#Shi’ar Empire

[fionapplespiano]

I’m forever going to be pissed that the Krakoa era didn’t take the opportunity to resurrect Jean Grey’s family

In case you don’t know, Chris Claremont intended for Jean’s sister, Sara, to be a latent mutant with her powers making her a walking cerebro; Sara’s children, Gailyn and Joey WERE mutants. Sara was killed by Cameron Hodge in the 90s, and her twins were killed by Shi’ar Death Commandos in the 2000s.

So, with all that in mind, they could have been resurrected by The Five on Krakoa, and we could have had a really interesting storyline with Jean dealing with that. But nope! X-Office doesn’t want Jean to have any connections or development outside of her family with Scott. Hell, she barely acknowledged the fact that her family was annihilated while she was dead.

Such a missed opportunity, I hope Jean can get revenge for their deaths during the Phoenix series. Or maybe they can find another way to resurrect them.

(Side note, if Gailyn is resurrected soon, can we give her a new name? Because Gailyn…is a bit dated.)

[wishchip106]

i want to rewatch xmen 97 but i feel like i’m being constantly reminded of whatever the hell rogue and magneto had going on ☹️

I DONT CARE THAT IT WAS IN THE COMICS GET IT OFF MY SCREEN

charles get ur ass down here magnus is being freaky and not in a good way 😧

rogue i don’t blame you for wanting physical contact BUT GAMBIT IS RIGHT THERE HE IS OFFERING I THINK HE WANTS TO BE IN A COMA

man anyway cherik should’ve kissed in ep 10

[xxplastic-cubexx]

ehhh i have a lil question on which comics 92 and '97 was based? dying charles lilandra and genosha thing specifically.... i watched it and i liked the plot a lot so i want to read it in comics to and you know things about comics.... pls

Hiya ! 92 + 97 are generally based off the Uncanny X-Men run of the 80’s-90’s by chris claremont: most famous x-men’s stories and ideas originate there. Moreover, im moderately confident 92 + 97 doesnt concretely follow the comics in order and instead adapts stories as they see fit, but i could be wrong

I havent read through the entire run myself yet (and i wont a while: claremont wrote for nearly two decades) so my exact knowledge is limited- however charles ‘dying’ and passing the headmaster mantle to erik happens around issue #200 if i remember right, which is around where 92 ends off and 97 picks up on- however genosha specifically debuts in #235 (which, in 92, debuts well before charles’ departure)

If youre interested in the shi’ar specifically, theres the Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire omnibus that should catalogue everything related (collecting Uncanny X-Men issues #475-486) that was published in 2007. Again i havent checked it out myself too much yet, but i wouldnt doubt its a good place to start

Happy reading !

[elanabrooklyn]

Where my X-Men '97 queers at around here? I've been doing a series of podcasts with great minds in history and art to talk about this wonderful new animated series. Check it out at Graphic Policy Radio.

This latest podcast is covering episodes 3-6: Fire Made Flesh, Motendo, Lifedeath and Remember It with my Deep Space Dive co-host, education research consultant and former Shakespeare professor Sarah Daniel Rasher.

We’ve got:

90’s politics explained 

The love rhombus is really a hexagon

Every day the Shi’ar are Thinking About The Roman Empire 

What makes a good Inferno

Suggestions for the X-Men’s PR strategy

Nonbinary people having Morph feelings

References you might have missed

Don’t miss my conversation with the late Steven Attewell about the series first two episodes.

[xplainthexmen]

Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men, Episode 426 - A Gift from the Lower Regions

In which the Shi’ar have zero chill; Bishop and Deathbird do space opera; we travel to the far-future year of 2018; Alanna Nerimani stretches the definition of “bird”; Deathbird is the cool aunt; Bishop needs a break from dark futures; and Bishop and Sauron have an intimate encounter.

X-PLAINED:

The current number of Summers brothers

Uncanny X-Men #358

Team X 2000

The Shi’ar Empire (more) (again)

Shi’ar voices

Parker Posey vs. Posie Parker

Sexual dimorphism in art

The Ursaa

Organs

The Chnitt

Karel

Several cameos

Nullifier charges

Tu

The first appearance of Cyclops’s Captain America teddy bear

2018

Alan Smithee

Gith

Deathbird’s terrible childhood

Shi’ar-occupied Earth

Alanna Nerimani

Your cool murder aunt

Earth-9922

Deathbird’s war journals

The Morlocks (but not those ones)

Team X (but not that one)

Bribery

A very sexual encounter

Explorations of disability and ableism in comics

Beast’s long, slow heel turn

NEXT EPISODE: Domino rejoins X-Force!

