'Woman, I am not dying because you listened to too many podcasts."
At last, this 'fighting in the snow' arc is over! The 3K X-Men defeat themselves, Ben Liu steps the fuck up, Beast gets a strange offer, and the twin gets a name - Robin. Magneto disappoints a 10 year old. All the main characters end up back where they started with the knowledge that 3K is up to *something.* Probably. Eventually. It looks great but fuck me it plods along. Spoilers, naturally.
This is Logan behavior, fake X-Men.
These double shipping flagship books have rotating artists, and the difference in style is often jarring. I'm glad that the division of labour is favourable to the workers but this issue makes me realise how much I prefer Emilio Laiso's sharper lines and delineated facial features to Ryan Stegman's rounded 'I can only draw one face' pencils. This colourist does fantastic work and really compliments those lines, making everyone distinctive. I think the colouring in general comes closest to a 'house style' or just plain consistency - mainly I want to be able to tell who people are. Reading facial expressions is even better, and there is where inconsistency does the most damage.
The 3K X-Men come across as deeply unserious people, ignoring the X-Men to pursue petty grudges as soon as Schwartzchild is knocked out. To be fair, they are the kind of folks who joined AIM/SHIELD, then ORCHIS, then 3K, where they were willingly turned into mutants. They're pretty clearly lost motherfuckers who crave being part of something regardless of ethics. These alphabet organisations need to clean up after themselves. Now they think they're X-Men and despite being more than a little obsessed with the 'test,' they punch the shit out of each other. They're not especially sympathetic but 3K have a real complexity addiction, so they probably passed their test by distracting the X-Men. They come closest to being X-Men in savage infighting, lol. I suppose they'd be closest to ex-military who don't know what to do when the war is over. This is the second time we've seen them and it'd be nice to see some pathos or motivation besides 'angry you cut my arm off' but maybe next time. Cyclops' minimal page time is put to good use - knowing when not to act. 3K seem even less threatening, but it's implied they're going to set off a bomb soon. I wish they'd hurry up.
Kill that loser!
Jen gets back to the Factory from the Cobb residence really quickly, to step up vs Wyre. Her scratching him is a big moment for her, as is defending her fellow mutant. She's not very effective but it's the thought that counts. She's been ruled by fear since 3K took her, so good for her. As ever, violence is the solution to mental health issues. Scott has been doing great since Logan impaled him. There's maybe a hint of some fondness for Hank specifically, but I hope it doesn't go further than that. She's his patient, you know? Obviously Xavier would and has, but I don't want Hank to.
Wyre offering Beast 3K membership is a bit unexpected. He really doesn't try to sell it even a little bit, as his argument seems to be 'you have the potential for evil. Come be evil with us. No? You'll come around. To evil.' Hank has struggled with knowledge of his Krakoan actions, but doesn't look like he's tempted even a little. Why TF would he be? 3K has been attacking his friends and teammates and abducting people. It's great that they lean into it, but maybe leave a brochure telling us what the fuck you're about. He leaves him with a card that says '3K' on it and nothing else. No website or Instagram. Wyre expended a lot of effort to do something that could have been done telepathically or over the phone. Or just kidnap the dude. This was an objective of theirs - utterly bizarre. Wyre and Beast both look foolish, and I don't know what the takeaway is. I'm thinking Wyre got cards printed but the minimum order was 500, so he's just handing them out so he doesn't feel like he wasted his money. Cassandra Nova is like 'put your phone number on it, dumbass. Our SEO sucks.' Maybe it's a magic card like the thing The Maker gave Miles.
Dogshit looking business card smh
Despite what they say, they very much do shit like that. It's unclear why they want him specifically, and Beast has very little to say about it. He was willing to go to protect Jen but just stands there slack jawed even when she and Wyre fight. Dude was willing get beaten half to death by prison guards in Graymalkin, but he's shocked senseless by someone he's never met calling him a bad guy? I think this was undercooked by not offering an incentive and denying us Hank's thoughts. He looks scared, or maybe worried? Perturbed even, or bothered. Beast's passiveness should be telling us a lot more than it is. Beat him up you blue idiot.
Fucks me why they'd want someone who makes crappy dexies and can't even cure Magneto. Mags himself is pretty calm under pressure, but he's in deep shit until Ben comes along. I'm with Robin - this is anti-climactic for Mags to be taken out so easily. He walked over, gave a speech about speeches, punched a child once, and then stood there getting pounded. Maybe that's the point, but what exactly is the takeaway? That Magneto is in poor health we knew already. Ditto on his death wish. How many old men is Robin familiar with? It's funny if it's Cassandra Nova saying that, as she's literally two billion years old.
Is that 'woman' necessary?'
Ben Liu is the star of this issue, and gets a lot done without using his powers at all. 'I'm not dying because you listened to too many podcasts' is a banger, and it's great to see him lean into the rescue when nobody else will. What we've seen of the character has been very personable and fun to follow, but I think he needs to start using those powers to get over narratively. He's got balls telling Robin 'grow up' - inspiring Mama Cobb to stand up and do something by offering her up for death. This exchange comes across as funnier than I think it's meant to because Robin is 10. A child who hijacked the body of a dead whale and rampaged with Cassandra Nova in her ear. Robin is sympathetic and her anger is relatable as fuck, aside from all the supernatural shit. 'Here, kill this lady instead.' 'Fuck you.' 'Grow up!' It's a strong moment for him and a good showing in a book with some experienced orators.
