DOOM’S DIVISION NO MORE! After being imprisoned by White Fox, Doom’s Division is free — and they want answers. But White Fox won’t give up her secrets without a fight! And what does this mean for the future of Doom’s Division? This is one EPIC FINALE that you DON’T WANT TO MISS!
Written by: Yoon Ha Lee
Art by: Minkyu Jung, Mattia Iacono
Cover by: Creees Lee, Yen Nitro
Page Count: 32 Pages
Release Date: July 23, 2025
Ahoy there! At the end of each week I do a roundup of the X-Comics and characters' appearances in other books. I read a lot of comics in general and I can't or won't write an essay on all of them, like I did with X-Men #18 here. The others are all generally worthy of commentary, so a paragraph or two on each in this post is much better for me. This week I'm doing Psylocke #8, Doom's Division #4, Emma Frost: White Queen #1, and Aliens vs Avengers #4. I also discuss the future of Exceptional X-Men. To me, my X-books!
As if Emma knows the goons' names
EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN
A while back I touched on the bizarre messaging editorial was putting out wrt Exceptional X-Men, making the book feel endangered. Looks like this was noticed internally, as issue #13 has been solicited and previewed. Getting previews 3 months out is not a normal practice, which makes me think Tom B is not the only cook in the kitchen. It's good news - that's another arc at least of Eve Ewing's wonderful book. I don't think anyone expected a random time travel story, but the idea has legs. I look forward to it.
PSYLOCKE #8
Psylocke is in a bit of an awkward position. The character we're most familiar with is Betsy, and now that she's white again - who is Kwannon? Well, that got answered pretty damn well during Krakoa, with a lot of those questions explored in depth. This run doesn't really have a driving question, which is fine for a book that's very unlikely to make it past ten issues. Both of those things make it harder to get invested, especially when the links to X-Men are slim. The characters themselves show up here and there, but the connection isn't there.
As far as an issue unpacking Kwannon's memories of a childhood friend ninja goes, it does alright, and I appreciate that Kwannon and Greycrow are still together and healthy. I hope that doesn't change, but I worry it might; simply to uncomplicate the character. Kwannon's presence in X-Men is good for the character's billing, and I'm sure there's an audience out there for these kinds of stories. To a significant extent it's doing what Magik does except less interesting so hopefully they know what they're doing. Although, as I mentioned the book is probably getting cancelled, so whatever.
EMMA FROST: WHITE QUEEN #1
Evil Emma Frost stories! Set in the ... past, the 80s except not the 80s, the Inner Circle are doing evil mutant capitalism. Uhh, it's a bit of a miss to be honest. My expectations were low so I'm not disappointed but I simply don't get why this exists. Emma Frost should be a coked up goddamn supervillain not a dull middle manager. A single kid in a cage is disappointing shit, making Emma and Hellfire look like losers. I don't know what anyone involved was thinking when they signed off on the adamantium fingernail. Logan just has regular skin; it wouldn't do shit. Also, would Emma Frost ever touch this gross hairy dude herself? I think not. She'd get her goons with machine guns to take care of him, or use some evil science. They could have got away with it if she used it to cut and snort fat lines of coke, but alas she does not. The plot of the Hellfire Club being protested feels off too. They're meant to be the 0.01%, an organisation unknown to poor people. Why aren't these people being shot discreetly? X-Men show up for reasons untold and Emma is directly involved in the fight. She even knows the goons names, which seems off. There's also the obvious - none of these motherfuckers are sexy - you know, like the Hellfire Club?
'A cheeky bastard?" She would not say that.
I'm in two minds about Emma's dark-skinned, blue-haired assistant/protégé, Noor. On one hand, more mutants of colour and women of colour is great. On the other hand, Emma at this point was a racist misogynistic monster. She was greed and hedonism incarnate. Her demented views on sexism were delightfully unhinged and she wasn't shy about letting people know. Killing horses and stealing kids, literally enslaving mutants for profit. I don't feel like she would ever make this character a trusted confidante, let alone be one of many protégés. If you're going to tell White Queen stories during her bad bitch era, softening her in any way is just pointless and insincere. This feels closer to Krakoan Emma, not the cackling megalomaniac who took Storm's body for an irresponsible joy ride and fucked Shaw. The maniac that lectured a dancer about how sexism is fake. Commit to the fucking bit, you know? It's okay to show women doing awful shit - it's part of Emma's history. This feels like an attempt to sand off the rough edges and that's just so weak.
DOOM'S DIVISION #4
Sunfire is dead, apparently, and Karma is in prison. I don't know what's happening but I'm glad these characters are being used. The Tiger Division concept of a pan-Asian superhero squad is pretty cool and manages get by without any A listers. There's a sense of fun to past runs that isn't quite present here - as if it's not sure what it wants to be doing in a World Under DOOM. It's hard to blame any creators or titles for that as nobody can seem to agree on the rules. OWUD shows DOOM arguably changing the world for the better and aside from the branding, DOOM Division's only real change is infighting. The shame is that the concept is excellent; aside from Iron Man none of the tie-ins really commit to it. Editorial is asleep at the wheel. The ongoing narrative of the team reacting to DOOM taking over is undercut by opening in medias res, leaving us to guess at the character dynamics. It seemed like we were heading to some kind of Sunfire rebellion, except he died really quickly. 90% chance of that being a fakeout - see where it goes from here I guess?
ALIENS vs AVENGERS #4
Not a lot of people still alive here, thanks to Sinister teaming up with the xenomorphs on Arakko. It's worth it to see him get got, betrayed immediately by the aliens, and the story ends with like 5 people left in the entire universe. The Aliens vs Avengers title is a little misleading as what few Avengers are alive at the start die very quickly. I found it disappointing to focus on a handful of verbose favourites while utter carnage happens off panel, for example the entirety of Arakko dying except Emma, Logan, Armour, Sinister, and Manifold. So many glorious last stands and pointless sacrifices - it would be a shaggy dog story unless you're very unfamiliar with both IPs.
It's pretty close even if you are, lol, though it's entertaining to see all your favourite heroes in the wrong genre. Valeria Richards gives birth to an alien in the first issue. Through her chest of course. Props to Hickman for referencing himself and making sure we know that the mutants should never ever trust Mister Sinister. Surprisingly, there's less action than you'd expect, even as the survivors win a pyrrhic victory via nuke. I'd say it's worth reading if you enjoy Hickman's style, but don't expect the genre conventions of either IP. Quippy desperation doesn't quite fit with omnicide and the horror sensibility of Alien is neglected in favour of lore welding the modern Alien movies into 616. Esad Ribic's Sinister always looks creepy AF but I don't think the homogeneity of his faces fits the mood Hickman is going for.
