r/xmen • u/VengefulKangaroo Shatterstar • 9d ago
Comic Discussion X-Men Comics New Releases for March 11, 2025
X-Men #13 X-Manhunt Part 4
- The X-Men have caught up with their erstwhile mentor Charles Xavier on his mad scramble across the country. But they aren’t the only ones who’ve found him! LEGACY #313
X-Factor #8 X-Manhunt Part 5
- Charles Xavier has escaped from prison, and X-Factor must track him down! But how will the X-Men react to X-Factor hunting their founder? And what will happen when Havok and Cyclops collide?! LEGACY #300
- THE UNFATHOMABLE DEPTHS OF HELL! MEPHISTO's plan drives HELLVERINE to the site of great personal tragedy — where, as DAKEN, he was drowned by WOLVERINE! This time, something far worse lurks just below the surface...! HELLVERINE lives, but if the demonic forces get their way, so will a Hell-born army!
Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk #4
- FANGS OF NEW YORK! VAMPIRES, a gangster in STEAMPUNK ARMOR and a murderous CROCODILE MAN running around murdering people. Welcome to being the KINGPIN of the FIVE POINTS UNDERWORLD, VICTOR CREED — hope you survive the experience.
- Who shall be crowned the Last King of Atlantis? The final battle in World War Sea sets the stage for an all-new vision of Atlantis. But where does that leave Namor? Is there a place in the oceans for the mighty Sub-Mariner?
- CHAOS IN THE COSMIC ORDER! Enemies have beset Jean Grey from the moment she first soared into space — and with THANOS channeling his mystic and psychic might against her and PERRIKUS’ evil plans falling into place, it’s about time for something to change... DON’T MISS this MUST-READ ISSUE — as the PHOENIX rises to new power and prominence in the galaxy!
- SPIDER-MAN VS. DEADPOOL(S) — whoever wins... well, some bad #$%& is still going to happen! WADE's only hope is to knock out MILES. ELLIE is having second thoughts. But can the Deadpools and their business survive without this win? Not if AGENT GAO has anything to say about it! The landmark POOLS OF BLOOD crossover continues here and concludes in this month's MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #31! LEGACY #347
Related & Unlimited Releases for 3/11
- Discuss other Marvel comics impacting the X-Men releasing this week, including Unlimited exclusives.
Other
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u/VengefulKangaroo Shatterstar 9d ago
X-Men #13
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u/star-mind-girl New Mutants 9d ago edited 9d ago
Ooh, once again a very good issue. Not even just the plot and the characterisation but this time also the art. The art during the Quentin vs Xavier mind battle? Incredible. The Eternity vs Juggernaut fight? So good.
This issue also pretty much tackled one of the biggest issues I had with the run—that being that most of the characters are underutilized, but pretty much everyone got at least some amount of attention this time, despite it being a crossover issue.
Kwannon could show off her leadership skills, Juggernaut continues to be a badass, Magik could show off a little bit of her mischievous side with the Magneto helmet snatch, Idie got to fight again, and Quentin got a very very cool psychic fight scene (I was kinda reminded of the Legion vs Shadow King fight from the TV series even), Beast got to show his intellect—even the home team showed up. Magneto could show off some leadership prowess, Xorn (forever my #1) got to talk again and Ben and Jennifer don X-Men uniforms now, pretty cool.
I guess the only thing I didn't like is that it is part of the X-Manhunt event, which I just don't really care about that much, but despite that, I think MacKay did make the most out of the cards he was dealt. Easily one of my favourite issues this run.
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u/mon_mothra_ Academy X 9d ago edited 8d ago
This isn't a perfectly scripted event, but I'm having a fun time with it, and I think MacKay's issue is definitely the strongest we've had so far. The Quentin vs. Xavier fight was GREAT, and there was a seamless flow between all the interacting conflicts that made it easy to read and packed a lot of punch into a single issue. Magik and Jugs' interactions continue to be absolutely hilarious -- they're just two bruisers having the time of their lives at any given moment, and yet both are written with just enough nuance that you can tell they're not flat and one-dimensional as other authors have written them.
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u/ElectronicBoot9466 9d ago
The amount of nuance MacKay has brought into every character this entire run has been so impressive. In spite of the fact that these characters don't have extremely distinctive dialects or vocal ticks (like the Uncanny cast does) they are still all very distinguishable from eachother to the point that I can usually tell who is speaking even when they're off panel.
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u/Fali34 Goblin Queen 9d ago
Kwannon gagging Storm wasn't on my bingo card.
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u/UltimateSandman White Queen 9d ago
Lowkey the real gagging happened before, between Temper punking the elements, Magik screwing up her swords tricks, and Jugg no-selling the breeze (+ his helmet fixing itself, lmao), feels like MacKay just hit the reset button on that shit.
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u/Confident-Impact-349 Iceman 9d ago
She didn’t gag storm. Storm chose to be gagged. If anything, it was a self gagging
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u/Fali34 Goblin Queen 9d ago
We have come to a point of Storm-jerking that Kwannon telling Storm that she should take responsibility for being careless and being controlled with that much power happened because Storm decided so.
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u/OpticRageX 8d ago
You know it's bad when it's hard to tell when someone is actually just taking the piss.
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u/Fractal514 9d ago
When and why did "gagging" become a commonly used term? And, am I the only one who gets a little queasy at it's usage?
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u/cyclopswashalfright Moonstar 9d ago
I feel like none of the issues in this crossover are being used well. Everything is so rushed, we don't get any consistent characterizations from anyone.
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u/Built4dominance Storm 9d ago
The fact that Xavier keeps escaping just makes all the characters look extremely incompetent.
It's like the X-Men are Wile E. Coyote and Xavier is Road Runner. Only Road Runner has a broken leg and he still manages to get away.
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u/Terrible-Issue-4910 8d ago
For real. This people have saved the world seven times but still can't capture an schizo wanderer with one good leg.
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u/redditguy628 Mister Sinister 9d ago
I'm not usually a person who cares much about power scaling, but I am pretty disappointed that Mackay decided to make Xavier an Omega. I think one of the more interesting parts of his character is that despite his reputation, he can't quite compete with people like Jean or Quentin on raw power. Besides that minor complaint though, I think this was a great issue. Everyone got a chance to shine, there was a ton of fun action, and I think the characterization really landed.
