#also this is such a good issue - it's a claremont

[biitchcakes]

That one time Jess went to a Renaissance Festival, got teleported into medieval Arthurian England and then possessed by Morgan Le Fay.

( personals DNI . )

[meraki-yao]

I'm trying to figure out how to summarize and translate Taylor's editorial from Port Magazine and oh...boy jeez this is gonna be a lotta work , the writer is really incompetent, the translation from Taylor's English to the written Chinese is choppy, the flow and focus are all over the place and I'm cringing

Still gonna do it though, I genuinely enjoy translating stuff for the fandom, and tbh rather do this than cell biology

[discow1tch]

Nightcrawler Comic Recs (for beginners)

This list is designed with fans who have little to no knowledge of X-Men comics in mind and with an emphasis on what I would call "fangirl appeal". Each title is listed in chronological order with descriptions, a reading order, and my reasoning for each of them under the readmore for those who need it. In my opinion, all of them are good places to start!*

I primarily read comics on Marvel's official app (marvel unlimited) but hoopla (free through many public libraries) and comixology are other good options for online reading. If you want physical copies you'll get the best deals at your local comic shop or on ebay.

If you have criticisms, additions, or continuity question feel free to hit up my ask box!

SERIES: ❥ Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont (1975) ❥ Excalibur by Chris Claremont (1988), Alan Davis (1991), and Warren Ellis (1994) ❥ Uncanny X-Men by Joe Casey (2001) ❥ Nightcrawler (2004) ❥ Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender (a controversial choice since this isn't main universe/616 Kurt) (2010) ❥ Amazing X-Men (2014) ❥ Nightcrawler (2014)

OTHER RANDOM ISSUES**: ❥ Guardians Team-Up #6 ❥ Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #17 (2017)

*with the exception of Uncanny X-Force. I wouldn't read this until you have a grip on 616 Kurt's characterization.

**these are primarily team ups I discovered through my habit of buying random comics with Kurt on the cover. I'll add more if I remember them.

Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont (1975) was an ongoing team book. The sixteen years of it that were written by Claremont are the iconic building blocks upon which all other X-Men comics are built. It's the book Nightcrawler was on from 1975 to 1988 (#94-227) after he was recruited by Professor X. Unfortunately, Kurt is rarely the main character. He has a lot of standout moments but is more likely to just be part of the team. If you like a sweet, sarcastic, curly haired Nightcrawler with terrible fashion sense this book might be for you!

How to start reading it:

Giant-Size X-Men #1 (his introduction, basically a series pilot that rebooted the X-Men).

Uncanny X-Men #94 (directly follows giant-size)

From there you can read numerically.

Read as much uncanny as you want. If it gets boring/isn't for you try Excalibur!

Specific issue recs if you don't want to start at the beginning:

#110: The X-Men fight a villain of the week who traps them in the danger room with the safety controls off. It's also the first (I think?) time the X-Men play baseball together. Kurt is really fun in this issue! #123 & 124: The X-Men fight Arcade for the first time. The issues are split pretty evenly between the whole team but Kurt has some really good moments. #139 & 140: Kurt goes to Canada with Wolverine. They fight a Wendigo with the canadian super-team Alpha Flight and he becomes the first X-Man to learn Wolverine's real name. The art in this is really expressive. Kurt makes a lot of good faces. #168: This issue isn't primarily about Kurt but it is the one where he does the Burt Reynolds cosmo centerfold pose for his girlfriend. #169: Continues from 168. Opens with Kurt in the bath with his girlfriend. He then teleports around the city naked to save someone. #183: Kurt and Wolverine take Colossus out drinking after he breaks up with Kitty. Kurt is there as "mediator" because he knows Logan is mad about the way Piotr treated Kitty. They end up getting into a fight with the Juggernaut at the bar. #204: Kurt restores his faith and self confidence by taking on Arcade solo when he sees a woman being kidnapped off the street.

Excalibur by Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, and Warren Ellis (1988-1998) was a self-contained ongoing comic that ran through the late 80's up through the mid 90's. Excalibur is the British X-Men adjacent team that Kurt joined and then became unofficial leader of when he thought the other X-Men had died. Excalibur is more magic and fantasy based than X-Men usually is. As written by Chris Claremont it's also basically a sex farce. I consider this book a definitive characterization of the character. The art by Alan Davis in the first ~50 issues is the sexiest Nightcrawler has ever been and probably ever will be. If you like a classically handsome, confident, overtly sexy Nightcrawler this series might be for you.

How to start reading it:

Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn (shows the team being formed, basically the series pilot). There's a ton of Deep Lore and callbacks in it but if anything is important it will get explained more directly by narration.

Excalibur #1

From there you can read numerically

The first 67 issues are pretty consistently good but you can always stop After the Cross-Time Caper story if you want something more modern

If you want to keep reading after #67 I suggest skipping the issues written by Lobdell and going straight to the Warren Ellis era

Specific issue recs if you don't want to start at the beginning:

#4: The beginning of the Kurt/Meggan/Brian love triangle. Includes the infamous page where Kurt and Meggan nearly kiss. #16: Another infamous issue. The team land in a new universe and get separated. Kurt fights some air ship pirates before getting seduced and fucked just barely off panel by an Evil Queen. He also ends up wearing some really skimpy "battle armor" towards the end. It's truly incredible that this was even allowed to be published. #23: Judge Dredd parody. The team land in a new universe and get separated (again). Kurt has some really great fight scenes against an alternate universe human version of himself and a really heartfelt story with that universes version of Meggan. #44 & 45: The british government asks the team for help investigating a series of strange robberies in London. Everyone but Kurt is out of town on personal business and his leg is broken so he decides the thing to do is recruit the chaotic aliens helping rebuild the light house as a substitute team - his "N-Men"! If you read these issues by themselves just skip over the sections about the other characters.

Uncanny X-Men by Joe Casey (2001) (#395-409) was part of the ongoing Uncanny comic. It primarily follows a team of X-Men tracking down the Church of Humanity cult as they try to eradicate mutants. This run had a lot of different artists on it but they're all good. The aesthetics and vibes of this run are some of my favorites. Casey writes Kurt a bit more grounded and less jokey but without sacrificing any of the witty banter which I like. If you like a less human-looking Nightcrawler with glowing eyes and pointy teeth this series might be for you!

Nightcrawler (2004) is a twelve issue self-contained mini-series. It's the second of three Nightcrawler self titled minis and it's also my favorite! Kurt gets enlisted as basically a supernatural investigator by Storm after a group of children die mysteriously. He has three different love interest in this which the story even calls him out for at one point. The art is more grounded than the usual marvel house style which isn't for everyone but I personally enjoy it. If you like a softer nightcrawler or a Nightcrawler in street clothes this book might be for you!

Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender (2010) (#20-35) was an ongoing team book. It's maybe my most controversial pick because it's the Nightcrawler from the Age of Apocalypse but I'm gonna count him because he's hot. He jumped universes to join X-Force (the X-Men's covert black ops team) in issue #11 during the period of time when main universe/616 Kurt was dead. The first arc he's in is all AoA stuff so you can skip it and start at #20 (the Otherworld arc) if you want. AoA Kurt is a darker, more violent version of the character who's only interested in revenge. A lot of Nightcrawler fans hated his inclusion on the team but I personally think he's great! It also helps that the art in this is done in this gorgeous almost abstract digital watercolor style. This version of Nightcrawler ends up dying in an event comic when the series ends but don't even worry about it. Also, maybe don't start with this one. If you like the idea of a star trek-style mirror universe Kurt try reading this!

