#Kwannon has a background now

[synergysilhouette]

Remaking X-Men: Evolution (Season 1)

I’m a big XME fan, so much that I remade the roster (check out my other posts) and made an episode for episode remake. Here’s season 1, and make sure you check my previous post about who's on the team and what costumes they'd wear, as well as my remakes of season 2-4 and my original creation of season 5. Lemme know what your favorite episode(s) is!

Strategy X--Has short flashbacks to Xavier recruiting the other members of the X-Men (which at this point are Storm, Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Iceman), and drops subtle hints that Mystique is Kurt’s mother. This is because even if you don’t know they’re related, most people assume they must be anyway because they’re both blue. We’d also get some flashbacks into Todd and Kurt’s childhoods and see how they compare.

2. The X-Impulse--In my version, Kitty is now a part of the New Mutants, who join in season 2. Instead the episode focuses on Prodigy, who Jean saves after Graydon Creed almost discovers his secret at Bayville High. He then joins the X-Men, and we even get a glimpse into Jean’s background.

3. Rogue Recruit--Mostly the same, except Rogue and Cody kiss–not just to be comic-accurate, but also done in the emotional and traumatic way it’s done in the live-action X-Men film. It's also mentioned that Irene is a friend of Rogue's adoptive mother, and thus looks after her when her mother is away. Hints about Asteroid M are dropped at the end.

4. Mutant Crush--Vastly different, since I’ve replaced Blob with Gambit. This episode will focus on Gambit, who has been in the Brotherhood for a short time, showing Rogue how to feel comfortable with herself, and after a brief kiss, she notices that she develops a slightly flirty personality.

5. Speed and Spyke--Is also different as I’ve replaced Spyke with Iceman. Calling it Fire and Ice instead, it would be about Iceman’s budding rivalry with Pyro, eventually ending with Pyro being inducted into Magneto’s Acolytes. I also think it’d be neat to have a B-story where Bobby has a brief relationship with Simon Lasker, who can’t join the X-Men due to looking after his sick mother and “moves” (more on that later on). Bobby laments that fire and ice can never mix. Part of me wonders if this could alternatively work as a recruitment episode for Bobby.

6. Middleverse--Essentially plays out the same, though Nightcrawler takes responsibility and apologizes for his goofiness (growing wiser in the series), while Gambit consoles Rogue over her mistake. Having been trapped in the 70s for 50 years, Forge finds that a lot has changed, and he has very little family left. He goes to the institute, but doesn’t formally join the X-Men–yet. This also begins his romance with Storm.

7. Turn of the Rogue--So awesome, though I’d change it so Gambit joins the field trip (being a high schooler in my version), and while he doesn’t fight Rogue, he provides a distraction for Mystique to escape, and Rogue notes that somehow Mystique feels familiar, recalling a memory with Destiny and a mystery woman. At this point, Destiny joins the Brotherhood, living close by (or sometimes at the house when Mystique is gone).

8. Spykecam--is changed drastically, considering Spyke is nonexistant here. I'd call it Insider, and the episode has Graydon Creed become friends with Nightcrawler, though when he suspects the institute of housing mutants (peaking his curiosity), he secretly records them. Prodigy realizes that Grayson knows something about mutants, but can’t remember what it is after he’s out of range. On his way home, he loses the tape and Sabertooth discovers it in order to track down Wolverine.

9. Survival of the Fittest---Has Mojo kidnap some members of the X-Men and Brotherhood (Rogue, Gambit, Cyclops, Storm, and Toad) for his TV program, while the rest of the groups must battle Juggernaut. A young mutant is kidnapped as well, and is brainwashed to become “Psylocke." I'd probably combine Kwannon and Betsy's characters, inspired by Olivia Munn's (a half-white, half-Asian woman) portrayal of Psylocke. I'd probably keep her name as Betsy Braddock, possibly with the implication that this isn't her real name; her brother (in cameos) calls her Kwannon. The Mojoverse team eventually escapes with the help of Longshot, with Psylocke joining the Brotherhood. Longshot stays behind, with Mojo threatening to harm his son, a teenage Shatterstar (because their comic-accurate relationship is too complicated).

10. Shadowed Past--Includes Graydon Creed, who Mystique invited along with Nightcrawler to learn of his heritage. Learning that he’s the son of Mystique and Sabertooth, Graydon’s aversion/curiosity concerning mutants turns to hatred. While Mystique is trying to tell Kurt who his father is, Graydon lashes out at her while Magneto separates the group and Mystique decides it’s better Kurt doesn’t know who his father is. It’s also revealed in the flashback that Magneto sought out Mystique in Germany after she gave birth to Kurt, and when she refused to join him, he ousted her as a mutant and made throw Kurt over the ravine. Her spirit broken, she decides to join him. The reason Magneto scares her off in this version is because he fears her allegiance is faltering and that she may give away important information about Asteroid M. While Rogue and Kurt have a bonding moment, it’s hinted that Storm and Nightcrawler have feelings for each other. (Note: This contrasts to head writer Greg Johnson explaining that Magneto experimented on Kurt until his X-Gene was brought out. That felt more like a move from Mr. Sinister.)

11. Grim Reminder--Happens mostly the same, but features a cameo of Daken who intends to defeat Wolverine until he sees Nightcrawler, Storm, Prodigy, and Shadowcat, noting it’s not the right time.

12. The Cauldron (Part 1)--Forgoes the whole X-Man vs Brotherhood concept, mostly. Instead, Magneto simply brings Avalanche, Psylocke, Gambit, and Quicksilver to Asteroid M while he kidnaps Rogue, Prodigy, and Jean for their potential as well as Professor X for their friendship. Toad is left behind because Magneto sees him as useless, and his confidence in Mystique has faltered following Shadowed Past, and he leaves her behind as well to hunt down the X-Men, though she turns against him, teaming up with Storm, Nightcrawler, Iceman, and Forge. Toad follows her, and joins the group. (Note: when Cyclops joins Magneto, he wears his “Mutant Revolution” uniform while Alex wears a simple black uniform).

13. The Cauldron (Part 2)--Has Alex being a bit more cautious of Magneto and supportive of Scott and his suspicion. Prodigy and Forge use their powers to help take down the Asteroid faster, Iceman and Pyro have a face-off, Gambit and Rogue have an unspoken understanding, Magneto laments Sabertooth’s failures to kill Wolverine and states that Daken will be taking the lead against him (which works out because from here on Sabertooth has limited appearances), and Havok officially joins the X-Men.

[uncannycyke]

I just wanna say, I saw your posts discussing Hickman's X-Men, and I just wanna say you really hit the nail on the head as to why I don't like Krakoa at all. The X-Men are made up of a wide variety of characters coming from different cultural backgrounds. And instead of expanding and fleshing that out more, now it's just all about Krakoa.

i think its a lot better these days? his krakoa had this air of "something is wrong here. dont trust the leadership" and especially charles, moira, and sometimes even his erik when interacting with those two felt...a little sinister. i think hickman's krakoa delved into some themes that were bad that easily contributed to my feelings on His Run because disabled characters were coming back in abled bodies (and a rhetoric of being born as your best self), the books were incredibly white, the state was forcefully keeping mystique from her wife, and there was little interest in writing female characters/his usual problems with writing women popped up.