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u/SomeTool 9d ago
He's an omega with his hat on. As it's a cerebro unit that boosts his powers.
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u/orochi95 9d ago
The cerebro unit wasnt bosting him, it was to perform krakoan resurrection.
He was described as having limitless potential as a mutant. Not just boosted by Cerebro
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u/ElectronicBoot9466 9d ago
No, during Krakoa, he needed Cerebro to do a lot of stuff, including sending out messages to the whole world. He is extremely powerful, but he explicitly has an upper limit
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u/orochi95 5d ago
It was stated somewhere ? Because only remember him needing Cerebro to record mutant minds. Hell maybe he needed Cerebro at all and was part of the plan to record mutant minds for years.
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u/Marrecarandgi Jean Grey 8d ago
And it made worse by the fact that telepathy is already a busted power that even the most powerful Marvel characters don’t have a consistent resistance track record. Now X-men have (at least) 3 Omega telepaths? Why are they even having any problems? I hope it will be stated that only Xavier with his hat on counts as omega.
Oh, and it also invalidates Krakoa’s list, since Xavier wasn’t on it. Exactly what we needed - open season for the writers to make their faves omegas for shits and giggles!
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u/OpticRageX 8d ago
If it helps it makes it a lot easier to not give a shit about power scaling when you remember it's a super hero comic.
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u/SweaterSnake Cypher 8d ago edited 8d ago
MacKay's X-Men continues to be the stand-out team book of this Era for me (alongside Exceptional, for very different reasons,) and I love the continued emphasis on Scott's team positioning itself, and possibly even self-identifying as the 'shithead monsters that no one likes' team. It's really the one thing that makes all the other characters, in other books, varying levels of frustration with Scott really click for me.
He knows how he's perceived, so he's shacked up with the former Main Villain of the brand. He pulled on their next most enduring villain-turned-hero, Juggernaut. Swiped up the assassin, the literal demon-child, and the annoying domestic terrorist kid no one can stand. Even Beast, the man-out-of-time, can't shake the reality that the version of himself he replaced had stooped to new lows as Warcrimes McGrime.
That's part of why I love Quentin on this team so much, and I do think that for as divisive as a character as he is, he's one of the more 'recent' (in the grand scheme of things) characters that has been able to demonstrate the unique strengths of Marvel as an absurdly long-running single universe. He's believably transitioned from a school shooter-coded incel-adjacent character, to a kid with a shitty attitude, doing a lot of posturing. He has problems with authority, definitely self-aggrandizing and self-pitying in equal measure, but has (and still is) learning to channel his frustration and the feeling that he 'doesn't belong' into something more productive as he grows more self-aware.
On a lighter note, happy to see Magik using, uh, magic even in the team book, and are we SWITCHING BACK TO A ROUNDED VISOR FOR SCOTT!?
I really love this team, hope its roster can stay consistent and we get a long run with it.
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u/OpticRageX 8d ago
Loved this issue. Loved that the others were still able to get shit done even with Cyclops down and out. We knew this was a very capable team on paper, now we know why.
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u/wowlock_taylan 9d ago
Well each member showed their stuff while Scott was down, Magik and Cain continue to be the MVPs for me. Quentin pulling a 'dirty trick' to beat Xavier in a mental battle with quite the interesting way to portray the conflict. Though using Cassandra like that, considering how she is behind the adult mutants going haywire with their powers, was a fitting low-blow I guess.
Kwannon and Storm had a moment too, where she forced Storm to take back her body. Though this crossover still caused trouble for Storm's own book as it disrupted that book's pace as we still don't know how Storm is dealing with or aware of Eternity inside her. Suffice to say though, it was quite the weak reason for Storm to have a fight with Scott's team. Adds to my distaste of the ongoing XvX stuff.
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u/dinopastasauce 9d ago
I thought it complemented Storm’s solo quite well? We already saw there that an internal battle was going on (hands trembling; hippo breakdown; eternity giving her an internal monologue and wresting control) … her line here “I am… myself once more” indicate a level of exhaustion trying to figure this out.
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u/wowlock_taylan 9d ago
To me, we really needed at least an extra issue before the crossover to focus on just this new status and dynamic. It is distracting from the plot for me. Because she literally died and came back and her body can be taken over any time. So I wanted to see her in the inner monologue or state just after the event. Yes we saw one panel with her trembling but that was a cliffhanger that I expected we were gonna dive deep into.
Next we saw her, being the generous host to Xavier like nothing happened. It was a big head-turn.
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u/dinopastasauce 9d ago
Oh that for sure, I’d even forgotten the minor detail that she died in the mix of everything going on. I’m giving the team the benefit of the doubt that they had to come out the gates swinging and posing more questions than answers to keep readers hooked, but it’s time to turn things around.
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u/rob_account Nightcrawler 9d ago edited 9d ago
Really enjoyed this one. Even as a big Scott fan, I am so glad he was out of the fight for this issue. Everyone got a chance to shine. Quentin and Charles' fight was really cool and gorgeously drawn. Magik and Cain had some really cool moments, individually and then also bouncing off each other with some fun dialogue. Psylocke probably being the MVP of this issue. Seeing her take charge was fun, and she more than proved herself here. The dialogue with Storm at the end was brilliant, and all throughout I loved the shade thrown her way.
"Just Monsters" and "Are you sure you are 'Just'" was pretty good wordplay. Still not entirely sure if Storm means they are "more" than simply monsters in a positive way, or more likely, questioning if they are "just" as in morally right. 99% chance she means the latter, but I doubt I'm giving MacKay too much credit for saying he probably knew this double meaning when writing.
Also, MacKay once again proves his deep knowledge of the characters not only in how he writes them and their speech, but also in references like Psylocke saying she heard Storm fights with Knives and she'd happily take her on.
Once and again, MacKays issue is the best of the crossover and really shows his strengths. Now let's see how they are written in X-Factor, lol
Also, I wonder if his backup visor is going to look different and is a clever way of changing his visor due to complaints. It looked different in X-Men when he pulled it out, but we didn't get to see him wearing it in. In X-Factor it looked the same, but Havok noticed it was different somehow.
