Excalibur #43 (1991)

 

Excalibur #43 (November, 1991)
"Home Comforts (or Who Exploded the Toilet?)"
Writer/Pencils - Alan Davis
Inks - Mark Farmer
Letters - Michael Heisler
Colors - Glynis Oliver
Edits - Terry Kavanagh
Chief - Tom DeFalco
Cover Price: $1.75

So, stop me if you've already heard this one... say, yesterday, or thereabouts.

Your humble host just ain't feelin' it right now. Got a lot of stuff I'm dealing with in the real life... and, lord knows I never wanted to be a content-creator who would fall back on the tired old, "life got in the way" excuse... welp, here I am. I'm finding that the grieving process washes over you less as a dribble and more of... like, when in a 90s sitcom, a family decides they're going to attend to their own plumbing problems. Ya know what I mean? It's a full-on blast... with nearly as much "facial wetness" resulting. I'm hoping this will pass... hell, I've been hoping it'd pass since mid-January.

Maybe actually talking about it would help? Maybe not? I haven't the foggiest. You'd never guess that I've got a dozen years of schooling and a couple'a degrees in psychology, eh?

*And, it's at this point, your idiot narrator realized nobody actually read this piece before... and, how he probably could've gotten away with playing it off as brand-new. Welp, I'm nothing if not transparent...

--

We open with Nightcrawler and Meggan seemingly doing a synchronized gymnastics bit throughout a giant jungle gym.  Upon landing, their eyes lock... and Meggan appears to take on a more Nightcrawlery appearance.  They embrace... and kiss.  Ya see, this is all a dream, and unfortunately for Kurt... he talks in his sleep.

He is startled awake by... well, Captain Britain's mitt being wrapped around his throat!  He accuses Nightcrawler of having "lust in his heart" for his woman... but, Kurt BAMFs out of his grip before he can do all that much damage.  Ya see, ol' Brian's rather frazzled.  Not only was the Lighthouse destroyed... not only did the team decide to take in the TechNet... but now, he's gotta worry about a Fuzzy Elf stealing his woman!  Poor dude just wants some peace and quiet so he can read his terribly pretentious book!

Just then, Meggan and Thug of TechNet pop in through a hole in the ceiling.  Meggan, who is blissfully ignorant of most things, innocently gives Brian a peck on the lips, before continuing down to the lower levels.  This sort of extinguishes the situation... for now.

Further down, Thug is using his Adamantine drill-bit to try and build a "null-grav elevator" for the team.  Meggan excitedly attempts to show Brian... but as mentioned, poor dude just wants to read in peace.  Worth noting, that creepy JoyBoy is looking on... and, Scatterbrain is really getting up in Cap's business.  She appears to have clung onto him... and is following him everywhere he goes.

Further down... Brian (and Scatterbrain) happen upon Kitty Pryde and Ferro... who are working on diagnosing whatever it was that Bert did to Widget last issue.  Ferro... is an idiot... and so, blows up the entire operation, setting Kitty back a ways in her research.  Brian smirks and gives her an "I toldja so", but she ain't hearin' it.  And so, Cap continues down the never-ending spiral staircase.

Further down (again), and Brian (and Scatterbrain) sees Bodybag sneaking into the temporary women's dorm.  Upon hearing a rather loud "chomp" and fearing the worst, he dives in to check out what's going on.  Turns out B.B. took a big ol' bite out of Kitty Pryde's teddy bear!  Brian has dropped his book... and we can finally see just how pretentious he is.  It's Philosophic Foundation of Quantum Mechanics... which is actually a real book written in 1944 by Hans Reichenbach... that I'd never want to read!

Kitty certainly isn't pleased to see her teddy devoured... as it was a gift from Alistaire (Stewart of the W.H.O.) who Ms. Pryde had quite the crush on.  Ferro pops over and learns that the teddy was made of nylon... and, uh-oh, Bodybag ain't gonna be able to properly digest that!  Think we might be about to find out "who exploded the toilet"?

Yes.  That's exactly what we're to find out.  We also learn that, while B.B. was blowin' it up... two entities materialized, and flew out the window.  Gross.  Kitty finally comes around to Brian's side, and says they never should have taken the TechNet in!

Further down, Brian goes... no longer is Scatterbrain attached to him, by the by.  He's in the basement area, and it's cluttered with rubbish.  He goes to enter a side room... only to discover Numbers making time with Lockheed the Dragon?!  Well, it's the Lockheed of Earth-597 anyway.  Numbers needed some sexual healing... or something, and so, Captain Britain sheepishly exits the room.

Then... Scatterbrain's back!  Brian completely loses it here, and tries to get her to back off.  It's here we learn, via China Doll that Scatterbrain feeds off of anger... and right now, Brian's one ripe apple.

Brian tosses his book, and gives up.  He decides he might as well get away from it all, and just head back to his London home.  He goes to fly up the to the top of the lighthouse... however, forgot about TechNet's "gift" of the anti-grav elevator, and so he's hurled all the way through the top of the recently-repaired lighthouse!

When he comes to, he sees Kurt attending to Meggan... and totally misreads the situation.  Unfortunately for Nightcrawler, in this case perception is reality.  There's about to be a fight!

And fight they do!  For the next four pages, Brian and Kurt knock the hell out of one another.  Kurt isn't sure exactly why they're fighting, and is only really trying to defend himself from Brian's blows.  Finally, Cap manages to land one... fracturing Kurt's femur!

Meggan calls for the fellas to cool it... and isn't quite sure why they're fighting over her.  With tears in her eyes she assures Brian that she gave him her heart... and loves her teammates like family.  She flies off to be alone.  Phoenix follows her to make sure she's okay.

The crowd disperses, and all we have left are Brian and Kurt... who apologize to one another, and drop some heavy truths.  Brian admits to feeling insecure since dropping the "solo-hero" act and assembling Excalibur.  The fact that the team sometimes defers to Kurt for leadership has really done a number on his self-esteem.

Kurt admits that he has dreamed of Meggan... but claims that he's not in love with her.  He dreams of her transforming into an "embodiment of all he desires".  Brian thinks to himself that he's acted like a fool in this situation.

He doesn't get all that long to reflect on it, however... as the Captain Britain Corps arrive to sweep him away to... somewhere else.

Speaking of "somewhere else", we have another epilogue on Ee'rath, where Kylun and Company have rescued Princess Sat'neen from a cloaked figure.  We wrap up with him preparing to take on the evil Necrom... whoever that might be.

--

Letters Page:

Uncanny X-Men #282 (1991)

 

Uncanny X-Men #282 (November, 1991)
"Payback"
Plot/Pencils - Whilce Portacio
Script - John Byrne
Inks - Art Thibert
Colors - Dana Moreshead
Letters - Tom Orzechowski
Edits - Bob Harras
Chief - Tom DeFalco
Cover Price: $1.00

It's been a pretty rough few days, my friends... emotionally draining, and just plain unpleasantly busy overall. This is kind of embarrassing to admit, though perhaps it shouldn't be... but, I'm still processing the loss of our dog. It's been four months now, and the hurt just refuses to go away. If anything, it only seems to intensify. It makes it very difficult to do much of anything... as he was so, I dunno, entwined I guess, with everything I do on a daily basis. He was always there, by my side... no matter if I was writing, recording... or doing yard work or yoga. Every day, for fourteen years. And now... he's not. I don't think I've allowed myself to actually grieve properly... just kept forcing myself to push forward. That stuff... those feelings... they just don't "pass", I suppose. They're going to have to be faced and dealt with eventually... and, my subconscious appears to be drawing it out to make the sensation as painful and life-destroying as possible. On that happy note...

I'm dipping back into the old From Claremont to Claremont show-prep well to find anything I haven't already repurposed into a blog post for our humble and hollow internet home. I think I've found one worth "zsuszing up".

--

We open at the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, where the Prof and Forge are engaging in a game of Chess.  Charles ekes out a win, and acknowledges that he knew Forge had activated a psychic dampener in order to keep things "fair".  Before setting the board back up for a rematch, the pair are interrupted by the arrival of the Gold Strike Force... and a Sentinel head.  This is a pretty ugly panel...

... though we do see via his bookshelf, that Professor X has been keeping up with the Infinity Gauntlet limited-series!  So that's sorta fun.

Storm explains what happened last issue... which... even the editorial caption informs us isn't what actually happened.  The wheels are coming off this book already!  Bob Harras writes, "Not Quite what you saw last issue, but take our word for it!  It's what happened!"  Yeah, nice try...

The Professor is shocked to see Jean in such a state... and informs the team that, if she were actually dead, he'd have felt it when it happened.  A deeper probe reveals that Jean Grey isn't actually dead... only displaced.  But... where?

We shift scenes to Shinobi Shaw's penthouse apartment... the caption tells us it's late at night, even though the art makes it seem like it's pretty bright out.  Anyhoo, Trevor Fitzroy is paying the man a visit to inform him that... well, he's won the game.  Not only did he kill Donald Pierce, but he also took out the White Queen and her entire pack o' Hellions!  We learn here that Jean Grey is actually occupying the mind of Emma Frost, by the way.

He demands Shinobi's ring... which, I guess denotes he's the leader of the Upstarts.  Imagine that being the "topper" on your resume?  Shinobi assures him he won't give it up without a fight... and so, Fitzroy decides he'll just cut the dude's finger off and take the ring by force.

Back at the Mansion, the X-Men put together a plot to save Jean.  They deduce that Fitzroy's base is located on an iceberg somewhere in the Arctic.  Forge and Professor X decide they're coming along on this mission... which appears to make Storm a little uneasy.

We rejoin Fitzroy, who is accompanied by his weird little sidekick, Bantam, and a trio of heavily-armored guards.  Suddenly... a portal opens!  This is rather a shock to Trevor, as he had nothing to do with it.  From the portal springs... two men, who, in the process of passing through, wind up melded into one!

Fitzroy puts them out of their misery, and blames Bantam for the boner.  Ya see, Fitzroy make'a the portals, and Bantam is supposed to be monitoring them all.  Bantam reveals that this portal didn't seem strong enough to actually work... and so, he stopped paying it any mind.  Or something.  Bantam thinks to himself that Trevor needs to be more responsible with his powers... otherwise, ya never know who or what might crawl out of the next portal!  Let's put a pin in that for the moment...

The X-Men arrive over the iceberg... and it's confirmed, as if we didn't already know, that Jean transferred her psyche into the nearest telepath last issue... and, of course, that telepath was Emma Frost.  Xavier assumes this means that Frost is actually dead... but, again, finds it strange that he didn't "feel" her dying.

Back inside, Fitzroy prepares to "feed".  His Sentinels warn that there's an aircraft approaching... but he silences them.  He's surrounded by his hostage Hellions... and is getting ready to suck up all of their energies.  He starts with Tarot.  It's here where Fitzroy's speech pattern is really started to get to me... any time he addresses someone, he starts his statement with "My dear...", like "My dear Tarot.", or God forbid, "My dear Beef."

Fitzroy uses Tarot's energy to open up yet another portal.  From this one, we meet a trio of gaudy geeks named Burke, Kroeger, and Stylles.  Trevor and Kroeger have some contentious back-n-forth, resulting in the K-Man trying to leave through the same portal he entered... and learning the hard way that it was only a "one way" trip.

Just then, Jean Grey-as-Emma Frost reveals herself to be, ya know, awake... and lashes out at Fitzroy with some telekinetics.  This, naturally, catches Trevor off-guard, as Emma Frost is "nothing more than a telepath" and shouldn't be able to do any of this.

Then... the cavalry arrives!

What follows are several pages of the X-Men just tearing through Fitzroy's Sentinel army.  I can only wonder what Byrne might've thought when he got faxed these pages.  Fitzroy has finally had enough, and rushes over to his hostage Hellions of drain more power than he'd ever drained before!

In turn, he uses this energy to... say it with me... open up yet another portal.  From this one emerges... well, basically Morlocks from the future.  Just a gaggle of interchangeable geeks... without any sort of defining characteristics.

The X-Men wipe the floor with them.  Fitzroy is still pretty confident... but that all changes when some heavy firepower comes blasting through the still-open portal.

He turns in horror to see his old rival... Bishop (flanked by Malcolm and Randall Redshirt).

--

Letters Page:

The Collected X-Lapsed, Episode 33 - Reign of X, Volume 11 (2022)

The Collected X-Lapsed, Episode Thirty-Three

Reign of X, Volume 11 (2022)
(00:00:00) Way of X #2: "Let Us Prey"
(00:46:37) Children of the Atom #4: "Captured"
(01:26:04) Cable (vol.4) #11: "Depression"
(02:29:36) Children of the Atom #5: "Reinforcements"
(03:34:44) Cable (vol.4) #12: "Shakespeare in the Zark"
Writers - Si Spurrier, Vita Ayala, & Gerry Duggan
Art - Bob Quinn, Paco Medina, & Phil Noto
Colors - Java Tartaglia, David Curiel, & Phil Noto
Letters - VC's Clayton Cowles, Travis Lanham, & Joe Sabino
Design - Tom Muller
Head of X - Hickman
Edits - Thomas, Andrews-Ballesteros, Bissa, White, Cebulski
Cover Price: $17.99
On-Sale: April 20, 2022

On the Eve... or, maybe during, the Hellfire Gala -- we check in with a couple of uninvitees in the Cables young and old!  Turns out, the kid ain't too long for this world... or, point in the timeline, rather.

Speakin' of kids... we get a couple of chapters where the Kids of the Atom don't do a helluva lot.  We also open with yet another amazing issue of Way of X that your humble host excitedly waxes on about for far too long! 

--

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/xlapsed

X-Lapsed Voicemail: 623-396-5375 (or, 623-396-JERK)

Twitter: @acecomics / Instagram: @90sxmen

weirdcomicshistory@gmail.com

chrisandreggie.podbean.com

The All-New, All-Different chrisisoninfiniteearths.com

facebook.com/groups/90sxmen

X-Lapsed, Episode 338 - X Lives of Wolverine #5 (2022)

 \

X-Lapsed, Episode Three Hundred Thirty-Eight

X Lives of Wolverine #5 (May, 2022)
"The Living End"
Writer - Benjamin Percy
Art - Joshua Cassara
Colors - Frank Martin
Letters - VC's Cory Petit
Design - Tom Muller
Edits - Baumgartner, Basso, White, Cebulski
Cover Price: $4.99
On-Sale: March 16, 2022

Wrapping up the X Lives half of XLADOW, the only way we possibly can... with Wolverine and Omega Red slappin' meat for a half-dozen pages!  After the raucous and unpredictable first half of this event, this almost feels like an anticlimax!

Plus, I theorize over what Mikhail Rasputin's ultimate goal was here... and, basically try and stop myself from talking too much without yet having read X Deaths!  It's a decently fun time, I sure hope you'll join me!

--

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/xlapsed

X-Lapsed Voicemail: 623-396-5375 (or, 623-396-JERK)

Twitter: @acecomics / Instagram: @90sxmen

weirdcomicshistory@gmail.com

chrisandreggie.podbean.com

The All-New, All-Different chrisisoninfiniteearths.com

facebook.com/groups/90sxmen

X-Lapsed, Episode 337 - X-Men Unlimited: Latitude #1 (2022)

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X-Lapsed, Episode Three Hundred Thirty-Seven

X-Men Unlimited: Latitude #1 (May, 2022)
"Latitude"
Writer - Jonathan Hickman
Art - Declan Shalvey
Letters - VC's Joe Sabino
Design - Tom Muller
Edits - Amaro, White, Cebulski
Cover Price: $5.99
On-Sale: March 16, 2022

Taking a page out of Marvel's playbook... and offering up a compilation of my coverage of the first four chapters of the Latitude storyline from X-Men Unlimited (Infinity Comic) #1-4!  There're also four chapters worth of It's Jeff! if Wolvie ain't enough to entice ya!

The Infinity Comics episodes tend to be a little bit shorter than their physical counterparts... so, this isn't a terribly long show... but, it still might be terrible!

--

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/xlapsed

X-Lapsed Voicemail: 623-396-5375 (or, 623-396-JERK)

Twitter: @acecomics / Instagram: @90sxmen

weirdcomicshistory@gmail.com

chrisandreggie.podbean.com

The All-New, All-Different chrisisoninfiniteearths.com

facebook.com/groups/90sxmen

The Illustrated X-Lapsed - House of X #1 (2019)

The Illustrated X-Lapsed

House of X #1 (September, 2019)
"The House that Xavier Built"
Writer - Jonathan Hickman
Art - Pepe Larraz
Inks - Marte Gracia
Letters - VC's Clayton Cowles
Design - Tom Muller
Edits - Bissa, White, Cebulski
Cover Price: $5.99
On-Sale: July 24, 2019

Trying something out today... let's see if it can float.

Anyone who knows me, the poor few, will know that, more often than not, I'm wracking my brain trying to think up ways to "zsusz" the numbers and audience on X-Lapsed (and here at the site). It's not easy being a one-man operation -- there's only so much time in the day, and -- since I'm also a fella with nigh-on cripplingly low self-esteem and anxiety (when blastin'!), it's difficult for me to be as active and engaging on the socials as I think I might need to be.

I try and keep the faith that hard work will eventually pay off... and that maybe, just maybe, one day I'll be shown half as much respect as the folks who "right-click, save as" four cover pics a day from Google Images and spam tag everybody they know to get "da likes". That's absurdly (and uncharacteristically) optimistic of me, innit? Snarky too!

X-Lapsed has been a, for lack of a better term, "passion project". I mean, in a year and a half, I've produced nearly 350 episodes of the thing... so, hopefully that's apparent. But... I know that listening to podcasts isn't something that everybody out there has the time nor interest to do. And so, in attempt to reach the folks who are more into receiving comics-commentary-content in a text-n-images format, I give to you The Illustrated X-Lapsed.

Will it work? Probably not. Will it last? I hope so, but no promises. Does this mean we're done with Dazzler? Nah, we got loads of Ali on the way... This is just something I'm trying out. Kinduva "Hail Mary" from yer humble host. Plus, I'm a bit interested in seeing how these early issues of the HoX/PoX era read, as at this point, we're out the other end of Hickman's run.

Note: These are adaptations of my actual X-Lapsed scripts... so, they're being written from a point of view that this is the first time I'm reading these books. I intend to keep my wild (and often wrong) theories intact. So, before you "Well, ackshully" me, please just keep that in mind. Oh, what am I saying -- I'll take ANY engagement I can get! Correct away!

--

We open with a prologue where Professor Xavier, wearing perhaps a Cerebro Helmet (?) is stood before a pretty gross-looking tree. Toward the roots of this gross tree are some… grosser pods. From them spring, I’m assuming mutants. Professor X greets them… calling them “his X-Men”. It may be worth noting, one of these newborns has what appears to be optic blasty powers? Could this be like a "Biblical" take on the Original Five?

Ugh

From here we get a few pages of timelapse, starting five months prior on Krakoa… then across the world and across the universe. The X-Men are planting some Krakoan Flowers. I’m going to guess this is the genesis of the Krakoa Gateways… or maybe the habitats we’re about to see?  Though, I could very easily be mistaken.

We settle in the “now”, at the Jerusalem Habitat. We’ve got a meeting of minds here, with several ambassadors from disparate nations having been called here by Professor X, who’d like to make them an offer they may not be able to refus. Apparently, there’re designer drugs… which promise to extend human life by five years, prevent mental illness, and act as an adaptive antibiotic. Thing is, Xavier’s got em… and he is only willing to share if he can come to terms with the governments of the world. He will only help those nations who recognize Krakoa's sovereignty. These Ambassadors seem to be split on whether or not this could be a workable arrangement.

Before we get too far, however, they are interrupted by the arrival of a pair of the Stepford Cuckoos… Esme and Sophie. I never thought I’d be so happy to see them… but, I know them… and I really need to see some familiar faces here! The humans are led up a flight of stairs where they are introduced to… Magneto! He apologizes, recognizing that he is a poor substitute for the man they expected to chat up… that being, Charles Xavier. He offers to give the folks a tour.

INFO PAGE! We get an info-graphic style page next that describes some of the Flowers of Krakoa… including those that can be utilized as miracle drugs for the humans, and those that can act as gateways for the mutants.

We shift scenes to the Graymalkin Habitat in Westchester… which I’m going to assume is the old Xavier School. There, Jean Grey is escorting some young mutants through one of the Krakoan Gateways... Including one with broccoli floret hair. We… or I learn here that only mutants can travel through them without “permission”. Humans can tag-along… but only if Krakoa says it’s cool.

As they step on through, word is sent to a Krakoan network “control center” of sorts. It’s pretty gross… it’s part animal, part vegetable… and has a whole lotta eyes. This desk is being manned by Cypher (with a Phalanxy Arm) and Sage. More familiar faces…

Jean and the broccoli boy arrive… and the tot is pretty wowed to see Professor Xavier and a “hairy guy” named Logan. In the nearby forest we see Charly and Wolverine hanging out… and the kids are like magnetically drawn to Logan. I haven’t “seen” Wolverine since his return from the dead… so, maybe he’s a kinder and gentler sort right now? I dunno… this whole thing feels very “off”... kind of like the first ten minutes of an episode of the Twilight Zone. I feel like I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop… things seem a little TOO perfect. It’s… uncomfortable.

INFO PAGE! Another info-graphic page follows, which gives us a map of Krakoa… and, I believe, places it somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

Next stop… Space! Agents Gregor Mendel arrive at a satellite… which appears to be full of agents of various Marvel organizations… SHIELD, AIM, some others… all of which make me yawn uncontrollably… a latter info-page will confirm some of that. This project is called Orchis. Omega Sentinel, Karima whatsherface is here… and, well, honestly a lot of this is going over my head.  Hopefully it clears up for me before long. Before leaving the satellite, we see that it’s surrounding a giant Sentinel (or maybe Master-Mold) head.

We pop back to Earth, and we join Mystique, Toad, and Sabretooth as they are pillaging the Damage Control offices. The mutants get what they’re looking for… which appears to be some data… and they split in the direction of the nearest Krakoa Gateway. Unfortunately for them, they are descended upon by the Fantastic Four. The Thing waylays Sabretooth just in time for us to shift scenes…

Back to Magneto’s magical mystery tour! They leave Jerusalem and arrive at a “hub” point, form which they can travel to a whole bunch of other habitats. One of the Ambassadors notes the strange language posted above the doorways… and is surprised that the mutants would go to such lengths. Magneto firmly states that they did so in order to create a distinct mutant culture. They pass through a door… maybe a few… because we see a smattering of locales over this page’a panels. We also see… Xorn?  Both of them?  Where did they come from?

One of the ambassadors turns the subject to the military… and how, the mutants newfound ability to travel anywhere they damned well please really changes the world dynamic. Magneto assures him that this ability isn’t an instrument of war. The human ain’t buyin’ it… and, if I’m being honest, if Magneto said that to me, I’m not sure I would either. Magneto plainly states that there’s never been a mutant war… which, I mean… I guess is technically true. The Ambassadors are growing impatient and would really like to finally go to Krakoa. Magneto tells them that both, they don’t need to… and anyway, Man ain’t welcome there in the first place The Ambassadors know Xavier’s terms… all they want is their little slice of the planet.  Humanity is more than welcome to the rest of it.

Back with the Fantastic Four… Mystique and Toad are able to make their way through a gateway… but poor Sabretooth just bounces off. The Fantastic Four take their captive… and all looks to be fine and dandy. Then… Cyclops emerges from the Gateway. He greets Ben, congratulates him on his recent nuptials… and gets down to bidness with Reed. He asks for Sabretooth to be released over to him. Reed... ain’t feelin’ it. Scott brings up the whole mutant amnesty thing… which, I tell ya, sounds like a really bad idea… especially when it comes to someone like Sabretooth. Reed won’t turn Vic over… and Cyclops isn’t really looking for an argument. And so, much to his chagrin, he leaves Sabretooth in their custody. Before leaving back through the gateway, however… Cyclops makes mention of Franklin Richards… and tells Sue and Reed that, whenever he’s “ready” there’s family waiting for him on Krakoa... Which… I absolutely love! I’ve been waiting for there to be some sort of conflict between the Fantastic Four and the X-Men over Franklin for awhile now... even back during the build-up to “The Twelve”... I was SURE Franklin was going to factor in (mostly because they said he would… but, whattayagonna do?).