I think hickman delves into the "something is eerie and wrong with krakoa" vibe a lot and the way the series starts with a timeskip and suddenly these characters have Off Panel made up with each other (like the summers forgiving Vulcan) and formed bonds with each other we never saw develop so that also contributed to my feeling of "so something must be really off people dont change overnight 180 degrees".

but when more and more writers came onto the books and his hands were less prominent on the series, it got a lot better and i kind of realize krakoa's problems are just more indicative of how hickman writes. he's kind of terrible with character moments/development cause he prefers big plots so thats why everyone changes overnight and also...he is a cishet white able bodied guy so some of these issues were simply his cishet white able bodied guy-isms showing through his writing.

zeb wells did great work on hellions in addressing the mentally ill and even fixed greycrow's racist name finally + gave kwannon much to do (i think she's one of the best parts of this era), al ewing in sword made a point to have wiz kid decry the fact that xavier comes back in an abled body and he says "i choose to stay as i am, there is nothing wrong with me" so hickman's rhetoric isnt the only one (actually its the outlier), ewing fixed duggan's sidelining of storm by doing great work with her front and center in sword, x-men: red, and storm and the brotherhood of mutants, vita ayala finally gave karma a girlfriend + made her the star of their book to finally focus on that character like no one else has before, nyla rose got to get their hands on thunderbird and had him center his native american culture above his pretend mutant one, and trung le finally got to give karma a vietnamese name.

duggan is still the worst writer easily, but a lot of good work w krakoa gets done/got fixed once hickman wasnt the only voice, i found. not every book is solid gold (and duggan's unfortunately still on the line), but its definitely a lot better in some of these other writers' hands

and obviously, hickman's krakoa is a little wrong because we were supposed to be picking up on some of that (re: moira) since the big reveal is that she's evil in inferno. but some of the other problems get fixed just by other writers worldbuilding in such a way that corrects him like by addressing how ableist it is in story to have the "we fixed the disabled person!" rhetoric.

[kurtty-drabbles]

Pirate au Redone (part 3)

N/A: Ideas will be used here. I think. Kitty will pirate? Yes, and Maddy will show up as well. Going to be honest. I don´t think we need to see the talk between Emma and Kitty and I want to write this idea before it pops out of my mind.

@dannybagpipesarecalling @djinmer4 @bamfoftheundead @everykurt @muninandhugin

After a long discussion both Jean and Scott menage to council their differences and as Jean proclaims to a more relaxed Scott, they´ll try anew and this time no more Pheonix or Avengers or anything to come between them. And, Scott, still has his reservations about Krakoa - and Scott is one of the few people that seem to notice Kurt´s demeanor over a couple of days and is one of the few who confide with him about Krakoa- can at least, if nothing else, give the benefit of the doubt to the island.

Where are you, Rachel?

This thought lingers in his mind and took some time out of Scott´s initial agenda-not that he cares too much about it, but, he doesn´t like to be idle and Rachel is a grown-up woman and may want some time alone to figure out things...considering her sexuality and who she dated, Scott can safely say Rachel wants an alone time now- and once the man is fed up in pretending to do whatever chores he was supposed to do. Scott Summers leave his room.

Krakoa is a beauty as if your definition of beauty comes with vines, exotic plants-so exotic that Scott can sweat they don´t exist- and an oppressive tone of green. Paradise is another form of prison? Lucifer certainly thought so.

His thoughts on religion are skeevy at best - again, Scott does not care, and if Kurt Wagner shares some of this belief with him. Why he would feel ashamed?- and his thoughts on religion take an ironic twist when Scott halt and looks at the person in front of him and his teeth grith so tight he could swear he´ll break his teeth or jaws.

"Why are you doing here?" Scott asked directly to Mr.Sinister who is smiling all too pleasant. The man still has the same fashion sense and still have this smirk on his face.

"Ah, Scott...you thought you wouldn´t see me again? I was the closest thing of a father in your life...and when I heard you and Miss Jean Grey are trying again...It fuels my heart with joy...do you remember?" he asked with that creepy smile of his, showing more teeth than a human should, then again, is Mr.Sinister human? "do you remember those fun times in the orphanage? You cried but didn´t beg...and you even won in the end...it only proofs that I was right all the time" and Scott´s breath accelerate and he didn´t think twice before taking his visor and blast Mr.Sinister away.

However, the vines creepily climb on the floor and wrapped tightly around his legs and yank on the floor and the impact somehow makes the lasers stop-Scott closes his eyes and it took a minute for him to reconize the sensation and not enter in dispair believing his sight is gone- and his body is unable of moving.

"Scott Summers, you broke the law" the voice that belongs to Prof X answers, yet, Scott notices something off on his voice. "The punishment must be severe...especially as you´re one of my favorites" and Scott almost laughs at this.

Then I don´t want to know what you would do if I wasn´t the favorite.

If Prof X is ready to throw Scott in the dungeons or do something else, well, all Scott can do is gulp and not cry. But, someone intervenes. No, more than someone as he can still hear their voices.

"Prof...this is unfair...why you would punish Scott for wanting to be away from this creepy?" Jean shouts angrily and Scott can see, mentally of course, how her face must be twisted in anger-there´s a difference in an angry Jean and an angry Pheonix and Scott knows this very well- and Jean continues while Storm is helping Scott to stand on his feet.

"Can you open your eyes, Scott?" Storm asked in concern and Scott shakes his head. Nothing else needs to be said. Storm puts his visor back and asks again as Scott opens his eyes slowly.

Jean is not done. "How can you ask for a nazi scientist to be here? I thought this island was supposed to be a paradise for us...not for nazis scum" Jean shouts vexing and for a moment everyone gathers around thinking she would go Pheonix...

She gave up the Pheonix ...there´s no trace of the bird on her.

Prof X smiles and is not soothing in the slightest. "I believe everyone deserves a chance and it wasn´t thanks to Mr.Sinister´s machinations that Cable, your once beloved son or so you once claimed, came to be?" Prof X only walks ignoring Jean Grey as he concludes his thoughts in one final line. "Plus, you would are the one to give everyone a chance...everyone but your own daughter" and then Jean falls from the sky screaming in agony.

Scott goes to her and tries to use his power on Prof X to make him stop- Scott recalls that he did murder Prof X thanks to the Power of Pheonix and hopes he can kill the man again-yet, his power doesn´t work on the man who only shakes his head at this.

Storm tried to use her powers as well-summon a powerful lightning bolt to burn the man in one attack- yet, her powers are useless against Prof X, and Storm is knockdown.

"What a pity...but you two always disappointed me"

And the fates of Scott Summers and Jean Grey are sealed. There´s no more Mr.Sinister as Prof X leaves.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Logan is on the beach and is smoking one of his best cigars and is more than happy to see Jean Grey, and to his increased libido and satisfaction she´s wearing a bikini and no Scott Summers- and Logan knows this is meant to be. Knows this is all about making more babies and Logan promises to buy the best beer he can think to thank Kurt for such law- and the man is as seductive as his entire being can. "Jeanie. Fancy a swin?"

Jean shakes her head and holds him. Oh, Logan knew this would happen and smirks thinking he finally beat Slim. Finally, and even mention this out loud. "You finally going to be with a real man" and goes for a kiss.

The kiss is as passionate as his imagination provides, yet, she steps away and speaks in a soothing tone. "Oh, Logan...I never liked you but I thought you were smart than that" and her eyes are burning just like her hair. "You´ll know what is death and the most painfully one..." and Jean is no longer Jean...and Logan is no more.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

A cargo ship is traveling in the pacific ocean and the captain is giving the orders to make sure their precious containment is in order- mutants kids from non-develop countries and many labs and governments would pay anything to put their hands on those kids- and the captain is even dreaming with the huge sums of money he´ll gain thanks to those kids. And damn, he can even view himself in a large mansion.

"Captain...there´s a strange ship...yatch coming to our way" one of his first mates points to the said yacht and the captain rolls his eyes and order to fire at them-he has better things to worry than worry about stupid people- however when one of the crews of the yacht shots a fireball large enough to damage the ship and the other froze the ship preventing it from leaving...it proves how it in deep waters the captain is now.

A woman flies to the deck. The woman has a red vest and one sword. The men didn´t take long to shoot at her, yet, it was futile. "AHH GHOST!" one of them said and the woman smirks evilly.

"Yep, I´m a ghost and I´m a very pissed ghost" and she runs through them using her sword as if it was another limb attached to her body. The rest of the crew surrender and the children were rescued.

"Emma?" Kitty calls not wanting the damn woman in her mind. "The kids are safe...not alright after what they witness, but, alive...we´re taking them to a secure place"

"I trust in your judgment, Kate!"