Amazing X-Men (2014) was an ongoing team book. It's the series that brought Kurt back from the dead after his death several years earlier in a crossover event. It's a really good jumping on point for modern Nightcrawler but the plot is kind of bonkers. If you read it try not to think too hard about the implications of that first arc. Most of the weirder stuff in it doesn't really matter outside of this book anyway. The art is really good - Kurt is very pretty in this. In the early issues he also has great romantic tension with Storm and Wolverine if you're in to that! It's very intertwined with the 2014 solo so if you like this definitely read that! If you like a lanky more cartoony Nightcrawler try this series and the 2014 miniseries!

Nightcrawler (2014) is a twelve issue self contained mini series. It takes place after the first arc of Amazing X-Men but can be read independently since narration explains everything that happened. I'll be honest, this series is fun but not very memorable. The art is nice, though. If you like a lanky more cartoony Nightcrawler try this series and Amazing X-Men!

[roguestorm]

(Some of) My Favorite Scott/Jean Kisses

X-Men #98

I like the way Claremont initially establishes their relationship - Jean's flirtiness, Scott's hesitance. This isn't their first on-panel kiss, but it is one of the early ones, and I think it's really sweet. I love how Scott and Jean have changed as people in-universe and I love how they've changed as characters over the decades.

X-Men #132

I'm including this one mostly because two of the other kisses will reference it. Which isn't to say that I don't like it, because obviously I do, but I have nothing new to say about it. It's like THE Scott/Jean kiss.

X-Men #137

I think this kiss tends to get overshadowed by other parts of 137, which is fair, but there's something so tragic about the last kiss -- especially considering that Jean is possibly already planning for this to be their last kiss.

X-Factor #26

I was debating between the one in X-Factor #25 and this one, but the paneling here is unmatched. The 3 beats of the panels of her initiating, her explaining, and then him initiating is so good, especially with how expressive Simonson's body language is. And then that long pan out, so you just get the whole page really lingering in this moment.

X-Factor #53

I'm cheating and putting two kisses from this issue because I just love the range of Scott/Jean we get in this issue. The first one is so playful and fun, reminiscent of the kiss in X-Men #98, except Scott is no longer hesitant. And then the passion and romance of Jean "sweeping him off his feet," soundtracked with "As Time Goes By." And then Jean immediately getting caught in remembering the kiss in Arizona from X-Men 132 and Scott deciding that this playful and romantic evening is a wonderful time to propose, which Jean declines because she feels like she's being pushed into it. This issue is so good for the range, and these two kisses (plus the flashback one) really capture the complicated emotional journey of these two.

The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #2

Nothing says romance like your son being totally exasperated by how often the two of you make out. The joys of parenthood. :)

Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #5

The "stolen moment" quality of this kiss is so good. Scott is only alive so very briefly here, but they're both real and alive together for the first time in years (both in universe and in real world time). Like the 137 kiss, Jean may have some knowledge about the brief nature of the time they have left, but I think in this one, they're more on the same page -- Scott knows that he will have to die.

X-Men: Hellfire Gala (2022)

I like when they have sex!! I like when writers don't assume Jean is a virginal prude when she's been forward about her desires since at least X-Men #98. I also like when they have sex after planning how best to help the future of mutantkind together. This set-up deliberately invokes the 132 kiss, so it's especially noticeable how different the circumstances are and how much has changed for Scott and Jean since then.

Thank you for looking at these panels of Scott and Jean kissing, feel free to tell me what your favorite Scott/Jean kisses are.

[ffverr]

Any suggestions on getting into Storm centered comics? what should i read if i wanna understand her upcoming solo? thank u so much !

So you're looking to get into Marvel's greatest character? I got you 🤝

Ok so this is a very daunting question because 1-Storm's character very organically develops all throughout the Claremont run which is like...300 issues of "old" comic books. 2- I'm not all that caught up in the 2000s and 2010s comics so I have a huge gaping blind spot.

But if I were to suggest important issues to get her deal as a character and to prime yourself on her inner conflicts for Storm (2024) here are my suggestions (mostly 70s-80s focused because that's when she has her most major character arcs):

(in blue the ESSENTIAL reads, remember these are team comics, so not always 100% Storm)

My quick Storm (ororo Munroe) reading guide:

Giant size X-Men #1 (1975)

Classic era:

Her first comic book appearance

Uncanny X-Men (UXM) #113

It's got a quick Ororo scene that personally, made me fall in love with the character

UXM #102

Ororo's origin story revealed!

UXM #145, #146 and #147

Her first meeting with Doom who will appear in her solo and her "Rogue form" that will also be explored in the solo!

UXM #150

Storm being essential to Magneto's character development and overall a badass! Storm and Magneto have a very interesting relationship which begins here.

UXM #154-#155

Read this if you want insight into Storm and Cyclops' great friendship (they're siblings your honour!) and their relationship to being leaders of the X-Men! Cyclops is set to appear in her solo, so I'd say it's good to know that they're great friends.

UXM #165

Ororo has a VERY cool moment in this issue and it earns her the title "she who swam with Acanti". It's badass, it shows her inner strength in the face of defeat, it's great Storm content. Read the Brood saga (UXM #154 to #167) for more context of this alien space adventure.

Storm's main character arc! :

If there are ever storm comics you gotta read, it's truly these ones.

Before the fall:

UXM #169, #170!!!, #171, #172, #173

In these issues Storm knows change, and she is rattled by her own ruthless actions. This will lead her through a path of transformation and self reflection that is what makes Storm such an incredible character to me.

UXM #179, UXM #180

To see her with the morlocks again and to get an idea of her unstable mental state at this point before her BIG depowered arc. She also has a very touching moment with kitty (they have an older sister/younger sister relationship 🥺)

Depowered Storm (the fall AND the rise):

Unarguably her most iconic arc. Storm losing her powers gives us incredible and touching insight into who she is as a person beyond the picture of a perfect goddess. A MUST read

UXM #184 (for context), #185!

The loss of powers

UXM #186!!!!

AKA. Life death part 1, widely regarded as some of the best X-Men comics ever along with life death part 2 that you will see later on.

UXM #187 and #188

Full no powers badass Storm.

UXM #198!!!

Aka. Life death part 2, a religious experience. Storm excellency. This is like no other X-Men comic you'll ever read!

UXM #201

It isn't the Storm centric issue everyone makes it out to be, but her being asked to duel Scott for X-Men leadership is still very iconic.

UXM #211 and #212

The mutant massacre is a very interesting and tough challenge for Storm who finds herself again at her lowest despite life death part 2. Important reads!

UXM# 215-216

Fun storm centric action!

This is pretty much all I'll recommend of classic stuff for the moment as I am also reading through the insane amount of bronze age issues.

To hop onto Storm (2024):

Planet size X-Men (2021)

Here are the modern age issues I find relevant to get her current state of mind:

Ororo's role during the Krakoa era truly kick-starts here with helping Terraform Mars, which will become the planet Arakko that she rules along a council of mutants. This era is important to understand Ororo as she is in her solo and shows how she navigates many challenges.

The full series X-Men Red (2022) by Al Ewing! *Read Immortal X-Men #11 along with X-Men Red #11 (I can't remember in what order)

This is the most recent Storm-lead book, it's great Ororo stuff!!!!

Resurrection of Magneto by Al Ewing!

