#house of x#powers of x#iceman#storm#pyro#john allerdyce#bobby drake#ororo munroe#emma frost#white queen#hellfire trading company#wolverine#logan#lockheed#russia#krakoa#doug ramsey#cypher#mutant massacre#excalibur
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Thoughts on House of X #3
Ah, back to HoX in what feels like the first time in forever.
Death and Memory:
As we might expect for an issue that concerns itself entirely with a special forces mission, the issue starts with an exploration of the psychology of the participants - starting with Scott himself, although the idea of a mission leader who has to overcome his fears and doubts for a higher purpose isn’t particularly novel for the genre.
Throughout HoX/PoX, there’s a significant part of the fandom that has focused on question of consent - which is something we’ll definitely get into in this and future posts - but it’s noticeable that this discussion doesn’t include this segment, where Scott is very careful to describe the mission as done by “people who accept the mission for what it is” who “understand the stakes and the risk.”
I like how the responses from Cyclops’ superiors not only emphasize the themes of the series but also the character of the speakers: Xavier’s response is (a bit too?) intimate, talking about Scott’s thoughts with the first-hand knowledge of a lifelong mentor who is also a telepath, emphasizing the concept of “family” which we’ll see bandied about through House of X #6, and most crucially promising him that “you’re not going to die. I won’t allow it.” As we learn later, Xavier is being quite literal.
By contrast, Magneto’s speech is all high politics, emphasizing the righteousness of the mission, the Achillean route to immortality “by their mighty works,” and the role that national myth plays in turning real people into icons that live on after their death. We’ll see quite a few Krakoan Founding Fathers as the series goes on, from the Five to the Quiet Council. Given the existential nature of the threat that Cyclops’ team are facing down, it’s not surprising that they’re treated with a bit of Nathan Hale hero-worship.
So let’s talk about the team composition. As people have noted, while some of them make a lot of sense (you need psychics, you need teleporters, you need sneakers and fighters), others are a bit odd. Archangel’s an odd inclusion, given the restrictions the mission will place on flying, although to be honest we don’t know what his or Husk’s role was supposed to be, because they never get to do anything.
Focusing more on the broader parameters of the mission: Cyclops is quite up-front about Mother Mold as the proximate danger and Nimrod as the ultimate danger, as well as the no “taking Krakoan fauna with us.” I would agree that Mystique’s body language and dialogue wrt to maybe breaking that rule are quite suspicious here, but if there is any significance to this plot thread, it’ll have to wait for Powers of X #6 and/or Dawn of X.
Incidentally, I don’t buy at all arguments from some elements of the fandom that the X-Men are being mind-controlled or are pod people - we see Archangel and Husk disagreeing with Monet, Cyclops clashing with Mystique...and between Wolverine and Marvel Girl. Prefiguring her role in establishing the Second Law of Krakoa, Jean Grey argues for sparing the “human crew” as non-combatants (”they’re not soldiers in the war...they’re just scientists”), whereas Logan argues that the Orchis crew are constructing “machines to exterminate a species,” making them war criminals as well as military personnel.
Incidentally, I really like the Krakoan flower on the Blue Area of the Moon being used to boost the X-Men’s space capabilities. It’s a lovely sci-fi touch, and one that shows Krakoa as both innovative and outward-facing but also expansionist if not outright colonialist.
Machines Infographic:
It’s really hard to discuss Sentinels without thinking about Hickman’s other infographics about ascending hierarchies of machine intelligences.
It’s highly significant that the Alpha Sentinels are set aside from those above them as non-sentient and non-replicating...hence why they are referred to as “drones,” which suggests an insect metaphor. (Incidentally, the original Alpha sentinels seemed to have some awareness, so there’s clearly some retconning going on.)
the Master Mold is replicating, adaptive, and self-aware, all higher functions that we associate with...well, human beings (and maybe AIs?). And yet the Master Mold is clearly lesser than the Mother Mold, because it “is incpabale of improving beyond its ultimate Sentinel state” - in other words, because it lacks the full range of cognition and imagination.
Mother Molds can not only produce Master Molds, but it can also produce Nano-Sentinels who have no limits to their abilities - it’s all very similar to how Hickman conceptualizes Omega mutants vs. the rank-and-file.
While much of HoX/PoX have focused on the threat that Nimrod poses, I’m surprised we haven’t seen as much discussion about what the way that Hickman describes the Omega Sentinels tells us about Karima Shapandar’s role.
Most importantly, however, we get an info-dump about what Moira learned in her 9th Life (which also shows how Moira continues to exert influence on the plot from behind the scenes): it turns out that “while emergent A.Is are unavoidable, an anti-mutant Nimrod is not.” We don’t know why that’s the case, and I’m really curious whether part of the plan has something to do with creating a mutant or mutant-friendly emergent A.I, possibly through the Cerebro database.
It’s particularly ominous that we haven’t seen any follow-up on what the “incomplete” Nimrod origin files might mean - did the X-Men miss a backup or a failsafe? Did they get the ordering of Mother Mold and Nimrod wrong? Or is it just a dropped plot thread?
One thing that I like is that Sleeping Giant, Moira’s new plan, involves essentially an Orchis protocol for the Orchis protocol, looking for humans reaching “technological thresholds” at the same time that Orchis is looking for mutants reaching their own thresholds.
Project Achilles Infographic:
I’m not surprised that much of the fandom have focused on the nature of the Krakoan legal system, but I am surprised we’ve seen so little focus on the “Project Achilles” legal system.
To begin with, it’s not a good sign that someone who committed crimes in New York City is being tried in a super-max prison somewhere in the snowy mountains. Even more troubling is the discussion of “extra-constitutional requirements” of running this prison.
Finally, while it might be a bit pedantic, there’s osmething really really weird about the Department of State, the branch of government that’s supposed to be involved with foreign policy and diplomacy, running a domestic federal prison. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a real thing, and there’s a good reason that it falls under the Department of Justice. Again, all this should be troubling.
A Fair Trial?
Things don’t get much better when we get inside the courthouse, where we see an armed judge chatting with an armed and armored Attorney General, whereas the defense is a clearly intimidated civilian.
The facade of justice begins to slip even more when the judge says “we’re charging your client” (judges don’t charge defendants, prosecutors do), and then brings up a “twelve-strike rule” that seems to follow the logic of “felony murder” in that the “intent” of the accused no longer matters.
For his part, Sabertooth is clearly enjoying playing the role of the outlaw, establishing his position that as far as he’s concerned, his physical strength places him above judgement or punishment. Something to keep in mind when we get to the question of assessing Krakoan law.
With her scent if not her reputation greatly preceeding her, Emma Frost arrives on the scene in a characteristic burst of high style and ominous undertones. The Cuckoos’ casual anti-human bigotry, equating humans with “monkeys...using tools...playing at civilization” suggests a poisonous reflection of the old Neanderthal/Cro-Magnon analogy. On the other hand, the White Queen and her “daughters” struggling with the new paradigm of mutant names > human names suggests that building a new, separate, mutant culture is more of a struggle than Magneto would like to admit.
As someone who’s very much interested in the nation-building side of the House of X story, the idea that the nascent nation-state of Krakoa would have negotiated for extra-territoriality is quite fascinating. At one and the same time, we’re shown the need for it - everyone from the judge to the prosecutor to the bailiffs are instantly drawing guns on un-armed defendant counsel and making it very clear that the judge had concluded that “that...thing is a killer” before the trial started - but we can’t ignore the long history of extra-territoriality as an expression of imperialism, either.
Then again, I wonder how much of the reaction of Western readers is due to the fact that we’re not used to seeing the U.S on the receiving end of demands for extra-territoriality. I wonder how people from countries that were formally colonized or made to sign “unequal” treaties feel about this storyline?
In the face of knee-jerk violent responses, Emma gets very personal about her diplomacy. She doesn’t use mind control to get her way, because the State Department has already given her all the leverage she needs by granting diplomatic immunity to “all Krakoans on United States soil.” That being said, as much as Emma is here to make a political point that “mutants won’t be judged in human courts,” she isn’t afraid to push back on Tolliver by threatening to make very clear how little the gun matters in “equalizing power dynamics.”
Omega Cycle Infographic:
This infographic is something of a sleeper - I haven’t seen much if any discussion with regards to Karima Shapandar’s role in either X^1 or X^2 timelines. However, it establishes quite clearly that the process of creating Omega Sentinels is a horrific violation of consent, where a person’s “host systems and organs” are replaced well before the “human host becomes aware of the combine consciousness.” Note the explicit comparison to “recovering from trauma.”
I’ve seen it asserted repeatedly that Karima Shapandar sided with Orchis (or later on with the Man-Machine Ascendancy) because she was excluded from Krakoa, without much evidence cited. This infographic suggests another reason - by proceeding from Union to Adaptation, Karima’s consciousness may have been altered, changing her allegiances along the way.
There are also implications for Ascension in the X^3 timeline - is “integration of host and machine” a process of cultural exchange and preservation or a hostile process of “infection”?
Crossing the Heller-Faust Line:
Before the action kicks off, we get an interesting thesis: “self-preservation is entirely rational...it’s the panic it produces where errors get introduced.” Throughout the next two issues, we see both sides acting in the name of self-preservation, but also constantly making decisions that ratchet up the body-count.
The initial context has a lot to do with Hickman’s fixation on the mechanical singularity and trans-humanism: continuing her X^2 interest in preserving humanity-qua-humanity, Omega Sentinel’s fear is that an out-of-control Mother Mold will result in the grey goo scenario, if the Sentinels’ drive to wipe out mutants leads them to wipe out humans as the source of mutation. It’s certainly easier than fighting the sun.
Indeed, throughout the next two issues, we will see humans wrestle with their fears of their own mechanical creations: Sol’s Forge is set up with failsafes to jettison Mother Mold into the sun, Dr. Gregor doesn’t initially want to wake up Mother Mold until the A.I has passed a test for sociopathy. We’ve seen what it looks like when A.Is fail this test, and it’s not pretty.
