X-Men In General

I didn't even notice that. Yeah, that's an improvement. The hot pants are just . . . why.

Don't forgot Xavier Jr. and Raze, I want to forget Raze.

edited 30th Jul '14 9:43:29 PM by MegaJ

Any time a new character shows up in X-Men, there's about a 50% chance they're either a Summers, or one of Mystique's kids.

im honestly surprised there isnt one of both yet. next summer is raze marries rachel. that we we got the summer's, grey, darkholme, and wolverine bloodlines

...*still ships X-23/Teen-Scott* *just because its hilarious* or X23/Teen Scott/Teen Jean OT3!

I'm still waiting for my Cyclops/Wolverine time-traveling future kid.

It'll happen. Mark my word.

edited 1st Aug '14 11:07:58 AM by TobiasDrake

I know I said I was going to drop all X-Men stuff after Battle of the Atom, but the sheer insanity of what I heard about from Xavier's will compels me to post about it. I guess Marvel isn't too offended to have things semi-match the Fox X-Men movies after all. I mean, marrying Mystique? Is there ANY other reason for that other than the semi-romance between Mystique and Xavier started by First Class? I'm just still in love with the fact that Mystique got pregnant from both Xavier and Wolverine within a year of each other. That is goddamn priceless in my book.

I still kinda think that, no matter how weak that story winds up being, it'll be worth it purely for Emma's reaction. Anka deserves a ton of love for that, actually, because he nailed it so perfectly.

On another note, Bendis was apparently asked at SDCC about the possibility of Dazzler getting a new series. And that got me thinking. Dazzler's original series was never particularly good, but I think a lot of that had to do with the times. The fact is, superhero comics at the time just weren't ready for a book like Dazzler. They hadn't reached the point where it could be done really well.

But I think comics have progressed enough to make it work. You put Gillen and Mc Kelvie on a Dazzler series now, and it would be amazing. KSD's another writer who could probably do it effectively - there's already a certain lyrical quality to the dialogue in Pretty Deadly, so I think she might be able to handle a book about a singer. There aren't many other writers whose chances I'd like on something like that. Maybe Bryan Lee O'Malley. Maybe Jen Van Meter, whose Hopeless Savages was excellent. Gillen and Mc Kelvie would be absolutely perfect, though - music already plays a huge role in all the work they do together.

So I'd like, in a year or so, for Marvel to launch a new Dazzler series. Bring her back to basics - an aspiring singer trying to get her career going, while also getting involved in superheroics. On writing, get either Gillen, KSD, Van Meter or O'Malley. For art, either Mc Kelvie or Tradd Moore. (I'd like to say Emma Rios, but I think her style might be a bit too serious for what I'm thinking of.)

Say, where does the top-left panel take place◊? Have they rebuilt Mutant Town? That's an awesome set of cameos, by the way. Seems to be most of the post-M-Day Z-listers there.

It's Genosha.

Also, when I read that issue, I didn't notice Kylun. Yay Kylun! Kylun was cool.

Mindblast, Kylun, Bliss, Headhunter (with her back turned), Dragoness, Outlaw, Razorhead and... some purple person. All really obscure, all confirmed still powered. Bendis (or the artist) clearly did do the research. Apart from Kylun all of them are rather sketchy characters as well, assassins, mostly.

edited 1st Aug '14 4:07:12 PM by HamburgerTime

Wasn't it Madripoor? You know the one which is not currently adorning the head of a giant dragon heading for Shanghai?

Madripoor is the one on top of a dragon. Genosha is the mutant-populated island.

Last time I checked Genosha was a bunch of ruins. There was still a lot of mutants (and ex-mutants), sure, but the place was fairly destroyed.

Anyway, it is Madripoor. There is a clear caption above that panel in the finished comic. I don't know why there is so many super powered beings there but it is definitively Madripoor.

PS:Have it ever been mentioned that Madripoor is an Islamic country? 'Cause it have a fairly Islamic flag.

edited 1st Aug '14 4:37:40 PM by Heatth

Wait, shit, right, Mystique bought Madripoor. My bad.

And Madripoor is an East Asian country, so it shouldn't be particularly Islamic. Actually, it's traditionally been basically a pirate nation.

If it's near Indonesia I could see it having a significant Muslim presence.

Lets see if it continues to have a population that is not simply classified as "Dragon Snacks" in the future.

Heatth is right. Stop guessing, guys. They say it in the issue. It's also relevant in context. It's Madripoor.

Genosha was destroyed a long time ago. Why would it be Genosha?

edited 1st Aug '14 8:17:05 PM by TobiasDrake

Yeah, I had just completely forgotten that it was Madripoor. I forgot Mystique bought it as a new mutant haven.

That would explain why almost all of the mutants there are shifty at best.

Kylun was a hero. I guess he was just there to try the ice cream.

Almost.

By the way, this is literally the first time he's been seen since Excalibur disbanded.

edited 1st Aug '14 9:07:49 PM by HamburgerTime

I forgot about that also. I vaguely remember Mystique claiming she had this intention, but I don't remember she acutally implementing it. Was it careless reading of my part of Bendis did, indeed, a poor job setting that? Because I find the idea of a "new Genosha" of sorts, ruled by Mysrique, to be quite intriguing. Specially due to how unstable such status quo is (Mystique is no Magneto, to be able to rule a country uncontested, even if the country is pretty much just a city-state).

There are plenty Islamic nations in the Far East, actually. Particularly in the South East Asia. If Madripoor is anywhere near Indonesia, being Islamic is not far fetched.

edited 1st Aug '14 9:42:50 PM by Heatth

We didn't see Mystique actually inviting mutants or anything, but we didn't need to. It might've made for a fun sub-plot, but that would've meant panel space taken away from the other stuff Bendis was doing.

It could be much more than a fun subplot. This could be a big deal in the post Phoenix mutantkind. Just like Genosha was.

Anyway, I think Bendis already threating Madripoor like Mystique's personal mutant heaven (which he did, not only in the art but also the dialog) without actually establishing is poor writing. I usually like his stories, but that was not well handled, as far I can see. I don't need detailed accounts of how Mystique went around inviting people (though that would be nice), but having the X-Men at last reacting to the news would be good. It is kinda weird seeing them so blasé about the thing. They should find it at last a big noteworthy.

Anyway, about the flag and Madripoor's religion. Digging a bit more, discovered Madripoor is supposed to be situated between Singapore and Sumatra. There are, indeed, plenty Muslims in the region, so it wouldn't be too weird if Madripoor were Islamic. However, I came to realize its flag could be a reference to Singapore's own flag and Singapore itself is not Islamic (although it does have a sizable Muslim population)

So, yeah, it could go either way. There are most certainly a sizable Islamic native population there, but the majority religion could easily be something else.