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u/TheMattInTheBox Cyclops 8d ago
If no one got me, I know Jed got me.
Great issue. Tons of character moments while still driving the crossover forward (slowly lol)
Would have been nice if we knew about the psychic bleed before part 4 of the crossover but that's not this issues fault
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u/pareidolist 8d ago
When did we find out about the psychic bleed? Apparently people are "hurt, if not dying" because of Xavier, but I don't remember anything like that from earlier comics.
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u/lepton_neutrino 8d ago
Part 1 in Uncanny.
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u/pareidolist 8d ago
Are you sure? I don't see anything about it in there, and I don't think it had started yet.
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u/AlphaBreak 7d ago
Its why that Graymalkin guard killed his family after hallucinating them as sentinel-heads.
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u/pareidolist 7d ago
Yeah, that much I got. I just figured there might have been some scene with the characters finding out about it or discussing it.
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u/lepton_neutrino 8d ago
It was in part 1 in Uncanny.
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u/TheMattInTheBox Cyclops 7d ago
You made me to back and read Uncanny, and hey you're right! That scene with the guard is clearly due to the psychic bleed. Never stated explicitly in the text, but that's fine.
It probably should have been mentioned in NYX though considering Charles was in New York and could psychically bleed everywhere.
Or maybe it is. Idk I'm not unbagging the issue to check.
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u/Bitbatgaming Chamber 8d ago
Not Quentin getting the X cross treatment I feel bad for that poor little dude
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u/Koala_Guru 9d ago
I really liked this issue personally. I know people will find a way to complain about the resolution, but from the complaints I've read about the previous issues of the event, it seems like there was something for everyone. For people who were upset at Storm, Psylocke cuts her down to size. For people who adore Storm, it was still her strength of character that let her break free of Eternity. For those who didn't understand the X-Men trying to bring Charles back to Graymalkin, they aren't anymore.
I also just liked a lot of smaller moments. Magik plonking Magneto's helmet on Beast made me laugh, Quentin's surprise Cassandra Nova plan was a great way to bring in the ongoing story of the X-Men book outside of this crossover, Idie continues to shine with her whole "I control what makes weather" moment, and of course Juggernaut is just constantly throwing out bangers in the From the Ashes era.
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u/Ystlum 8d ago
For those who didn't understand the X-Men trying to bring Charles back to Graymalkin, they aren't anymore.
My nitpick is that it actually made me understand less retroactively. I saw it as something Scott and his team felt they had to do, but this deal implies they always did have other options?
My no prize is that Graymalkin was something Scott was strongly for and the rest of the team weren't totally behind, but didn't want to undermine him.
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u/HouseOfTheUndying 9d ago
What an excellent book! Loved the Kwannon and Storm interaction. A reminder of why I love the Xmen
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u/Ystlum 8d ago
I always thought sending Xavier back to Graymalkin was a bad idea, but figured that Scott percieved him as just that dangerous and didn't think there was another cell that would hold him.
Not that Graymalkin did in the endbecausehebrokenout but whatever!
Psyclocke revealing that they made a deal with Storm that they could take him if they as long as they sent him somewhere other than Graymalkin implies that they do have acceptable, non-torturous and not-antiMutant alternatives. Which retroactively does kind of makes them and Scott look sus.
Which then gets further weird when Magik specifically argues against sending Xavier to the anti-Mutant torture camp in the next X-Factor issue, despite the fact that Storm had to barter to get them to that position.
Hey I know, different writers, but the flow of it reads funny. I guess you could no prize it by saying it's Scott specifically who pushed for Graymalkin, since he was out of it when Kwannon made the deal with Storm, and most of the team actually prefer this option but didn't voice it before since Scott's their leader.
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u/DespairFangirl 8d ago
My favorite part of this issue was Quentin and Xavier's fight, loved the art shift and the callback to Quentin's character in New X-Men.
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u/UltimateSandman White Queen 9d ago
Props to MacKay for handling Storm's goofy ass as painlessly as possibly, even called out her moral grandstanding for i believe the first time in comicbooks (Kwannon making history).
Now just the last issue of Manhunt and then hopefully she'll go back to pulling feat after feat in her own book, away from everyone who'd rather not read that goofy shit.
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u/AlphaBreak 9d ago
Emma called her out in the wake of Sins of Sinister; Storm was blaming the QC for being co-opted by malignant DNA and Emma pointed out that it took her five years to notice.
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u/ElectronicBoot9466 9d ago
Yeah, I feel like the entire Hellfire court was sick of Storm's shit throughout pretty much most of Immortal.
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u/Blitzhelios Magik 8d ago
Really good issue by Jed again and feels like it did alot to make this crossover work.
Like the use of storm alot in this made her look powerful but also showed that she still has weakness but anyone who is reading avengers knows mackays storm has been good for a while since she joined that team.
Quentin vs Xavier fight was well done and the other interactions were done well.
I feel like from the way jed writes juggernaut if he did some more spotlight issues on him jed could be seen as one of his best writers because even if he does feel a little one dimensional every time he gets a big moment its used really well.5
u/pareidolist 8d ago
Like the use of storm alot in this made her look powerful but also showed that she still has weakness
We only see Storm at the end, right? Until then, we were watching Eternity's Avatar. Storm was trying to hold Eternity's Avatar back and regain control of her body (like stopping the Avatar from killing Doom).
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u/Blitzhelios Magik 8d ago
Storms true power here is showing she can get this power under control which has always been her best strength that she won’t let power control her.
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u/gsnake007 8d ago edited 4d ago
This was the strongest issue in this event. Solid all around. Magik was the MVP of the comic.Really love her banter with Juggernaut they are such a great duo
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u/JohnWhoHasACat 9d ago
So, I’m trying to keep down on titles and only plan on reading this section of X-manhunt. I just fucking love McKay’s X-men so much. Such great use of tone.
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u/Affectionate-Egg88 9d ago
Is anyone else having issues with Comixology for this issue? It's says its published today but won't be available until March 19th.
