Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics, Review | Tagged: marvel, new mutants, x-force, x-men, X-Men/Fantastic Four, X-ual Healing - The Weekly X-Men Recap Column

The Krakoan Mask Continues to Slip in X-Men #7 [X-ual Healing 2-26-20]

Published Tue, 03 Mar 2020 12:30:51 -0600

by Jude Terror

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There were five X-books out last week: X-Men #7, X-Force #8, Giant-Size X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost #1, X-Men/Fantastic Four #2, and New Mutants #8. In addition to that, I missed New Mutants #7 from the prior week, so I'll be recapping that too. 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.

X-MEN #7 DX
DEC190786
(W) Jonathan Hickman (A/CA) Leinil Francis Yu
MUTANTS ARE FOREVER!
The Resurrection Protocols have changed everything for Mutantkind. NO MORE can humans' hate and fear take their lives from them. But… what ELSE has it changed?
Rated T+
In Shops: Feb 26, 2020
SRP: $4.99

What happened in X-Men #7?

Melody Guthrie wakes up one sunny morning on Krakoa to be informed by her family that it's time. Time for what? At the Summer House, Cyclops wakes up and entices Wolverine to have a threesome with himself and Jean Grey by teasing Wolverine with thoughts of his nuts in a speedo. Then they talk about something called "The Crucible," which is happening today. Scott is a little wary of this, but Wolverine tells him the council decided and that's that. Scott points out that he and Logan (and the rest of the X-Men) used to make more judgment calls in the past, but Wolverine says that was a bad idea. Wolverine suggests Scott go talk to Nightcrawler. Looking for Kurt, Scott first runs into Doug and Warlock, but after he blinks, it's just Douglock. He continues up a hill and finds Nightcrawler looking at a building with no entrance that no one has been able to break open. Kurt has teleported inside and he thinks he'd like to live there. They talk about the crucible. Kurt is concerned too because they're going to let a mutant die.

Later, around a campfire, Exodus preaches to some young mutant children about how the Scarlet Witch took away mutants' powers after House of M and how they're not going to let that happen anymore, thanks to the crucible, in which a mutant with no powers will die in order to be brought back in a clone body with powers. Scott and Nightcrawler continue to wax philosophical about all the bad shit they're suddenly totally okay with since the relaunch, but they still attend the crucible. Melody Guthrie faces off against Apocalypse, who she must face in battle until he kills her, at which point she's brought back and has powers again. All of Krakoa gathers and watches this. After it's over, Melody flies up in the sky and Kurt is inspired to create a mutant religion.

Was it any good?

It's worth noting that I wrote about this comic last week in two separate articles, so if you want more of a dive into the ramifications of The Crucible or into Wolverine two-dick trutherism, check out those articles. Additionally, Rich Johnston wrote about how this could be the start of Chimeras.

Overall, I liked this issue a lot because it shows how brutal and heartless the new Krakoan society is behind its facade of nonstop orgies and mutant unity. And this shows in the behavior of the individual X-Men, who have shown a willingness to go along with an awful lot of stuff that many of them would have stood up against in the past, the murder of teenagers being just the lastest. We see characters questioning this right on the page but quickly resolving that this is just the way things have to be. And I believe a lot of X-Men fans are exhibiting similar behavior, just kind of going with the flow despite a general feeling of unease because they're being told this is the right way.

Some people are likely to get mad at my saying that, mistakenly believing it to be a criticism of this story, but it's actually praise for this story. Professor X is not only pulling the wool over the eyes of the X-Men, but over the eyes of readers too. Remember, this is a society whose very origin included decades worth of lies and then the invitation to dozens of the worst villains in X-Men history, many of whom are now shaping policy, shaping the culture, and teaching the children. When the other shoe drops, it will be a massive payoff, and I'm here for it.

Next up: Giant-Size Sex-Men.