"Stop calling me like that, Frost"

One of the kids looks at the woman wearing red and asks one of the mutants who is she. And Bobby follows their sight and smiles. "Well, that´s Captain Pryde" and the kids look in awe at the Captain who notices their smiles and makes a One Piece reference.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Betsy Braddock is not easily frightened and maybe this can make people have the wrong view about her. And maybe, Betsy used to like those wrong ideas people had over her- the fearsome woman who laughs in Death´s face- and Elisabeth´s smile can´t reach her eyes anymore nor be anything but an obvious fake. No pleasantries are enough to dissolve the situation between herself and... "Kwannon" Betsy exclaims noticing how their outfits have different color paletas.

Kwannon. The Japanese Psylocke as some used to call-Oh, Betsy knows what people used to call Kwannon´s body and know what they used to call Betsy´s mind as well- and the Japanese woman is putting one foot in front of the other...the motion would be almost funny, if it wasn´t painfully clear she´s not used to her own body.

"Betsy..." her tone is dry as her eyes are fixated on Betsy. "I want to talk with you, but...thinking back and seeing you now. I need you to shut up and listen..." she exhales and continues. "I don´t blame you for what happened to me..." she closes her eyes and touches her hand. "I´d blame you for how you treat my name and my own body. You wear little and suddenly your blade talks and demands blood...I´m not like that and I don´t like that now you´re a white woman...abruptly your blade doesn´t scream blood anymore and you don´t longer dress like a slut..." she completes having a neutral expression on her face.

Betsy can´t ignore her actions. "I thought in assume another identity for myself" is a good explanation for Betsy not for Kwannon.

"White woman. Do you know anything about me? I´m a ninja not because it was cool or sexy, but, because I had no option. I have no last name...I´m a Burakumin, yeah judge by your look you had no idea what this means" her tone is derisive as she continues. "I was an outcast in my own country. The Yakuza one day, saw my abilities and offer me a job...and that job became my life"

"I didn´t know..." Betsy speaks with a heavy tone. "I was..."

"Having fun in wearing my body as a sex toy? Yeah...I know" and Kwannon uses her kinetic blade- Kwannon is not sure if she wants to fight Betsy or to simply see if she still has her powers- and if a brawl was to happen, well, it won´t be now as Emma Frost shows up along with Kitty Pryde.

"Ladies...this is not time to catfight...we better things to do" Emma Frost replied in a regal way as always and Kitty rolls her eyes at such display but speaks again.

"I think we all agree Krakoa is bad"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Scott and Jean are back to their cabin in the woods-money is not exactly an issue for Jean Grey as she died and resurrected so many times to the point the agency thinks she´s a meme now- and Jean is laid down on the canape still feeling pain. "I´m fine...no, I´m not...but I´ll be...Scott, when Prof X´s power increase like that?"

Scott has no answers. And someone knocks the door and Scott goes to answer and sees Madeline Pryor smiling at him. "Are you real or an illusion?" Scott asks and Madeline nods sagely and slaps his face with a grin.

"Still doubt am I not real?"

"No, is you!"

"I´m not here to fight...I´m here to talk and as much I hate to say this...I need the help of Jean Grey"

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

Marauders and Hellions gala issues:

(spoilers ahead)

The good:

Damn near EVERYTHING about Hellions.

Catseye and Roulette cameo at the ball, giving Empath the beat-down he so richly deserves. 

Havok pushing for Madelyne’s resurrection.  I’m not really an Alex fan, but I support him in this, give that queen the second chance she deserves.  I’m guessing that Maddie will hopefully continue to be a plot point in the series.

Nanny gets drunk and tries to stab Sinister, and I also fully support this.

Empath uses his powers to let Peter “feel” drunk without actually drinking, and it’s kinda sweet.  Like he’s doing Peter a favor.  Of course, he’s also fucking around, because that’s what Empath does.

Kwannon and Greycrow hanging out at the bar together, and Kwannon insisting that the Hellions are her “plus one.” 

Kwannon’s amazing dress, she is gorgeous.

Sinister being catty with Exodus about their outfits.

Emma discovering that she reminds Steve Rogers of his mother, GOD, poor Emma. 

Rhapsody!  An obscure mutant from waaaaay back in Peter David’s X-Factor:

She got to show up and play a concert, and that is fantastic.

A nice moment between Emma and Sean.  Judging by the dialogue, I’m guessing that Emma is trying to recruit Sean for Marauders.  He’s supposed to show up in a future issue, so we’ll see how that goes.  Honestly, Sean/Emma is actually one of my favorite ships for Emma.

Also a Tempo cameo.  She’s also gonna show up in a later Marauders issue, so I guess Duggan is setting his pieces up.  I kinda want Duggan to play more with the toys that he already has (some crew members are still VERY underdeveloped), but I also like Tempo and I hope she becomes a regular in the book.  

Delores, the person who warned the Marauders about the poisoned drugs, gets a nice cameo as well.  Glad to see she got a Gala invite.  I’m kinda wondering if Duggan is actually going to DO anything with her character, beyond her just being a friendly human?  The poisoned medicine wound up being a dead-end plotline when it happened.

Pyro gambling with Bishop, Shinobi, that AIM guy and Bobby (and getting suspiciously lucky), only to be interrupted by The Thing.  Who insists on joining the party.  It’s gamblin’ time!  Also, this is twice now we’ve seen that Pyro has a penchant for gambling, which I could totally see for his character.  I could imagine him getting into money troubles over it back in his pre-Brotherhood writer days.  Don’t mind me, I’m just collecting every scrap of potential Pyro character development and hoarding them like a crow with shiny objects.

Pyro and Shinobi actually in a scene together, something that only matters to me and like two other people.  (I kinda ship it, even though they have never even spoken to each other.)

Pyro also gets a background cameo in Hellions, in the same panel as Sunfire.  Maybe wishing his outfit was as awesome?  I’m a little disappointed that Pyro’s jacket only has the flame designs on the shoulders and sleeves, I was expecting something really cool on the back.

Christian gets to do things, and actually has a decent Gala outfit.

For once, I don’t mind an Emma-focused issue, even though I complain about that frequently.  It’s the Hellfire Gala, OF COURSE Emma will be front and center, she’s hosting the whole thing, and she’ll be making alliances and playing politics. 

The bad:

Poor Bobby has nothing to do but stand in the background and look fabulous.  Even Pyro, with his single line of dialogue, got more play than Bobby.  Maybe he plays a bigger role in other issues? 

The Fenris Twins are at the Gala, and apparently part of Emma’s Hellfire Inner Circle.  WHY?  Why are they still there, Duggan?  When are you going to fire that Chekov’s gun?  Please don’t settle it off panel, like you do with some storylines.  You tend to draw some things out forever, then rush through other important plot points, I’m just asking for an even pace, man. 

Poor Sebastian has nothing to do all Gala but sit in his wheelchair and pout, like a toddler with sideburns.

Shinobi’s Gala outfit is an absolute travesty.  I guess you could call it elegant, I call it boring.  Shinobi should be wearing something daring and attention-grabbing on par with Bobby.  It’s.....just his usual suit with a fancier design?  C’mon.  

Callisto’s outfit is also awfully boring.  I was expecting something a little “tougher” from her.  And it’s fine if she wants to wear something more traditionally feminine, but that outfit didn’t seem to be making a statement one way or the other.  It’s just normal dress.

The Gala would have been about 10 times better if Shinobi and Pyro were allowed to wear these exact outfits:

Let the boys be the fashion-icon dandies that they canonically are.

[bigskydreaming]

I need to catch up on X-Men stuff. I love Tempo from as far back as X-Force #1 in the 90's

I'm probably gonna do a 'here's what you missed on Glee' post about the current state of X-Men stuff for people wanting to catch up or jump on at the House of X/Krakoa soft reboot point, but while there's plenty of good and bad about the current era, I do love the sheer creativity of it all, and like, the raised profiles of soooooo many minor or underrated X-characters from eras past.