Despite the name, this is a BRILLIANT Ororo comic that is extremely recent, extremely good and explores her character in beautiful ways.

I think it's a great primer for her solo if you only wanna read four issues. (Chronologically it comes after X-Men Red)

That's about all I would lay on you! Good reading! And remember that Storm (2024) is written with new readers in mind so, no pressure at all to know everything <3 🌩️

Wanna read some recent leader of X-Men Ororo? X-treme X-Men by Chris Claremont is made for that. (In between the classic era and the modern era chronologically? It's not that good, but it's something.

Avengers (2023) by Jed McKay.

Storm will be in the avengers as well as her solo! She is introduced into the team at issue #17 so you can pick up from that and read in synch with the solo!

[ponett]

I spent a whole sunday reading through immortal hulk with the free trial, is there anything else good you would recommend to go through before the week's end? (I dont read many comics, the last one was I read was archie megaman)

Oh hell yeah, glad my tweets exposed at least one other person to Immortal Hulk. It's great

Admittedly I've only really started reading a variety of Marvel comics recently. I've liked characters like Spider-Man and the X-Men all my life, but I've only recently gotten over my aversion to just diving into random popular 616 stuff and not worrying about having the full context for everything. (I was finally like, oh yeah, I don't have to put up with the MCU and most of the cartoon adaptations being extremely mid, I can just go jump around and read the good stuff.) So I'm not the best person to ask. But here's stuff I've been enjoying recently:

Fantastic Four (2022) by Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics fame. Easily my highest recommendation here. Extremely fun and funny and heartfelt and creative science adventures. Immediately made me care about the Fantastic Four way more than I ever have. I subscribed to this one immediately upon catching up, and I hope North stays on for a good long while. (On a related note, I need to read North's Squirrel Girl run soon.)

Unbelievable Gwenpool (2018). As a series about a normal human girl transported into the comic world and getting by with her knowledge of comics, it's EXTREMELY meta, but instead of just going "haha isn't this all so dumb and tropey?" it ends up being a story about searching for meaning in superhero comic books where creative teams change all the time and the status quo reigns supreme. It's good stuff that goes some wild places. My only real gripe is the inconsistent art.

And they're only a few issues in and are still setting things up, but I'm enjoying the new Ultimates and Ultimate Spider-Man comics, which pick up following the Ultimate Invasion miniseries and the Ultimate Universe one-shot.

And uh... actually that's all the Marvel stuff I've been reading recently aside from Claremont X-Men - which is of course very good, but it's not as easy to recommend as these shorter, more standalone runs.

Some other relatively self-contained Marvel stuff I'd like to read soon:

Immortal Thor, the current series by Immortal Hulk writer Al Ewing that I hear is just as good

Ms. Marvel (2014)

Hawkeye (2012) by Matt Fraction

Spider-Man: Life Story

The Vision (2015)

And I hear Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) is pretty good and has Miles doing some crazy shounen anime shit while still being a street-level series, so I'm interested in checking that out

I'm also open to recommendations! I'm aware of many of the big hits, but, y'know, there's always gonna be good stuff that gets buried given the sheer volume of comics Marvel puts out every year

[dailycass-cain]

By unlocking 7,000 Followers on Twitter (thank you all 😊) has me doing this nice retrospective of Cass's time in James Tynion IV's Detective Comics run (aka Gotham Knights) that started in #934-#981.

I'll start with some context before I go deep into this run. So in 2016 (it's been 8 YEARS?!), DC Comics relaunched their comics with the "Rebirth" label.

Taking some things of the past and putting them in the "New 52" universe.

For Cass, it would mean she would be getting a mask closer to her Batgirl costume. As we know with the end of Batman & Robin Eternal, she'd be going with the new Orphan identity.

Now, this all happened back to back with one another. In, a greater context this helped the character of Cass. Cause, before this. DC Comics had this history of yanking the character or we'd be stuck with two months or more before we'd get more (aka Black Bat).

The other thing (a bit more controversial), is that the friendships with Spoiler and Red Robin would happen between Batman & Robin Eternal and this. So we'd never get this subplot of introduction again.

So right away Cass/Steph would be besties. Akin to their prior life.

#934 The first showing of Cass in this run is her in full costume (with said mask), and what she does vigilante-wise in the Orphan identity.

Helping out other orphans who are being trafficked illegally. A theme that would put up a few times in this run and her tale with Orca in DC: Doomed & the Damned #1 (a few years later in 2020).

The issue establishes the team dynamics and obviously digs into the "X-Men themes" of each member.

You can see these themes with each member of the Gotham Knights.

For Cass, it's easy to see she's the "Wolverine" of the team. Though with the writer, Tynion has a clear bias toward (I mean Claremont balanced the Logan stuff). Not that I mind this. 😶

As for the rest of this arc, Tynion does a good job showcasing some elements in the past that were classic Cass flaws like in the Mudroom she keeps fighting everyone's battles instead of her own.

Which is a problem would have. So it's a flaw I do enjoy.

Just that well... we never see this flaw ever again in the series. Cass does let everyone fight their own battle (Steph in particular), but will be there to help someone else (more on that later).

We also get the one recurring subplot in the post-B&RE with Cass and Harper being closely entwined with one another (though sadly this gets dropped after the second arc, and eventually dropped completely after #950).

I still get the reason "why" Harper was being slowly phased out with Cass/Steph coming back, around this time but she does bring a few things to the table that others don't.

But that's a thing I'm gonna go in a future series of posts.

Like I said before, Tynion favors Cass A LOT and it shows in this opening arc with her getting several moments to steal the show. Starting with her fighting the enemies of the arc when they raid the Bellfry.

She does lose (but man what a fight she puts up in this taking out four of them) and it is hilarious that it takes THIS many darts to knock her down. 🤣

Then of course, the next issue she gets THE moment I think most are still hyped to this day on.

I mean I GET IT. The moment is still a 🐐.

Though, if there's one nitpick I can see is that Tynion really isn't fond of the mask concept entirely as there are moments that Cass puts on and removes the mask. Never keeping it on fully at times.

Like I knew this was a recurring theme in this series, but I forgot HOW MUCH recursion it was. With Cass getting the mask damaged or her unmasking at various points in this run. A part of me wonders if Tynion did this given how meh the mask just looks without the bat ears?

The other bit is the tease for the League of Shadows in this and the whole "black eyes" thing that we got later in the arc with them. I still don't understand the whole motif with that.

I remember debating with a friend the whole "was it a possession"? And now that I think about it more was it a nod to anger back in the ye old Puckett/Scott run? When Cass would get REALLY mad she'd have pure black eyes.

Since we never really got an answer, I just have more questions that I know we'll never get answers for.

That's Cass's part in this opening arc in a nutshell. All action, with just a tiny bit of characterization. You can best symbolize this as well in the next arc, "Night of the Monster Men" which crossed over with Nightwing and Batman ongoings.

This is a big one for me cause I remember really enjoying this story back when it came out, and I still do. It's Batman, the Gotham Knights, Signal, Gotham Girl, and Nightwing taking on Hugo Strange and his Kaiju Men.

Cause that's what they are in this crossover. Freaking huge monsters.

Now this is a BIG moment for Cass, as well this is the first Batman crossover she DOES things since-- Batman: War Games (though you could cheat Batman: Battle for the Cowl, as she does appear but never has a central role within the series).

So 2005 (or 2009). It's only been-- 11 or 7 years since her last Batman crossover.

….

