X-Men In General

My personal favorite is “X-Men Vol.90 | Captain America looks at Rogue while making a horrid noise.”

Nice, how are you liking it so far?

Edited by RedM on Aug 31st 2019 at 5:26:12 AM

The very best, like no one ever was. Check out my Spider-Man fanfic here! [1]

haha, the X-bot is amazing. "New Exiles New Vol. 25 | Shadowcat's stomach is an act of war." I remember Joe Quesada justifying the overuse of "NEW" behind several comics, so I could totally see some alternate-Marvel thinking "New New!" is a good idea.

How am I liking talking with human beings, TV Tropes, or HOX/POX? Ohhhh I get it. Answer: a lot!

I'm just happy that (at the moment) the X-Men are (hopefully) getting an interesting status quo from a writer with a good track record, and are not being discounted in favor of the Inhumans, etc.

Yeah, nothing could make me view the Inhumans as a viable alternative to the X-Men. I’m loving HOXPOX. HOX #2 blew my mind with the Moira X stuff. I find it interesting that it’s not until HOX #3, issue 6/12 overall, that we actually see a team of present-day X-Men go off to do something. I hadn’t cared because the preceding five issues were so interesting. It was great to see some action happen in the present day and to see Nightcrawler do his thing. Can’t wait to see what’s next.

The very best, like no one ever was. Check out my Spider-Man fanfic here! [1]

In terms of the plot and the ideas, the book is very interesting. There's no denying that. The problem is that the characters... aren't. We're already halfway through, but most of the characters are widely spread and haven't gotten much attention, including the new ones. I could barely tell you anything about Rasputin or the Cardinal nor give enough of a damn to bother, because the book sure doesn't seem to.

And if you don't already know any of the preexisting characters, you likely won't give a damn either. For all the book has gone on about Moira and her past, all her different lives and failures, all of that, we still don't know the new improved Moira as a person. What are her likes? Her dislikes? Is she fiery, passionate, cold, closed off? At this point we don't have a clue because the book is more concerned with using her as a plot device than fleshing her out as a character. And everyone else doesn't fare much better.

Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around

I'd disagree. We're getting good characterization, even though it's scattershot. It's just that it's not from the characters we expect. The good characterization we got in HOX #3 was for the scientists on the Orchis. But not yet for Cyclops, Xavier, and so on.

I think Hickman is deliberately holding back the characterization on the X-Men in order to make them look more alien and giving us more of a perspective on why humans (not humanity, but regular humans) would be afraid of them.

We know Hickman can write great characterization from his run on FF, so I'm thinking this is leading somewhere fascinating. I actually think this is the mid-way point, so the book is going to "switch" perspectives and we're going to see it from Cyclop's POV.

After all, the next issue is called "It Will Be Done."

I’m fine with that for now. I’m liking the big ideas. I can see why people didn’t like this approach to the Avengers, because to me the Avengers have historically been more character-focused and less “big sci-fi concept”. The very premise of the X-Men asks more philosophical/sociological/sci-fi questions, so I’m cool with those being explored. Hopefully HOXPOX explores some cool stuff and sets up a new status quo that will provide groundwork for interesting character stuff in the new ongoings once HOXPOX is over.

And I don’t know about you, but I’ve enjoyed the characters so far. Nimrod, Cyclops, Xorn, Rasputin... we’re not seeing them sit around the mansion and chat, but we’re getting good moments with them.

Edited by RedM on Sep 1st 2019 at 12:12:53 PM

The very best, like no one ever was. Check out my Spider-Man fanfic here! [1]

Im feeling the same way, i get what hickman is going for but all the charts and high concept set up is boring me, and the x-men seemed to have lost their inviduality which again I get is the point building up the mutants paralleling robuts but the charts just arent that good.

I'm also in the position of feeling rather cold on Hickman's run so far. I'm very much someone who prefers character-driven stories, while Hickman does plot-driven stories. So I find it hard to really care about his work here.

X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.

Considering the character derailment the X-Men suffer so much, maybe downplaying the characters for a bit isn’t so bad.

Characters have already been ruined in various ways after all.

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."

What standout X-runs in the past 20 years do you guys really enjoy? To bide my time till the next HOXPOX, I want to catch-up on what I've missed.

I'll start: Things I reread from that era besides New X-Men are:

• Whedon's Astonishing X-Men
• Milligan's X-Force and X-Statix
• Remender's Uncanny X-Force
• Spurrier's X-Men: Legacy and X-Force
• Bunn's Magneto
• Cornell's MI-13
• Gillen's wrap-up of Uncanny X-Men
• David's X-Factor (and the short-lived follow-up)

I didn’t think I would like Hickman’s run mainly because I disliked his Avengers but I’m pretty intrigued so far, namely because we’re finally getting something fresh-ish. The lack of character focus is not ideal, the X-Men is at its best when it’s a soap opera, but maybe after HOXPOX the direction will shift

More X-Bot summaries

These ones get kinda meta

Edited by megaeliz on Sep 2nd 2019 at 8:33:13 AM

In fairness, you could argue that doing something fresh and new would mean not falling back on what worked in the past. I believe I read some people saying that at least some of the problems with the X-Men (when they haven't been getting actively screwed by executive decisions from the likes of Perlmutter, that is) stemmed from writers wanting to take the X-Men to back to how they were when they were reading the comics?