What with the whole, y'know, mass resurrection of every mutant character to ever live, literally.

Like, communal living is a big thing on Krakoa and basically any and all 'squads' of mutants, both hero and villain alike, have their own group housing in the Akademos Habitat. The New Mutants all live together in this house called the Sextant, the Academy X kids all have their own place, the classic Hellions have their own place, same with the Gen-X kids, the Acolytes, etc. And the whole MLF live together in Omega House, and so we've seen Heather pretty regularly in the background around there like in stories featuring Wildside and other MLFers (even Thumbelina got a shout-out in SWORD, lmao) and also she's popped up in a few previous SWORD and Marauders issues, as well as being the source of Krakoa's famed whiskey exports, as apparently her time powers aging whiskey and wines to perfection in just a few hours is the secret ingredient behind the 'Port Genosha' vintages, lmao.

But anyway, Heather's part of the new Marauders cast going forward, and they're the book dedicated to mutant rescue and relief efforts.

The new lineup is Kitty (Kate) Pryde as captain and a member of the Quiet Council (Krakoa's ruling council of twelve), and previously the Red Queen of Hellfire, which is like, the economic cornerstone of the Krakoan nation. Up until recently, Kate, Emma and Sebastian all had seats on the Quiet Council and occupied the Red, White and Black thrones of Hellfire, but they gave up their Hellfire seats to focus just on their Council positions, so while Hellfire is expected to play a role in the new Marauders book too, since technically the Marauders are like the official agents of Hellfire's agendas, now the Black Queen is Lourdes Chantel (Sebastian Shaw's old teleporting girlfriend who famously died in the first attack of Sentinels back in the 80s but is now back), the five Stepford Cuckoos all share the White Queen's responsibilities and throne, and Emma's older brother Christian Frost is the new Red Monarch.

Co-leader of the Marauders with Kate is Bishop, who is 'Captain Commander' of Krakoa's forces during war-time, like basically Krakoa has four 'War Captains' who assume leadership positions whenever Krakoa's attacked or invaded, with the Captain Commander being like, the Captain of Captains. The other three Captains with him were at first Cyclops (who was initially the Captain Commander but gave his spot to Bishop recently to focus more on his responsibilities with the X-men), and Magik and Gorgon (the former head of Hydra - yes, mouthing wtf here is valid - but then he died in Otherworld during the X of Swords story event, and he came back different when they resurrected him because dying in Otherworld fucks with your soul and personality).

So Kwannon was named the fourth Captain in his stead. (Kwannon of course being the original Revanche, who got body-swapped with Betsy decades ago. They swapped back so now Betsy is in her original body and going by Captain Britain, and Kwannon is back in her body and using the Psylocke moniker).

Anyway, Kwannon is ALSO on the new Marauders with Bishop, which is kinda interesting that they put two War Captains on the same crew, but I mean, I love them both so not like I care.

And then rounding out the rest of the new crew now that Iceman, Pyro and Storm have all left, is Tempo, Akihiro (Logan's son), Aurora and new character Somnus, with dream manipulation powers.

Look at them, they look so good after kicking Brimstone Love's ass, I'm so proud of them. Sniff.

There's also supposed to be another member joining the team like two issues in, with it not stated yet for sure who it is, but all signs point to the final member of the cast being recently resurrected John Proudstar, the original Thunderbird.

[sebastianshaw]

Started this last year, didn’t finish til now. Another tablet-only piece. Awhile ago, I saw someone suggest that since we never saw Kwannon/Revanche’s AoA counterpart, maybe she could team up with Shaw in that universe. I thought that was a pretty cool idea, since I like both characters a lot. We’ve seen Betsy in AoA and since she has a Japanese body in that universe, we can infer that Kwannon probably has Betsy’s white one, so that’s what I drew her with here. I could have designed a whole new AoA-verse costume for her, but, well, my costume design skills (or lack thereof) are shit, so I just stuck with what she wore as “Revanche” in the 90s. I always liked her look like this, honestly, problematic situation aside. I have no idea what their goals are, or what exactly this place is they’re in front of; I got the background photo free-use from Pexels. Some kind of machinery going on though, so I’m sure they have plans! I like to think Kwannon’s on a quest to get her body back and Shaw is a stepping stone to that. And Shaw, well, he’s always got his own power-seeking agenda. . . . Also, Shaw has brown hair in the Age of Apocalypse, I notice, so I gave him that here.

[newx-menfan]

Preview for Fallen Angels #2 ...Can we just get KYOST back on a new X-23 book to at least balance out 'Fallen Angels'? In many ways... I feel like this is sort of my fault...since I admitted I disliked Taylor's Laura, was meh about Tamaki's Laura, and wanted KYOST's version back for awhile now... The problem is- this really ISN'T KYOST's Laura either. If Hill WANTS to delve into Laura's trauma-GREAT! It makes me sad it got erased in the first place because Laura was great representation around mental illness. The problem with this (...I mean besides using lines out of every stereotypical Asian karate film ever...) is that Laura WASN'T ever someone looking for a fight. Laura definitely is ANGRY. She was ANGRY seeing children forced into sexual slavery. She was ANGRY she couldn't always understand her emotions and how to react to them. Laura was ANGRY when Hellion was hurt by Deathstrike... But she's never really been a character that ENJOYED hurting people. Laura's anger was rooted in suffering. I don't think it's wrong to showcase Laura as angry- part of processing trauma IS different emotions oftentimes coming up at different times. Unresolved anger can and is part of the healing process... This...feels much like Hill's last line around being in Logan's shadow. In many ways, I think Hill still doesn't really know how to write Laura and is doing what plenty of other writers have done-writing her as essentially Logan.... Part of the problem is- Hill seems to be writing things more for effect/to build up Kwannon and seems less concerned about staying true to character. This also invites the other question- why is Laura so trusting of Psylocke/Kwannon? Sure, they have similar backgrounds. And sure, Laura has seen her thoughts and past. But there is no real build up for this relationship. The connection is stated, not created. How has Kwannon proved herself to Laura? Who is she to Laura? Laura ALREADY has mentors- Logan, Gambit, Betsy (if you count Claremont)... We've already seen her partner with characters of similar backgrounds- Black Widow, Finesse, ect... I guess my answer is- what is the point of this, besides building up Kwannon? At least with Gambit- Liu took the time to build that relationship and the reason Laura developed a connection to Gambit was because he regularly showed concern for her. Laura, frankly, already has these dynamics. Taylor...kinda outgrew her of needing a mentor after she became 'Wolverine'... It just feels...unnecessary... and undeveloped...and forced... I guess, much like my opinion with Taylor showing a more emotive Laura- I'm fine with showing Laura BEING angry. People who have emotionally repressed their feelings/disassociated from them, often have unresolved emotions coming up later when they start going to therapy/ getting better. But if that's the angle you're going with- show it. If you're going to have Kwannon take yet another mentor role in Laura's already mentor bloated life, where she's kind of outgrown that need-okay, but show it. It's sad, because I actually think Tamaki's Laura was better written. One of my favorite moments was Laura's blow up at Gabby, because Tamaki at least explored where that response came from... (Also...where the HELL IS Gabby?! Like it's kind of weird NOTHING has been said about where she is...) Honestly, I'm just really disappointed by this book because I was hopeful we'd at least get a more nuanced Laura back... I know people are going to argue this book ISN'T about Laura-it's about Kwannon/Psylocke... And that's true... But I just feel like this is continuing the problem with Laura-writers ignoring continuity and growth. I feel like even with Baby Cable- it makes ZERO sense why his mood here is so morose and fixating on how he's a soldier/doesn't belong... after JUST getting back from a trip with his sister and father... So yeah... Hopefully issue #2 is better than the preview...but I doubt it...