The visual companion to this episode will be up later this week!

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!

[graphicpolicy]

X-Men '97 Episodes 3-6: Non-passing Mutants ACT Up

X-Men '97 Episodes 3-6: Non-passing Mutants ACT Up. Covering the X-Men ’97 TV series! #XMen97

Covering the X-Men ’97 TV series, episodes 3-6: Fire Made Flesh, Motendo, Lifedeath and Remember It with my Deep Space Dive co-host, education research consultant and former Shakespeare professor Sarah Daniel Rasher. We’ve got: 90’s politics explained  The love rhombus is really a hexagon Every day the Shi’ar are Thinking About The Roman Empire  What makes a good Inferno Suggestions for the…

[fancoloredglasses]

Graduation Day (A season finale that had to wait 27 years for the next season)

[All images are owned by Marvel Disney and Saban Entertainment. Please don’t sue me]

With Disney+ reviving the 90s X-Men animated series (calling it X-Men ’97), I figured I would take a look at where the series left off so new viewers didn’t need to watch the entire series.

A quick note: The animation may seem a but different than the early seasons. This is due to the fact that Marvel was on the verge of bankruptcy (to try to generate enough revenue to keep the presses rolling, they started selling off the movie rights to several of their more popular franchises (including the X-Men), many of which have only recently returned to Marvel, and two of which are still in the hands of other studios (Hulk with Universal and Spider-Man with Sony) and are only allowed in the MCU thanks to some serious bargaining) As a result, the budget for X-Men was severely cut for season 5 (meaning the animation was lower quality and the season only had 10 episodes instead of 13)

Of course, if you want to watch the whole series (including this episode), it’s available on Disney+.

PREVIOUSLY ON…

While I’m not going to review the entire series, I will give you the bits that will be important for the episode:

Morph started the series as a member of the X-Men, but was mortally wounded in the first few episodes. They were saved and eventually came back (brainwashed into thinking they were betrayed) They spent most of the series following their return in a redemption arc, having returned to the X-men in the last few episodes.

Henry Gyrich (who looks VERY different than he did in previous seasons) is one of the primary voices calling for the eradication of all mutants. He was responsible for the majority of the funding that created the Sentinels.

Princess (now Empress) Lilandra is a member of the royal family in the Shi’ar Empire. She is an ally of the X-Men and has been romantically involved with Charles Xavier.

Magneto’s journey has been a long one fraught with triumphs and betrayals. At the time of this episode, he is gathering a mutant army to conquer the world on the island on Genosha.

That catches us up, so on with the episode!

We open to a hearing on mutant relations. Gyrich is doing his best to rile up the audience (and the committee members) with his anti-mutant rhetoric.

Off to the side, Xavier tries to be the voice of reason, but…

With that, Gyrich pulls out a device  and uses it on Xavier. Immediately, his mental powers go berserk and overload the minds of everyone in the chamber (including the X-Men, who were in attendance for support) before he collapses!

As the police take Gyrich away for assault, Beast collects the device to examine what it did to Xavier while Cyclops tells Wolverine to get Xavier to their plane to get back to the school, but...

Beast is doing his best to keep Xavier alive despite Wolverine’s senses saying otherwise.

Meanwhile in the island of Genosha, the mutants have seen the footage from the hearing and are calling for blood (much to the delight of Magneto)

Later at the school, the X-Men have brought in Dr. Moira MacTaggart, mutant expert and Xavier’s friend, via the 90s equivalent of Zoom.

Unfortunately, she’s not able to help much as Xavier’s condition worsens. Then Beast has an epiphany: the Shi’ar have technology far beyond what Earth can muster. Surely Empress Lilanda will come to their aid!

Hmmm…good point. Any message to the Shi’ar would take years to reach them, while Xavier likely has days at best. If Xavier was coherent, he could send an instant telepathic message through the bond they share, but…

Meanwhile in Genosha…

…Magneto rallies the troops.