🙃🙃🙃🙃

This one is the bits are co-written by Steve Orlando with Tynion, and I just enjoy this story. First up this is the stuff that gives us REAL good Cass/Steph crumbs. Bestest crumbs we'd get until this run would end.

Cass/Steph's part for "most of the story" is helping those who are infected and also not from Hugo Strange's new Monster Men strain (that makes you violent or turns you into giant kaiju).

It's a nice little beat as they're cut off from everyone else and Bruce is all, "TRUST THEM. THEY GOT THIS." Throughout the bits him and the rest are dealing with the Monster Men.

And the two do. Like these bits are probably the best Cass/Steph content we got since well---

-- Batgirls. And that's just do to reasons given Steph drifts away from Cass (so it can set up both their solo subplots. Though Cass's gets more attention somewhat, and Steph's gets rushed).

But yeah these bits of Cass/Steph in the cave are really the first REAL moments in the series that feel like Cass/Steph of old. Just because in the prior arc, they don't mingle save one scene where Steph gives off panel plot summaries instead.

It's just natural, and good. Really, this crossover has aged like an underrated fine wine. There's only one real flaw to it (more on that soon). But in characterization? This story is Cass/Steph perfection.

This arc is notable for three other things too. #1 This is also the ONLY arc where Cass remains masked in the entire arc. Cass doesn't appear unmasked AT ALL. So it's interesting to see how artists manage this and well--

This arc is notable for three other things too. #1 This is also the ONLY arc where Cass remains masked in the entire arc. Cass doesn't appear unmasked AT ALL. So it's interesting to see how artists manage this and well--

#2 As you can tell this is the arc where artists began to draw the white lenses for Cass. A feature that would stick to the character this very day. I get this sets up the whole white/black lenses debate. But I totally forgot it was THIS arc that began the white lenses.

This is the first time Riley Rossmo draws Cass and well I do enjoy it. Rossmo makes the Orphan design work with its limited costume pallet. I get the little gremlin energy throughout this arc with his Cass.

#3 the climax (aka the one bit I find anti-climatic) where Nightwing, Batwoman, Spoiler, and Cass each get into a building and-- command giant freaking lasers. It should've been a giant Voltron Bat mech. IT REALLY SHOULD'VE.

But the real INTERESTING thing is note how EVERYONE says their codename but-- Cass. She just goes online. I get it simple words but it just feels like re-reading this how already the writer who co-created the identity was basically undermining the new identity himself by doing things like this.

Or maybe it was Orlando?

He's a sneaky sneak writer when it comes to Cass lore (see his Supergirl run where he casually drops Carolyn Wu-San or his Batman Beyond fill-in where has Babs say BATGIRLS). Just small little bits. I wouldn't be surprised if this was him.

But yeah this is a fun and underrated event crossover STILL. Which is probably why we had it given what the next arc does with Cass which lays seeds and is 💔 the first "Victims Syndicate" arc.

The seeds laid are the beginning bits of friendship in #943 between Cass and Clayface (Basil Karlo) aka one of the things most remember for this run. It starts with the beginnings of her being a rock for him.

Sadly, this issue also marks the final time Cass, Steph, and Harper are all together (only WFA uses them together now). 😭

So yeah seeing Cass, Steph, and Harper interacting with one another does make me truly sad as this is it. The last interaction between all three together.

It's also HIGHLY amusing as Harper and Cass are wearing their "disguises" from Batman & Robin Eternal #7-8 (probably due to Alvaro Martinez drawing these issues and the Tec one).

But this is really Steph's arc, and that's all the notable things Cass does other than having to do this 🥺🥺🥺while Steph leaves the Bat Family to do her thing.

Plus gets her sweeter full-on Spoiler Mask again too.

This and the next arc are the lesser of Cass stuff because well-- Cass gets her own story in #950! But before that, I must address PAIN. OH YES, PAIN!

Because during this chunk of arcs, Cass did show up someplace else, Red Hood & the Outlaws #15. Where she's drawn by Dexter Soy for the first time! 😀 She fights an Amazon for the first time too in Artemis! 😀😀

And it happens off-panel save the last one where Artemis beats her. 😑😑😑😑😑

Oh, and um yeah OTHER things too with a little OOC Cass is in the issue. But hey the net positive was Soy would draw Cass with a far better writer a few years later.

So yeah, on the bright side, Tynion always hyped up #950 as the start of a Cass-centric arc and is reunited with the artist who drew the best issue of Batman & Robin Eternal (#14), Marcio Takara and we get Christian Duce's first-time drawing Cass here too!

There are still a lot of pros and cons with this particular arc. The biggest pro is the opening issue to the prologue to the arc. Being told via Cass's eyes per say with the narration boxes capturing the turmoil but not her voice.

It's different than how Kelley Puckett went with in Batgirl Vol. 1, not the better ground Sarah Kuhn had with Shadow of the Batgirl, and not crazy north to where Batgirls went with their narration (who was the narrator of that series again?) this is more the middle ground.

For the story itself, it does work. Just it's also 💔cause almost ALL of this relating to Cass is never fully followed up on here (until the Batman & Outsiders volume a year after this run).

But other beats such as Cass's relationship with Harper Row are just dropped completely after this point. Like, Harper just shows up one more time during this run (in Steph's subplot which is rushed to heck).

But it's not just Harper who gets dropped after this arc. The story also introduces Christine Montclair, a ballerina, who Cass idolizes and might crush on.

It's an obvious play of the "Phantom of the Opera." With Cass being the Phantom.

Christine really does help Cass, and just when you think she's gonna show up more in this run (or even elsewhere involving Cass). We really never see her again. She does give Cass the pep-talk that's needed, but that's it.

Feels like a sad waste of story potential. I digress we're nearing the point of this run where Tynion had to cut A LOT of fat. Given, he was leaving this comic to become the lead writer on Justice League Dark, and the "Rebirth" era was ending.

Maybe this was some of that "fat"? I'm just surprised no future writer picked up Christine or added her to the Batgirls supporting cast. In a way, Cass's interest in ballet somewhat wanned after this arc too (with only Black Label BoP covering it and WFA).

I still think there's potential there for Christine to be a supporting cast member filling the void Brenda left.

But what we have here with Christine is still quite good, the best moments of the arc humanizing and getting through the problems Cass faces in this arc.

Even if ironically, Christine's mental teacher was a book by Carolyn Wu-San (again a subplot we never ever see picked up).

Still, this arc brings back the "Rebirth" method of putting back stuff. This case is Lady Shiva being Cass's mom, and them having to fight.

I digress the idea did hype me up slightly at the time.

Just in the end, there's no real dimension here to either. Shiva finds out, still decides to nuke Gotham to screw Ra's over. Basically, the stereotypical "murder mom" behavior that a lot of us criticized. That's been righted but hoping that the new Batgirl ongoing fully answers.

Cass finds out that she is brokenhearted and that her mom is Lady Shiva. But there's never any real means to establish the "how".

Cass finds out, is 💔at the revelation, and barely has time to interact fully with Shiva before it's taken away. Even the fight with Shiva has no real sauce or even clear indication like Batgirl Vol. 1 #25 or even #73.

That's not even accounting the ending with Shiva getting shot, rattling words (that were a location code), and a subplot Tynion had to drop.

So the positives for the arc are still there. #1 being the big fight in #955 vs. the Shadows and the hype Tynion lays the groundwork in the prior issue giving Cass her "Wolverine" moment in full.

