X-Lapsed, Episode 9 – House of X #5 (2019)
X-Lapsed, Episode 9
House of X #5 (November, 2019)
“Society”
Writer – Jonathan Hickman
Art – Pepe Larraz
Colors – Marte Gracia
Letters – VC’s Clayton Cowles
Design – Tom Muller
Edits – Bissa, White, Cebulski
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: September 18, 2019
Welp… that other shoe just dropped, dinnit?
Today we’re discussing the big bombshell reveal in House of X #5. Who were those mutants hatchlings? Where did they come from? What will they go on to be? Why is Goldballs here? Those answers, and a whole lot more in this very episode!
S’more of that “more” includes: the United Nations ruling on Krakoa’s sovereign status as well as the idea that Krakoa is for all mutants. If you’re following along, this is an episode you won’t wanna miss!
Thanks to everyone listening along in real-time for not spoiling this huge reveal for me! I look forward to finally being part of the conversation… and hearing how everyone else received it! Please reach out and share your thoughts!
I've got to admit this was the issue I was most looking forward to you reviewing. It's the one that I have reread the most often and that I am the most mixed on.
I love the resurrection idea. It's so much simpler than anything they've done before. We no longer have to send the X-Men to heaven for Nightcrawler or check-out the space whales for Storm. It also elegantly covers character inconsistencies. They are reset to the last version of them that was saved in Cerebro so maybe that's why some development was ignored. It also means into the creepiness of Professor X. He could slightly alter their personalities. What happens if he goes a bit Onslaught again?
But I do have issues with it. Why would they use Proteus? He's an established villain and he is the result of Moira being raped. Particularly as Hickman makes it clear that other characters could take that role.
The weirdest part of the issue for me is the characterisation of Storm. She is the logical character to know everyone and identify that they are real but it is clearly established in continuity that she has rejected godhood. In the Greg Pak Storm series she even revisits Kenya and realises how damaging it was to set herself up as a goddess ala Giant-Sized X-Men 1. And we've seen her reject this kind of role when offered by Loki, Mojo and the Adversary. It seems so out of character that I was convinced that she was being mind controlled. Interestingly they have given Storm the same role in later DOX resurrections but have made it more personal and less realistic which implies that they realised they pitched her wrong in this issue.
On a more minor note I felt that the resurrected characters were all pictured as too comfortable with being nude in front of a crowd. I don't imagine Husk or Cyclops being fans of public nudity and Monet is meant be have been raised Muslim.
Talking of religion, when you mentioned the Catholic made I instantly thought "We lift up our hearts". You can take the big out of Catholic school but you can't take the Catholic school out of the boy.
Your analysis of the villains joining the X-Men on Krakoa was fascinating. I cannot imagine how jarring it must have been to see Apocalypse in Excalibur 1 if you hadn't read HOXPOX. One of the strengths of the next couple of issues is that Hickman takes some time to explore how the villains settle in.
Thanks again for a great podcast and for being so willing to take feedback. I don't know how you manage to produce so much content. I struggle to get my podcast out monthly.