[oosteven-universe]

Hellions #01

Hellions #01 Marvel Comics 2020 Written by Zeb Wells Illustrated by Stephen Segovia Coloured by David Curiel Lettered by VC's Cory Petit     BAD IS THE NEW GOOD!     When Krakoa opened their doors to all mutants and forgave all past crimes, they might have known they’d have to accept some of their worst foes into the fold… but they didn’t plan for what to do with them. Not to worry—Mister Sinister knows what to do with the troublemakers. Meet his new Hellions: Scalphunter, Wild Child, Empath, Nanny, Orphanmaker, Psylocke…and Havok?! Under Sinister’s direction, they are sure to become productive members of mutant society.     As someone who isn't up on the mutant knowledge I have to say that the real reason that I decided to read this book was Empath. Manuel de la Rocha has always been a very arrogant kid and liked to play fast and loose with his powers and though he and Amara had a thing for a while but there has always been something about him that I wanted to see more of. So that we get a little dossier on him here and we see what they think about him. While I always believed that he should've gone to the New Mutants when the Hellions died and I still think that. Though with the rest of the team back from the dead it would be nice if this were there book but I am good with how this is.     I love Zeb and his storytelling ability, the way that he sees how the characters have possibilities with each other interacting and presenting us with these unknown factors. Though honestly there are times in this where I was fighting with myself about how these folks act in their little council. I do not like this aspect and I do not like them assigning themselves the role of gods. Skipping over that because it really shows what's wrong these folks nowadays. Please, please tell me Alex is possessed by Malice!! It is the only thing that I can think of right now that makes sense for this behaviour and considering how he's been such a good, stalwart leader and stand-up kind of guy. How we see the vignettes for all the characters here actually we get a darn good look why each of them is where they are.     The story & plot development we see with how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is perfectly presented. The character development is absolutely amazing and as they are being fleshed out the reasoning becomes clearer. The pacing is fantastic and as it takes through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way helps to create this really nice ebb & flow to the book.     The interiors here are absolutely incredible. The linework is phenomenal and how we see the varying weights being utilised to showcase this level of attention to detail is superb. Now granted I wish we would see backgrounds being utilised more. When we do see them really bring us this beautiful depth perception, scale and that sense of size and scope to the book. Also we need to see and feel the enclosed spaces and Wild Child's attack didn't feel as dangerous without that confined feeling. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a strong eye for storytelling. The colour work we see is really nicely rendered. How we see the hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work creates some beautiful moments. Though when did Empath go full on blonde? ​     There are some really interesting things happening here. The least of which is the ending and while I am not sure who exactly the other six are I can't wait to find out. I am excited for this just as I was for the New Mutants book, which hasn't disappointed in the slightest. With a truly unique cast of characters and with Kwannon added to the mix as she tries to find her own place in all this now that she and Betsy are free of one another well the layers of this don't seem to want to end. Forget everything you thought you knew and look out because this is as delightfully unexpected as a Zumbo creation.

[thecorteztwins]

what are some under used marvel female characters youd love to see in the rpc?