Around the world, mutants rise up against the humans who would repress them. Of course, that means the humans strike back…with the military.

Meanwhile, Xavier appears on TV to reason with the mutants.

That’s pretty impressive, considering how close to death he is!

Ah, that explains it. Morph was impersonating Xavier. Regardless, their pleas fall on deaf ears.

In the War Room, Cyclops and Wolverine brainstorm a way to get through Magneto’s followers to put an end to his offensive before it starts. Jean offers to use her powers to keep the other mutants at bay.

So Cyclops, Jean, and Wolverine make plans to storm Genosha.

Later in the Blackbird (the X-men’s battle plane), the team approaches Genosha when Magneto uses his power to destroy it! Fortunately, the team is ready and bails out, with Jean using her powers to cushion the landing. Later, the team tries to infiltrate the army’s camp, but are confronted. Fortunately, Magneto takes that moment to make an appearance.

With the army distracted, the team slips away and sneaks into Magneto’s stronghold.

(Thanks to peanutsinspace)

Back at the school, Xavier is quickly losing his battle.

Fortunately, Magneto has agreed to try to help save Xavier’s life by augmenting Xavier’s brainwaves so he can contact Lilandra telepathically.

Well, he did something. And whatever he did was enough to bring Xavier to consciousness, at least for a while. After some friendly banter with Magneto, Xavier addresses the assembled X-Men.

(Thanks to FrogLicker8cP)

Just as all seems lost…

It seems that Xavier’s message was received and Lilandra has come. Sadly there is little she can do on Earth to stabilize him, but she offers to take him to the Shi’ar Empire to heal him (though it is unlikely he would be able to return to Earth)

With that, the final season of X-Men comes to a close…

Or rather, fifth season, even if season 6 had to wait for 27 years.

(Thanks to Marvel)

Now you are caught up. Enjoy X-Men ’97. I haven’t yet seen it (I’m binging the series throughout the summer before doing so), but I hope there is enough demand for another season in the future.

[strangeduckpaper]

M136: The House of Summers, and Scott

Starts with Nathaniel Essex, who in relatively short order, discovered the Essex Factor, learns about the Phoenix Force from Irene Adler, and stumbles upon the tomb of Apocalypse, and is “infected” by Apocalypse.

Fosters a street orphan with an Essex Factor named Oscar, and begins...tweaking with his genome.

Basically spends the next century or so using the Essex family as his own personal eugenics experiment, with the end goal of creating a vessel capable of harnessing the Phoenix Force.

This is stymied when his most promising subject, Gabriel Summers, is abducted along with his father Christopher, his mother Katherine Summers (nee Essex) and his brother Scott, and the remaining brother Alex proves insufficient.

Good thing he’s got so many clones.

The abductee Summers family finds themselves in the care of the Shi’ar Empire, who desire Gabriel for their Phoenix related goals.

Christopher is killed, Katherine escapes and becomes the Corsair, while the Summers boys are raised alongside House Neramani.

Gabriel is engaged to Deathbird, while Scott joins the Imperial Guard as Basilisk.

The energy field Gabriel & Scott tap into is the same thing harnessed by the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, leaving them basically immune to each other.

Scott has no eyes due to his mutation, sees through the energy he emits, which gets weird when he’s actively shooting. Has Adem Jensen Deus Ex Style sunglass optical implants.

Can alter the properties of his beams (kinetic bolts, lasers, heat rays, etc.) and to a degree focus and direct the energy.

Is sent to Earth to monitor, and if need be, assassinate, Jean Grey.

In a move that single handedly stymies both Essex AND the Shi’ar, he falls in love with Jean’s unpowered clone Madelyne Pryor and joins the X-Men.

[divinamour]

 I really love Shohreh in The Expanse as the FC for Ana’Hira’s mother / the woman she was cloned from... cause her vibe in that show fits 100%.

‘We’re at WAR with the most powerful enemy we’ve ever fought. We’re getting buttfucked left, right and sideways on all front by the Kree, The Shi’ar, the FUCKING Earthlings now too? We really gotta get our lives the fuck together... Fuck it, I’m calling an audible. Here’s a litre of my blood, go down to the cloning labs and clone me some kids- NO I DON’T WANT TO HAVE MORE KIDS, ARE YOU HIGH? I’VE GOT AN EMPIRE TO RUN. CLONE the little bastards, imprint them with a desire to please me and follow my orders, and then get them trained and ready to kill!’