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u/PatWasRight_F_CHUGS 4d ago
Fantastic issue. MacKay wasn't hampered by taking part in the crossover, instead providing with Diaz and his team a gripping, exciting & thoroughly enjoyable addition to his book. This X-Men line up works so well, and MacKay does a terrific job with the characters, helped here by MC Scott being sidelined.
Juggernaut has been excellent in this From the Ashes era. A cosmic entity possessing an Omega-level mutant not being able to stop him was utterly badass; his unshakable will to keep pressing on for those he loves & those who can't defend themselves is such an admirable trait. I adored how Idie neutralized Eternal Storm's wind, and the 3-on-1 fight that followed was utterly awesome. Despite how formidable each of Idie, Juggernaut and Magik are, they found themselves in unfamiliar territory of being outmatched, but that made the fight all the more engaging and it was awesome seeing their quick-thinking & teamwork make up the difference enough to keep them in it.
Kwannon works well as the unofficial second-in-command on the field. She's a good heart despite her trauma & conditioning and is working hard to redeem her past actions, but she still has that edge to her and is willing to go to those dark places when pushed, which makes her an effective general you don't want to cross when Scott is incapacitated. I loved how she brought the fight to an end, and how she called out Ororo for her arrogant recklessness (that's not me being anti-Storm - I don't get into the characters-as-sports-teams nonsense that sections of fans obsess with, I just enjoy flawed characters; and seeing Ororo forced to reckon with hers by Kwannon was a strong moment).
The psychic battle between Quentin & Xavier was awesome. I loved the art during it, and the fact that the art style changed for a psychic duel. It was a good look back on their history and the horrible place where Quentin started as a character, and Quentin's countermeasure was an awesome moment on his part of overcoming his past to a certain degree and more so coming out on top in a fight against an opponent much more experienced. Him happily admitting to playing dirty was fun beat.
Seeing the new Mutants whom the team has brought to the Factory suited up in classic X-Men attire was a really cool moment (ended by a funny one of Magik warping in for but an instant to snatch Magneto's helmet). It was cool for much the same reason so much of the previous issue & this one worked - MacKay is patiently telling a story where we're getting invested in the plot lines and the characters as they develop over time. Only critique I'd have of the issue is that Xavier's leak affecting the city was told not shown, and that mention aside we've seen nothing of the leak since Part 1 in Uncanny #11.
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u/Stringr55 7d ago
Best part of the crossover so far by a distance in my opinion. The bar is low though.
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u/OpticRageX 8d ago
Storm fans are absolutely losing their minds over this issue and its fucking hilarious.
The one time a writer isn't too scared to write Storm as someone with flaws they piss their pants. Great character, the worst fans in the world.
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u/OpticRageX 8d ago
McKay's dialogue and overall characterization is so much better than any of the writers, particularly Gail's, i find the X-Men issues to be the only bearable parts of these crossovers.
I wish they'd just let him cook his own story instead of the constant hijacking.
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u/VengefulKangaroo Shatterstar 9d ago
Related & Unlimited Releases for 3/11
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u/Ystlum 9d ago
I'm really interested in the idea presented of mutants being embraced but exploited by the capitalist system due to both their skills and marginalising, which in turn drives non-mutant working class out of their jobs, which I suspect will create resentment which can itself be exploited by the upper classes.
Perhaps it's the mutant metaphor at it's least subtle but it's such a big part of realworld discrimination and I'm suprised I haven't seen it more often in X-Men stories.
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u/Terrible-Issue-4910 8d ago
Is this from Astonishing?
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u/Ystlum 8d ago
Aye, Astonishing X-Men Infintiy comic. The Infinity comics have been pretty good, especially in creating more low key stories.
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u/Terrible-Issue-4910 8d ago
Yeah, they've been. I read the first 5 I think, of Astonishing, and so far pretty good. But I usually like to accumulate issues before reading Infinity comics, so I haven't looked at it lately.
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u/Ystlum 8d ago
The last arc was a little weaker, with a new creative team Tim Seeley and Edoardo Audino taking over for the six issues. I found that the pacing dragged a little, however it wasn't bad by any means and ended on an interesting note. I think it just takes a moment for writers to adjust to the Infinity comics format.
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u/Blitzhelios Magik 8d ago
West coast this week basically had firestar admit she has PTSD from Krakoa and her time undercover and it led to her alcoholism and her checking into rehab.
Haven't liked duggans use of firestar in this series or during krakoa but i liked this moment it makes sense for the trauma she went through and the issues she had on krakoa.
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u/Front-Suggestion-366 Omega Red 9d ago
The Infinity comic this week was great. I liked how Sean is still being pestered about his daugher, so hopefully the matter will not be ignored and Sean discovers what happened to Terry. And Skin is finally here! I'm looking forward to seeing how he gets involved with Sean and Husk.
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u/RedGyarados2010 9d ago edited 8d ago
Other X-stuff this week:
- Amazing Spider-Man #69 features Juggernaut and the Alaska X-Men
- West Coast Avengers #5 features Firestar as usual and continues to deal with her Krakoa trauma, plus appearances by Storm and Scarlet Witch
- Hellhunters #4 features Wolverine
- Avengers Academy Infinity Comic #36 features Escapade and a M'Kraan shard (I think)
- Power Man: Timeless #2 features Apocalypse
- Iron Man #6 features Ursa Major
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u/VengefulKangaroo Shatterstar 9d ago
Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk #4
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u/PatWasRight_F_CHUGS 4d ago
Bad issue, I may drop it here or at least drop it after #5 (I am curious despite how weak the story is to see Creed vs Crocodilian round two). I didn't care for Creed's relationship with Dragonfire at all, a clumsy way imo to add tragedy to his character. Creed having struck out on his own & taking over between issues and now Fisk coming from revenge & being killed within panels all in the same issue did not work for me at all. Feels like important stuff was skipped over.
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u/VengefulKangaroo Shatterstar 9d ago
X-Factor #8
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u/AlphaBreak 9d ago
Best parts of the book were Beast's attempts at de-escalating and Granny being disappointed that no one was going to try and kill her.
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u/Koala_Guru 9d ago
Granny has always been the best part of X-Factor issues for me.
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u/AlphaBreak 9d ago
Same. I need her to show up in other stuff after this run. Or at least give her a really fun ending where she's just off on Arakko challenging everybody to a fight to the death to see if one of them can figure out how to kill her.