HMMMOkay, so I’m trying to think OBJECTIVELY here and not just rattle off the female characters that I personally like, and more “I’m surprised that there’s not more blogs for this character, whether or not I personally am a fan” ....because I missed the “you’d love to see in the RPC” bit because I’m dumb, and then I wrote this whole list without regards for that part. So this came out as less “female characters I personally want” (who would all be stupidly obscure and irrelevant anyway) and more “female characters I think the RPC should give some more love to, whether I personally am into them or not”:Definitely ALL the girls in the New Mutants and Generation X! I see a fair few blogs for Magik and Jubilee, but I really don’t see any for the others. I get why Magik is going to be more popular---she’s in more stuff, she’s currently much more relevant in the comics, and her backstory is so goddamn compelling---but that doesn’t mean the others shouldn’t have ANY blogs out there. Wolfsbane, Magma, Karma, and Moonstar are all extremely complex and compelling characters with their own struggles and triumphs too, and I think they deserve just as much love. Likewise, I get why Jubilee will naturally get more blogs than Husk, Monet, and Penance (depending if you count Penny as a separate character or not...) due to her being in more stuff, having bigger arcs, etc. But it still surprises there’s NO blogs around for those ladies! I know there was that Monet blog awhile ago, and @badmusesdoitwell had an Amara that’s now part of their multimuse, as well as a Rahne, but that’s still nowhere near enough love in the RPC for these Junior X-Ladies, in my opinion. Speaking of Generation X, I’m also a bit surprised no one has picked Cordelia Frost up, given that we’ve got plenty of background canon for her via Emma’s history yet Cordelia herself has LOTS of room to go nuts with headcanons, like it’s just the perfect opportunity! And I’m sure lots of Emma blogs, of which there are MANY, would love their little sister around for some family threads. Fuck, I would pick her up myself if I were more into Emma and the Frost family as a whole. She’s hardly the most relevant, recent, or even interesting character around, she’s done very little and shown up very briefly, but the fact she’s related to Emma Frost makes me think SOMEONE would have an interest in her.Madelyne Pryor, for sure. Like, I love Maddy, but it’s not just my favoritism talking here. I think she’s pretty decently well-known in the comics fandom, and she’s a tragic villain, which usually pulls people in big-time. She’s got a grudge against the good guys, and it’s actually more legitimate than most, which I’d think would also attract people, since a lot of villains fans like to blame the good guys no matter what and THEY’D ACTUALLY HAVE A GOOD ARGUMENT HERE? Plus she has very strong connections to other, more popular canons, with a ton of fodder for angst and drama threads, which people just LOVE. I have seen a few Maddy blogs pop up in the past, and I always get so excited, but they never seem to last very long :CDr. Moira MacTaggert deserves ALL the love and respect in the world/fandom! She’s been a staunch supporter of mutants since day one, she’s a total badass, she’s super smart, she calls Xavier out on his shit ALL THE TIME, she’s the survivor of an abusive husband, she had to make terrible choices about her son that no mother should ever have to and then live with the consequences of those choices, and SHE GOES AFTER A KELPIE WITH A GODDAMN MACHINE GUN! She’s been a part of the X-Men comics for such a long time, and is very significant in them, it really surprises me that I’ve never seen a blog for her besides just ONE and it was for the XMCU sexy American CIA agent Moira, who is NOT Moira in my book and NEVER WILL BE. Speaking of, Moira will ALWAYS be human to me, I think making her a mutant all along REALLY undermines a big part of her character as just an unyielding mutant ally. Though I think her being human, combined with being an older female who isn’t anyone’s love interest (unless she’s, gasp, getting in the way of CHERIK aka the ultimate fandom sin how dare she the harlot -.-), is probably WHY she’s so damn ignored -.-Frenzy hasn’t been in THE most recent stuff, but she’s still been relevant recent enough that I think one or two blogs around would have happened if she weren’t black. Yeah, I hate to be THIS person, but any black character who isn’t Storm doesn’t get love, for all that the RPC likes to yell about being diverse and progressive. Remember all the Captain America and Iron Man and Hulk and Quicksilver blogs that popped up after their movies? Yeah I saw like ONE T’challa blog after Black Panther came out. Then again, I’ve yet to see blogs for Pixie or Firestar either, who are white, and I feel like they both were fairly interesting and well-known in fandom? Same for the Academy X girls like Sofia Mantega, Mercury, and Wallflower. Luna Maximoff FOR SURE. It SHOCKS me I haven’t see more than a couple short-lived blogs around for her, just given her family connections. Now, I don’t think a character deserves love just because of who they’re related to---in fact it annoys me when a characters gets a ton of attention and it’s very obviously just for that---but Luna has SO MUCH going on? The problems between her parents, her mother being absent so much, her father exposing her to the Mists, dealing with her powers, being a child of two very different worlds and cultures, it just goes on and on. Luna has had to grow up so fast, she’s such a strange and stoic child as a result, and though her situation is very fantastical, having to be the mature one at an early age because all the adults in your life won’t be is something a lot of people have to cope with and I think would find relatable; I especially love how she lives in this world where there’s no bad guys, like neither Crystal nor Pietro were the villains in her situation, just hurting messed up people, which she also recognized in Magneto and maybe also even Maximus . And there’s so much that could be explored with her too that hasn’t been in canon yet---for instance, her choice to identify with her Inhuman heritage and why that is, and the journey of identifying with your heritage but also looking at the horrible things in their history, I think that’s a story that a LOT of people from MANY backgrounds can relate to. It surprises and frustrates me that both writers and fandom don’t really seem to care about her or remember she exists; one the only two blogs I ever saw for her seriously got someone asking them “why would you make such a weird OC” like SERIOUSLY! Luna needs more love, big time. Any female Avenger that’s not Wanda or Natasha. I don’t read Avengers, I’m just an X-Men fan, but I know they exist and they shouldn’t have to be in a movie to get love. Ditto for She-Hulk, I’m not a Hulk reader but I know she’s a prominent character who has been around a long time and has a very developed personality and stories of her own, yet I’ve only ever seen her on @getreadytosmash‘s multi. I’ve also never really read Alpha Flight, but its main ladies ---Snowbird, Aurora, Vindicator---all seem awesome in their own different ways. Alpha Flight isn’t very popular to begin with, of course, so I don’t expect them to have as many blogs as, say, major X-ladies, but I think one apiece or so would be very justified.KWANNON!! I actually get why we didn’t have any blogs for her BEFORE now, because we knew NOTHING about her, she was just a very tragic prop for Betsty’s body-swap plot and a way to give her insta-ninja-skills, but now she’s come back and has HER OWN NEW SERIES in which we’re finally learning who she is and her background, I hope to see a blog or two around for her eventually!Destiny aka Irene Adler. Like. Do I even need to explain WHY? I think people just don’t want to play an OLD woman, especially one whose primary/only ship is going to be with another woman.Maaaaybe Clea Strange? I don’t know shit about her, never read Dr. Strange, but like, people make blogs for Sigyn literally just because she’s Loki’s wife, and Clea at least seems to like...DO stuff? IDK, not sure on this on, but figured I’d make an honorable mention.Siryn, Boom Boom, and Dr. Cecilia Reyes are all X-Ladies that I really don’t know much about. Like I know basic things like their powers but I don’t know their story arcs and such. But as with Clea and the Avengers ladies and She-Hulk, I just have a HUNCH there’s a lot there getting ignored by fans.Silhouette Chord is a longtime member of The New Warriors, and, like Alpha Flight, New Warriors doesn’t really have a fanbase on Tumblr to speak of, so it’s not surprising to me she’s not got any love here. And even within the pages of her own comics, she’s generally pushed aside, underused, and underdeveloped compared to the other characters, generally more a prop for her boyfriend’s stories than anything else. But she DOES have a personality, a REALLY cool backstory, and she’s like...look, the RPC claims to love diversity and representation and all that, right? Silhouette is a mixed-race WOC (half Black, half Cambodian, and I have NEVER seen another Marvel character of Cambodian heritage who wasn’t connected to her) who is also very visibly physically disabled, her legs are completely paralyzed and she is never without her braces/crutches, yet she still fights PHYSICALLY (something very rare for physically disabled characters, they usually are more like Oracle or Prof X) and is depicted in a sexual relationship, and there’s never any kind of fuss or angst about it or anything treating her as delicate or less than or anything like that. She’s just completely adjusted to it in a way that’s very rare in media. And like I said, she’s not a flat character, I’m not saying she should be more popular just for ticking off the diversity boxes, she manages to be really intriguing to me despite how little focus the writers give her, and I think that she and the other New Warrior girls (Firestar and Namorita) have a lot to offer the RPC. But I have to give a special shoutout to Sil since she’s my fave, as the neglected ones alway are.Meggan Puceanu is probably most familiar to folks here as Kurt’s love interest in Age of X, but she’s been around since the 80s. She’s a longtime member of Excalibur, and she’s just...fascinating. She’s a Romanichal mutant (though often hinted to have magical/mystical heritage too, perhaps fairy like Pixie) who has empathic, elemental, and shapeshifting capabilities. However, her empathic and shapeshifting tend to overlap, so she changes her form (and her mind) according to the feelings, fears, and desires of others. So for instance, there’s this one time where a group of men are checking her out, and she feels that “They love me...I want...to love them in return!” and she morphs into this sexxed-up version of hersef on the spot. This isn’t played for kinkiness or laughs either; Meggan’s identity struggles are a HUGE part of her character. She has no idea who she is because her powers make her reflect and respond to the feelings of others around her, internally and externally. She doesn’t even know what she actually really LOOKS like because of this; her powers were present since birth, causing her to grow fur instantly as an infant due to it being winter. This caused her parents to keep her locked up in the camper trailer, where she was raised alone with the TV (she’s also illiterate, which causes her to feel dumb a lot) and as more and more people around her spread rumors about the monstrous child inside, she psychically absorbed those beliefs and her physical form changed to reflect them, making her more and more monstrous as she got older. She didn’t know she was a shapeshifter, she just really thought she was a hideous monster. And even when she found out the truth, she STILL didn’t know what she really looked like, as the beautiful form she took on (basically Pamela Anderson with elf ears) was to please her boyfriend Captain Britain (whom she is really unhealthily dependent on starting out because of her situation)Meggan is insecure, she doesn’t know who she is, she has to cling to a man in order to have anything because no one else has ever loved her, she easily becomes jealous of other women near him, she gets made fun of for being a bimbo and she often feels she is because she can’t read or understand “clever words” due to her isolated upbringing...and she gets through this! She develops! She becomes STRONGER and she becomes SECURE and she gains CONTROL of her powers and SHE KICKS ASS and she FORMS AN IDENTITY!  And then Meggan SACRIFICED HER LIFE to buy time for Captain Britain, Psylocke, and Rachel Summers to repair the tear in reality caused by House of M. She ends up lost between dimensions and TRAPPED IN HELL, where she uses her empathy to rally the lesser demons against THE LORDS OF HELL ITSELF and wages a war IN HELL for which her demon followers dub her “Gloriana” and she forms a sanctuary there called “Elysium” where souls can escape torment!  AND THEN SHE FINDS HER WAY HOME!THIS WOMAN KICKED ASS IN HELL AND WON!! Like she just goes through SUCH an arc, and I admit I have not read it myself yet, she’s on my list of characters to read EVERYTHING on and I’m still only familiar with her very insecure Excalibur days (which I love a lot, I just feel so much for Meggan and her struggles, I think she’s very much a reflection of a LOT of real-world issues, ranging from mental illnesses to just EXISTING as a woman) but I already have a ton of feelings about her and I think she’s more than prominent and accomplished enough to merit more attention in the RPC. And this is less of an “actually has reasons the RPC should love her” character, because really there’s no reason they should, she’s not prominent or relevant or or anything, but more an interesting “did you know”---did you know there was a “young female Wolverine clone” in the comics BEFORE Laura Kinney? Avery Connor! She pre-dates Laura by a year and has a VERY similar story, yet she never took off in popularity and very few people know her. You can read about her HERE on my Marvel blog. Again, would not say there’s actually any reason she’s earned love from the RPC like, say, Meggan or Luna, but I just thought I’d toss that in as a tidbit for the Logan family fans, as I know there are many.(Also, cheating because these are dudes, but: I’m not a Banshee fan but I am surprised I’ve never seen a blog for him, nor for Sunfire. Or for 616 Pyro. Or...)

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of Marvel: Week of November 13th, 2019

Best of this Week: Fallen Angels #1 - Bryan Hill, Szymon Kudranski, Frank D’Armata and Joe Sabino

She is a butterfly.

Kwannon had been living in silent darkness for almost thirty years, trapped inside of her mind  while Betsy Braddock occupied her body (Uncanny X-Men #256, 1989). That changed in Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor #4 (2018) when Betsy psychically reconstructed her original body, allowing Kwannon to reclaim hers and make sporadic appearances in Matthew Rosenberg’s Uncanny X-Men (2018/2019), mostly serving as Wolverine’s back-up. Of course, things have changed significantly since then and now.