It's an epic moment. Still drives a chill done my spine. Likewise the entire fight vs. all the ninjas. Takara really just shines with the art in #955. Like the fight is just stunning.

That leads into the problem with the Orphan identity as the cracks are in this issue particularly were they develop as Cass's answer to who she is to Christine is, her name. Not Orphan.

I can go into that, but that's more to one of my past series I dwell on that on why the Orphan codename became dated.

Another bit that works well is the friendship between Cass/Basil really begins to shine further here and it just reaches its apex of positive emotions in the next arc.

The final thing which I find underrated is how Kate becomes the unwilling mentor figure (given Babs is pushed away from having this relationship with Cass). It's an interesting dynamic that could've added more tragedy to what is to come with them.

The Batman stuff is gold here too. Again solidifies the fatherly stuff we had in the past with Cass. The only problem is other than this run only four writers would further this.

So yeah, this arc is a mixed bag of good and bad. I cannot fault Tynion fully that he never fully realized the arc's full potential cause well DC was gonna DC.

As it stands the "League of Shadows" arc is just a good read to have. Funny enough what truly is the pathos to Cass is what is to come.

That being Cass/Basil, as their friendship really moves the subplots going forward. Basil helps Cass with her reading disability. Cass helps him with the bad side of Clayface showing up. It's a nice two-way streak of them being there for the other.

On the action front, we get probably the best fight in the series. A brutal 1 v 2 fight between a brainwashed Azrael vs. Kate/Cass (#961). Again, the fight is just nasty and again gets her mask torn. But it is the recurring theme of this run. Cass's mask gotta be torn.

But it's after this arc with Azrael, that Tynion is just rushing through trying to end as many subplots he can at this point to reach his climax.

We get moments between Cass/Basil sprinkled throughout (her being his rock when he almost goes back to villainy). Plus the whole Tim reunited with her and then Steph.

But it's all setting up to the next big stepping stone which is the second Victim Syndicate arc where now they're not just targeting Steph, but also Basil.

Man this arc, while the Steph stuff doesn't hit as clean (given how Tynion rushed through her subplot), the Cass/Basil stuff with it given all this time.

It STILL slaps hard to the face when they force Clayface to rage out in #972. The only one in his way in #973---

Even rereading it, it's like something you're like Cass, just hoping Kate doesn't pull that trigger and well... yeah. It hits and it hurts.

I try looking at what comes next from the perspective of well Cass not having that symbol. If you go with her wanting to achieve what Bruce/Kate/Babs have. Kate breaking the rule. It really hits that Kate betrayed her student here.

I do wish Tynion was given just a tiny bit more room to breathe. Because we never really get them mending here after this. It's just dropped and mended offscreen between the two (probably the only rare miss Alyssa Wong had when writing both).

Though with Tynion ending Kate's mentorship with Cass, he adds one final Rebirth layer: Babs mentoring Cass. We get the seeds in #975.

It's a GOOD idea, and something Hill does follow up on in his Tec arc. However, I just get the feeling with Rebirth ending, and Dan DiDio getting back fully in power from Geoff Johns. That well... certain edicts DiDio had prior between Cass/Babs came back.

Cause A LOT of this stuff was reburied and Cass didn't get to be with Babs until two years later (and when a certain someone was fired from DC Comics).

But enough what "could've been". What about Tynion's final arc on the series? It surprisingly still has a lot of Cass. Like at this point she's really the female lead of the book with Kate taking a backseat at this point.

I mean she's really all over the place in the arc. Starting with still recovering from Basil's death, and we get an amusing moment between her and Tim. Probably the last sibling moment (other than WFA).

It's just a cute moment, and well is bookended with Tim getting turned into an O.M.A.C. and Cass jobbing (cause she's nowhere in the right mindset at this point). But it leads her to Bruce and then Steph. And we get the next big moment.

I'm not gonna cover the "lie" moment aka a pantless future Cass fighting a shirtless Ra's. No, I'm gonna go right into Tynion's final critique on both Cass/Steph in #980.

We all know it.

Both are shown what was "taken". Their years of being Batgirls and Robin. I do still love each panel represents an actual story for the two. Something lost and taken by the New 52.

I feel like at this point, Tynion was just exhausted with the mental hoops he had to deal with regarding both characters, and this was his final response having both see what they can still have.

It feels like where Tynion wanted to put the two, but couldn't (cause DiDio gonna DiDio), but still left the seeds enough for Cass to know what she is.

Again, making the whole Orphan identity more pointless at this point.

But on the bright side you can look at these last bits and given what we know what occurs in Batman: Joker War. That Tynion was all, "Well, if you want a job done right. You got to do it yourself." Putting all this history back in.

In the end, you can look back at the run and see those positives which then occur less than two years later. This is still a flawed run, but with all the unknowns that were probably heaped on the writer.

It does hold up in other areas. Out of the team, Cass really was one of the few who really got the 👑in being the reason this run is remembered most. She does get A LOT of good moments in the series.

The really good moments are still really good. Just the bad? Well, just take it for what DC was at that time. Still, flawed (given WHO was still lingering around the company at the time), but almost there.

Though I find the Joker ongoing Tynion's best Batman work, this is probably his more entertaining one. Everyone gets a moment to shine (even if it's rushed).

This is still a better top to bottom Batman run compared to its counterpart which tripped and fell at the end (Tom King's Batman run).

So what you think about this run? Has it aged more gracefully like a wine? Or like milk? I'm really curious of thoughts of this run given where we are now with the character.

[thevulturesquadron]

Hello! 👋 Could you list some of the best comic books that explore the Rogue/ Magneto relationship?

Hey there!!! 👩‍🚀 Oh gosh! With pleasure! I might be a bit rusty because I haven’t gone through older Marvel comic books in a while and also because I am not up to date with the recent years of X-Men comics BUT there are still a couple of issues that are very dear to me when it comes to Rogue & Magneto, so happy to share:

It all started in the year 1981:

1. Uncanny X-Men #269 ; Uncanny X-Men #274 & Uncanny X-Men #275 (1981, Written by Chris Claremont) [The story is pretty self-contained to these 3 issues and it all starts with Rogue realising that her Ms. Marvel powers are gone and Carol Danvers somehow has her own body now. (a very simplified context of what was going on in that era with the X-Men) I absolutely love Rogue in these issues. She has sass and personality, and she still carries a lot of her energy from the 80s.]

2. X -Men Volume 2 (Issues #1 - #3) - (1991, Chris Claremont) [They meet again after the events in the Savage Land, now on opposite sides.]

3. Magneto Rex: Issues #1- #3 - (1999, Joe Pruett) [This miniseries… is a bit weird and needs some context. It’s at a time where Marvel really wanted to have Magneto return to his evil ways and be a villain for the X-Men (regardless if it made sense or not). Not one of my favourites and generally can live without but it’s a ‘next stop’ in their interactions, so adding it to the list.]

4. Then we have X-Men Legacy! ( 2008, Mike Carey) [This one is a chonker, and to make things worse it is connected with other series running at the same time. It has pieces of Rogue and Magneto through the entire run but all in all, the story sees them reunite under the same team in Utopia (starting with Legacy #231). The full run of Legacy can be difficult to follow up on but if you have the time, it’s really worth it. It’s also the first story in YEARS where Rogue is allowed to shine and do her own thing. If you need a more detailed list of what issues are really worth reading, in what order and what is happening in between them let me know and will be happy to write down a breakdown!]