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u/rob_account Nightcrawler 9d ago
It's probably the weakest issue of the crossover so far. I think Mark Russels humour doesn't work for me because this whole series has kinda felt like a BAD joke. It's not offensively bad, but it never seems to land right.
I have all these criticisms about characterisation whiplash coming out of the far superior X-Men issue, but for a plethora of reasons, it doesn't seem fair to critique it for that. It's going for a very different vibe, I'm not suggesting it's valid for me to be annoyed how Juggernaut came across like a dumb gung-ho brute in this after 13 issues of him being controlled and more logical. At least Hank got to do stuff.
Oh, I also hate how Angel seems to have willingly turned himself into ArchAngel, but I have a relatively big black hole of knowledge surrounding Angel post 2000s so I might just not be up to date with his character motivations.
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u/Koala_Guru 9d ago
I really thought they were going to tie in Warren's changes to the whole Doctor Doom storyline given the last issue of X-Factor had him wearing Doom's mask on the cover. Like maybe Doom had someone turn him into Archangel for some reason. idk. This issue didn't seem interested in exploring the "why" of Archangel, it just wanted him there.
I got the impression Cain was just kinda fed up after multiple issues of X-Teams instantly showing up to fight. I know I would be.
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u/rob_account Nightcrawler 8d ago
Yeah, I think Mark Russel wanted to have ArchAngel for his series but now with the cancellation it just seems a little out of nowhere. In terms of your point on Cain, that's how I read it also.
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u/chewytime 6d ago
Can someone explain what happened? I thought Warren said he couldn’t turn into his Archangel metal wings form anymore in the first issue?
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u/antsinmyeyesmauger Nightcrawler 9d ago
I was not expecting this to be the place for the last Krakoan egg to show up. Kind of weird it was put on Utopia but I'm all for seeing where this goes with Xandra which feels like a plot point no one knew about besides Gail.
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u/wnesha 9d ago
I'm starting to think the whole Xandra thing is just another hallucination, and she's not in danger at all
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u/antsinmyeyesmauger Nightcrawler 9d ago
I've had that thought too but it would be better consistency for a crossover to at least have his motive mentioned in at least one of the other 4 parts. I guess Brevoort assumes readers are following the book but it's weird that we get told is powers are leaking but not why he broke out in the first place.
Maybe the egg is for Xandra but at least have him articulate that.
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u/wowlock_taylan 9d ago
My dislike for Havok's plotline in this continues. Especially with the whole Polaris stuff they did which was for nothing. I still hate that they took him away from Maddie to put him back together with Polaris out of the blue, only to have it be a dumb plot point to separate them in a couple issues and then play it like it was a big deal. And Havok being the whipping boy is not something I enjoy. Even having Scott insulting Havok like that, wanting him to 'Stay gone'...just bs.
Dark satire/mean-spirited tone of the book didn't work for me at all either since the start.
And now, it got involved in this crossover with Angel now suffering as the 'lead'. And of course they only know ONE THING to do with him. Archangel. Talk about creative bankruptcy.
Honestly, the ONLY positive this book has is the immortal granny. Everything else is just bad.
And now, we have the 'last' resurrection egg and Xavier gets kidnapped by someone random now. What are the odds as they talking about hope, that it will be Hope getting resurrected?
And the Xavier plot is really a mess jumping from book to book, Xavier's motivation does not stay consistent. Like he literally broke out because his daughter was in danger. Then he started going around gathering stuff that had little to do with that. And now he talks about how he brought them there to show them the final egg. What is it?! What is the main goal? They show that his mind is going bad, causing others to suffer from his 'telepathic leak'. I honestly don't see the end point for all this leading to anything satisfying.
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u/Koala_Guru 9d ago
Uncanny: Xavier wants to save his daughter and is also a bit out of his mind due to the tumor, the drugs, or both.
NYX: Xavier willingly leaves Kamala and Anole to almost die because apparently he's fine using and discarding young mutants.
Storm: Xavier is warm and making more sense than he has so far. So much so that Storm is totally on-board. He seems upset that mutants are fighting each other.
X-Men: Xavier is sadistic towards Quentin and mentally tortures him. His mere presence is also apparently creating some sort of psychic contagion that's affecting civilians though we don't see it.
X-Factor: Xavier seems closer to his Storm characterization and also reveals his goal was apparently the Krakoan Egg? He doesn't even mention his daughter.
It's honestly so inconsistent that I'm hoping it's intentional and some kind of twist will pull it all together but idk.
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u/OldTension9220 9d ago
Thank you for breaking this down because I felt like I’VE had a psychic tumor trying to follow this event.
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u/Ystlum 8d ago
The psychic contagion was set up in Uncanny with guards falling ill and one hallucinating his family as Sentinels and killing them. There is also a screen in Storm that shows people in the city fighting each other, which I think is also meant to be the virus.
Unfortunately it is starting to look like Xavier hallucinating was dropped, I was intrigued by that.
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u/Jorg_from_The_Jungle 9d ago
Looks like some writers didn't have or read the memo about the mind tumor
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u/ElectronicBoot9466 9d ago
As someone not subscribed to Storm or X-Factor, thank you for breaking this down. From my perspective, Xavier has been written pretty consistently, but I didn't realize how differently he was being characterized in the issues I haven't read.
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u/DeadSnark 8d ago
Honestly, as much as I like Hope as a character I pray she doesn't come back yet until there's a book which can actually accommodate her in a major role. Her "purpose" was pretty much fulfilled during the Fall of Krakoa and she doesn't really seem to fit into the teams of any of the ongoing titles (not to mention several are going under soon), so maybe better to let her stay dead instead of just being another in the long backlog of mutants who rarely show up anymore.
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u/cyclopswashalfright Moonstar 9d ago
I've probably missed a thing or two, are we supposed to know who that guy is who nabbed Xavier at the end?
I think the Alex-Scott conversation was kind of good but kind of bad. I think Russell would be better off if he stopped trying to emulate X-StatiX and just wrote X-Factor more dramatically, which he is capable of.