This book opens with a young girl standing on a train while Kwannon narrates in the background. It’s mostly vague as Kwannon refers to a mysterious “she” that she hoped was happy and free during the time that she was locked in her own body. The little girl puts on some sort of tech apparatus on her head which, upon activation, causes her eyes to turn blck as she begins to tear through the pedestrians on the train. It’s savage as she rips a handrail out of place and starts beating people with it. Eventually, she makes it to the train operator’s room, knocks him out and derails the train. Presumably everyone is killed in the horrific accident and the only word on her lips before it happens: Apoth.

Kwannon, now choosing to go by Psylocke as she sees her former name as a shackle to a horrible life of torment and pain, is meditating and enjoying the peace of Krakoa. The first panels are set up very well with many close up shots to Psylocke basking in nature, even pricking her finger and bleeding on a flower to show that blood can even bring new life as it blooms. Frank D’Armata makes excellent use of color as the flower and a butterfly appear purple, Psylocke’s signature color. It’s beautiful, especially as we get to a beautiful shot of Psylocke, in peace, floating as purple butterflies swarm around her.

That peace is soon interrupted as she’s bombarded with a psychic attack by an unknown entity telling her that she has to kill a God, she has to kill Apoth. After the vision, she goes to visit Magneto, still “mourning” the death of Charles Xavier (X-Force #1, 2019). She tells him what she saw and requests to leave Krakoa to investigate. Initially, he denies her request, citing the most recent attack that left Xavier dead as the reason no one is able to leave the island. She responds in fury, trying to assure him that what she saw wasn’t just a dream. 

These pages are strange as they also utilize a bunch of close-ups, focusing on their mouths. It gives the conversation a close and shadowy feel as they’re also shrouded in heavy inks. Magneto urges her to see Mister Sinister, saying that he might find her visions interesting. When she questions him about this, he explains that his grief over Xavier’s death makes him forget conversations (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). She then goes to visit the Evil Eccentric, who also doesn’t seem interested until Psylocke talks about her experience being trapped, showing her ferocity when he asks her how she’d kill Betsy if she could. Satisfied with her answer, he helps her out and asks that she gathers a team.

We then cut to X-23 and Kid Cable (I will never refer to him as just Cable) as they stand around one of the many fires made in celebration of peace and safety. Kid Cable sees Laura not enjoying her time and asks her how she likes to dance, then they have a small fight that Laura wins. She comments that she doesn’t feel anything because everything on Krakoa is safe and “safety sucks.” I like this characterization of Laura so much better than what she had been doing with her plucky, child sidekick, Gabby. It reminds me of both her time in X-Force and the beginning of All New, All Different Marvel when she was ultra violent and reckless. Psylocke tries to recruit the both of them, but Laura convinces her that Kid Cable deserves the peace that Krakoa provides and the two leave the island together.

The pair travel to Tokyo and meet a former contact of Kwannon’s. She informs them of a new designer drug created by Apoth called Overclock that seems to affect people's mind states, causing them to murder others while the drug is killing them as they get super high. As Psylocke and X-23 watch the video of the train accident, Psylocke has a flashback to her days as a Hand assassin and we earn that she had a daughter that was taken from her. Her daughter was given a tattoo of a butterfly, same as the girl in the train derailment. Whether or not this is her daughter is unknown to us, but it is a possibility. 

The video sends Psylocke into a rage and she demands answers, grabbing the woman and threatening her with mind scrambling via psyblade. When the woman refuses and says that Apoth will kill her, Psylocke plunges her psychic dagger into her mind as Laura takes out her guards. The best things about these pages are that they’re all coated in a tint of purple, alluding to the fact that this somehow all ties back to Psylocke/Kwannon somehow. There are threads here that only she can follow because of her ruthlessness and it all feels so very personal.

Psylocke rips the information from her contact’s mind and travels to the location that she found. There, she encounters a shack full of children under the influence of Overclock and Apoth has taken one of them to speak through. The rest of the children die while he warns Psylocke and X-23 to return to the safety and seclusion of Krakoa while he evolves the world. Apoth seems like an interesting villain as he mentions how hard it is to kill children and yet does it anyway. He claims that what he’s doing is evolving humanity and the person who gave Psylocke the vision referred to him as a new God. What is his power and how is he able to control people’s bodies and create such a deadly and advanced drug?

If I were to have any complaints, it would have to be that sometimes the inks are so dark and prevalent that they can start to feel overbearing. There are a lot of good colors used and D’Armata’s signature style is there, they can sometimes feel drowned out by Kudranski’s inks. When they work together, they produce amazing panels, but when they don’t, they produce odd looking shapes and poses. One in particular after Laura is given the knowledge about Psylocke’s daughter and then she’s hunched over like Quasimodo, that’s more so for Kudranski’s posing, but that darkness doesn’t help.

This first issue of Fallen Angels was very interesting to say the very least. I love the idea of getting to know a new and reformed Kwannon as Psylocke given she hasn’t been a character of her own since the 80s and that small time she was resurrected in the mid-2000s. She seems focused and yet still maintains the deadly edge that served her so well as an assassin. I also like that she doesn’t want to be reminded of her time in the darkness, even dismissing Betsy when she presumably wants to talk about everything between them. I don’t know if its anger or contentment with her new life that lets her walk away from Betsy, but it kinda feels liberating in a way.

I’m actually very excited to see where things go from here, so far I love Psylocke's new direction as she seems to be slowly turning into a teacher for people like X-23 and Kid Cable. Throughout the book there had been flashbacks showing Psylocke's past and the abuse she went through to become one of the Hands deadliest assassins, so it's very likely she'll be similar but better to those two. She will turn them into butterflies. The most perfect versions of themselves.

[kwnnon-archive]

Kwannon was the Goddess of Mercy. In Japan, you can find a statue of her holding a child. Mercy is my name. But it is not my way. 

► general information

FULL NAME & ALIAS: kwannon ( real name unknown ) / psylocke CURRENT TEAM(S): marauders AGE: 30′s GENDER IDENTITY: cisgendered female SEXUALITY:  unconfirmed NATIONALITY:  japanese ETHNICITY: japanese MULTIVERSAL ORIGIN: earth-616

► appearance

FACE CLAIM: anna akana SPECIAL / RECOGNIZABLE FEATURES: dark purple hair HAIR COLOR: dark purple EYE COLOR: violent ACCENT: faint japanese CURRENT COSTUME: primarily her traditional costume / sometimes a version of this

► background

CURRENT HOME: krakoa PAST OCCUPATION: assassin for the hand / leader of the hellions CURRENT OCCUPATION: marauder / great captains of krakoa SNAP STATUS: survived in different reality

► relations

SIBLING(S): none PARTNER(S): matsu'o tsurayaba ( former lover ) / unnamed baby daddy CHILDREN: unnamed daughter ( deceased ) BEST FRIEND: none ADVERSARY: betsy braddock ( formerly )

► headcanons & fun facts

many people think she’s besty due to betsy spending years in her body

is now okay with betsy / has forgiven her

had a daughter when she was young and recently learned she was alive / being kept. kwannon did her best but couldn’t save her and she died

has the signature purple telepathy butterflies

does not feel like she needs to prove herself to show her own independent personhood

her name is not kwannon but she has not revealed it

she chose to keep psylocke / the costume even after betsy

► wanted connections

 bishop -- great captain of krakoa 

any marauder -- teammates. 

[aion-rsa]

Marvel X-Men Trailer Reveals Next Evolution

https://ift.tt/2Ly0lJ8

Marvel's X-Men trailer reveals what's next for everyone's favorite mutants.