At this point, the X-Men arrive and what proceeds is a back-and-forth volley of both sides trying and failing to outflank the other. Both Krakoa and Orchis were “expecting to be fully online before we got their attention” and find themselves thrown into a fight before they were fully ready, and their improvizations make things more violent: first up, Orchis calls in the “drones from Mercury” (again with the terra-forming) who will kill Marvel Girl, all in the name of “a little fight for the survival of their people.”
Next, Kurt teleports onto the station to double-check their information and runs into Omega Sentinel - at this point, both sides are willing to talk, Omega Sentinel recognizes her opponent as a person and seeks to understand the X-Men’s psychology.
By contrast, Gregor and Erasmus under-estimate their foe with “a linear plan for a non-linear foe,” allowing the mutants to bypass the hanger bottleneck. Erasmus responds with the assymetric response of a suicide bomb, but I think there’s a fundamental ambiguity as to whether he’s doing this in the name of “whatever it takes to build a better world” or whether he’s doing it in the name of “don’t let them win.”
And so the X-Men lose their ride home, in what turns out to be only the first of many fake-outs.
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X-Force #1 Review
*Spoilers!*
The issue starts with villains (that suspiciously look like DC's Bane and Black Mask...), in an anti-mutant group the Domino has infiltrated. Domino gets caught when they do the blood ceremony. (BTW, through this whole scene I just kept thinking about the blood ceremony in 'Scream Queens' season 1😂😂😂)
Back at Krakoa, Beast is tracking a strange animal that they don't know how it got on the island (for all we know-Logan probably just assaulted a student 😂). Logan does his usual 'happiness makes you soft speech' (way to be the f*****' downer Logan!) .
We then cut to Black Tom investigating something coming through one of the gates- which is just revealed to be Kitty and the Marauders...
Jean (looking atrocious in this particular panel 😮) is psychically talking with Tom and senses something else aboard the ship. It's revealed to be Piotr, whose Facebook status should this year just be 'been going through some s***'... (the breakup with Kitty has not done wonders for Piotr's character development...😬).
We then cut to an airport with some shady looking passengers boarding a flight to Honolulu.
Xavier and Sage talk about Domino's disappearance before Xavier goes through a portal to Sokovia to celebrate the signing of the treaty. (Tip- Never drink Champagne handed to you when people mention you living forever...).
We see the return of THE. BEST. CHARACTER. EVER.- the Morlock’s local DnD wizard healer! (Also this panel is really nicely done!)
The plane to Honolulu unsurprisingly is hijacked ...
The Krakoa security system picks up Domino’s bio signal and Tom criticizes the security of the island. Just as Xavier gives his rebuttal- the island is attacked.
During the chaos, Xavier struggles with not wanting to leave his people...but also knowing he's the target (seriously Xavier, the time to have an moral crisis is not now!...).
Logan is trying to track the shooter, and Beast brings up how apropos his comments were (personally I think Logan just jinxed it...).
Just as Wolverine, Jean, Beast, and Tom gets to Xavier the issue cuts with their looks of horror and the helmet broken on the ground.
Opinions:
I never thought I'd say this, since X-Force has been in a rough place the past few years and this was the book I was the least excited about.... but X-Force is the best book so far!
The plot is engaging and doesn't drag, the characterizations are well done, and it fits the tone set up by HOX/POX...
I fluctuate between really loving this art style...and really disliking it. There's certain scenes that are done really beautifully and it fits...and then others where it's kind of jarring.
Hopefully this won't all change the minute QQ is added, although once again I do think this book is a good fit for him.
So far the biggest problem with the current Wave 1 X-books lineup was that they all to varying degrees felt so jarringly off from the original premise.
Reading these books so far has FELT like different writers and not always very cohesive from Hickman's HOX/POX .
X-Force FEELS like an offset of HOX/POX and the world building Hickman did.
Really the ONLY criticism that can be made is that this was SO OBVIOUS. Xavier and the team SHOULD have known this was going to happen and been better prepared (seriously guys...did you learn NOTHING from the KYOST era?!).
People really SHOULDN'T have been running around like chickens with their heads cut off 🤦♂️
Overall...this book still really blew me away despite this story being...kind of obvious and predictable...
Theories:
Either-
A) Mystique was totally masquerading as Xavier and the 'real' Xavier is in Sokovia...
OR...
B) Random wild animal/possible mutant that was foreshadowed actually saved Xavier/killed shooter...
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HoXPoX #1-3: The Sun: Illuminating Menace
It’s yet another installment of me obsessing unnecessarily about the imagery in the first few books in the new House of X/Powers of X series, this time: Colors! The Sun! T H E S U N!!
The Sun
The Sun and its colors often seeming to represent safety and power, and unsurprisingly it plays into other thematic elements, notably cycles.
HoX1 follows the course of the sun; both through a year, and through a day. Before the story proper we see a montage of the XMen planting strange purple flowers in specific places; on earth, earth again, the Moon, and on Mars. These images are broken up 4 panels to a page across 2 pages. On the first page panel 1 start with lush greenery, followed by color-changing leaves in panel 2, then bare white ground and nighttish skies in panel 3, and ending with red skies over bare ground with a lush green foreground in panel 4. Summer(Green), Autumn(Gold&Brown), Winter(White), and Spring(bare earth plus greenery).
The same pattern of vegetation and earth repeats on the second page(lushness, autumnal colors, bare earth, bare earth&new growth), continuing the seasonal symbolism, but adds to it the sun’s position: if the first panel it is off-panel to the left casting long shadows in a lushly forested environment(The Savage Land); the 2nd setting or rising behind a thin cloud over the Potomac in DC, bathing the scene in reds and oranges and purples(very vaporwave. I will show you),
the 3rd unseen off-panel, it may be over the shoulder or a night scene with an artificial light, while flowers being planted right-of-center in the bare earth by two pairs of purple-gloved hands are spotlit; the 4th rising on the left again, mostly blocked by a barren cityscape, as vines grow up the side of a nondescript office-building. This 4th panel then opens, on the next page set two weeks later, into one of the plotlines of the book; a collection of ambassadors meeting Magneto to discuss Krakoa(the new island-mutant nation) at the Krakoa embassy in Jerusalem.
This plot takes place over the course of a day: it begins with the sun at the same position, rising on the left, continues through a lush marshland scene to a sun-colored orange or gold Krakoa transit-hub, and ends with it setting behind Magneto, framing his message of a new mutant dawn(and non-mutant dusk). In the middle we cut to another plotline, Jean escorting a group of Xavier’s students to Krakoa, with the sun high in the sky and middle-panel.
Its Power
The colors of the Noon-Sun -gold, yellow, orange, and yellow-white- crop-up in scenes of power and safety: the chrysalis-pods of the first two pages and their womb/birth imagery, the pupils of Krakoa’s central interface, the clothing the XMen wear, Lighting-eggs Krakoa provides, and far-flung Krakoan habitats. Jean Grey is consistently backgrounded with orange while on Krakoa, and Scott Summers by yellow when in Chicago(I THINK it’s Chicago judging by the architecture and city-layout, at least) negotiating with the Fantastic Four. In the dusk denouement of the embassy scene, when one of the Stepford Cuckoos(acting as Magneto’s diplomatic staff) reveals they have been reading the minds of the ambassadors, the background is a shining, golden yellow, as it remains when Magneto disarms a hostile, armed agent within the ambassadorial party, despite the dusky sun overlooking these scenes, revealed on the final pages.
In PoX 1, pale yellow-gold light bathes the Krakoa sanctuary as Mystique and Toad arrive back on the island from a secondary portal. The doorframe of and furniture-accents within Magneto’s home are in gold. Golden light cuts in from its windows, gilding the ground floor. Xavier, their leader and figure of authority, stands framed by a yellow-gold screen, drawn from below so that he towers within his frames. All but one of the mutants within the Year 100 section(The Cardinal) are dressed in yellows and, as the human-purists arrive on the scene of Cylobel’s capture, they are wreathed in a golden mist. The same mist backgrounds a frame of her telepathically warning Rasputin off from attempting a rescue, and a same-colored light shines reflected from Rasputin’s face as she determines to make the attempt anyway. Her explosive decimation of the lead sentinel is a wreath of fiery reds and golds, with a splash of deathly purple. The pattern repeats; with gold-yellows coloring laser-blasts, intimations of danger, and feats of enormous, violent strength. The imprisoning sphere in which Cylobel is ultimately carried away is a gold one, as the scenes of Rasputin rushing to save her, cutting down purists left-and-right, are filled with the gold-yellow mist. Finally, Nimrod the Lesser’s throne is accented in gold. In the Year 1000 line, the human-preserve sphere is yellow-gold.
In HoX 2, soft gold-yellow light bathes Moira’s sick-room at 13, when her powers first manifested. The next frame, her revitalized and healthy in youth, shows her running through a softer white light, happy, pursued by a faded adult figure dressed in a pale yellow-gold top. The final frame of the next page, the frame labeling her “ ...something new...” and a mutant, has a beige(light-brown gold?) background, and a yellow triangle-block shares the frame with toddler-Moira’s face of stoic disinterest and/or despair. In her eight life, Magneto’s throne is flanked by golden flame, and topped by a giant, golden squid. In the life where she allies with Apocalypse, they are surrounded in Red-Gold light and flame.
As should be apparent from the above, it does NOT only represent power and safety for mutants. Recall the Jean Grey subplot cutting the embassy story in half: that ends in a grove with Jean and Xavier looking on as Wolverine plays with three children in the grass. Behind Jean is the Orange of the sun as stated above(and possibly the Phoenix Force? Given that the Phoenix-Force manifests AS solar power&imagery it’s a connection impossible to avoid regardless of intent), and behind Xavier a beautiful, pale purple vista of the sun, midday and midpanel(though in the colors of dusk; foreshadowing perhaps?), filtering through the dense trees. This is a moment of happiness, love, and safety for the gathered mutants. But it cuts, in the page directly after, directly TO the sun, a jump-cut from close-up on a face to close-up or establishing shot of a ship, as a group of anti-mutant humans gathered from Marvel’s host of secret organizations approaches a space station in orbit near our star. The station is a Mother Mold: a self-directing, self-correcting, learning sentinel-factory. A knife at the throat of every mutant alive, yes, but also a final stronghold --a place of safety and power-- for these anti-mutant, human-purity fanatics and their AI allies. So the Sun comes to represent safety and power both for the heroes of this story AND for their enemies; again, the symbolism of HoX PoX is breaking down simplistic oppositional binaries.