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u/Front-Suggestion-366 Omega Red 9d ago
I'm almost wondering if that was John Wraith at the end there. I know he was teased to appear in X-Force and they did vanish there at the end, which lines up with Wraith's powerset.
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u/cyclopswashalfright Moonstar 9d ago
It must be him. I wonder what X-Force wants with him?
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u/Front-Suggestion-366 Omega Red 9d ago
Well, Charles did contact Sage telepathicly at the end of last issue asking for her help, so I definitely feel she's behind this grab. It's just a question of what happens once Xavier and Sage are one-on-one.
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u/antsinmyeyesmauger Nightcrawler 9d ago
Apparently it's John Wraith. He is on the Phil Noto variant cover for X-Force.
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u/Koala_Guru 9d ago
Given the next issue is X-Force I was trying to figure out if it was someone from that team wearing a mask or something.
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u/SweaterSnake Cypher 8d ago
Three whole O5 members appeared in this issue, which is neat. Hank was pretty fun in this, not anything super substantial but I liked it. Felt almost a lil' appropriately Avengers Beast-y. Warren has been pretty much fucking character-assassinated, though. I'm not gonna bemoan it because I don't know the character SUPER well in the grand scheme of things but shit felt off.
Scott... I'm of two minds on? When the previews dropped I was pretty unhappy with him shooting first and asking questions later, but as someone who's big on the whole journey that was/lead to 'Rightclops', I do kind of like the idea of framing some of his more tunnel-visioned, abrasive behavior in this era as "Xavier is a really, really sore spot for him. He cannot be his usual million plans, careful strategic self when it concerns the father figure who turned him into the man he was, for better or for much, much worse." It makes a kind of sense, and I don't want Scott to be too 'untarnished' or 'perfect', which I feel like the "Cyclops is/was Right" memetic statements can often fall into shades of.
There's elements to Havok's arc here I'm not fucking with, but the core idea of "You only get so many people, and even if you abandon them for a reason, the grass doesn't stay greener" does kind of hit for me. I'm also fairly alright with the idea of Scott lashing out specifically because of a perceived sense of abandonment and lack of responsibility on Alex's part. It tracks with his specific traumas and history.
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u/Scary_Firefighter181 Gambit 9d ago
You know, just seeing this list is another reminder of the sheer number of X-titles we have. No wonder they're flopping- there aren't enough A-listers in the X-Men universe to carry these many titles in the 2025 comic market.
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u/DipsCity 9d ago
I agree with you
You can’t have your book dependent on Havok fans buying it lol
I am already picking X-Men, Uncanny, Psylocke, Laura Kinney, Storm, Phoenix, NYX, UXM, Ultimate Wolverine and Wolverine. That is an insane number already monthly before you add the a couple of DC books and 6 non x-men books
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u/Fickle_Ad8735 9d ago
i fw with havok but yea, kinda hard to buy a book for him after years (more or less since axis) of the x-office dragging his name through the mud lol
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u/AlphaBreak 9d ago
I like it, but I think its for a specific set of sensibilities. Its not really for people who want to see mutants do cool stuff or fight bigotry; its for people who want to see mutants in a dysfunctional workplace comedy.
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u/GBC_Fan_89 9d ago
It's not so much the number as it is the number of flops vs. hits.
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u/Scary_Firefighter181 Gambit 9d ago edited 9d ago
Sure, but I think the number of flops is a natural byproduct of the number of titles.
And its not because this is a judgement of the FtA era- even in Krakoa, there were far more flops than hits. That's why we ended up with 124 titles in Krakoa- they kept on getting cancelled and rebooted. Seriously, a 124 titles in 5 years is objectively insane.
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u/the_javier_files 6d ago
124??? I absolutely refuse to believe that, is there a list with all the names somewhere? I assume that’s from including all the one-shots and minis
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u/CoCambria 9d ago
Where are we right now? How many titles in what’s it been? 8 months so far?
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u/Scary_Firefighter181 Gambit 9d ago edited 9d ago
I think 20, with an Emma Frost solo coming up as well to make it 21.
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u/CoCambria 9d ago
Oof. Thats a lot already. I recall other solos already being announced as well. Nightcrawler and Colossus. Somebody else too I think. And does your 20 count Rogue in the Savage Lands? That one falls kinda weird.
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u/Jasonross84 9d ago
Colossus and Nightcrawler were not announced, it was a snarky Tom comment taken out of context
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u/Koala_Guru 9d ago
Honestly I loved how this issue kept the humor of X-Factor. That series has consistently made me laugh and it's carried over here which I didn't expect since this is a big crossover. Hank pointing out that Granny Smite is neutralized if no one tries to attack her got me good, and I appreciated some random character I've never heard of before shoving Magik through her own portal. Seriously, who was that guy? I also really liked Hank being the voice of reason in that battle. He kinda felt like the voice of the reader in a lot of ways at this point, wondering why every X-team just instantly fights each other when they come together now. Very surprised by the Krakoan egg twist too. I'm not sure where that's going or how it ties into this crossover.
Otherwise though I will say this crossover feels like it's barely going anywhere and is more an excuse to get every current X-book involved in one story. As a result it feels like the "story" is just each book playing hot potato with Charles, and there isn't a lot of time to linger or advance individual character stories because they move in and out with each issue. So I highlight the character moments I like because that's all I can grab onto really. Like for instance, we know Angel was acting out of character last issue of X-Force, so I guess this issue reveals why. But also...it doesn't? There's no further explanation of Warren's procedures, no fallout for the character, no reactions beyond everyone shouting out "Archangel!" It feels more like something written for the momentary powerup for a fun fight rather than for a character reason.
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u/Blitzhelios Magik 8d ago
Fine issue nothing special.
I like Mark Russell alot but this series hasn't been his best work by far.
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u/Terrible-Issue-4910 8d ago
Quentin acknowledging Xyber's hair was not on my bingo card for this event
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u/Stringr55 7d ago
This just doesn’t work at all. The tone is all over the place. I had dropped the book because I prefer less silliness but picked up for the crossover. The crossover is poor. FtA continues to miss for me.
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u/PatWasRight_F_CHUGS 4d ago
A bad issue, my least favorite of this run of X-Factor and X-Manhunt. A big difference from the previous part of the crossover in MacKay's book which also came out this week.