And if the technology in The Expanse was that advanced, that’s exactly what would be happening. She plays that exasperated, too-pretty but tired of fucking around queen role to perfection. 

That’s her momma! 

[alaffy]

X-Men ’97, Ep.1x06 – Lifedeath – Part 2 (Spoilers)

Forge seems to know a hell of a lot about Storm.  And I don't think Storm's the one to tell him. I’m starting to think he might be a stalker. 

This episode, and episode 7, both are tying up loose ends/setting up for the three-part finale.  This post probably will be shorter than the other posts.  While this episode was very good, it’s more about character moments, then plot.  Therefore, it won’t talk as long to recap.

The episode focuses on Storm and Xavier.  While their stories are interwoven in the show, I’m going to deal with them separately.  Storms, of course, is continuing from where Lifedeath part 1 left off.  Storm is fighting The Adversary, who’s trying to break Storm's will.  Forge is able to use one of his mother’s books to, seemingly, banish The Adversary.  However, Forge has been poisoned and will not last long unless they can find a specific cactus in the desert.  Storm tries to convince Forge not to go along.  However, he’s afraid that, if the poison gets worse that he may die alone, and he doesn’t want that.  Also, he knows that the cactus is in a small cave and Storm has claustrophobia, so he wants to be there for her. I, uh,...the way he tells her in the cave...I don't think she's the one that told him about her fear. 

Anyway, they go to the cave and Storm ends up fighting The Adversary again.  However, during this fight, Storm realizes something.  Basically, all the fighting and the hatred towards mutants…Storm’s tired.  And part of her started to wonder if it were better if she didn’t have her powers.    Of course, her powers were taken away and that part of her thought it was a good thing.  In other words, Storm’s wounds were physical and psychological.  Forge’s machine worked, it un-neutralized her powers.  But it couldn’t remove the psychological block.  Only Storm could do that.  But her fight with The Adversary made Storm realize how much her gifts were a blessing.  The scene of Storm’s powers returning is visually stunning and I do love the scene.  But, uh, Storm’s powers do not include wardrobe changes and magical hair growth.  Still, it is cool to watch.

Anyway, Storm defeats The Adversary and heals Forge.  The two are considering what they’re going to do next, when Forge turns on the tv and they find out about the attack on Genosha. 

As for Xavier’s storyline.  Xavier has become engaged to Lilandra and is set to rule the empire with her.  However, the Shi’ar, well, they do want most empires do.  They see a planet weaker then them, invade, and then build them back up into what they want that planet to be.  Lilandra, although less bloodthirsty than her siblings, still sees this as their “divine right,” and wants Xavier to “re-educate” the Kree, after they are conquered.  Of course, the Shi'ar don’t like the fact that Lilandra wants to marry an off-worlder from a backwards planet and Deathbird uses this to her advantage (she’s Lilandra’s sister and wants her throne).  Deathbird issues a challenge that Xavier must accept if he wants to marry Lilandra.  He must allow Lilandra to erase all memories of earth (which would basically leave him an empty shell).  Xavier almost allows it until he remembers he’s Charles Fuckin’ Xavier and reads the Shi’ar elite a riot act.  And it’s not like they can escape this, he’s in all their minds. 

But then, in a scene that will haunt me for years to come, all of the Shi’ar turn into skeletons and a very large Gambit appears.  He also turns into a skeleton (which might have a double meaning) and “kills” Xavier.  It’s during this, Charles realizes what has happened on Earth.  And even though it means that he will have to give up marrying Lilandra; Xavier knows he must return to his X-Men.   

At the end of the episode, we see Trask running away from someone, telling them he gave them what they wanted. He then falls down and begs them to kill him for what happened on Genosha. We find out that Sinister is somehow involved with the upgraded Sentinels.

