Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics, NYCC | Tagged: Dawn Of X, House of X, marvel, NYCC, x-men, X-ual Healing - The Weekly X-Men Recap Column

All the Important X-Men News from NYCC Plus House of X #6 [X-ual Healing 10-2-19]

Published Mon, 07 Oct 2019 09:00:05 -0500

by Jude Terror

Comments

Another New York Comic Con has come and gone, so what did we learn about the future of the X-Books at this year's show?

First of all, the most important question: did Marvel announced any new Chris Claremont comics?

Well, we speculated about it on Friday. Then in a live stream interview, Claremont revealed that he was in talks with Marvel for a project with Salvador Larroca. But when the Marvel Fanfare panel happened with Claremont and C.B. Cebulski, our reporter on the scene asked about it and got a wishy-washy answer. There's something coming in 2020, but no indication it will be more substantial than one-shots or short stories in anthologies.

Benjamin Percy shared some Dawn of X details about the new X-Force book.

Ed Brisson shared some details about New Mutants.

The Dawn of X panel brought us a look inside Powers of X #6, a new Dawn of X trailer, and more Dawn of X covers and interior art. Most importantly though, the panel announced the first Wave 2 book: Wolverine by Ben Percy and Adam Kubert.

Marvel is pulling some shenanigans about whether or not Kitty Pryde will be the Red Queen (or King) of the Hellfire Club.

Marvel Future Fight got some X-Men updates.

And that's about it. No details on the X-Men DLC pack for Marvel Ultimate Alliance. No Dawn of X books besides Wolverine. No Claremont comics. No X-Men Marvel Studios news. All in all, not the most eventful NYCC for X-Men news.

With that out of the way, it's time to get to recapping the penultimate chapter of HoXPoX. Let's kick this thing off…

Sworn to sell comics for Marvel executives who feared and hated the fact that Fox owned their movie rights, The Uncanny X-Men suffered great indignities, but thanks to a corporate merger and a line-wide relaunch, the X-Men can finally get back to doing what they do best: being objectively the best franchise in all of comics.

What Happened in House of X #6?

HOUSE OF X #6 (OF 6)
AUG190870
(W) Jonathan Hickman (A/CA) Pepe Larraz
THE INEVITABLE FUTURE.
The revolutionary tale of Mutantkind's rise comes to a conclusion that will lay the groundwork of the X-Men's stories for years to come! Superstar writer Jonathan Hickman (AVENGERS, FANTASTIC FOUR, SECRET WARS) and Marvel Young Gun artist Pepe Larraz (EXTERMINATION, AVENGERS) wrap the series that changes everything!
Rated T+
In Shops: Oct 02, 2019
SRP: $4.99

The issue opens with Charles Xavier meeting with Moira MacTaggert and Magneto in Moira's Krakoan No-Space, right before giving his big telepathic speech to the world that we saw a glimpse of in House of X #1. After some affirmation from Magneto, Xavier dons the Cerebro helmet and tells the world that his dream was a lie and they don't deserve the gift of mutant drugs that cure human illness, but they can pay for it by recognizing Krakoa as a nation and giving all mutants amnesty. This follows with an infographic revealing more members of the Quiet Council of Krakoa, the mutant government.

For the Autumn sector, we have Professor X, Magneto, and Apocalypse. For Winter, Mister Sinister, Exodus, and Mystique. For Spring, Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, and one redacted name, the Red King. For Summer, Storm, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler. For Krakoa, Cyper and Krakoa. Also listed are "The Great Captains," field commanders that take control in times of war. These are Cyclops, Gorgon, Bishop, and Magik.

Now we see a meeting of this council, the first order of business of which is to determine what to do with Sabretooth. This evolves into an argument about whether its worse to kill mutants or to kill humans. Mutant on mutant violence is bad, but mutants can now always come back from the dead, while humans cannot. Of course, there's the matter of war with humans, which is something different. The council agrees that mutants shall not be allowed to kill humans. Next they talk about property rights, which leads to venerating Krakoa as a sacred land. And finally, Nightcrawler says that mutants have got to f*ck. And so, the first three laws of Krakoa are:

Make more mutants
Murder no man
Respect this sacred land

With that accomplished, the council finds Sabretooth guilty, and though he protests by threatening to kill all of them and generations of their children, he is nonetheless sentenced to eternal stasis deep within Krakoa, dragged off by vines to begin his sentence. Xavier says that there might one day be an opportunity for him to redeem himself.

The issue ends with a scene of mutant celebration, with fireworks and beer. We see Cyclops, Wolverine, and Jean Grey embracing (threesome?). We see Jean and Emma Frost sharing beers while Emma gives Cyclops the eyes (threesome?). We see Iceman, Archangel, and Beast drinking and laughing (threesome?). We also get an inner monologue from Apocalypse, who is pleased with the way things have evolved (if your plan makes Apocalypse happy, you might want to rethink your plan), and a final scene of Xavier and Magneto looking over what they've created (threesome?).

The final few pages are an infographic showing maps of Krakoa. Next week, the big finale!

Learning to Love (or Hate) the X-Men Relaunch Part 11

So one thing I liked about this issue was that it didn't feel like filler, as quite a few of the issues in this 12-issue series have. Sure, it was decompressed — we basically got three scenes, and the only real action was Sabretooth being dragged away by Krakoa — but it did fully explain (with the exception of the identity of the Red King) the mutant government and the laws of Krakoa. The council seems to be working in harmony despite some very conflicting personalities. It would almost feel hopeful for the future of mutants, you know, without sending one of their own to permanent solitary confinement.

But seeing all the mutants partying, smiling, laughing, somehow had a foreboding tone, and not just because we know this peace will not last. Hickman is not the only Marvel writer guilty of this, but he is absolutely someone who seems to value story over characterization. Granted, this has been a problem since Avengers Disassembled and Civil War, but with every "big" Marvel story, we find characters acting unlike themselves in order to suit the story the writer (or editorial) wants to tell. Would Reed Richards really create a murderous clone of Thor, as he did in Civil War? Of course not. But in Marvel storytelling for the past fifteen years, that sort of thing happens over and over.

In this case, let's focus on just the core X-Men shown in this issue. Would all of them really happily go along with teaming up with murderers and psychopaths, some of their greatest villains, purely evil folks like Apocalypse, Sinister, and The Gorgon, to name a few, simply because they're mutants? Cyclops and Emma, maybe. They're practical. Probably Beast. He's a toadie. But Nightcrawler? Jean? Angel? Iceman? Wolverine? This seems like the sort of thing Wolverine would definitely have objections to. The guy traditionally has objections to everything. And there's no way I see Storm going along with this. Of course, if they're being mind-controlled or had their personalities somehow manipulated during cloning/resurrection, then that would explain it. But there's no guarantee that's the case.

I'm not saying this isn't an interesting story. It definitely is. But it would be more interesting if we saw how some of these characters would actually react to this situation if they were characterized properly. I'm also not even saying that I necessarily disagree with Xavier, Magneto, and Moira. Mutants have taken a lot of @#$% over the years, and maybe it's about time they stood up for themselves. I just don't see all mutants wholeheartedly buying into this with no reservations. I hope there's an explanation coming.

There's just one issue left, one which purports to be important, and then we'll see where we really stand going into Dawn of X.

Next week, it's Powers of X #6!