Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics, Review | Tagged: deadpool, marauders, marvel, x-men, X-ual Healing - The Weekly X-Men Recap Column

The Marauders Learn the Terrible Truth in Marauders #8 [X-ual Healing 2-19-20]

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2020 15:30:46 -0600

by Jude Terror

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Three X-books out last week: Deadpool #3, Marauders #8, and Wolverine #1. One of them, Wolverine, was double-sized and double-priced, fitting considering Wolverine is double-dicked. Luckily, this recap column is free. Let's find out what happened in last week's X-books…

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.

MARAUDERS #8 DX
DEC190789
(W) Gerry Duggan (A) Stefano Caselli (CA) Russell Dauterman
THE TREASURE OF ISLAND M!
As Verendi's plans against Krakoa grow, the Marauders find themselves missing something vital… something that brings Storm and the White Queen to blows. Artist Stefano Caselli (AVENGERS, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) joins the crew of the craziest X-series of them al!
Rated T+
In Shops: Feb 19, 2020
SRP: $3.99

What happened in Marauders #8?

The issue begins with Christian and Emma Frost taking some mutant kids on an interplanetary tour of Krakoa's drug manufacturing facilities. Emma gets a call from Bishop, who infiltrated a Homines Verendi salvage vessel last issue, to inform her that he's located the corpse of Kate Pryde. Distraught, Emma falls to the floor and summons the Marauders.

Unfortunately, only Iceman is available. He joins Emma and Christian as they head to Madripoor. Meanwhile, on the Verendi boat, Bishop knocks out a guard and examines Kate's corpse, confirming she's dead. He gets a piece of the vine that Sebastian Shaw used to secure Kate to her sinking ship and puts it in his pouch for evidence, but he's soon discovered by another guard. He takes out the guard and grabs the body back.

Below deck, the Verendi Crew is surprised when the ship appears to hit an iceberg. That's not an iceberg, though. It's a really pissed off Iceman who exacts vengeance on the crew, though Bishop stops him from killing them. They return the corpse to Christian's boat and Emma heads back to Krakoa to break the news to Storm. Storm is, as expected, not happy about this, and blames Emma for putting Kate in danger. Emma snaps back asking Storm where she was, so Storm slaps her. Then they hug, and Emma tells Storm she inspires her. Meanwhile, over at the Shaw residence, Sebastian and Shinobi enjoy a nice dinner and introduce the new black knights of the Hellfire Club: Fenris.

We get another page of gossip from Mister Sinister. One of the entries talks about gross mutants and seeing double. Clearly, he's talking about Wolverine's two dicks. In Madripoor, the locals that found Lockheed have nursed him back to health.

Was it any good?

Marauders delayed letting the X-Men find out about Kate's death for an entire issue, but it was worth the wait. Emma's reaction, falling to the ground, shows how much she's grown to like Kate, calling back to a long history between the two that's mostly been adversarial before Emma finally managed to land the mentorship role she's been trying to get for decades since she attempted to recruit Kate for her school. Iceman has been having the time of his life since joining the Marauders, but seeing him switch into murder mode was appropriate and powerful here. And then, of course, there's Storm, who has always had a sort of mother/daughter relationship with Kate. I wouldn't have been surprised to see her fry Emma with a bolt of lightning, but she bonded with her in a tender moment instead. This is the kind of emotional drama that's the heart of great X-Men comics.

Then there's Sebastian Shaw, perhaps the most hateable villain in all the X-books right now. His comeuppance should be gratifying.

Of course, everyone is working under the assumption that Kate can be resurrected… will that be the case, considering that Krakoan gates won't accept her? That, we'll have to find out.

Next up: Wolverine. Check back soon…