Rose Cobb has bit of a breakdown after learning what her haterism has wrought. I'm pretty big on kids not forgiving shitty parents unless they want to, and Robin joining genetic terrorists has got to sting. Her speedrun of 'oh fuck, I'm a reactionary shithead' is an odd beat, but it's nice for someone to learn that bigotry is actually harmful to everyone. On the other hand it's ANNOYING AS FUCK that this racist clown is now better developed than half the main characters.
I prefer to not get a clean resolution on that, like yep too little too late, this is all your fault. Bitch I better not see you protesting out the front of the factory again. Don't get me wrong - it's a sincere emotional moment on all sides, and it's heartbreaking to see the venom for Piper, not her mother - it's just adding even more cards to the house. Robin clearly has some desire for familial affection, enough to nearly put away the anger and talk. It sucks to see Cassandra Nova win the war for her affection through lies, but realistically she didn't need to. This town built Sentinels and the O*N*E show up all the time. Mutants get kidnapped here and the people who are meant to protect them don't. The X-Men do try, but when Graymalkin is still torturing and enslaving mutants legally, why TF would anyone want this life? None of this comes up, as it's hatred of her twin that gets through to her. Feels like a missed opportunity to me, if 3K are propagandising as ideological opposites to the X-Men. Ideological betters, even. They've discussed it, but only the reader knows that. Beast the ideal recruit has no idea and neither does anyone else in the public sphere. Does Robin give a shit? Unclear, but she does hate her sister - and NOT her mother.
What great work?
So much has been setup over 18 issues, and even more plot and character beats get set up even during moments of payoff. It's a habit of this book, and I don't think we need even more new characters when we don't know the ones we've got very well. It's soap opera style, but soap operas run indefinitely and this book does not. Soap operas generally flesh out characters more because they have more time to do it and don't have to spend 40% of the time on action scenes. I'm invested in the narrative in its entirety but not so much in the individual characters. Take Jen, for instance. I really like what I've seen, but if she died right here I'd probably be glad to have less characters. What does she want? I have no idea, and that's a problem. What about Magneto? He wants to not be sick, but there's nothing he can do about it. I empathize with the feeling but he's basically a background character without any other agenda. His disability is a temporary prop to sideline him ideologically and physically. Ben? He's got nowhere else to go and... that's it! I really need more than that to enjoy a character. Being gay and Chinese-American aren't personality traits. That brings me around to Beast again. What does he want? To cure R-LDS, IF it actually exists. He wants to not do atrocities, but yeah me too dude. Chop chop, this shit needs to move it along.
The preview for next issue flat out says that Revelation is showing up. He looked a lot golder last time we saw him; maybe they decided to ditch the C3PO design? I wouldn't be unhappy about that, though I would be confused. Some have theorised (wildly speculated) that Doug Ramsey is The Chairman of 3K, but I think that's dead. Although, all this talk of 'the great work' makes me wonder. You don't use the same terms like that in fiction without a connection. Or you shouldn't, because it's fucking confusing. If it is he's wildly out of character, and I don't see Warlock or Bei going along with that bullshit. Heir of Apocalypse was pretty clear about what he'd be doing as heir, yet Timeslide and spoilers suggest an Age of Revelation - implying dark future shit. Honestly, I'm just looking forward to seeing Warlock and Bei. The last thing this fucking book needs is more characters and I'm not looking forward to six issues of Doug half explaining what he's about. If he's Apocalypse V6 I might just give up - the other X-books tend to follow what the flagships set up and the line really needs a win. Aside from Magik and Exceptional the X-Men are deeply average shit right now.
having 3k’s x-men suddenly brutally beat schwarzchild to death in #24 was such a fantastic moment to me and it made me so incredibly excited. of course it was well written, but also with the execution by the art team it was truly fantastic. the juxtaposition in the scene is just. mwah. now hear me ramble about it
the scene is set is a beautiful sort of haunting sky with red clouds and a white plane for a floor, but like, we can see dawn breaking, with the clouds turning from red to pink and the sun appearing from behind them to light beast, like? stunning?
but aside from when the sun breaks through the clouds behind beast, we’re not even looking at them because in the foreground, beast has ordered schwarzchild killed.
and. holy shit. this is in my opinion the most visceral and brutal scene this team has drawn. it’s not superhero-y, it looks and feels like we are watching a man being beaten by five people using their bare hands for no fucking reason.
there is nothing heroic happening here. there isn’t a super dramatic wound or a super pretty corpse. we don’t see any powers used, but we do see where his teeth were knocked from his gums.
and the 3k continue with their conversation as if nothing’s happening, with each line of dialogue we watch schwarzchild just die. it’s two and a half pages, but it feels so fucking fast.
and then the issue ends on this absolutely stunning splash of a beautiful mountain landscape with their headquarters floating serenely in the sky. but we can also see schwarzchild’s body falling from it.
in general i really love how this issue feels like what if 3k were the protagonists and this was their comic while also emphasizing their ruthlessness. this is the kind of writing i love mackay for and holy shit i cannot emphasize enough how well the art team pulled through. (that includes cowles on letters!)
Aggghhh I love this community sooo much and all of its creativity!!!!!!!!! Y’all have encouraged me to make more, to draw, to create characters and species and make animations and edits!!!!!
I drew executioner all dapper with a cake to celebrate :3
Also, Wyre, Skye (my son!) and Rosita (me!) are all there too :D