Edited by KarkatTheDalek on Sep 2nd 2019 at 10:40:45 AM

Oh God! Natural light!

I think the nuance here that a lot of writers tend to miss, is that there's a difference between recognizing and building on what works about a franchise, and just being regressive. (Well, usually anyway)

Edited by megaeliz on Sep 2nd 2019 at 2:53:36 PM

So this just dawned on me, but does anyone think that after the failed attempt to make the Inhumans like the X-Men, Now it seems like this new run is making the X-Men like the Inhumans?

One Strip! One Strip!

I've said at the time that if any book that should deal with the social politics of humans and natural born superhumans, it's the X-Men. But Marvel wants to be as apolitical as possible.

So, House of X #4.

Professor X links together eight X-Men to look and see how the other X-Men are doing — another example of a hivemind. The explosion last issue didn't kill all the X-Men, only Archangel and Husk, but Cyclops has the rest go forward with the job of destroying the Mother Mold, leaving only Monet and Marvel Girl behind on the ship.

Things actually go pretty well, as they disengage three of the four Control Collars for the Mother Mold, preparing to drop it into the sun. Dr. Gregor manages to eject Mystique out into space, killing her, however, and starts to boot up the Mother Mold, not caring if it will be sane.

Humans begin to board the ship, so Monet sends Marvel Girl on the escape pod as they stays behind. Monet is revealed to be able to transform into Penance.

Cyclops tells Wolverine and Nightcrawler that they have to stop the Mother Mold before it comes online, so Nightcrawler teleports them onto the last Control Collar in space and Wolverine manages to destroy it before they die and the Mother Mold falls into the sun as it comes online.

Before Cyclops can escape, however, he is shot and killed by Dr. Gregor and Karima. Marvel Girl's escape pod is overwhelmed by Sentinels. Professor X telepathically hears Cyclops tell him that the Mother Mold is destroyed, but every single one of the X-Men sent are dead.

The issue ends with Professor X crying and declaring "No more" as the previous genocides are shown. The first quote was "No more" and there is no end quote.

THEN: SOMETHING SINISTER

NOW: SOCIETY

I genuinely have no idea what's going to happen next.

Edited by alliterator on Sep 4th 2019 at 3:43:30 AM

Ironic that the House of X #5 blurb is SOCIETY.

Oof. OOF. That last scene with Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and Mother Mold was just perfect. More callbacks to Magneto's "We are gods" speech.

When Xavier is bringing his hive mind online, notice the psi-pattern above his head—looks like the Librarian's tattoo in Year 1000.

I'm surprised Husk died. Depending on how you want to write her, you could make her near-invulnerable; in Generation X #1 back in the 1990s she survived being sliced open.

I'm curious about what Mystique's demands were, from Powers of X #1. Since she seems to have died, was it that she be a part of this mission, for better or for worse? Or was it "Make sure you rescue Sabretooth"?

The data pages being all chaotic on the last pages is a wonderful touch. It's one thing to read about 15 million mutants dying in Genosha, but when some of those images include the main cast, it's genuinely more affecting.

Edited by flawlessvoid on Sep 4th 2019 at 7:41:48 AM

So, House Of X #4 was... rough to say the least.

Edited by JWR on Sep 4th 2019 at 11:04:21 AM

Not really? At least for me. A lot of the edge is taken off when you realize that most if not all of these characters are coming back for the ongoings.

Edited by kkhohoho on Sep 4th 2019 at 1:09:34 PM

Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around

By that logic there's nothing to feel for in comics then.

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."

I meant in the context of this specific run. It's one thing to assume that most of them will be brought back at some point because that's just how comics work. It's another for the publisher to more or less to confirm it outright.

Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around

For me, I think, it was the way they died and how Xavier felt their deaths and the ending of the issue, with the words "NO MORE" against the backdrop of mutant genocides.

I mean Matthew Rosenberg killed off a bunch of characters, too, but I didn't feel anything those times. This time, Hickman made me feel more in one issue than Rosenberg's entire run and I know these characters are returning.

It was Wolverine and Nightcrawler's last words that got me.

Edited by alliterator on Sep 4th 2019 at 11:20:31 AM

Still though...holy sh*t.

Other interesting details:

• They refer to Wanda as a Pretender...
• "No more" is just one word away from the infamous "No more mutants." Think it's on purpose?

Calling it, we're going to see a Reset Button. Or maybe those ongoings are featuring clones of the fallen?

Hope death matters again for this book. I would say wipe out 90% of Mutants and keep them dead for at least a year.

Mileena Madness