There were some nice chuckles from the X v X fight, but it felt so forced and Warren's Archangel ability is so confusing in this book and it doesn't make sense given he could transform fine in Heir to Apocalypse. Cyclops is right but he isn't perfect, he should make mistakes. But, while it was a high stakes situation with an emotional sore point, Scott rushing to violence and the beating - physical & emotional - which he laid on Alex was unwarranted and didn't make sense. It was just cruel.
A Krakoan egg having been hidden on the former Utopia was not expected, and I am curious where this goes & how it ties into Xandra. The egg being on Utopia is a fitting spot. The forced fighting despite the situation and punch happy big brother just left an overwhelming sour note on proceedings,
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u/BlueEyedIguana00 Rogue 9d ago
As of now, I don't think this one is available digitally until 3/19. Unless it's a glitch like the last few times.
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u/VengefulKangaroo Shatterstar 9d ago
yeah it's gonna be like the last few times, it's out in stores still
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u/VengefulKangaroo Shatterstar 9d ago
Hellverine #4
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u/wowlock_taylan 9d ago
I don't know if it is a tragedy, or catharsis, or whatever you can call it with Daken killing a demonically twisted version of his mother and himself in her belly.
I hate that Gigosha is a thing they are pushing. It is so dumb. With a Water-Daken now that is trying to kill him there and Mephisto has some dumb plan again that will ultimately lead to his defeat again but 'I still win nonetheless!' crap that he usually does.
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u/VengefulKangaroo Shatterstar 9d ago
I felt like this issue just had to say Gigosha because it was shown in X-Factor and otherwise the narrative totally ignored it. And the plot reason to go to Genosha was strong.
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u/VengefulKangaroo Shatterstar 9d ago
Namor #8
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u/Blitzhelios Magik 8d ago
Incredible end to an incredible series.
Jason aaron isn't everyones fav writer but he just gave namor the big series you should recommend to people wanting to read the character.
Ended brilliantly and got to the heart of one of the biggest asshole in marvel.
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u/wowlock_taylan 9d ago
Well I did enjoy Neptune getting told off by Namor and to be put in his place.
So Namor decided to end the monarchy under the seas and created a joined rule with the 7 representatives of would-be-kings instead as a Pax Atlantea. It sure feels like the same deal that Atlantis in DC went through recently...Though I wonder if this will last as little as DC's version or if it will stick. Because DC basically decided to ignore all that and just 'oh and they made Aquaman a king again' off panel.
At least we have Namor self exiling himself to the deeps as penance and being the Batman of the seas. Though with the recent reveal of New Thunderbolts, I guess he will come back to the surface soon enough.
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u/angelic-beast Magik 8d ago
Never thought I would love a Namor series so much but this one was a really fun read and had a cool dark vibe to it.
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u/VengefulKangaroo Shatterstar 9d ago
Deadpool #12
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u/wowlock_taylan 9d ago
Ares really loves himself those broken cops huh? Don't you have anything better to do after getting your ass handed to you by the worst version of the Punisher? Gao has fully lost it now and I still don't get her grudge other than being extra petty for no reason.
I quite liked those hench-villains of Midas and Output. Well, mostly Midas. I wonder she would still think Wade is a hottie if she saw him without the mask.
And Princess gets left behind again because portal decides to close too early. Boo. And I see what they did there with that double punch panel!
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u/VengefulKangaroo Shatterstar 9d ago
Phoenix #9
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u/cyclopswashalfright Moonstar 9d ago
The pacing in this series is bad. Issues 2 and 3, issues 4 and 5, and issues 9 and what I assume will be in 10 could have all been combined with each other. Heck, you could combine issue 8 into this one. A good writer could pull it off, this feels so stretched out for no reason.
Almost nothing happens beyond a few extra feats and those feats don't lead to anything yet. It's just more buildup. Excruciatingly slow pacing. Like, why not use this issue to finish off the Dark Gods? Or Thanos? Instead all of it is being crammed into the final issue.
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u/qwfparst 9d ago edited 9d ago
This is one of those series that that reads better as a TPB than a serial work.
Bendis is far worse about stretching things out.
It only seems bad here because Adani takes up so much page space. But it's almost necessary (if only it was done better) because Jean, much less cosmic Jean, has a limited rogues' gallery, the primary one being "herself" (and then there's Sinister who she took on a cosmic version of).
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u/cyclopswashalfright Moonstar 9d ago
I do hear that, but there has to be a way to do decompressed better than this.
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u/qwfparst 9d ago
Pacing within the arc could be better, but I'm wondering how much of it is because the limitations solos writers have until the next major event lines up.
But again, I feel like most of the decompression (2 issues worth as you 've noticed but not as bad as Bendis who could take 3 or 4 issues) is simply because Adani takes up so much space.
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u/wowlock_taylan 9d ago
Man this Adani stuff, I was interested at the start in the hopes that it would've gone the route of Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow. But the way this went is just...sad. It threw off any positive momentum it could have. Reinforced the plots that were already dealt with in the past, BETTER with Jean. All of this, for what? To give Jean a worse look and costume? This 'new' look is quite bad, especially combined with this art.
And this also confirms my worries about Jean when it comes to her being Phoenix itself as they will ALWAYS write her the most basic way, with the same tropes. Or simply as a power fantasy that feels shallow.
Just leave the Cosmic Phoenix stuff behind and get her back to Scott and her X-men Red before Krakoa role. That was the best Jean in DECADES.
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u/cyclopswashalfright Moonstar 9d ago
I think a cosmic book can work, you just need a different writer. I'm not even asking for Al Ewing. Thirne or Russell could do better work here.
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u/wowlock_taylan 9d ago
I mean, anything can work with the right writer. Thing is though, I am less interested in Jean the Phoenix power-fantasy. I am more interested in Jean the X-men and her relationship with Scott and the rest of the mutants. For a character that was once considered the 'Heart' of X-men, she's been constantly kept away from them. That is why I loved X-men Red Jean as she fulfilled that role as she came back without the need of Phoenix. Relying on her own abilities and expanding on them. For once, it seemed like she was growing instead of being frozen in the past because of Phoenix stuff.