Moving into the other books, we see Moira repeatedly associated with the color gold. In the fair ministory where PoX 1 opens and HoX 2 ends she is wearing large, gold, circular earrings(obvsl recalling the sun itself). In the final scene of this ministory, a series of exchanged closeups btw Moira and Xavier, gold/yellow is color behind Moira’s head as she speak with, and offers, the knowledge of her repeating life. Her lips in these panels are painted in a reflective bronze; not a direct reference to the sun to be sure, but a reflection of its light.
This could just be another connecting of the sun and its colors to power -what Moira is saying is an artifact of her mutant ability afterall- but, in that she’s sharing knowledge, it could also suggest that the Sun and Gold/Yellow can represent knowledge, as well. If that were the case, it would be another classical reference, with Apollo being both a Knowledge-God AND a Sun-God. And there’s some other evidence supporting that reading.
Its Light
In HoX 1, when we see Krakoa’s IT-information team, Cypher and Sage, in Krakoa’s “interface room”, they are dressed in yellow, Krakoa’s interface is a wall of yellow-god eyes, and a pale yellow-gold light source sits in the corner. When Scott confronts the F4 in the same book his comments, all referencing “knowing” in some capacity(“What would life be without little surprises?”, “you’re a smart man, Richards... I know you know...”, “It’s upsetting, I know, but new beginnings demand a wide berth”), are all backed in yellow-gold, as is Reed’s final response to him(“then I think I have a problem with that”), and Sue’s later comment after the potential conflict is resolved(“...what are all of you thinking?”).
In HoX 2, 4th-Wall Moira wears her sun-earrings and, in the first panel where we see her speaking directly to the audience about her abilities, a golden cloud halos her head. A soft, gold-yellow light infuses all the scenes of her at Oxford. The mask of Destiny, Mystique’s partner and lover, is gold, and her power is precognition.
In PoX 1 the usb Mystique gives to Xavier is accented in gold and the screen behind Xavier is that of a computer; an information-device of some kind. As Xavier places the usb in it, golden light bathes him from below, from the machine(though Xavier’s dialogue her is abt “making a better world” and what mutants “owe” to it; a stereotypical power dialogue). As Nimrod the Lesser and his court obliquely(and comically) discuss placing Cylobel in the mutant archive, their dialogue is framed in gold.
Ok so, those are my arguments. I could probably add to it but this is already YUUGE, so I figure I’ll stop here. There’s also some interesting stuff going on with other colors, notably purple, I’d like to get into later, but we’ll see as I move on with the series(which I havent had time to yet what with Wintereenmas and everything X|) If you read this, I hope you liked it ^u^
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Hold Fast: The Marauders and the Anti-Fascist Model
Hold Fast: The Marauders and the Anti-Fascist Model a brilliant essay by @sjw_LauraKinney #comics #comicbooks #HoX #PoX #DoX #resist
Marauders #6, January 22, 2020, by Gerry Duggan, Matteo Lolli, Mario Del Pennino, & Erick Arciniega Resistance, Reclamation, and the Red-Queen of Anti-fascism
What does it mean for marginalized communities to resist oppression and protect themselves and their kin when the governments of the world leave them behind? [A totally theoretical question, in no way relevant to the world we live in]
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[Article original de @saracentury sur Comicsbeat : A History of X-Men’s Destiny and Mystique]
C’est le bon moment pour se pencher sur l’épique histoire d’amour entre Mystique et Destiny.
Mystique est peut-être surtout connue via la franchise des films Fox, mais notre Raven Darkhölme est un personnage récurrent dans les comics X-Men depuis des dizaines d’années. Son histoire l’a emmenée d’une turpitude inexplicable à une vie d’extrémiste pour les droits des mutants, jusqu’à celle de membre des X-Men, et rebelote depuis le début.
Dans le même temps, la plupart des apparitions de Destiny chez Marvel ont eu lieu dans des souvenirs. Aussi connue sous le nom d’Irene Adler, elle fut assassinée par Legion en 1989 (Uncanny X-Men #255) seulement huit ans après sa première apparition. L’an dernier était le trentième anniversaire de sa mort, faisant d’elle l’un des rares personnages qui ont passé plus de temps morts que vivants dans les pages des comics.
2019 marque aussi la première fois où Marvel autorise la conversation autour de la relation entre Mystique et Destiny, codée depuis longtemps, à apparaître explicitement en montrant un baiser entre les deux femmes dans The History of the Marvel Universe #2. Comme cela commence à indiquer un retour de Destiny dans les comics après son apparition admirablement brutale dans un flashback de HoX/PoX, c’est l’occasion de se pencher sur l’épique histoire d’amour entre Mystique et Destiny.
From The History of the Marvel Universe #2 (2019). Script by Mark Waid, pencils and colors by Javier Rodríguez, inks by Álvaro López, letters by Joe Caramagna.
Carol Danvers
Lorsque Mystique apparut pour la première fois dans Ms Marvel, elle cherchait à détruire cette dernière. Cette haine était d’abord floue, mais les lecteurs ont ensuite appris que Destiny avait prévenu Mystique que si Carol survivait, leur fille adoptive Malicia allait mourir. Pourtant, les numéros dans laquelle cette explication est donnée n’ont pas été publiés avant plusieurs années plus tard, puisque Ms Marvel s’est terminé un peu prématurément. Ainsi le véritable contexte de sa haine envers Carol est resté un blanc pendant des années. Dans les derniers numéros de la série, on voit Mystique matraquer à mort le petit ami occasionnel de Carol. Si Mystique reste absolument la méchante dans l’histoire, au moins dans cette version ses motivations étaient clairement définies.
Une grande part de ce qui était codé autour de Destiny et Mystique réside dans le fait qu’elles partageaient une petite maison avec une enfant adoptive nommé Rogue (Malicia) qui, dans ses incarnations précédant son statut de X-Man, défiait les stéréotypes de genre. Ces numéros de Ms Marvel étant restés dans l’ombre pendant plusieurs années, il était facile pour les lecteur.ice.s de complètement passer à côté du sous-texte entre Mystique et Destiny.
La Confrérie et Freedom Force
Pendant la période durant laquelle Destiny fait sa première apparition, il y avait un mandat éditorial contre les personnages queers. Les lois américaines autour de l’édition qui demandaient que les oeuvres présentant des personnages queers soit réservé aux adultes donnèrent une base à ce choix. Les comics avaient presque disparu en tant que medium à la fin des années 50 à cause d’un livre (et de plusieurs articles aux divers auteurs) qui prétendait que les comics rendaient les enfants gay, ou encourageaient au moins l’homosexualité. On voit les conséquences encore aujourd’hui, quand les éditeurs et les créateurs mettent en appétit les lecteur.ice.s qui réclament plus d’inclusion, avant de revenir en arrière. Tandis que l’industrie est en progrès, majoritairement grâce à un afflux de créateurs et de fans queer au fil des ans, il y a encore beaucoup d’hésitation autour de personnages qui ont été dépeints comme queer à travers le sous-texte.
C’est donc ainsi que, alors que l’auteur Chris Claremont a montré Mystique et Destiny comme étant des amies inséparables et proches d’une façon qui dépassait de beaucoup des relations de travail ou d’amitié, il n’y eut jamais de confirmation de leur romance dans les pages des comics. Faisant souvent référence l’une à l’autre comme “vieille amie”, même lorsque Mystique laisse voir dans les bulles de pensées qu’elle n’a jamais vraiment cessé de penser à Irene, cette période de leur relation a inspiré une tonne de fanfictions, mais il ne se passe pas grand-chose entre elles hormis la déférence constante de Mystique envers Destiny et le fait qu’elle en fasse une priorité.
Malicia finit par quitter leur domicile après que Mystique la pousse à attaquer Carol Danvers et qu’elle absorbe la majorité de sa personnalité et de ses pouvoirs, laissant Carol dans le coma. Cela eut sur Malicia des effets négatifs dont il lui faudrait peut-être toute sa vie pour se remettre. Elle rejoignit les X-Men dans l’espoir que Xavier puisse l’aider à contrôler son pouvoir, ce qui créa un fossé entre elle et Mystique. A sa façon, Mystique continua à protéger Malicia de loin, ses efforts cependant de plus en plus imprévisibles au fil du temps.
From X-Men #93 (1999). Script by Alan Davis and Terry Kavanaugh, pencils by Alan Davis, inks by Mark Farmer, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Richard Starkings and Saida Temofonte.
Destiny et Mystique sont aussi des activistes en faveur des droits des mutants, et cela semble être la source de leur très forte connexion l’une avec l’autre. Elles ont toutes les deux orienté leur vie entière vers la protection des mutants, bien qu’elles aient souvent recours à des mesures extrêmes. Il y a beaucoup de non-dits autour de leurs intérêts et de leurs croyances, mais leurs actions sont généralement celles de combattantes de la liberté qui ont mis de côté leur compassion envers leurs semblables, pour commettre des actes qu’elles considèrent nécessaires à leur survie.
Elles ont reformé la Confrérie des Mauvais Mutants, l’équipe de supervilains de Magneto dissoute depuis longtemps. Ensemble, ils tentèrent d’assassiner le sénateur Robert Kelly, très critique des mutants. Pour Mystique et Destiny, cela signifiait qu’il remettait en question leur droit d’exister. Cet acte se révéla être l’événement crucial qui engendra le futur alternatif de Days of Future Past. L’assassinat fut empêché, et Mystique et Destiny poursuivirent leur chemin en s’alliant au gouvernement au sein de la Freedom Force, incitant d’autres condamnés à rejoindre des missions comme leur part de la négociation de leur peine. Bien que le gouvernement soit anti-mutant à cette période, elles utilisèrent leur statut de chasseuses de mutants pour protéger les mutants. Elles se retrouvèrent donc à faire face à X-Factor, qui avait des motivations similaires.