5. Memorable mentions in the main series: There are quite a few tiny bits about them in the comic books but here’s a list of issues that give more context to how they interact and how they feel about each other:

a. Marvel Fanfare #33 - (1982, Chris Claremont. I love Rogue in this one and it’s such a nice example of what a good and powerful duo they can make. Something that is later explored in Legacy as well. b. Legacy #223 (during Rogue’s journey to control her powers) we have a glimpse of how she remembers and sees Magneto’s presence in her life. c. Magneto #10 (2014, Cullen Bunn) - Similarly, a glimpse into Magneto’s mind on how he remembers Rogue and the impact their connection in the Savage Land had on him. d. Mr & Mrs X #6 (2019) - there is a page between Rogue and Magneto where, in all that mess, at least Magneto’s honest feelings for her and his care for her happiness shine through.

And last but not least, Age of Apocalypse. [This is a completely separate timeline that the comic books liked to visit from time to time. In this universe Rogue and Magneto are pretty much in love and married but… it’s a very tragic universe. Original series started in 1995; then it got revisited in 2005 and again in 2015… I think? The series… is far from perfect, there are so many things that can be described as unhinged (dialogue included) but, there is so much love for these two characters and I absolutely recommend it if you are ok with investing some time into reading it, and most of all if you are ready for a real heart break (again and again).]

Hope this helps! Happy to go into more details or put aside a cleaner list if interested! 💜

There are a couple other mentions in the comics so in case I missed something important I will summon one of the gods of endless knowledge when it comes to X-Men to correct or add to the list: @maedelin

[stormandforge]

Raw reactions to X-Force #5

Yup, someone dies.

MASSIVE spoilers (and controversial opinions) below.

It's Nori. There'd been so much foreshadowing in the comic - and so much fan discussion about the upcoming character death - that I had started believing it wouldn't be her. But no, it was always going to be her. When you consider the way she joined the team, her post-Krakoa trauma, her selflessness and her relationship with Forge, it makes complete sense.

That death scene goes hard. We actually see her burned-up corpse, we hear her farewell words - oof, my heart. Rest in power, little blue-haired hero.

This said, everyone attacking Geoff Thorne over Nori's death needs to calm down. I would understand this amount of upset if he'd done her dirty, but he really hasn't. He's consistently written her with respect, gave her as much spotlight as he could in a team book, and gave her a heroic death. Stories kill characters, people. That's just the way it is.

Also: Nori's coming back, maybe even in this run. We just don't know yet. And don't give me nonsense about the resurrection protocols being gone - mutants came back from the dead before Krakoa, they will continue to do so.

"Forge always has a plan." YES. Nothing to do with his power; he's just always up to something. That's Forge 101. Fuck me, it's so good to have a writer who understands him. And because Thorne has done his homework, I believe what we're witnessing is a typical Forge plan: something that he believes will benefit the greater good, but that is also misguided and full of hubris and will repeatedly backfire in his face.

Forge can be cold, but this is subzero. He loves Nori, he wouldn't act that way if he was fully himself. Something's going on. Someone needs to shake him real hard - beat him to a pulp, really - and realign his neurons. The two most qualified people to do that are showing up in the next issue, so I'm thinking this is what will happen.

Why does he take her gauntlets? It can't just be for the sake of getting his tech back. As i said he's not that cold, and also he can probably make those again in his sleep.

FORGE ALMOST KILLED AN ALT VERSION OF STORM IN COLD BLOOD. The man is not well, I'm telling you.

There's a theme of Forge hurting the women he cares about in this issue. Trust Sage to see the pattern and get the hell out before anything can happen- the hurting or the caring.

OK, now he's levitating with a big shiny triangle around his body. That's magic, isn't it? For a second I started thinking the Analog must be magic after all, but then I remembered Sage loves staring into it too, so it can't be. Mmm...still processing.

Thorne understands Forge's power better than any writer I've seen (yup that includes Claremont), and I appreciate that he mentions his need for materials to build anything. It should be obvious, but most writers have him make things out of thin air. There's only so much he can fit in that utility belt.

So many people, so many things! Poor Marcus To.

Marcus To is still doing excellent though. Do I need to tell you that Forge is hot? I think I've been clear on that already, but let me reiterate: FORGE IS HOT.

"Slippery as ice": oh, that made me hap-py. Such an evocative, accurate way of describing Sage.

No, Forge's power doesn't let him see what will happen. But you know whose power can see every eventuality? Sage's. This was highlighted in the very first issue, and Forge repeats the exact same words from this moment in this issue. THERE'S SOMETHING TO THAT.

I continue to dig the dynamic between Forge and Sage, curses and all. The little cerebral push and pull they have going on is very interesting.

Also continue to adore Tessa herself. The way she challenges Forge at every opportunity, the way she always asks the right questions *chef's kiss*. Everyone obviously wants to murder Forge on that last page, but I love that she's the one who tells him to go fuck himself, even though she's been the person closest to him on the team. She's my girl. I'm this close to opening a side blog entirely devoted to her awesomeness. (I see what Geoff Thorne means when he says she tries to steal the show. She does!)

OK, so, there's no way Forge has a team anymore at this point, so I assume the next issue will be a downtime one. I imagine he'll go home, have an existential crisis featuring his two exes (as you do) and then get back on the road. Or something? Also, the next issue has a Sage variant cover, which could imply she plays an important part in it. One can only hope. If it's the issue of Forge getting his ass kicked by awesome women, she should take part.

[thequiver]

Who is...Sam Guthrie | Cannonball? - A Reading Guide

Sam Guthrie is an X-Men and Avengers affiliated mutant from Marvel Comics. Sam is the oldest of the nine Guthrie children and is the definition of parentification having dropped out of high school to work in the coal mines that killed his father (in either a mine accident or through black lung depending on your preferred retcon). Sam's powers would manifest during a mining accident and allowed him to blast through the rock to safety. Sam would then join the team he's most associated with, the New Mutants. Sam's story is one of overcoming adversities, determination, and of healing. Some of Sam's earlier stories show him being groomed by Lila Cheney and the adults in charge of his safety enabling her.

Sam is also excellent Appalachian representation and is one of the first Appalachian main characters to not be ashamed of being Appalachian while simultaneously not being based on hillbilly humor.

You'll find a reading list under the cut! The list will need to be posted in multiple parts due to length, subsequent parts will be added as reblogs.

Part 1 below!

Introduction and New Mutants Era

Sam's first team immediately after introduction was the original New Mutants (1983). Throughout this period Sam develops the close bonds he's known for, particularly with teammates Roberto Da Costa (Sunspot), Dani Moonstar (Mirage), and Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane). New Mutants was written by Chris Claremont and while wonderful, drops the ball in many places, one of which being the way that Sam's dialect is written and the sort of general understanding of Appalachia, as well as a refusal to acknowledge that Sam's relationship with Lila Cheney was based upon grooming. The issue that introduces Lila to Sam's story will have a red asterisk and a trigger warning next to it.