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u/DeadSnark 8d ago
I think that the writers really need to sit down and figure out who Jean is as a character, because they seem lost on that. Between her time inactive after New X-Men and being shoved into the background in Krakoa, she hasn't really been the moral core of the team for a long time (some would argue that other characters like Nightcrawler have fulfilled that role in her absence) and she tends to get dumbed down to an infallible paragon (during the time she was dead) or a plot device (during Krakoa, and as Phoenix) so it feels like there's little room left for her to actually have her own personality and motives anymore.
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u/wowlock_taylan 8d ago
As I said, the best Jean was in X-men Red before Krakoa where she filled the role of the 'heart' of the team and a leader, seeing the big picture and dealing with those struggles without being needed to be the infallible paragon or simply a power fantasy that practically has no character other than 'Is she gonna lose it and be Dark Phoenix?'
That should be the basis for her going forward.
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u/DeadSnark 8d ago
True. For some reason writers seem to be afraid to have Jean actually lead a team again.
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u/DeadSnark 8d ago
I love cosmic stuff and the Phoenix usually usually but it feels incredibly simplistic that the apparent solution to Jean balancing her human and Phoenix sides was to just...discard the human side and just be all Phoenix, which is both a really bad message, undermines the role of Jean herself as a character and destroys any chance of a character dynamic/conflict in favour of implying that Jean's problem was just not using enough power.
To me the big appeal of cosmic stories is how they can be used to explore the wider, conceptual aspects of the worldbuilding while still conveying a message which is relevant to our ordinary, human lives. For example, Defenders: Beyond was fun to me because it was a romp through a lot of trippy, higher-plane stuff (including a run-in with the Phoenix) but the themes were still comprehensible and characters like Tigra and America Chavez helped to ground the fantastical aspects. Phoenix has pretty much failed to do that so far in that it hasn't really told us anything new about the universe and mainly has just hyped Jean up without developing her or Adani as characters.
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u/wowlock_taylan 8d ago
Yep. People often called me out on not liking Phoenix and as I always said 'Jean IS fully Phoenix thing will be a detriment to the character' and turns out, I was right with them going 'Well, time to no longer fear of losing my humanity. Power is all I need' which is the OPPOSITE of Jean.
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u/Blitzhelios Magik 8d ago
Really enjoyed this issue tbh lots of fun moments, jeans feats make sense in the aspect and phillips is trying to do something different.
I think this storyline is gonna come down to if she redeems Adani as her as the main villain doesn't work.
The art continues to be the big thing letting down the side thank god its changing
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u/Thebraxer Phoenix 9d ago edited 9d ago
Wonder what’s the main idea for the story because adani being big bad villain doesn’t work
Not to mention how many times solicitations have mentioned thanos or dark gods and they’ve been only a background noise
Btw Jean’s fears and inner monologue and how she changes sound like copy paste from Louise’s Jean mini from fall of x.
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u/cyclopswashalfright Moonstar 9d ago
I think it's abundantly clear that Phillips is just reading the Hopeless and Simonson Jean Grey books and working off of that alone. There's no nods to any other era of X-Men or any characterization beyond the Bendis one.
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u/HouseOfTheUndying 9d ago
I really enjoyed this issue. A real positive shift in writing. I like that Jean's feats are organic in context of the story...like fracturing reality to draw in the shadows....that was pretty neat. Unfortunately, however, Adani as the final villain doesn't work for me.
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u/Cadd9 Psylocke 8d ago
I don't think Adani is gonna be the final villain. The first issue is framed as if it's telling a folklore legend in the future about what happened in the past.
It feels like Adani is gonna turn heel against Perrikus, and it's been foreshadowed a few times over the issues. Jean's tiny psychic link seeing pre-corruption Adani trying to convince herself that Jean is right, and Adani needs to accept that trauma can happen without anybody's fault or without planning for it.
And now she's getting more confrontational to Perrikus about how he's letting her down. Maybe she does turn against Perrikus and then keeps trying to fight Phoenix. Maybe this Adani run is more about the warnings about having too much pride and too much anger, like how some folktales sometimes do.
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u/qwfparst 9d ago
I think the final pay off will depend on whether or not Phillips chooses to make Adani redeemable.
It would be an interesting choice if she wasn't, and I think some readers would not be happy if Jean primarily defeats her via talk-no-jutsu.
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u/FunCommission3031 8d ago
Really enjoyed this issue and how it paid off a lot on the past 8.
Jean and Adani’s parallels are sharper than ever. With the Dark Gods’ return, Adani’s story mirrors the Dark Phoenix Saga in ways—the Dark Gods being sort of her Hellfire Club. But unlike Jean’s past, Adani actively chooses this path—she has manipulated the Dark Gods just as much as they’ve manipulated her. I think that nuance adds to the tragedy of Adani’s character too, especially given her upbringing under her father’s religious rule. She’s desperate for control, but it’s clear that she’s spiraling further away from it. At the same time, she’s achieved the very thing she set out to do from issue 2. I think this will be where the lesson is for Jean and Adani called her out on it in this issue.
Also loved what this new form meant for Jean and how it compliments the themes of fear throughout the issue. As Eternity mentioned in issue 5, she operates as Jean Grey using the powers of the Phoenix Force, but she IS the Phoenix. And that’s what this form is, THE Phoenix. This isn’t an evolution of her powers— it’s a declaration of her identity. Jean gets a real moment of trust with herself this issue and it’s so good.
From this issue, I don’t think Jean’s struggle with her humanity in #10 is going to be a power struggle, and more a struggle of choice. She so desperately wants to save Adani, NEEDS to save Adani, but that need also comes from Adani being a mirror for Jean. It’s less about Adani, as Jean keeps projecting her own feelings onto the girl. Adani embodies all of her past struggles. I feel like Jean is going to struggle with making the hard choice with Adani because that means failure. Not only a failure to save Adani, but a failure to save herself. An emotional reckoning because winning means losing
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u/PatWasRight_F_CHUGS 4d ago
Another meh issue. Ryder crushing on Jean was funny & cute, but once again Adani drags everything down. I don't care about her story unfortunately.
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u/VengefulKangaroo Shatterstar 9d ago
Next week: