#X-men Axo | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rei-ismyname · 4 months ago

Text

Exceptional X-Men #6 review

Thank fuck this issue was released on the same day as Uncanny #10. I don't really get tired of dunking on that book, but I'd much rather celebrate something positive. Exceptional continues to be the best, and Ewing nails an internal conflict hinging on intersectionality while advancing the team's progression and building towards a BIG BAD.

That's right, a big bad. Maybe not the biggest bad, but a dangerous and versatile dandy that's been racking up a mutant body count for centuries. Yeah, it's Mister Sinister. He's not in this issue, but they haven't been trying very hard to hide it. More on him later, we've got a Danger Room cold open.

It's not clear how much time has passed since the last issue but everyone is growing in confidence and skill. Everyone (including Bobby) is getting along well and it's nice to see them grow as a team. Kate had told Bobby to fuck off and didn't want to talk about the ORCHIS war, but that ended up happening anyway. It's a little jarring for Kate to change her mind there without any kind of further discussion, but this book has earned my trust and it'll likely be addressed later. My assumption is that when Melee accepted Kate warts and all, Kate did the same thing with Bobby. However, Kate turning her back on the X-Men and deconstructing what is and isn't acceptable is the premise of the book. Exceptional is crossing over with X-Manhunt next issue so maybe plans had to change.

After training the teenagers are ravenous so Emma reflexively goes to order food. The kids take the opportunity to assert their independence, explicitly not wanting to be financially dependent on Emma. I love this. It's a very teenage desire to be more adult, but it also touches on an aspect of the X-Men that's been creepy from the start - the power imbalance that being reliant on someone for your survival creates. Whether it's parents, caretakers, partners (often when someone, usually a woman, sacrifices their career to raise children) - that person has power over you and power can be abused. I wrote recently about how Cyclops was 100% dependent on Xavier for ALL his needs as well as feeling personally indebted to him. Same deal with Kitty. If leaving is realistically not an option, are you really making a choice? If leaving as a teenager means you'll be homeless with no income or support system it's not an appealing option. I left an abusive home with no resources a few weeks before my 13th birthday and surviving was incredibly challenging, to put it lightly. The alternative was worse, and my bio parent knew they had that leverage. I'm not equating my situation to Xavier's school, but the power dynamics are similar.

Emma looks taken aback - she's very used to being the X-Men's bank when Warren isn't around, and she may have never thought of it. She was reliant on an abusive father as a teen, but had the power to make her own way. Most don't. It's likely Emma sees her ability to pay as tied to her value to the team too. Kate loves it. I'm sure a big part of it is reflecting on her own teenage years, but there's got to be some pride and joy in seeing these young people advocate for themselves in a way she wasn't able to.

The flipside of that is these poor bastards are Gen Z or even younger. Financial independence is incredibly difficult to achieve by yourself, especially as a mutant. It's an outside context problem for the adults, as they grew up in a time where jobs grew on trees and the certainty of renting forever (without wealthy parents) was unthinkable. The kids don't want to be bankrolled, but they're comfortable asking for support navigating their independence. They want help getting jobs. It's a whole discussion where Emma is pushing back with a dose of realism, and then Kate's housemate Priti strolls in with 3 jobs all at the same place. We should be suspicious of this.

They agree to give it a go and are ushered very quickly into 'internships' at Verate (the app Melee's cousin was using) that are all of a sudden consultant positions. The kids are taken aback but roll with it, and let's be honest - this is weird shit. Priti has shown herself to be a reasonable and conscientious person and she's acting out of character. I think Sinister got to Priti. It certainly fits his MO - he has done shit like this before and he loves fucking with mutants/DNA in general.

They all have a brief meeting before meeting the boss, and Melee suggests Axo use their powers to make a good impression, something Bronze thinks is shady. It's all light-hearted but there's no time to think before they're in yet another meeting. Sheldon Xenos (Greek for 'foreigner') has literal horns but comes across as friendly. The team really improvises to try to learn as to what the hell is going on.

Xenos gives his elevator pitch about a dream that's incredibly vague. Heh, where have I heard that before? Bronze and Melee are not vibing with any of this and ask a few questions before Priti ushers them out to another meeting, leaving Axo alone with Xenos. Not weird or targeted at all.

Axo is pretty open minded as usual, perhaps to the point of naivete here. However, he is a very visible mutant and being able to potentially change or mitigate that clearly has some appeal. He's the only one in the book who has to deal with that specific visibility. Xenos is saying exactly what he wants to hear and Axo is definitely listening.

Once they leave, the other two list all the reasons why an app like this is problematic (just like 23&me. Fuck that shit.) They expect Axo to agree on principle but it's not that simple for him.

He's still keeping an open mind, but he feels a kinship with another visible mutant and shares his reasoning. Considering other people's lived experience can be a really difficult thing to do, especially if it's not something you're educated about. There are so many different ways people experience privilege and oppression - when these axes intersect it can get messy. In this group of young people, Alex has male privilege and won't experience the gendered oppression the others do. Unlike Bronze and Melee, he can't pass as human - something they're mostly unfamiliar with. I have an invisible disability and I'm queer but I have no idea what being a mutant (visible or otherwise) or a woman of colour is like. It's not a competition (at all) - but understanding how other people, even members of the same minority group, experience oppression can be challenging as hell.

The next day we get a taste of what Alex's life as a visible mutant is like. He's used to it, but do you ever really get used to something like that? He's up early for a meeting with Xenos, who is really working him with compliments and gratitude. He makes a vague offer of a job but is cut off by a stranger.

A couple tries to mug them but Axo uses both his powers and his martial training to deescalate. The whole situation is so out of nowhere and dramatic that I have to think it's a set-up for Axo's benefit. Love bombing of sorts. I get the feeling Xenos is a predator wearing the skin of a non-passing mutant to weaponise solidarity while wearing Alex down. Total Sinister move, and pretty uncomfortable abuser behaviour intended to isolate someone.

We get a glimpse of his home life which looks pretty nice! Interested in his well-being and prospects, generally seems like a nice family. His dad seems to think he's behaving strangely, which is telling. The pressure of visibility and Xenos' influence is causing him to withdraw.

It's just a few panels but it seems like Kate is dating Nina. We saw their first date at a soccer match but I think going to her grandma's 90th implies some kind of commitment. Add a kiss on the cheek to that and it's about as much WLW visibility as Marvel is generally willing to show. Have them make out you cowards.

Kate has doubts about the whole thing though Emma says she looks like she's on cloud nine. The doubts are obviously about herself and her ability to be around 'regular' people. People who haven't been a child soldier since they were 13, etc. Kate is a white woman with no visible mutations - while she can walk amongst the normies easily her experiences and trauma make her feel isolated. She asks Emma's opinion but she is not the right person to ask. Emma feels like a dam that's about to burst. She's trying so hard to keep it together but I think she's struggling just as much as Kate. Watch this space.

They don't get to delve any deeper into that (and Emma clearly doesn't want to right now) because the kids are back and want their input. The kids have dug their feet in on their original positions and Kate has reservations. Axo is really getting ganged up on here, the poor guy, and pushes back on these micro aggressions pretty quickly with the fact that he is visible unlike everyone present. Everyone except Emma is fired up, leaving her to play peacemaker and advise Kate that she's pushing boundaries here. Alex is hurting and feeling isolated, he pleads that maybe there are actually altruists in the world. Oof, bad luck that he's in an X-Men book.

This situation and conflict works so well because everyone's position is believable and defensible. Alex is informed by the daily reminder that he's different, something he can't escape. He's explaining it, and he's being heard, but he's not being understood. Take a situation like AvX, where nobody can communicate like an adult without the plot breaking. It's frustrating to read because your intelligence is not being respected. A group of messy mutants all with different values and lives failing to understand the POV of a friend whose life experience is different to theirs feels like a real argument. They all care about each other and have valid concerns, but a failure of understanding leads to breakdown in communication. Plus, their beliefs are in opposition right now and Axo doesn't appreciate being spoken down to.

This book slaps, and this situation is an excellent example of the verisimilitude Ewing manages to give these characters. It's a tragedy in slow motion, but you can see exactly how it happened. Everyone is in character and they've been maneuvered into organic conflict. The final panels of the issue are Xenos paying off and thanking the muggers. It doesn't make Alex's position any less sympathetic, in fact it shows how someone might groom or isolate a vulnerable person without making light of it. Whether Xenos is Sinister or a frontman for him he is working towards his ends. I think Sinister himself in his place would look ridiculous and obvious - Xenos is calculated to appeal to Axo. I'm scared for him. Sinister is a fucking monster.

After Bronze and Melee had their focus issues, Axo's did not disappoint. Taking the thread of Verate that ran through last issue and putting it front and centre makes it feel like a threat that everyone is invested in and underestimating. You can't punch an app. This thread of intersectionality getting in the way of solidarity is compelling and I want more.

Next issue is part of X-Manhunt, and I'm really pumped to hear what Kate and Emma have to say to Charles Xavier (and what he'll have to say for himself - likely nothing). The kids will have never met him, but he's world infamous and they'll have opinions too, we hope. Exceptional X-Men is the best X-Book of From The Ashes by far, and just excellent on its own merit. 🔥🔥

#x comics #x men #exceptional x men #kitty pryde #emma frost #iceman #axo #melee #bronze #Xenos #mister sinister #Verate #marvel #comics #intersectionality

64 notes · View notes

rei-ismyname · 3 months ago

Text

Exceptional X-Men #7 review

Yew! It's Exceptional time again, and I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that it's an X-Manhunt tie in. The good news is that Chuck doesn't appear at all - he's too busy resurrecting [REDACTED] over in X-Force. He is mentioned and briefly discussed, but it adds to the story instead of disrupting it. Good times.

I feel the same way, Emma.

The issue kicks off with Emma Frost thinking about Krakoa. It's framed as her thinking on her true loves, with various men (including Scott) coming in second to Krakoa. It looks like she's reflecting on safety, loss, and thwarted attempts to pass something on to younger generations. It's still an open wound for her and it hurts. Exceptional has shown Emma keeping herself busy to try and hold it together but these thoughts keep creeping in.

In the here and now Emma and Kitty are working with the kids and trying to figure out their place in the world. The students continue to grow and assert themselves, with Melee deferring to Kate in matters of phasing and Axo drifting away from the group. He's late because he's hanging with Mr X, who's drawing him in close with performative transparency and working HARD to making him feel valued. As established in previous issues, Axo's very visible mutation (and Xenos' manipulation) feeds feelings of isolation from his friends and teachers.

I wasn't sure if it was a one off the last few times, but it looks like this book is sticking with these fourth wall breaks in place of thought bubbles of times past. It's a really difficult thing to pull off without looking like The Office, but I think it does heavy lifting here. The technique requires the reader to use context to figure out when a character 'talks to the camera' but now it's happened a few times it feels natural. It's the kind of thing that's easy to overdo - once an issue max doesn't define the book's identity or use it as a crutch for exposition.

It requires a kind of sincerity to distinguish itself from the formalism of Deadpool or the meta awareness of She-Hulk - having Axo clearly state what he's thinking to the reader/himself shows us his awareness and idealism. He wants to believe that Xenos is for real, so it's more obvious to us that he's working him than it is for Axo. Grooming him, even, by saying exactly what he wants to hear. The part of his mutant power that causes people to tell him their secrets sounds awful, frankly. That really would compromise your ability to trust people.

Sadly, that's extending to the rest of the squad, festering with the isolation and Xenos' influence. Axo feels deeply and doesn't react well to feeling ganged up on. As the team tries to reach him, calling out a blatant lie but offering support, Axo switches through emotions (as shown by his hue shifts) and lets it all out.

Poor kid is not coping well. More than anything, this reminds me of how abusers work to establish themselves as the only person their victim can trust, cutting them off from their support networks and isolating them socially. Not to diminish Axo's very justified feelings of course - that's what makes Xenos' manipulation of what's already there all the more insidious.

Aaaand Bobby bursts in at the worst possible time with the news of Chuck's escape. Even from afar, Xavier manages to fuck with mutant lives. Axo just leaves, with him feeling even more isolated and nobody realising that Xavier isn't that important to them right now. Kate and Emma have a ton of questions that don't get answered, but the kids have no idea who he is.