[fionapplespiano]

X-Men 97 really thought we would be interested in a plot about Charles and Lilandra when the episode should literally be about Storm and Forge like they really thought they could sneak that on us

[komicoshea]

NEWS - Lucca Comics & Games convention - Lilandra revealed

Ehi, miei compagni tossicodipendenti della plastica. Despite Dan saying they were going to have a break this month, they forgot that they had one more reveal today. Hasbro went over to Italy for the Lucca Comic & Games convention where they revealed a digital render of Lilandra, Majestrix of the Shi’Ar empire. No official news on how or when this is to be released but rumor has it it’s part of a…

[katsumonogatari]

Thoughts on: Grant Morrison’s New X-Men (Issues 114 - 156)

This run shakes everything up with its first arc E for Extinction, wiping Genosha, and having 16 million mutants die including Magneto. Emma Frost becomes part of the team and teacher for Xavier. I like her inclusion with her being on their side but still opting to do things her way as the villain she used to be. 

The anti-mutant sentiment is very strong in this rendition of an X-Men story. The Genosha genocide, the general attitude of humans toward mutants, the formation /idea of “U-Men” and John Sublime, Black Kross Elite, and Cassandra Nova’s plan to wipe the rest of the race to rule human’s with the backing of the Shi’ar empire. When Cassandra Nova is possessing Xavier she makes a push for the mutants to be in the public eye actively which was a needed push that Xavier wouldn’t make. The issue in Cassandra’s mind (#121) is a great work of visual storytelling with mostly no dialogue.

The new cast members Beak, Angel, and Kid Omega all are pretty good. Beak thinking he’s a freak but getting over it with confidence in himself and powers was neat. Angel’s relationship with Beak and her eventual acceptance of her being a mutant was very nice to see. Kid Omega/ Quinten Quire was also an interesting look at someone not accepting how mutants are treated that lines up with Magneto more than Professor X while also being a student at his school. Overall all the new characters that get focused are all very good and I wouldn’t mind seeing more of them.

Of the main team Emma is probably my favorite character out this run. She loves to teach children as established from her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men years ago. While being on the “good side” she’s still manipulates people and uses her power in not the most ‘moral’ ways.

Scott being split between Jean and Emma was interesting to me. He was previously possessed before this run and is recovering. He feels like he can’t discuss it with Jean and keeps it to himself while says she’s there for and manipulates him into “psychic adultery”. It comes to a climax when Jean finds out and she discovers that Scott was trying to resist Emma. Emma actually loves Scott and then when Jean dies in the end she tells Scott this can be a new start so allow him to be with Emma, I think that’s neat. 

Xorn was introduced as a new cool mutant with a star in his head who could cure people of illnesses. He seems to be a peaceful person who has had to deal with the bad parts of being a mutant but then he becomes a teacher for the “losers” of the gifted school and gives them confidence in themselves. Near the last 4th it is revealed that Xorn is Magneto and I don’t really like the reveal but I feel it was editorial meddling involved. 

Overall I really enjoyed this run.

Fav Arcs:

E for Extinction

Murder at the Mansion

Least Fav:

Here Comes Tomorrow

[malicedragoness]

OMFG THEY SHOWED GLADIATOR!!!

I AM FREAKING THE FUCK OUT!!!

Yall don’t understand!! This was my XMen husband growing up and I had to survive on crumbs!!

I even bought the ‘Imperial Guard’ comics just hoping to see more of him. It was an extremely limited run, but I have them all!

Omg I need to go find to show yall!

And then I bought Shi’ar Empire run too when that happened.

And of course I made an OC and wrote fanfic of him in middle school and high school.

Oh Jesus Christ, I really hope more people jump on the Kallark train and there’s an abundance of fic and fanart of him! 😍😍😍😍

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

I hope they show him more in the show. I didn’t even start watching it until now. 🥰🥰🥰

The girls don't want Gambit or Scott summers, they want Gladiator 🤭

[shadowwingtronix]

My Final Thoughts On The Kree/Skrull War

BW Media Spotlight spins out of the Avengers "Yesterday's" Comic reviews I just did with My Final Thoughts On The Kree/Skrull War

You can actually blame the Fantastic Four for the events of the Kree/Skrull War arc. Both the warlike Kree and the shapeshifting Skrulls debuted in the pages of Fantastic Four, and have since become two-thirds of the biggest power brokers in Marvel space along with the Shi’Ar empire. (Whether the Shi’Ar are the nicer ones depends on who’s writing it, who’s sitting on the throne that Thursday, and…