Marvel Fanfare #40, Uncanny X-Men #255-256, and X-Factor Annual #6
Dans Marvel Fanfare #40, une histoire bonus de Chris Claremont, il est question d’une rencontre entre Storm et Mystique, au cours de laquelle Raven exprime son inquiétude pour sa fille fille adoptive, mais déclare aussi d’une façon indirecte qu’elle fait confiance à Storm pour assurer sa sécurité. Elle retrouve ensuite Irene et elles partagent un moment romantique lorsque Mystique prend l’apparence (masculine) d’Eric Raven afin qu’elles puissent danser ensemble sans se faire harceler. Bien que ce soit une histoire d’arrière-plan, elle montre Raven faire référence à Irene comme “mon amour”, et Destiny verse des larmes en se remémorant sa vie avec Raven.
From Marvel Fanfare #40, “Deal with the Devil!” (1988). Script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Craig Hamilton, inks by Rick Bryant, colors by Petra Scotese, letters by Jim Novak.
From Marvel Fanfare #40, “Deal with the Devil!” (1988). Script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Craig Hamilton, inks by Rick Bryant, colors by Petra Scotese, letters by Jim Novak.
La mort d’Irene dans Uncanny X-Men #255 a été citée par beaucoup d’auteur.ice.s dans les conversations autour du “syndrome de la lesbienne morte”, mais il est aussi intéressant que ça ait mis fin à l’évolution importante de Raven qui a eu lieu à cette époque. Irene meurt lorsque Legion la trouve seule, et Mystique est plus que dévastée. Irene avait demandé à Forge d’aller sauver Mystique, et pendant ce temps, Legion lui a pris la vie. Irene savait ce qui allait se passer, et a fait le choix de sauver Raven. Quand Forge s’est excusé, Mystique tient le corps de Destiny et murmure la réplique déchirante : “Sorry… is such an… inadequate word.” (“Désolé… est un mot si… insuffisant.”)
From Uncanny X-Men #266 (1990). Script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Mike Collins, inks by Josef Rubinstein, colors by Brad Vancata, letters by Pat Brosseau and Tom Orzechowski.
Quand nous revoyons Raven, à partir de ce moment, elle est généralement à la dérive tandis qu’elle souffre de la perte de Destiny et peine à retrouver son équilibre. Les signes du deuil sont évidents dans les apparitions suivantes de Raven. Dans Uncanny X-Men #266, quand un assassin tente de tuer Mystique chez elle, elle néglige la menace et ne peut penser qu’à Irene, qui l’avait prévenue que cela arriverait.
Dans X-Factor Annual #6, Mystique est à bord d’un bateau dans le but de répandre les cendres d’Irene dans l’océan. Elle repense à leurs petites disputes et courtes séparations, et à la façon dont elles finissaient toujours par se retrouver. Lorsqu’elle tente de verser les cendres, le vent tourne de façon imprévisible et les lui renvoie dans le visage. Mystique rit et pleure à la fois. Après ça, ses actions sont généralement motivées soit par son désir de renouer des liens avec Malicia, soit par celui de ramener Irene à la vie.
Mystique réapparaît en prévision de l’arc Age of Apocalypse. Toujours en colère et désirant se venger, même après le temps passé avec Forge et X-Factor, elle tente d’assiner un Legion alors dans le coma. Ceci met un terme effectif à sa relation avec l’équipe et avec l’homme, mais elle n’exprime aucun regret. La mort d’Irene l’affecte encore d’une façon qui éclipse à peu près tous ses autres préoccupations.
Le Passé et le Futur
Avec le recul, nous avons appris que lors de leur première rencontre, Raven avait pris la forme d’Eric, un détective à qui Irene avait demandé de l’aide pour décrypter ses propres prophéties. Eric s’est rapproché d’Irene puis, dans une histoire non-dite, a révélé sa véritable identité, après quoi Mystique consacra apparemment sa vie à aider Destiny à empêcher les prédictions apocalyptiques de son journal. Même si nous savons qu’elles sont amantes, nous n’avons aucun contexte autour de ça ou de l’impact que ça a eu sur leurs vies. On peut voir Destiny exprimer une préférence pour la forme originale de Raven, plus tard, mais comme tant de choses à propos de ces deux-là, cela n’a pas été exploré.
Dans X-Men #93-94, Kitty pryde et Malicia découvrent l’un des journaux de Destiny, lequel prévoit des évènements qui frapperont les X-Men. Ces journaux sont devenus le MacGuffin* dans plusieurs X-stoires. Le nombre de volumes de ces journaux a d’abord été estimé à 1, puis 13, mais il est maintenant inconnu. Gambit croyait les avoir détruits, mais ils ont ensuite réapparu. Ils ont été jugés complètement inutiles et mis de côté, mais ont plus tard clairement prédit d’autres évènements, prouvant qu’ils n’avaient pas été examinés en entier. Les journaux représentent l’une des façons avec laquelle Destiny continue d’exister dans la vie de Raven.
* plot device qui ne sert vraiment qu’à faire avancer l’histoire (ex: la mallette dans Pulp Fiction)
Où en sont Mystique et Destiny aujourd’hui
Après la mort d’Irene, Mystique fut brièvement dans une relation avec Forge, qu’elle blâmait auparavant pour sa disparition. Cela ne se termina pas bien, et depuis elle n’est quasiment que dans des relations courtes avec des hommes qu’elle utilise comme un moyen d’atteindre son but. Elle essaya de raviver sa relation avec Malicia plusieurs fois, le faisant de façon parfois étrange voire auto-destructive. Les deux femmes entretiennent maintenant une relation distante mais compréhensive, mais il est difficile de dire dans quelle direction pourraient aller les choses à partir de là.
From Wolverines #20 (2015). Script by Charles Soule, art by Juan Doe, letters by Cory Petit.
Pourtant, aussi récemment que dans la série Wolverine, et jusque dans HoX/PoX, les éléments les plus importants de l’histoire de Mystique la montre comme une femme qui est plus que prête à tout risquer, y compris les vies de millions de gens, pour ramener Destiny ne serait-ce que pour un instant. Mystique exprime clairement à plusieurs reprises qu’elle n’aide les X-Men que pour la promesse qu’ils lui ramènent Destiny. Le Professeur Xavier fait cette promesse sans intention de de l’honorer, ce qui signifie qu’à ce moment, nous attendons tous que Mystique le découvre, explose, et ramène Destiny par ses propres moyens. Comment, quand, ou si ça aura bien lieu reste à voir.
From Powers of X #1 (2019). Script by Jonathan Hickman, art by R.B. Silva and Adriano Di Benedetto, colors by Marte Gracia, letters by Clayton Cowles.
Beaucoup d’entre nous attendons un plus gros effort de la part des auteur.ice.s pour les comprendre. Le deuil à long terme que Mystique fait de sa partenaire n’a pas été pris au sérieux et a même été ignoré au point d’être assimilé à rien de plus qu’un effet secondaire d’un trouble mental mal défini causé par ses pouvoirs de transformation. C’est pourtant un personnage que nous avons vu essayer de protéger sa famille par tous les moyens pour finalement la perdre. Son entourage peine à comprendre la douleur véritablement dévastatrice d’une vie sans Destiny et ne considère leur relation que comme une forte amitié. Pour les personnes queer ayant vécu la perte de leur partenaire dans un monde qui ne reconnaissait pas la relation qui les unissait, l’histoire de Mystique ne peut être lue autrement que comme une tragédie.
Poignant spécifiquement pour les lecteur.ice.s queer, la tension que Mystique et Destiny ressentent des attaques quotidiennes sur leurs droits et leurs vies en tant que mutantes et amantes les a conduites à prendre des mesures extrêmes. Bien qu’il y ait peu d’explications ou de dimension accordées à cela, les fans queer y ont trouvé une métaphore puissante. Alors que nous voyons nos droits retourner sur la planche à découper encore et encore, les effets psychologiques de telles atteintes se font sentir. Irene et Mystique tentent de s’isoler pour se protéger, n’ayant que lune et l’autre comme sources de réconfort et refusant de s’expliquer. Lorsque même ça lui est enlevée, Mystique se trouve complètement incapable de faire face.
Le sous-texte de longue date entre ces deux femmes et le refus général de le rendre explicite ou de leur donner un arc scénaristique satisfaisant est plutôt déprimant, et les auteurs les cantonnant à des rôles de méchantes ne rendent pas service aux activistes queer dans le monde réel.
Voici deux personnages qui ont dû attendre presque quatre décennies pour avoir leur premier baiser dans les pages des comics, et c’est arrivé dans une introduction à un rappel d’histoire des comics qui n’avait grosso modo pas grand-chose à voir avec elles. Pourtant Mystique et Destiny ont été écrites comme un couple depuis le départ. Depuis leurs premières apparitions, l’amour et la loyauté qu’elles ressentaient l’une pour l’autre était si palpables que cela a inspiré et inspire encore des fanfictions et des commentaires critiques qui en font une des histoires d’amour les plus épiques des comics. Quelle que soit la direction prise après cela, Mystique et Destiny ont toujours partagé un amour qui transcende les pensées, les désirs, et les attentes du monde extérieur.
[traduction] X-Men : L’Histoire de Destiny et Mystique. Voilà ma version française de l'article de @saracentury sur l'histoire du couple Destiny/Mystique. C’est le bon moment pour se pencher sur l’épique histoire d’amour entre Mystique et Destiny. Mystique est peut-être surtout connue via la franchise des films Fox, mais notre Raven Darkhölme est un personnage récurrent dans les comics X-Men depuis des dizaines d’années.
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Thoughts on House of X #5
Time for the issue where HoX/PoX horniness kicked off!
Society Comma We Live in One:
Time to talk about an issue that definitely merited the coverted red issue status. The issue starts with Magneto and Polaris having a dialogue on society that comes off as a bit writerly, more about Hickman creating an opportunity for him to talk about his ideas about society than what Magneto and Polaris would actually be saying to one another (unless Polaris just arrived on Krakoa and is being given the tour, but that doesn’t quit fit her dialogue).
To start with, Magneto is making an argument that “the one good thing humanity taught us was society,” but attaches this to the concept of human beings shifting from settler-gatherer to agrarian cultures. Notably, in Magneto’s version, this shift also has implications for national identity, what with the whole “this is a good place - it is...ours, and from this land we will not be moved.”