Honestly, it's a little surprising that they wouldn't have at least head of him - dude has been the most prominent person in the world ever since he telepathically spoke to everyone on the planet. But that's the direction From The Ashes has taken and it works better for this situation I think. As much as I want Kate and Emma to tell Xavier what they think of him etc, that hasn't exactly played out in other X-Manhunt books. Would they help him? My instinct says no, but given the arbitrariness of who has and hasn't it's complicated.

It's impossible to sum up Charles Xavier in a few sentences, especially for teachers trying to learn from the mistakes of the past and empower the kids to choose their own destiny. Knowing history can help you avoid the same pitfalls, and mutant history is barely even past in the Faulknerian sense. Thao is the best informed of the students, believing that Krakoa is something that happened to other people. Emma disagrees, and it's hard to argue against. Every refuge or safe space mutants have had has been destroyed or compromised, opposed by humans both individual and institutional. It's a very interesting and relevant conversation for this group to have, and I hope it's followed up on next issue.

Xavier the absent symbol drives this discussion, and I'm really glad he didn't show up for it. In the abstract I'd love to have the back and forth, but Chuck isn't doing that right now. He's getting the fuck out of dodge. He'll come up again, but I think using his escape as a means to exacerbate the adults' personal problems and putting the very recent loss centre stage is clever.

Axo heads back to Xenos, and before everything goes to shit we get another source of support for him and confirmation of fan speculation. Sophie Cuckoo in NYX and Axo have both been playing Summoner. Turns out they've got a thing going on, and it's completely digital which means Axo's powers don't 'tarnish' it. That's really cute, and given both are connected to Emma there's so much potential.

It looks like he's not entirely sold on Mr X, who seems maybe too good to be true? It's a really clever way of confirming that he feels like they don't listen to him without coming out of nowhere. For a line that's so disconnected, this tie-in is perfect.

Xenos takes Axo to his private lab, as he's in the 'inner circle.' There's nobody else around and it's a network dead zone. That plus his creepy villain speech has Axo seeing red flags. He's not comfortable and wants to bail right now.

Yeah, no, he can't get out. Xenos gives off huge 'Fae in the process of abducting you' vibes as he explains what he needs him for then drops the mask entirely. If it wasn't already spoiled and hinted half a dozen ways, the empathetic parts of his being that are 'long gone' would. That he needs Axo's gifts specifically for his fucked up plans hints at what he might be up to.

This is awful. Axo is a super empathetic person who has difficulty trusting people. Sinister has slowly broken down his barriers and just as Axo feels really uncomfortable this monster bursts out of the person he felt he could trust. In general, Axo has been part of a book that hasn't had to deal with outside context problems like this - being objectified and dehumanised is going to crush and traumatise him. Poor kid.

Yeah, it's Mister Sinister. Fuck. He seems to need Axo alive which is a good thing, though it won't be pleasant for the poor kid. Exceptional X-Men has its first bad guy, officially. One of my personal metrics for an ongoing is how well it handles being part of a crossover. Granted, we don't know how much latitude each writer had with that but X-Manhunt is only used here to further existing themes and to push Axo out the door. I wonder if it'll be included in the trade, assuming X-Manhunt gets one. Probably not. If you were reading this to get more information on Chuck's quest, you'll probably be disappointed, if you didn't feel like that already.

As an issue of an ongoing it's excellent, as usual. We know who the characters are and we're invested in them. The generational and interpersonal tension is running hot, and now Axo is in Mr Sinister's clutches. Exceptional isn't your traditional X-Men team - they haven't been on any missions and the adults only have the authority the kids give them. It'll be interesting to see how they deal with a problem like this, even if solicits have spoiled the broad strokes. That's related to line-wide oddities and editorial decisions, but I think I'll discuss those separately. My brain and body are misbehaving at the moment and I don't want to overtax myself.

#x comics #x men #exceptional x men #charles xavier #emma frost #kitty pryde #iceman #axo #melee #bronze #x manhunt #marvel #comics #mister sinister

39 notes · View notes