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

Double Inception in Maruaders #9 [X-ual Healing 3-4-20]

Only two X-books this week. Which was the best, Excalibur #8 or Marauders #9? Read on for recaps and analysis…

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 #9 DX
JAN200853
(W) Gerry Duggan (A) Matteo Lolli (CA) Russell Dauterman
PEST CONTROL!
A very small attack on Krakoa grows into something much bigger, thanks to Yellowjacket! Can Captain Kate's crew swat him before his sting pays off?
Rated T+
In Shops: Mar 04, 2020
SRP: $3.99

What happened in Marauders #9?

The issue opens with Pyro returning to Krakoa and receiving a hero's welcome, including Jean Grey waiting for him on the hood of a Pontiac Firebird like in a Whitesnake video. They make out and go for a ride listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd. Obviously, this isn't reality, even the mutant-orgy-filled current reality on Krakoa, so what's going on? Turns out Emma Frost is creating this scenario in the mind of Yellowjacket, who you may recall shrunk himself down and entered Pyro's bloodstream in a miniature submarine. After Emma explains this to Bishop, he comes up with an idea.

Inside the illusion, Yellowjacket hears Pyro freaking out about having a tiny man inside him. Yellowjacket knows his cover is blown, so he enlarges his sub, killing pyro, and then he opens the submarine door and blows Emma's head off with his stinger and escapes into the ocean. We're interrupted here by another top-secret memo from the U.S. Government intelligence agent assigned to track mutants, updating us on Homines Verendi's plan to poison a shipment of mutant drugs.

You're probably wondering whether that previous scene with Yellowjacket escaping was real, and the answer is: no. That was Bishop's idea, to create another illusion of Yellowjacket escaping his current illusion. He must have seen the movie Inception recently. This required the help of the Stepford Cuckoos, who, along with Magneto, Emma, and Bishop, have gathered on the beach to extract Yellowjacket from Pyro's body, which Magneto handles personally, flinging the sub back Madripoor after his mind was wiped to forget everything that's happened. Magneto vows to discuss preventative measures for this sort of thing with the council.

Bishop wants to talk with Emma, but she wants Kitty to be part of this conversation, so she asks Bishop to wait. She takes Pyro for a visit to see the kid inner circle of Homines Verendi. She tells them how she foiled their Yellowjacket plan and has Pyro burn them all. This too was a psychic illusion, meant to teach them not to mess with mutants.

Emma heads to Arbor Magna where Xavier and the Five are currently trying to resurrect Kate Pryde. Unfortunately, they are having trouble creating a viable husk. Kate, at least for now, cannot be resurrected. In Madripoor, we see Lockheed sleeping in bed with the young girl who fished him out of the sea. He flies out and gets a fish for her, leaving it on her bed, tucks her in, and flies off, perhaps returning to Krakoa to play a role in Kate's resurrection. At least, we hope so.

Was it any good?

Sure, the double inception stuff isn't a brand new idea, but it was fun and well-executed, while also letting characters like Emma Frost, the Cuckoos, and Magneto strut their stuff. The Kate Pryde plot continues to move along very slowly, and though none of us really wants to believe that Kate won't be resurrected eventually, there is doubt and mystery about what makes Kate different. Another solid issue from what often feels like the main X-Men book. It also delivered a complete story in a single issue, which is always appreciated, as I talked about in the Excalibur recap.

Tough competition between two great X-books this week. Which will win the Wolverine's Weiner X-Pick of the Week? Find out next.

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