Marvel Graphic Novel (1981) #4 New Mutants (1983) #1-12 Marvel Team-Up (1972) # Annual 6 New Mutants (1983) #13-21 Rom (1982) #Annual 3 New Mutants (1983) # Annual 1 * (TW: Grooming) New Mutants (1983) #23-25 Marvel Team-Up (1972) #149 New Mutants (1983) #29 (Lila is in this issue) New Mutants (1983) #30-34 New Mutants Special Edition (1985) #1 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #201 (definitely not a necessary issue, but it's one that highlights that Sam IS smart, he's just really bad at technology) New Mutants (1983) #37 Firestar (1986) #2 New Mutants (1983) #38-40, 42-44, Annual 2, 45-51, Annual 3, 52 Fallen Angels (1987) #1 (this issue is a good look into Sam and Berto's relationship) New Mutants (1983) #53-66 Spellbound (1988) #4 (Lila's in this issue and you can see the way she almost treats Sam like an accessory) New Mutants (1983) #Annual 4A-B, 67-76, Annual 5A, 77-92, Annual 6A Wolverine: Rahne of Terra (not incredibly Sam focused and it's a bit..different, but what there is of Sam I like) New Mutants (1983) #93-100, Annual 7A

X-Force, X-Men, and X-Force Again

After the end of New Mutants, under the direction of Cable, Sam helped found the team, X-Force, and would be appointed Cable's second-in-command. While in New Mutants we got to see a Sam Guthrie who was coming into his powers, X-Force really gives us a glimpse of a Sam Guthrie who is starting to really apply those powers and who is starting to highlight why the character has come to be known as a powerhouse. During this period we see Sam go from a member of X-Force, to becoming a fully fledged X-Men, and then see him re-join X-Force until the team is disbanded. The change from X-Force to X-Men to X-Force are not represented in different sections as there is still overlap in Sam's character interactions and throughout his period on the X-Men, his former X-Force affiliation is an important factor that helps inform his choices and his outlook on situations, although I have tried to signify the changes with breaks in the text block.

New Warriors (1990) # Annual 1A Uncanny X-Men (1981) #Annual 15A X-Factor (1986) #Annual 6A X-Force (1991) #1-3 Spider-Man (1990) #16 X-Force (1991) #4-5 X-Factor (1986) #77 X-Force (1991) #Annual 1C, 6-15 X-Cutioner's Song Event (this links you to a reading list I made for the event) X-Men (1991) #17 New Warriors (1990) #31 X-Force (1991) #19-26, Annual 2, 27-29, 32-33 New Warriors (1990) #46 X-Force (1991) #34-37 Cable (1993) #15 X-Factor (1986) #106 X-Force (1991) #38 Excalibur (1988) #82 X-Force (1991) #39-45 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #323-325 Wolverine (1988) #93

Uncanny X-Men '95 (1995) #1 X-Men: Clan Destine (1996) #1 Wolverine (1998) #96 X-Force (1991) #48 X-Force and Cable '95 (1995) #1 X-Men vs. The Brood (1996) #1-2 X-Force (1991) #51 X-Men (1991) #48 Wolverine (1988) #99-100 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #332 Wolverine (1988) #101 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #334 X-Men (1991) #54 Onslaught: X-Men (1996) #1 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #335 Cable (1993) #36 Beast (1997) #1-3 X-Men (1991) #59 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #340 X-Men (1991) #60 Wolverine (1988) #111 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #341-342, Annual '97 The Incredible Hulk (1962) #455 X-Men (1991) #62-66 Wolverine (1988) #115-118 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #350 X-Men (1991) #70 New Mutants: Truth or Death (1997) #1-3 X-Men (1991) #71-72, 75-76 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #355 Alpha Flight (1997) #9 X-Men (1991) #77-78 Uncanny X-Men/Fantastic Four Annual '98 (1998) #1 X-Men (1991) #79

X-Force (1991) #83-84 X-Force/Champions Annual '98 (1998) #1 X-Force (1991) #85-93 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #375 (Sam's only in the beginning of this one) X-Force (1991) # Annual '99, 94-98 Cable (1993) #73-75 X-Force (1991) #99-117

Part 2 to follow soon as I've hit the link limit!

[spottheantisemitism]

Magneto and Holocaust Inversion (Many Such Cases)

Case #1: He who fights monsters ( UXM #150 I, Magneto - Chris Claremont)

So this was my first X-men comic I got at a con at a discount so THIS was my introduction to Magneto. I love this comic to bits. It's a great scene

While this sudden breakdown is quite good there's the pieta symbolism between two jews and there's the distinct implication of "I'm no better than the Nazis" in his breakdown (you are allowed to fight me on this as not counting as holocaust inversion)

to pivot Magneto this much Claremont pretty much had to do something akin to holocaust inversion because Lee and Kirby wrote him as a fascist coded character and Claremont couldn't not have Jewish (and Romani?*) holocaust survivor who was likely sonderkommando not realize the irony of his actions.

Also we get more Magneto backstory and depth in ONE PAGE than any comic before and most comics since

Case #2: No equals (Magneto Rex episode 3- Joe Pruitt)

Listen the Genosha metaphor was clumsy when Claremont wrote it but the hands of Joe Pruitt, it sounds like a Soviet psyop about the evil colonizer Jews who like apartheid.

While Pietro is one of the few people who get to say the "you're making us look bad" line and it landing in and out of universe the way it's presented is the most simplistic argument possible

The implication of "he's gone full circle and become the oppressor" is clear and this time painfully intentional. The fact that these people are imprisoned for having legacy virus- the x-men equivalent of aids just makes it all worse

Case #3: A mad old terrorist twat (New X-men: Planet X -Grant Morrison)

^ tw for misgendering Grant Morrison who used he/him at the time of publication but use they/them now.

Many people have pointed out that part of what stings when Morrison separates McKellen from the "schizoid-conflicted" Hitler reborn terrorist twat Magneto is the former is a gentile and therefore more deserving of their respect. The implications that Magneto is like that because his ideas are dumb and out-dated mirrors the way antisemites claim that Jews are gentiles over "their made up fairy tales".

I don't think Morrison is so much an antisemite as the kind of fanenby hypocritical chud who loves the silver age (bad era to fandomize and idolize, Grant) exactly as it was. They love when THEY get to make Beast or Ice man gay but hate when a Jewish writer makes a wannabe dictator a Jewish holocaust survivor. We get it Grant, rules for thee but not for Jews. No, no they'll rewrite the character as literally Hitler to show that only Morrison gets to re-write X-men comics, antisemitic implications be damned.

Well you made one thing clear, Grant sweaty, you hate retcons and the art of Jewish writers whose politics and visions you dislike.

screenshot source:

Case #4: when your boyfriend invokes Godwin's law (House of M: Civil war #3)

I feel like Charles only gets away with this because they're such close friends (who canonically share a room) and he's been through a lot in this issue.

To be fair "you twisting semantics won't save people from fanatics who want genocide" is the BEST comeback to holocaust inversion I've seen in an X-men comic

the framing here is both of them are wrong and Magnus (that's one of Magneto's human names) is clearly in the right about this. The humans may think he's Mutant Hitler but that's because they're projecting

(sorry for making you read sideways and making you read something I took a picture of IRL)

Case #5: The oppressed becomes the oppressor (X-men 97 episode 2)

Magneto's speech in X-97 has been said as a watered down version of his speech in Uncanny X-Men 200

What is pointed out many times is the line where he claims "his own people joined the nazis to betray him". Never expanded upon, never brought up again. There are no other Jewish character in 97, no foils. It feels almost gross and tokenistic, like Marvel wanted Magneto be the good token self-hating Jews. Since at that was the only acceptable type of Jew in early 2024.

I do hope to see a course correction seasons 2 and 3 as something as simple as showing a flashback of his past or just showing a character like Kitty would go a long way to dispel the accidental implication that Magneto thinks all other Jews are evil

*While Magneto's children Wanda and Pietro are explicitly Jewish-Romani everywhere BUT the MCU in some universes like House of M, so is he. These intermarriages happened in Weimar Germany all the time so these universes are quite plausible

[magnetothemagnificent]

Greetings!