Another INFO PAGE!… this time classifying Omega Level Mutants, which includes li’l Franklin… and a whole bunch of mutants I could’ve sworn were long dead. Another reminder that stakes, as we knew them, no longer exist.

Back to Jerusalem… The Ambassadors take a sidebar to discuss the situation. Esme… or the other one, reveals that these Ambassadors are all “plants”, and goes on to call them all out. She also reveals that one of em is packin’ heat… and so, Magneto takes care of the pistol the way only he can. The Ambassador says it’s just for “protection”... to which, Magneto asserts that “that’s how it starts”. He’s not wrong…

We wrap with Magneto telling the Ambassadors that they’ve got New Gods (not those New Gods)… annnnnd, that’s where we end up for today!

--

[2020 Thoughts]

This was VERY dense… and made me feel even denser! I am intrigued… hopefully intrigued enough to continue my way through. I really enjoyed the art. The whole thing felt familiar… yet not.

I feel uncomfortable… kind of like when you miss a sneeze.  There’s just a buzzing in my head. The Space bit with the Master Mold was kind of over my head... hell, I couldn’t swear to any of what I said during the synopsis!

I feel like with stories like this, we… or I, tend to get too lost in the weeds. I spent a lot of my time reading this (for the fourth or fifth time) trying to look for symbolism… where, perhaps there wasn’t any? Like, were the sorta religious bits intentional?  Were they there for people LIKE ME who tends to get lost in the scenery?  Will it all pay off?

Not sure.  I guess we’ll see where this goes…

[2022 Thoughts]

If you listen to X-Lapsed, especially more recent episodes, you'll likely be tired of... well, you'll be tired of a lot of my nonsense and repetition... but, in particular, you might be tired of me talking about how, at some point, the original "mission statement" of the Krakoan Era appeared to have been usurped... and, "softened".

I talk a lot about the discomfort I felt in reading these earliest issues of the Era. How, everything seemed a little bit too ideal. It didn't pass the "smell test", because... if you ask me -- it wasn't supposed to. I feel like we were expected to feel uncomfortable -- we were supposed to assume that there was something sinister and nefarious bubbling just under the surface. That very much feels like the intended direction here, doesn't it? The mutants, for all intents (and to oversimplify)... appear to have "won". We know it's not ever going to be that easy... and there's always another shoe yet to drop -- but, the way this issue kicked off this era... it was incredibly well done. We also don't yet have the context of the era -- we don't know that the theme going forward is the concept that the mutants never win.

In reading this first issue back, with everything we now know -- the juxtaposition is pretty wild... and again, so well done. I definitely feel like I missed out in not x-periencing this as it was hitting the shelves in real-time, as I'm sure theories were hot, heavy, and completely off the wall. That said, I am very much looking forward to revisiting my own old theories to see how well they line up with reality.

Now, hopefully I'm just a tad bit less "dense" than I was back in 2020 when I first sat down with this... well, when I first tried to make sense of this, anyway. I have absolutely no insider knowledge... my own fellow X-Men content creators don't have much time or use for me, much less the actual pros at Marvel -- so, please take all of my theorizing (then and now) as nothing more than uneducated "hot takes". I'll probably definitely "project" what I feel the creators were wanting to do... but, please, don't take any'a that as gospel.

I'd love to hear your recollections of the early HoX/PoX era, whether this is your first... of fiftieth time reading it/about it -- if you're willing to share, please do! If you know anybody who might be wanting to discuss these books, please -- let 'em know about X-Lapsed! Thanks for reading!

X-Lapsed, Episode 336 - X Deaths of Wolverine #4 (2022)

X-Lapsed, Episode Three Hundred Thirty-Six

X Deaths of Wolverine #4 (May, 2022)
"Deaths of Future Past"
Writer - Benjamin Percy
Art - Federico Vicentini
Colors - Dijjo Lima
Letters - VC's Cory Petit
Design - Tom Muller
Edits - Baumgartner, Basso, White, Cebulski
Cover Price: $4.99
On-Sale: March 9, 2022

Back when we started down XLADOW (xladow) way, your humble host overused the term "batspit insane" to describe it... and, that was meant as a compliment.  With today's issue, the Lives and Deaths of Wolverine takes a turn... while still being completely batspit insane.

We've got a lot to talk about...

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