X-Lapsed, Episode 149 – Juggernaut #5 (2021)
X-Lapsed, Episode One Hundred Forty-Nine
Juggernaut (vol.3) #5 (March, 2021)
“A New Beginning?”
Writer – Fabian Nicieza
Art – Ron Garney
Colors – Matt Milla
Letters – VC’s Joe Sabino
Edits – Bissa, White, Cebulski
Cover Price: $3.99
On-Sale: January 6, 2021
On the eve of our milestone 150th episode – we wrap up our look at the recently concluded Juggernaut miniseries! Will Cain stay on the straight and narrow? And what of his totally not-a-mutant sidekick? We’ll talk all about it!
Plus: Great mailbag… and the formal announcement of the X-Lapsed Origins blogging project! Pop over to the site for some seminal bits and bobs about Betsy’s Beautiful Blonde British Brother Brian… and our most favoritest place ever: Otherworld!
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@acecomics / @cosmictmill / weirdcomicshistory@gmail.com
For a long time I genuinely thought they were never going to add the last issue of Juggernaut onto Marvel Unlimited and they wait to release it until I'm struggling to find time for podcasts. It feels like I'm a terrible fan of X-Lapsed writing a review of episode 149 when I can see that the most recently released podcast is 199.
The problem with the long delay between Juggernaut 4 and 5 appearing on Unlimited is that it could only be a disappointment. This is a shame because it is not a bad series. Fabian Nicieza is always a good writer and he is able to deftly add characterisation throughout. He makes me care about Cain Marko and manages to synthesise the previous versions of him. This is no simple task as the Juggernaut is one of the most inconsistent characters in the Marvel Universe. Any Juggernaut story is always coloured by my head canon that the relationship between Juggernaut and Black Tom was a gay relationship. Since I first heard that fan theory it felt right to me. The idea that the animosity between Charles and Cain started because Charles read Cain's mind and discovered his secret shame works better with a gay character. Nonetheless I love the idea of Juggernaut gathering a team of misfits. Hopefully this is successful enough for Nicieza to continue his story.
I can't talk about this comic without praising Ron Garney. I've always enjoyed his work and he is definitely getting better and better with age. His work is so spontaneous and deals equally well with big action sequences and quiet character moments.
It is funny to me that such a big deal is made of the inabilty for non-mutants to live on Krakoa. There are so many examples of exceptions to this rule. I don't feel like this is an editorial oversight as it's so prominent. They must want us to know that Xavier personally doesn't want him there. Although that doesn't explain Black Tom parroting the mutants-only line. Weird.
Anyway until Quicksand becomes a Roxxtube millionaire through sandblasting videos, make mine X-Lapsed!