At the same time, it would be highly inaccurate to suggest that hunter-gatherer cultures don’t have societies or engage in (what Magneto is really getting at here) cooperation. The main difference between hunter-gatherer and agrarian modes of cooperation is that, by creating substantial surpluses that allow more people to not engage in food production, the agrarian mode enables a new form of cooperation based on specialization.
All of this applies pretty directly to Krakoa and the resurrection ceremony that Magneto and Polaris are witnessing: as long as mutantdom was constantly fighting for survival (the time when “the greatest necessary traits in mutantdom” would be “strength and aggressiveness”), it was essentially stuck in a hunter-gatherer paradigm. But once mutantdom established themselves on Krakoa, “intelligence, ingenuity, and creativity” started to come to the fore: the Krakoan flowers and medications, Doug’s interface and the resulting Krakoan systems, KASA, Cerebro, and now a new one. Contrary to certain implications from the Librarian in Powers of X #6, rather than simply relying on their “natural” mutant powers, Krakoan society is technologizing them.
The “Five” are a great example of this process at work. I’ll get more in detail on how this particular Krakoan biomachinery works when we get to the infographic (which brings together all of the information into one place), but there’s some more subtle details at work here:
I love how the (Fab) Five’s social/cultural status is prefigured by their on-page introduction, which looks like nothing so much as the slow-motion group shot from Resevoir Dogs combined with a supergroup pose complete with spotlights.
As many people have pointed out, Hickman’s reinterpretation of Goldballs’ “seemingly benign and pointless power” shows how a different social and technological context completely changes the way we think about the value of different x-genes.
As someone who’s spent their fair share of time studying the history of science, I do like how much the Five’s introduction re-emphasizes themes of cooperation and specialization rather than the Lone Genius myth: even with Goldballs’ limitless “eggs,” he still needs Proteus to make the eggs viable, and so on and so forth. As Magneto puts it, ““separate...they are great mutants, but only significant, not transcendant. Together..."
An interesting commonality in Krakoan biotechnology is the use of psychics and other mutants - in this case, Hope plays a similar role to the Cuckoos in KASA - to allow the group to work in unison without the need for the literal hiveminds of the machine consciousness. Something to keep one’s eye on.
At the same time, the Five’s biomachine relies on two other forms of technology of varying levels of technology. As the red diamond on the syringe confirms, Mister Sinister provides the DNA to grow the husks and (and this is one of the Big Reveals of the issue) Cerebro downloads the mind into the body.
Playing her role in the Socratic dialogue admirably, Lorna raises the vital question of whether these clones are “just their bodies...not them.” What’s really interesting about Magneto’s response is that he’s not just talking about downloading the mind of the mutant, but also “the essence..the anima...[the] soul” of the mutant, which implies a pretty strongly spiritual conception of Cerebro’s primary purpose. (It’s an interestingly monist approach to the question of the soul as a form of data that can be copied, uploaded, downloaded, etc. I wonder what Nightcrawler thinks of this?)
Xavier’s statement that “even knowing I could bring you back...a part of me dies when any of you do” really backs up what I was talking about re: Xavier’s motivation for changing his worldview. Resurrection doesn’t change the emotional impact of death, especially since the system requires Xavier to be psychically linked to the X-Men he’s sending into harm’s way, so that he’s experiencing all their pain and suffering. This also reads quite differently in the wake of Powers of X #6, because it suggests that (quite aside from his broader plans for Krakoa), Xavier’s shift to being even more of a pragmatist has a lot to do with years of compounding trauma.
BTW, a clear sign that there is a high degree of continuity of consciousness going on is that Scott’s first thought after being resurrected is “did it work?” For all intents and purpsoes, this is the Scott Summers who died on Sol’s Forge.
We See Them, Do We Know Them?
I’m going to take this opportuntity to get on my high horse for a second and take parts of the X-fandom to task. While I wouldn’t go so far as to accuse anyone of arguing in bad faith, I do think there has been a tendency to not grapple with the text in an honest way when it comes to certain characters or themes, with the Resurrection Ceremony as Exhibit A in this tendency.
Rather than being about cults or nakedness (more on both of those soon), what this scene is actually about is the coming together of the foundational aspects of Krakoan society/culture, and how two groups of heroes - the five and the strike team - will be treated in this new world.
As we might expect, there are both parallels and differences in how the Krakoan masses treat and are expected to treat these groups: as we’ll learn later from the Resurrection Infographic, the Five are “universally revered...as cultural paragons [something sacred to be treasured].”
Storm’s exhortation provides the text that is supposed to shape and give purpose to this popular attitude, that the Krakoan masses should “love them...for they have righted the wrongs of men and defeated our great enemy death.” As with many RL human cultures, historic grievances are used to define in-group and out-group, but at the same time, the Five’s “miracle” is defined as a victory over “our great enemy death,” (which neatly ties together anti-mutant violence, mutant-specific epidemic diseases, all the forces of the “on the brink of extinction” stories we’ve seen for almost twenty years).
Given that the Five are responsible for A. reversing mutant genocides which have directly and indirectly affected all mutants in profoundly traumatic ways B. making mutants functionally immortal, it would be utterly unprecedented if a cultural and social change of this magnitude did not have some element of spiritual or religious feeling behind it. World religions have been founded on far less than this.
By contrast, the Strike Team are described in more secular terms. For removing the existential threat of Mother Mold (let alone Nimrod) which had loomed over mutant society, Storm describes them as “heroes of Krakoa,” but not so much cultural heroes as secular military heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation: “through their deaths...a great victory was won for our people.”
Another sign of difference is that the Strike Team’s public reception is conditional, requiring a further ceremony where the community asks “we see them, but do we know them?” I love the way that Hickman turns the meta-question of whether these resurrected mutants are the real thing or “just clones” into a cultural question.
Thus, he has Storm act as the Master of Ceremonies for a ritual that’s all about recognition and confirmation of individual and social identity, and uses X-comics continuity nods that readers will recognize in the same way that Storm does as the clues:
Cyclops remembers losing the leadership to Storm in UX #139, and I like this particular deep cut because it’s a great contrast to their present-day respect and affected, and because Scott’s inability to commit to his marriage to Madelyn Pryor will help kick off Inferno.
Similarly, Jean recalling line-for-line what she said to Storm in UX #242 works especially well because it’s a line about asserting your identity in the wake of death, resurrection, and the existential questions of cloning, and because once again it recalls Inferno. I’m not sure whether it’s a good sign or a bad sign that Hickman gets Jean’s voice better here when he’s quoting earlier authors rather than writing original dialogue.
And finally, in a great Rule of Three joke format, Monet breaks the pattern by going for a character beat - Monet has strong personal space boundaries - rather than a deep continuity callback.
Having done my close-reading due diligence, let me get to the point: this is not a cult, and you don’t need to take much in the way of Anthropology coursework to see that. Call-and-response between an officiant and the congregation are incredibly common across many religions, as are ceremonies in which the individual’s membership in the group is confirmed, and so on and so forth. If you want to describe this as a cult, or cult-like, you need to point to qualities that are specific to cults as opposed to other forms of religious activity.
Similarly, I find it quite strange to describe Storm as acting out-of-character in this sequence. Storm, who’s all about giving speeches at the top of her lungs, who’s been worshipped as a goddess in multiple countries, would have a problem with giving a sermon and carrying out a basic ritual? This is the sort of thing that makes me think that a lot of these comments are just people trying to disguise personal preference as story critique.
The scene ends with pulling back to see Xavier and Magneto reacting to all of this, and their feeling of tempered joy is a pretty good synecdoche for how things stand at the end of HoX/Pox: while the “good work” is clearly a cause for joy, it’s clearly at a very early and vulnerable stage, and there’s a feeling of determination that it has to continue “until it is done.” Interestingly, both Charles and Erik view this aspect of Krakoa as more “foundational” than any other element, and I wonder whether this could be part of why they don’t quite see eye-to-eye with Moira any more.
Another sign that things are not as secure as they’d like is that Krakoa still hasn’t gotten over the hurdle of UN recognition, which requires getting around a veto from a permanent member of the Security Council.
Resurrection Infographic:
So let’s talk about the Resurrection process, now that we have all of the information in front of us.
The Infographic really confirms that Mister Sinister is absolutely crucial to the Genetic Base working - “without this, we have nothing.” But given that we learn in Powers of X #6 that this was very much in opposition to Moira’s wishes, I wonder how the original plan envisioned this working. I wonder whether Magneto’s statement to Emma Frost in Powers of X #5 that “we are not ahead of ourselves...we are woefully behind” suggests a motive. Mister Sinister already had a comprehensive DNA database on the go, they might have gone to him because they wanted to accelerate the time table for reversing the Genoshan genocide.
At the same time, you can already see how Sinister has become the snake in the garden. At the moment, Xavier and Magneto have “limited...current mutant modifications...to “optimal aging,” but we can already see Sinister’s influence in the line “it is believed that in the future, designer modifications will be possible.” Unless they are very, very careful, this is how the chimera singularity could topple all of this into the abyss of the singularity.
The Five:
As I discussed above, each of the Five are a crucial element of the overall process.
Fabio Medina (Goldballs): produces limitless eggs for limitless husks. Without Goldballs, the resurrection process would be extremely limited in how many people could be brought back at any time by all kinds of resource constraints; with him, the process can be turned into one of mass-production.
Kevin MacTaggart (Proteus): turns unviable eggs into viable eggs; without Proteus, Goldballs’ innovation would be effectively stillborn. Kevin’s presence here is also a strong indicator that this was part of Moira’s plan, so as with so much in HoX/PoX what we’re talking about is a question of means vs. ends.
Joshua Foley (Elixir): “kick-start[s] the process of life, initializing cell replication and husk growth.” Without Elixir, the DNA might sit dormant within the egg; with Elixir, you have a bridge between the raw building blocks of life and the end product of a viable husk.
Eva Bell (Tempus): “temporally mature[s] a husk to a desired age.” This is potentially an under-appreciated aspect of the whole process: without Tempus, you’d still have to wait decades for resurrected mutants to come to maturity and all throughout that time, the process would be incredibly vulnerable; with Tempus, mutants are brought back to life as fully-grown adults capable of doing their part for Krakoan society.
Hope Summers (Hope): has the more nebulous task of “enhancing and synergizing...to ensure the success of each resurrection.” As Magneto explains, resurrection is “delicate, almost impossible work.” Hope’s unique power set allows her not only to boost the powers of the rest of the five, but also to improve coordination and thus quality control, so that the overall process has a success rate of 100%.
As we can see already, this is a system with a lot of irreplacable parts, which means a bunch of potential points of failure. No wonder, then, that Krakoan minds are at work trying to overcome these problems. We already see that “Synch or Mimic” have been floated as “upgrades/extensions/stand-ins” for the Five, which suggests that they’re already thinking about ways to improve functionality by adding to the “circuit” or about ways to maintain service if one of the Five needs to be replaced.
Similarly, I love how the “Proteus problem” shows how Resurrection is changing our perceptions of so many things in Krakoan society. From his introduction, Proteus has been shown as inherently dangerous because of the way that his powers damage his body - but with the Resurrection system, Proteus is just a mutant who happens to have a chronic illness that can be treated. One interesting question...why is Proteus’ “backup mutant husk” based on Charles Xavier? Charles isn’t his father, so it’s not a question of genetic compatibility.
The Mind:
Here’s where we really get into the philosophy of identity. Hickman gets really emphatic here that these are not “just clones,” because the backups include “the essence of each mutant, how they think, how they feel, their memories, their very being.”
I’m personally inclined to agree with Hickman. Even without transference of consciousness as a real thing, I don’t think a strict view of continuity of consciousness can really hold, given the fact there are plenty of breaks in said continuity - we don’t consider people who get knocked out or blackout drunk or just have a nap to no longer be the same person, so what’s the rationale for saying that any of the Strike Team aren’t the same people who they were before?
I also love how the Cerebro part of the system adds all kinds of new problems: there’s the technical complexity of scanning every mutant mind on the planet and then storing and copying that datat to “multiple redundant “cradles,” as well as new philosophical and ethical issues about what happens when you put someone’s mind in someone else’s body, etc. More on this in a bit.
Scale:
So at least at the time that this document was written, it looks like the mutant population is back to 100,000 (although how much was the Five isn’t clear), but that there are 1 million de-powered mutants (many of whom might want to use the system to regain their powers), and 16 million mutants who were murdered and whose resurrection is a key ideological drive for Krakoa.
As Hickman points out, this brings up issues of productivity and efficiency that we’re used to seeing in industrial and technological processes. The Five’s initial rate of 200 a day would take 300 years to accomplish the goal of reversing Krakoan genocide, which is way too long a timeline.
However, it turns out that there’s a mutant version of Moore’s law: the more the Five do this, the better they get at it (with a nice nod to Wolverine, so “its estimated that capabilities could possibly reach around 30,000 a week” (or 6,000 a day), bringing the timeline down to a far more manageable decade.
A final bottleneck: Charles Xavier “is not capable of” 6,000 daily downloads, and we already seen Krakoan minds thinking about “a workaraound or a team of telepaths” to supplement someone who’s also busy attending U.N meetings, Quiet Council sessions, plotting world domination, etc.
On a policy wonk side note, I was trying to figure out how Hickman worked out these numbers, and I realized that his math assumes that Krakoa has a five day work-week. As we’ll see in House of X #6, there are major open questions about what kind of economic policy (and thus, what kind of society) this new nation-state will have. Good to see that Actual 19th Century Robber Baron Sebastian Shaw isn’t getting his own way.
One particularly odd thing about Krakoan biomachinery, according to “extensive testing,” the Five don’t actually experience “exertion,” but rather a “blissful experience” of self-actualization. This suggests the psychological equivalent of a perpetual motion machine - rather than requiring more and more labor, the damn thing requires less and less and produces “total fulfillment” as a byproduct. Weird.
Another interesting side effect is that the Five have become “an inseparable family unit” who are undergoing a process of symbiosis - given all the discussion of mechanical hiveminds, it’s worth wondering whether we’re seeing a biological one forming and to what extend is individuality being maintained.
A final, slightly odd note: this Infographic describes the Five’s socio-cultural status as that of “cultural paragons” rather than “something achievable through works,” even though the Five are explicitly described as having carried out “good works.” So what gives?
Resurrection Protocol:
One last bottleneck: the whole process seems to take at least 42 and as much as 52 hours to complete. Although they can clearly work on multiple eggs in one batch, getting that figure down would no doubt be useful in further increasing productivity.
An interesting sign of the cultural/philosophical impacts of the system: Krakoan society now has “fears regarding duplication” of an explicit moral character, and thus requires an elaborate system of confirmation to bring someone back from the dead. Thus, we start to see the formation of mutant law-enforcement entities to deal with “mutant missing persons and suspected deaths and murders,” which is presumably going to be X-Factor rather than X-Force as initially believed (since X-Force turns out to be the intelligence service instead).
A Grateful Nation:
Speaking of the burdens of statecraft, the scene shifts to the aftermath of the U.N recognition vote, where it emerges that Emma Frost used her telepathy to push the Russian ambassador to abstain rather than veto, which Xavier is ok with. Krakoa is now an internationally-recognized nation-state in good standing, something that previous mutant nations never quite managed.
This gave some parts of the fandom a good deal of trouble, but let me say as someone who’s taken a couple courses in diplomatic history, this is really quite mild stuff compared to the usual run of vote selling, wiretapping, blackmail, threats of economic or military retaliation, and other kinds of skullduggery and corruption. The world of nation-states is not one of moral purity.
Also, if we’re talking about characters being in and out of character, as much as Charles Xavier has been described as an idealist when it comes to his ultimate ends, he’s always been a pragmatist when it comes to his means when it comes to psychic powers. Mental compulsion, altering or erasing memories, mind-wiping people into mental vegetables - as long as it’s for the greater good.
I’m curious what Emma Frost’s reward will be. This scene explicitly comes after she made her bargain with Xavier and Magneto for a fifty-year monopoly for the Hellfire Trading Company and three seats on the Quiet Council, so I wonder what this bonus will be.
Mutant Diplomacy Infographic:
Speaking of the moral ambiguity of international relations, we learn from this infographic that “all current mutant diplomacy...is dependent on relationships with human nations centering on their need for mutant pharmaceuticals.” On the one hand, it’s better than basing your diplomacy on military aid. On the other hand, it’s notable that Krakoa isn’t building its diplomacy on the basis of human rights or cultural exchange or other elements of “soft power,” it’s all very transactional. (It’s also not a good sign that “nations that have rejected a trade treaty with Krakoa are considered to be naturally adversarial.)
We then get a list of non-treaty nations. Some of these inclusions make sense, others are a bit puzzling, and I have some questions about why certain nations didn’t make the list.
Asia:
Why just Iran in the Middle East? OPEC should be losing their minds about the potential for Krakoan portals to undermine the value of oil. Likewise, plenty of Middle Eastern regimes might be worried about other ethnic minorities using the Krakoan precedent to redouble their own pushes for national independence. And if it’s religious ideology, why is it only a Shia issue and not a Sunni issue?
Madripoor: given where Krakoa is located, this is probably an issue of being afraid of a new power in their sphere of influence. Also, Madripoor has tended to get up to a lot of mutant-related crimes, so they’d probably be worried about this.
North Korea: this being listed as an ideological issue is a bit strange. The official state ideology of North Korea is really peculiar, even among putatively Communist regimes, so it’s hard to tell
Europe:
I imagine the E.U’s role in negotiating trade deals probably is responsible for the relative lack of European nations on the list, but I’m surprised that none of the right-wing populist governments that have sprung up in central/eastern Europe in recent years who aren’t particularly friendly to real world minorities wouldn’t have an issue with a powerful nation of mutants.
Latveria: probably because Doom is a paranoid, egomaniacal autocrat who pursues economic autarky generally. I am curious, however, about other Marvel-specific nation states - we know that Namor isn’t going to go to Krakoa, but what is Atlantis’ foreign policy on this issue? What do the Inhumans think? Etc.
Russi: as we’ve seen from House of X #1, Russia fears a new global superpower. What’s interesting is we don’t see them exerting any successful influence on Central Asian or Baltic or ex-Soviet eastern European nations.
South America:
Brazil: is this Bolsanaro's cultural conservatism at work or something else? Because...
Venezuela: is kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum from Brazil’s current government, so it would be odd to see them on the same side of this issue. The only thing I can think of is that this might be due to Chavezista anti-imperialism. Because...
Santo Marco: contrary to what Magneto said in House of X #1, mutants have not been entirely free of the sins of conquest and imperialism, and in one of his first appearances, Magneto conquered the Republic of Santo Marco and ruled it in an extremely brutal fashion. That’s the kind of thing people remember for a long time, so I’m not surprised that you see some South American countries taking a negative view of Krakoa as a result.
Terra Verde: Similarly, Terra Verde’s government was briefly overthrown by the supervillain Diablo, and although mutants were not involved, they may be generally wary of superpower-led nation states.
Central America:
Honduras: it’s not that I think it’s implausible, but what makes Honduras different from other Central American countries on this issue?
Africa:
This is where we get a potentially really juicy plot hook. As late as X-Men Red, Wakanda has been generally positive towards mutants, especially since not only does T’challa have a personal relationship with Storm, but in the current run of Black Panther, Storm has been popularly worshipped as Hadari Yao, the Walker of Clouds.
Given that Wakanda is seen as a threat because “they do not need mutant drugs,” this may be a case of Krakoan/Moira’s paranoia that Wakanda’s advanced technology and self-sufficiency might mean that the post-human revolution might start there.
At the same time, the fact that the rest of the “Wakandan economic protectorate” also reject a trade treaty might suggest that we’re just seeing a simple story of nation-state competition for spheres of influence.
Krakoa Is For All Mutants:
In a very straight-forward example of X-Men dissenting from Xavier’s plan, we see Wolverine - who’s about to take up a significant post in Krakoa’s national security infrastructure - has a big enough problem with the amnesty program that he mentions wanting to beat “Chuck” to death for general smugness and condescension.
A whole bunch of supervillains cross-over, but while some of them will become significant as members of the Quiet Council or Captains, Apocalypse is framed as the most significant one, because he’s the only one with a pre-existing connection to Krakoa
Indeed, he goes full Disney Princess on page 27 because Krakoa “knows me, and I Krakoa,” which might be a big problem later on if Krakoan’s earlier and deeper connections to Apocalypse come into conflict with its more recent alliances with Cypher and Xavier.
At the same time, at least for the moment Apocalypse is the most ideologically on board with Xavier’s broader project, seeing it as the culmination of his life’s work.
Thus, he’s happy to say the words: “we submit to the laws of this land, be what they may, and acknowledge from this day forward, we all serve a higher purpose than want or need. One people from this day forward.” It’s an oath of citizenship, but it also speaks to the conditionality of the amnesty. And there are penalties for breaking it.
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Thoughts on House of X #4
Over the halfway mark!
Look At What They’ve Done Infographic:
Suprisingly for an issue that, in retrospect is the climax of the standard superheroics part of House of X, this issue starts with an infographic, which turns out to be one of the more controversial in HoX/PoX.
Foreshadowing what’s going to come at the end of the issue, the tone is already different from the pseudo-academic objectivity of earlier infographics, although the term “mutant erasure” evokes the activist-inspired, post-cultural turn work of critical race/gender/sexuality studies, which is something of a stepping-stone.
By contrast, describing Wanda Maximoff as both “the pretender” (does this mean “not-really-a-mutant” or “not-really-Magneto’s-daughter” or both?) and as associated with the Avengers is incredibly politically pointed, which speak to a particular kind of mutant nationalist identity that bears a good deal of grievance towards even benevolent human institutions.
Similarly, the term “human-on-mutant violence” is way too evocative of real world debates over racism and police violence to be accidental on the author’s point. It’s a depressing thought, but the 616 probably sees a lot of “what about mutant-on-mutant violence?” derailings, maybe as many as creep up in threads about HoX/Pox here...
So let’s get at the controversy: can Bolivar Trask be blamed for the Genoshan genocide? Contrary to a few voices in the fandom, I would argue strongly for the affirmative. As we see from his initial appearance, Trask created the Sentinels entirely out of racial paranoia/hatred; moreover, Sentinels have no purpose other than A. destroying all mutants and B. subjugating the human race along the way. Cassandra Nova’s actions on Genosha absolutely followed the Trask playbook of both father and son, and indeed relied on Larry Trask’s assistance to carry it out, making it a Trask affair from beginning to end.
On a final meta note, this infographic really speaks to the outsized impact that Morrison’s New X-Men and Bendis’ House of M had on the X-line for the last 15-20 years.
Observation-Analysis-Invocation-Connection:
But before we get to the punching, we get one burst of Hickman’s fascination with singularities and transhumanism, where for the first time we really get an example of how the Krakoan biological approach is going to work, showing us a surprisingly complicated biomachine:
Trinity (who runs the Secondary/External Systems part of Krakoa) uses her technopathy to gather intelligence from human mechanical systems: the Aracibo Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, “re-tasked SETI radio telescopes," both of which are real things, and the “Dyson solar observatory,” which isn’t.
Beast (who runs the Overwatch/Data Analysis part of Krakoa) uses Krakoan biocomputers and his own scientific genius to “extrapolate that data into an actionable forecast,” to deal with the delay caused by the immense distances between Krakoa and Sol’s Forge.
Professor X and Cerebro handle the direct Connection between Krakoa and the away team, while the Cuckoos link Trinity, Beast, Storm into a psychic link with Xavier, which means all of the parts of the system work seamlessly even as Storm handles the Invocation of visually representing Jean Grey’s thoughts.
If you step back and think about it, this is an astonishing technological feat: with minimal reliance on machine technology, Krakoa has established a NASA “KASA Mission Control” that can send data across half a solar system almost(?) instantly.
That’s before we even get to the whole secondary purpose of the system, which is to allow Professor X and the Five to resurrect an up-to-date version of anyone who dies on the mission, which is one hell of a life-rope.
Thematically, we see a really sharp distinction between biological and mechanical transhumanism/singularity: “KASA Mission Control” is described in biological terms, “function[ing] as a singular organism,” and also in religious terms, with “eight of us acting as one” explicitly labelled as “Communion.” And yet...the eight people involved retain their separate personalities and identities and no separate, artificial intelligence is created.
Should We Fear the Worst?
And across five hundred million miles, all Krakoa gets is bad news. Archangel and Husk, the redshirt’s redshirts on this mission, are dead before they do anything; Nightcrawler has some level of “internal injury,” and Wolverine almost had his arm blown off.
Incidentally, page 7 is where something of a problem crops up with Jean Grey’s characterization. As people have noted, Jean Grey starts off in the passive communications role (indeed, she’s even reliant on Monet to do that job) and doesn’t really improve from there. With the added context of her wearing her Silver Age miniskirt costume, it’s all a bit sus, especially if you’ve been reading a much more self-possessed, confident, and all-around more powerful version of Jean Grey in X-Men: Red. For a while, many of us were thinking that Jean is a younger backup, but that seems to have been Jossed by the resurrection ceremony in House of X #5.
Better characterization abounds for the men: following their conversation from the previous issue, Cyclops and Wolverine have different perspectives about the question of whether to continue on with the mission (another key element of the special ops/espionage thriller genre). Cyclops emphasizes pushing on to make Warren and Paige’s sacrifice meaningful, Logan agrees but rather because of the existential stakes of the mission. There’s an interesting parallel there between Xavier and Magneto and means vs. ends.
Following the catastrophe, Nightcrawler successfully inserts the struje team, while “Jean and Monet will stay to maintain our connection with Krakoa;”we know know that part was crucial in more than one way, but it is a continuation of some troubling gender dynamics.
Meanwhile, despite being “technically...just an observer” (and doesn’t that ring of all kinds of Cold War proxy wars), Omega Sentinel takes action to prompt Dr. Gregor into retaliation, similarly playing to the nationalistic theme of “if you don’t, he will have died for nothing.”
Orchis’ retaliation doesn’t go so well, as we see Wolverine carving his way through an AIM securtiy team and Nightcrawler bloodlessly tying up two scientists (note the further emphasis on differing personalities and values; whoever these X-Men might be, they’re not mindless followers) towards popping two of the four constraint collars.
Unfortunately, this is followed up by a couple pages of more Jean Grey being awfully Damselly: yes, she’s holding open the connection, but she’s coded as way more helpless and indecisive than Monet (who gets to go out like a badass defending the shuttle), and the line “I dunno what to say, Marvel Girl. Try harder” really sums it all up. So far, this is reading a lot more like Stan Lee’s Jean Grey (but not Jack Kirby’s) than Chris Claremont’s.
With the tension ratcheting ever-higher, we see Cyclops succeeding at his mission, while Mystique...doesn’t and then gets promptly blown out an airlock. The “habitat” connection and the odd business with her getting “turned around” despite having the plans for the base in her head like everyone else is highly suspicious (it might suggest the use of a Krakoa flower, but no one’s ever suggested what her motivation would be for doing so), but it’ll have to go on the list of plot threads that weren’t resolved in House of X.
In a development that really ought to be troubling to more people, Dr. Gregor throws away whatever moral compunctions she has about waking up a potentially violently insane A.I because “I don’t let them stop us. No matter what,” a potentially existential downside to Omega’s strategy.
Do Whatever It Takes:
Having reached the “darkest moment” in the story diagram, Professor X orders his students to “do whatever it takes” to prevent Mother Mold from coming on line. This prompts Cyclops to give the order to Nightcrawler and Wolverine to jump out into unprotected space to sever the last constraint collar. All in all, we’re following the traditional beats of the special ops/espionage genre pretty closely, down to the team leader’s moral anguish moment.
Appropriately, we then get a quiet moment where Kurt and Logan contemplate whether or what will be “waiting for us on the other side.” Even knowing what we know now about the resurrection system, there’s still a good deal of weight to this moment, because in a way this Kurt and this Logan are going to die and whether they’re the same Kurt and Logan who will be reborn is a matter I’ll take up in Powers of X #5 along with the difficult topic of the philosophy of identity. (I’m going to leave aside the question of them having gone to literal Heaven and Hell in the past, because my Doylist position is that those story threads were probably a bad idea and my Watsonian No Prize is that you can’t remember the afterlife once returned to earth.)
Surprisingly, things get only more metaphysically weird when the two teleport outside and Wolverine starts chopping his way through the last arm. Mother Mold wakes up and immdiately starts talking about Greek mythology. Mother Mold’s interpretation of the Titanomachy is a little choppy (as we might expect from an insane A.I): on the one hand, if humanity are the Olympian gods as the creator of the Sentinels and the mutants are the Titans because of “their spoiled lineage” (this doesn’t quite work, because the Titans preceded the Olympians), then the Sentinels being “Man” makes sense. And as someone who’s written his share of college papers about omniscience/predestination/free will in Greek myth and drama, there’s a plausible anti-theist position whereby human beings might “judge and find you both wanting.” (Although that language is too Book of Daniel for the Greeks.) On the other hand, if the Sentinels are man, them having “stolen your fire” doesn’t work either - humanity was given fire by the Titan Prometheus - unless the argument is that Wolverine is Prometheus because he yeets Mother Mold into the sun?
Regardless, it’s a very ominous note for Mother Mold to go out on, because the consistent anti-human/Olympian tone suggests this insane A.I might hate humans way more than it hates mutants.
With the day seemingly saved, we transition into the Rogue One scenario where Cyclops is murdered by a vengeful Dr. Gregor and Jean is torn apart by Sentinel drones.
As gruesome as all of this is, I think it does play a very important role in explaining a good deal of Charles Xavier’s change of mind with regard to human-mutant harmony and assimilation. While this incident didn’t prompt any of the decisions that he’s made along the way - this mission is happening post-Xavier’s announcement and a day before the U.N vote, making it quite late in the X^1 timeline - I think it does a good job of showing us the kind of thought patterns that have led Xavier to this conclusion. In addition to everything he’s seen from Moira’s past nine lives, which only lend a greater sense of urgency and the fear of inevitability, Xavier himself has experienced the deaths of “our children” over and over again as the founder of the X-Men, and clearly both the direct trauma (keep in mind, he’s hooked into the minds of all of his X-Men as they die) and the pain he feels at humanity’s apathy/atrocity fatigue, goes a long way to explaining why he’ll make the decision that integration and assimilation are no longer viable options.
For all the crap that people sometime sling at Hickman over his use of charts, I will say that the way that “NO MORE” weaponizes them by extra-textually demonstrating the breakdown of the facade of calm objectivity is incredibly effective.
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Thoughts on Powers of X #2
We’re working on a deadline here, so let’s get to it!
Once Again, We Return...to Octopusheim (X^0):
In this section, Charles and Moira go to Octopusheim to share what they’ve learned with Magneto in order to gain his support for their whole mutant unity masterplan.
Thanks to the timeline infographic from last issue, we know exactly when this particular meeting at Octopusheim is happening - it’s Year 43, four years before the “Moira/Xavier/Magneto schism,” six years before the Genoshan genocide, and nine years before the present day. This timing is quite interesting, because it suggests a high degree of patience on their part. After all, it’s been twenty six years since Moira first introduced herself(herselves?) to Charles, which is a lot of time to not make moves. On the other hand, having a head start didn’t help in earlier lives, so there may be some other rationale.
There’s a really interesting echoing of Giant-Sized X-Men #1, with Xavier explicitly in the role of recruiter once again (we’ll see other pitches of his throughout the rest of HoX/PoX). The difference is that rather than relying on his normal posture of benevolent, almost wizardly, superior knowledge, Charles is using an admission of mutual fault to put them on an even level, which is necessary to gain Magneto’s trust for the psychic link to Moira.
Incidentally, when it comes to character voice, Hickman does an impressive job of nailing not just Magneto but the specific era of Magneto when Chris Claremont re-invented him as the Miltonian anti-villain holding the world to ransom in the name of enlightened despotism and mutant self-protection. “Who determines waht is truly good and truly evil?...I do. I decide.” is particularly well-observed, right down to his ironically Nietzschean self-conception.
At the same time, Moira’s query is clearly meant to shift the terms of discussion from the scientific (”you’re a specialist, specializing in the behavior of mutants”) to the religious. As her warning that “my truth is profound and life changing. It’s primal...” suggests, Moira is testifying in the Protestant sense of the word.
What follows is a series of psychic images of failure that bring the Satanically-proud Magneto to his knees, but remain really ambiguous: his death by Sentinel could be from pretty much any life other than 9, although 4 or 5 seem most likely; given his costume, the image of him in chains seems to be from the Trial of Magneto, which could be in Life 4 or 10; the central image of him with furious glowing eyes could be generic or perhaps a reference to the couple times he’s used artifical power-boosters; the image of him in a SHIELD tank being observed by Nick Fury is unclear; and him fighting the Shadow King is particularly singular, since the Shadow King has yet to show up in the narrative. Interestingly, we don’t see Moira showing him his death at Apocalypse’s hands in Life 9.
For his own part, Xavier is preaching a much more secular argument: mutant unity in order to not merely survive but thrive, which is very Adam Smithian. I’m not the expert that Nir Revel is when it comes to drawing parallels between Israeli history and HoX/PoX, but even with the one course I’ve taken in Israeli history, I could see the parallel between the bargain that Magneto strikes with Xavier (”I won’t acquiesce to sympathy or doubt...I won’t give an inch, I will check you at every moment of weakness”) reads a lot like the compromises made at the founding of the State of Israel between the leaders of the various political parties.
Then again, I think the allegory works for political leaders at the time of the founding of any number of nation-states, which is one of the things that makes the business of nation-building so very difficult. At every step, there are innumerable obstacles of the moment, yet the decisions made on how to overcome them will always have unforeseeable long-term consequences. Something to keep one’s eye on for the future.
Does It Need Doing? (X^1):
In a direct follow-up from Powers of X #1 and House of X #1, Cyclops gets briefed on the Mother Mold/Nimrod mission. Incidentally, I think this segment is a great counter-example to the somewhat overblown statements from some in the fandom that all of these characters are mindless pod-people who are acting out of character; throughout this briefing, Scott is consistently snarky in a very dry way that feels very in character to me.
Magneto’s pointed reference to Operation Paperclip with regards to Orchis I think further emphasizes an ongoing theme that Hickman’s working on with regards to nation-states, nation-building, and nationalism: no nation is free from sin. Even after fighting “the good war” against fascism, the U.S recruited Nazi scientists to give it a technological edge in the Cold War for the same stated reasons of necessity that drive both Krakoan and Orchis policy.
Following on from House of X #2, not only are humans a mere road-bump compared to Sentinels, but even Mother Mold itself is viewed as a secondary problem compared to the hostile AI singularity that is Nimrod.
And further showing how everything links to everything, this mission happens because of the information that Moira brought back from Life 9/X^2. More on this in a bit.
Machines Are Pure Information (X^2):
Speaking of which, we shift to another briefing on Krakoa, one life and a hundred years distant, in which Rasputin and Cardinal brief Apocalypse about the fruits of their own partially-successful clandestine mission.
While Apocalypse is very Apocalypsy in this segment, what with the idea that civilization is the fruit of war and that he’d happily sacrifice Rasputin and Cardinal both for the information he’s received, it is really interesting to see him talk about the powers and perils of information and the dangers of analysis paralysis; this last topic is particularly important as the series continues to explore the nature of these vast, universe-spanning consciousnesses. More on this in a bit.
Speaking of which, we see Nimrod the Lesser getting really distracted by trying to figure out what the mutants were up to, something that will arguably be his downfall. Incidentally, Nimrod’s casual execution of two humans for mouthing off to him not only suggests the lie at the heart of the Man-Machine Supremacy, but also that whatever kind of A.I he might be, he absolutely did not pass the “Heller-Faust line,” because he’s clearly a sociopath who lashes out violently due to emotional impulse.
Going back to Asteroid K, we go back to a discussion of how the machines’ problem is that they “archive every moment of everything,” which makes it impossible for them or anyone else to actually make use of the data. If we apply the same problem to the Phalanx and the other universe-spanning consciousnesses, which for all their vaunted intelligences seem to restrict themselves to consumption of resources and calculation of data without any higher purpose, I’m left wondering whether these singularities are actually idiot gods capering at the heart of the universe.
By contrast, the mutant resistance find their purpose in transcending the bare necessities of survival in the name of transcendant meaning.
Nimbus Infographic:
This infographic, read together with the one that ends the issue, is where we really start to see what X^3 is about, namely Hickman’s thinking on technological/mechanical transhumanism.
To begin with, we learn that the people I’ve been referring to as blutants describe themselves as “post-human,” which suggests that the “human-machine-mutant war” ultimately ended in some sort of synthesis between mutant and machine. Not only do the post-humans have “seer-selves,” but we see that Nimbus started as the “copying - and integration - of their minds into a single thinking machine.”
Moving on, it’s interesting to note that the language of X^3 is entirely focused on terms of assimilation between cultures - will it take place as a consensual “suitor-alliance” or forceful consumption of the lesser by the greater? Is there a difference, when we’re talking about the “ascension” of copied minds?
It’s not a good sign that Nimbus’ interaction with Niburu is all about using “force...to inject” a planet with consciousness, or that the Worldmind decides to take a detour to “consume multiple Saturinian and Jovian moons ino order to increase its...intellect.” Over and over again, intellect and consumption go hand in hand, but we never see intellect actually getting used for anything meaningful (transcendant or otherwise).
Universal Predators (X^3):
Speaking of which, we see in the next section that the whole project of the post-human Outreach project is to negotiate the terms of ascension so that their culture is “preserved” rather than “mined,” in a context in which civilizations interact seemingly only in terms of predator and prey.
It’s particularly ominous that the Phalanx’s opening words are that they “ate your worldmind,” in a process that involves a lost struggle for “sovereignty” - a term that should ring particularly ominously given Krakoa’s struggle to be recognized as a sovereign nation-state.
That the post-humans’ goal is ascension is likewise troubling, because of how closely it tracks the self-abnegating human religion of X^2 (which we’ll see in the next issue) and suggests that the post-humans have abandoned the biological transhumanism of the X^2 mutant resistance.
Types of Societies Infographic:
This infographic reads very differently in the wake of Powers of X #5, suggesting a trans-universe taxonomy of intelligences, with each rung on the ladder thinking it’s the biggest and baddest out there, only to become fodder for the next higher up.
As people have noted, Xavier’s backup of mutant minds through Cerebro potentially puts Krakoa on the ladder, since they’re potentially far above the SI:1 (Machine) level if they ever combine the backups.
At the same time, we’ll see in future issues a number of biomachines - the eight-person long-distance communications system we see in Powers of X , the Five-person (or six-person, given the integral role that Xavier/Cerebro plays) resurrection system, the six-person Krakoan systems (Interface, Transit/Monitoring, Defense/Observation, Secondary/External, Overwatch/Data Analysis), and possibly the five-part Cerebro system - that would seem to be a parallel to the SI:10 (HIve) level of machine consciousness.
Similarly, Cerebro’s database of mutant minds (or the population of Krakoa) could potentially go straight up the chain from Intelligence (SI:100-10,000) to Phalanx (SI:1,000,000)...if the database was turned into a consciousness of its own following the uncommon Kree model, although that would seem to run counter to Krakoan taboos.
Speaking of my skepticism about the intellect of these machine consciousnesses, the deception at the heart of the Technarch (SI:10,000) and Phalanx relationship suggests that, on a universe-wide scale, the Technarchs seem to be rather mindless drones whose only purpose is providing resources to their masters.
One thing that’s slightly odd about Hickman’s description of the Worldmind (SI:100,000) is that, based on its descriptions here, it really should be a Type I Kardashev civilization rather than a Type II, since the line between I and II is planetary vs. solar system-wide energy usage/control.
A final note on the ambiguity of the suitor-alliance vs. consumption relationship - while the post-humans view Ascension as an alternative, this infographic describes Ascension as “consuming” for the purpose of “adding to its intelligence needs.” Either way, you’re just food for thought.
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