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With House of X and Powers of X steaming towards their close (or vamping towards the close, if you're Mister Sinister), Marvel is starting to ramp up its promotion of the post-relaunch event X-Men line of comics. They've relased a teaser trailer for the "Dawn of X" lineup of books- X-Men, Marauders, Excalibur, New Mutants, X-Force, and Fallen Angels - that is mostly covers but has a handful of preview images. If you're anything like me (which, let's face it, you absolutely are), you are freeze framing the video to try and suss out clues about the end of HoXPoX from the preview art. Because I value your time, I went ahead and did that for you.

The first book featured is the flagship X-title, X-Men, from Jonathan Hickman and Leinil Francis Yu (most recently the penciler of Ta-Nehisi Coates' very good Captain America relaunch). The preview art consists of the Summers family reunion cover, with Corsair, Vulcan, Havok, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Wolverine, aka the rumored 43rd Summers Brother from the gossip page of Powers of X #4. Hickman has said in interviews that this series is going to be one-and-done stories with a rotating team of X-people, but it is interesting to note the Orchis logos on the arms of the people being zapped by Storm. Orchis is the interagency anti-mutant strike force that killed Cyclops, Jean and Logan (among others) on their Dyson Mastermold next to the sun in House of X #4.

The next book is Marauders, by Matteo Lolli (Asgardians of the Galaxy) and Gerry Duggan (Infinity Wars). This book has a team of mutants - Kitty Pryde, Pyro, Bishop, Iceman, Storm - doing some light piracy on behalf of Emma Frost's Hellfire Trading Company. There's nothing revealing in the art here, but it does look pretty nice.

Following that is Excalibur. Tini Howard (Thanos) and Marcus To (Age of X-Man: NextGen) have Betsy Braddock taking over as Captain Britain, and her team (Rogue, Gambit, Rictor, Jubilee and Apocalypse) gather together to explore Otherworld. We see a woman who certainly looks villainous, if what my superhero color wheel tells me green means is accurate, swirling a crystal ball. Could it be Morgan le Fay? Roma? Saturnyne? Does it matter, after what's being done to Apocalypse in HoXPoX? Because it doesn't to me, I'm buying.

Next up is New Mutants, from Hickman, Ed Brisson (Extermination) and Rod Reis (Exiles). The New Mutants will be heading off into space for a mission (to hang out with Cannonball, I bet), and the solicits said they'd be meeting up with the Starjammers. What the solicits didn't tell us that this preview art does is that Illyana and Raza have a swordfight and it's DOPE. Also, Mondo is in the book, and considering his power set (organic matter absorption and like, dirt teleportation) and background (he's a former henchperson and plant golem spy for Black Tom Cassidy, who is now in charge of Krakoan defense, according to Powers of X #4) it's not particularly surprising that he's around.

read more: How Marvel is Redefining the Future of the X-Men

After that is Szymon Kudranski (The Punisher) and Bryan Edward Hill (American Carnage) on Fallen Angels. The title is a throwback to an '80s miniseries that was primarily about lobsters. This one has a resurrected and re-bodied Kwannon teaming up with young Cable and X-23, and if I'm seeing this preview art correctly, Magneto riding Fantomex's external nervous system/flying saucer, EVA.

Finally, we get a look at Ben Percy (Wolverine: The Long Night) and Joshua Cassara (Falcon) on X-Force. This book is going to be about the mutant intelligence service, a Krakoan CIA, with one side working on gathering and interpreting data - Beast, Jean Grey, Sage, and Black Tom - and one side acting on their intelligence - Wolverine, Kid Omega, and Domino. The preview art here has Wolverine and Beast being attacked by 30-50 mutant hogs.

Go on below and see the video for yourself. And for more on what's next for the X-Men at Marvel, stick with Den of Geek!

Video of DAWN OF X Official Trailer | Marvel Comics

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News Jim Dandy

Sep 16, 2019

Marvel

X-Men

X-Force

Jonathan Hickman

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Marvel Reveals X-Men Plans at SDCC

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Marvel shared with the world their plans for the new X-Men world, and it's a lot.

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Jonathan Hickman is returning to Marvel next week to light a fire under the X-Men, and at San Diego Comic Con, he shared his plans for the first wave of X-Men comics to follow his place-setting launch titles, House of X and Powers of X.

Six books launch in the first wave: X-Men, Excalibur, X-Force, New Mutants, Fallen Angels and Marauders. 

"House of X and Powers of X lay the groundwork for a whole new world of X-Men stories for years to come, and the Dawn of X books are the promise of that new world come to life,” said X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White in a press statement.

White later told Polygon more about the lead in books: "[After House of M] the [books] became less about acceptance by humankind and more about the fact that they were going extinct and that they might disappear as a species. That was the driving force of the X-Men, and while there have been fluctuations in that story over the years, I still think that generally that’s been the thrust of the line for quite a while. I think it was time for a change.”

Powers of X (pronounced "Powers of Ten" at the panel, but it's not clear if that was trolling or not) is the story of mutants throughout time, while House of X is more about the mutants in the now, though the two intertwine. They then reset the X-Men the same way "Disassembled" did to the world of the Avengers, and from there, the first wave of new books launch.

X-Men #1 launches in October, written by Hickman with art from Leinil Francis Yu (who recently helped launch Ta-Nehisi Coates' Captain America).

This is the flagship X-book with the heaviest hitters and the series driving the rest of the line. It ALSO has almost nothing but Summerses on the cover - Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rachel Grey, Cable, Corsair, Havok, and okay-if-you-say-so-but-only-because-I-trust-you-Jonathan Vulcan - along with Wolverine in his scientifically proven best costume.

Marauders #1 also launches in October, from Gerry Duggan (Guardians of the Galaxy, Infinity Wars) and Matteo Lolli (Asgardians of the Galaxy).

This book has Emma Frost's Hellfire Trading Company funding a team of Marauders sailing the seas protecting mutants and presumably doing some light raiding. The team is led by Captain Kate Pryde and Lockheed, with Iceman, Storm, Bishop, and Pyro rounding out the crew. This book should probably be called Privateers but who am I kidding, I'm probably buying an X-Men book with Storm, Bishop, and Iceman on it.

Hickman is working with Ed Brisson (X-Force) and Rod Reis (Secret Empire) on New Mutants. Wolfsbane and Karma (both resurrected) are joined by Magik, Sunspot, Mirage, and Cypher and former Generation Xers Chamber and Mondo head into space with the Starjammers to find their missing friends.

Hickman is co-writing the first arc, then handing the reins to Brisson. As a reminder, Hickman is an ENORMOUS New Mutants fan. That was his primary motivation behind putting Cannonball and Sunspot on the Avengers. New Mutants launches in November.

Tini Howad (Thanos) and Marcus To (X-Men Blue) bring us Excalibur in October.

This book will explore mutants' connection to magic and Otherworld. Betsy Braddock takes her place as Captain Britain, and she's joined by the most magical of all mutants: Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, Rictor, and Apocalypse. Wait...what?

Fallen Angels has the recently resurrected (in The Return of Wolverine) Kwannon, now using the mantle of Psylocke, gathering a team for revenge after an old friend is killed, and potentially jeopardizing mutantkind's new world. She's joined by kid Cable and X-23. Bryan Edward Hill (American Carnage, a book almost certain to be on a slew of Best of 2019 lists) and Szymon Kudranski (The Punisher) are the creators for this November launch.

And finally in November, Ben Percy (Green Arrow) and Joshua Cassara (Falcon) launch X-Force. Described as "The CIA for mutants," this team has Beast, Jean Grey and Sage as their lead intelligence agents, with Domino, Colossus, Wolverine and Kid Omega running black ops for them. This team is fascinating, with two sets of ex-flames (Jean Grey and Wolverine and Domino and Colossus) and Kid Omega being given something X to do. Also that's totally Dr. Strange hiding in the background there. 

There is a wave 2 being worked on for X-books, with Vita Ayala and Leah Williams announced as writers. For more on the X-world of comics coming out of San Diego Comic Con, stick with Den of Geek!

Read and download the Den of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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News Jim Dandy

Jul 21, 2019

Marvel

X-Men

SDCC

Jonathan Hickman

SDCC 2019

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