I have seen some darker interpretations on Max and Magda's marriage had magda survived, with stating Max's PTSD would have eventually turned into controlling issues. Or erik would have hated magda later since she took his kids away. Idk but Claremont didn't wrote them like that, but would love your thoughts on this

Ooooh BOY do I have thoughts.

1. I don't think Max's PTSD would turn into controlling issues. I think people who think that are forgetting that Magda was just as traumatized as Max was. Magda went through the Holocaust just as much as Max did. Her entire family was murdered just like Max's was. She was tortured and starved and beaten just like Max was. In 'Magneto: Testament' we see that she had to hide in a pile of corpses to get smuggled out of the women's camp. She had to hide amongst the Sonderkommando with Max and helped blow up the crematorium and then escaped with Max. They were both traumatized. And they were both kids. Max was a Jew and Magda was Romani- they both faced the absolute horrors and depravity of humanity. People who think Max's PTSD would have gotten in the way of their relationship I feel are minimizing Magda's trauma.

And before Anya's death, Max and Magda were happy. They were both just kids when they lost their entire world and they were young adults trying to make a life for themselves. They had a daughter, they were doing as best as they could be doing. They were healing. I think if they had stayed together after Anya's death, it definitely would have put a strain on their relationship, but I think that once Pietro and Wanda would have been born they would have tried to rebuild. Max's controlling issues really came after the additional traumas he faced after leaving Europe alone. He wouldn't have faced those if Anya hadn't been killed and Magda hadn't left. I think if he and Magda stayed together, they would have eventually immigrated to the US or Israel and raised their family together. There definitely would be hiccups, especially as Max's powers developed and once Pietro and Wanda's powers do, too, but I think Max and Magda were good for each other.

2. I don't think for a single second that Erik would ever hate Magda. He's always blamed himself for Magda leaving, for being unable to save Anya. He's never blamed her for being scared. He's been heartbroken, but he's never hated her. I think it's actually something so poignant about his character. We see him brooding about Magda, but it's always sadness about what was lost and what could have been, never hatred. Erik loved Magda. Was it unfair of Magda not to tell Erik about his kids? Yes. But. Also. This was a time before cellphones and easy communication. Max had already left Europe and taken on a new alias. And Magda wanted to protect her unborn kids from sharing Anya's fate. She saw how the people in Vinnytsia treated Max just for being different.

And then she abandoned them after they were born and never came back. Circling back to the fact that Magda was just as traumatized as Max and also had PTSD. Seeing Max be surrounded by a bloodthirsty mob and seeing Anya burn to death triggered her PTSD as much as it did Max's. Erik has never hated her and I don't think he ever would. If anyone would understand Magda's pain and confusion, it would be Max.

TLDR: No I don't think either of those scenarios are likely and I think they're a misunderstanding of their characters and their marriage.

[kalinara]

Hello! New to the X-men fandom, drawn here by Scott Summers (I love your blog so much!) Two questions, if you don't mind:

1. What would you consider essential reads for Scott specifically? There are so many starting points it seems.

2. I did finish Whedon's run of Astonishing X-Men (at the recommendation of reddit) and was wondering if Scott (now?) doesn't need his ruby quartz glasses/visor? Sorry if that's a run-specific question!

Hello!

The first question is surprisingly difficult, only because Scott's such a staple throughout the entirety of the X-Men. So let me kind of give you a run down of your options.

--

The 60s comics are really fun, if you want to see where things began. It is very 60s though, and the style may not be to your taste. There's also some period sexism that's not great (though surprisingly less than I expected. Possibly because Jean's meant to be a fairly liberated teen, as opposed to older ladies like Sue Storm or Janet Van Dyne.)

The Claremont Era (Starting with Giant-Sized X-Men, which introduces staples like Storm and Wolverine) is probably what will be the most familiar to folks who became used to the X-Men from other sources, like the cartoons. The Animated Series and X-Men '97 adapt a lot of Claremont era stuff, so it'll be pretty familiar.

It's also soapy and dramatic, and Scott (and Jean) feature very heavily. You'll also meet Rachel. Rachel is fun.

X-Factor's first run is something I'd recommend only after you've gotten into the character more. It's actually really good, IMO, and an amazing deconstruction of how much of a trainwreck the poor guy actually is. It's not always a flattering portrayal though, which is part of what makes it interesting. (It is good though to read the Madelyne stuff for yourself eventually, summaries tend to ignore the aspects that make Scott's side of things a bit more understandable, if not sympathetic.) Baby Cable is here too.

The 90s X-Comics are pretty fun too, like the earlier Claremont era, this is likely what folk are familiar with if they remember the cartoons. Costumes, characters, and so on. Scott is one of a very large cast, but he tends to have some really good arcs here and there. The art takes getting used to it. This is where you'll start seeing adult Cable as a major character. And another AU Summers child, Nate Grey. He's complicated.

the 2000s-2011 era of Comics have a lot of upheaval and events. Scott is still an idealist, but he's been jaded by a lot of events (and will be jaded by more). You'll see him get darker here, but not evil. It's pretty sad though. SO MANY big events though, Scott pulls off a lot of wild shit.

In 2011-2016, we have two Scotts basically. Avengers vs. X-Men is a massively huge event that changes Scott's role for a long time. For our main Scott, the next few years are going to read a lot like whump fic. He's going to suffer, people are going to blame him (unfairly, imo!) for a lot of things, and he'll be treated like a monster at times. That said, there are people who do see the truth and end up even joining him.

But also around this time, through shenanigans (read: Hank McCoy), the timeline is disrupted and the 1960s era Original Five (specifically circa issue #8) are brought to the future. They have their own adventures in lines like All-New X-Men (v1. and v2.), X-Men Blue, and Scott specifically has a solo series early on and then joins up with Kamala Khan's Champions and it's darling.

Eventually older Scott "dies" (it happens in comics). Young Scott continues though. When Young Scott goes to the past again, older Scott comes back (unrelated reasons).

For 2019-2020, there's a short run by Matthew Rosenberg, starting at issue 11 or so. The original team of X-Men is presumed dead (really they're dealing with some multiversal nonsense. Possibly Nate Grey's fault), and a returned Scott starts gathering new X-Men. It's intense, angsty and kind of bleak. This isn't about saving the world anymore, just maybe going out doing what they should.

From 2020-2023, we get a massive, amazing change in direction called the Krakoa arc. Scott's not featured as prominently here (It's Xavier's show), but he's solid in any series that he appears (Adjectiveless X-Men will always have him somewhere. He's very prominent in Teen Cable's book too.) Krakoa is something very different than anything the X-Men series(es) have done before and it's definitely worth reading. Though for my own taste, I like the return to form that comes with...

Our current era is "From the Ashes" and it's not actually a bad place to jump on. Everyone's a little scattered and out of sorts since the fall of Krakoa, but Scott, being who he is, has already pulled his own book together for the kind of mutant-rescuing heroics that he is wont to do.

As to where to start? Honestly, I'd go with whatever seems the most fun to you. Eventually, I think, you'll find yourself branching out and it won't be nearly so confusing. (There are also wikis, podcasts, and annoying pedants like me who like explaining everything.). Fans will often have their favorite special books (Children of the Atom, for example, is probably my favorite version of the O5 origin. It came out in 2001 and has a truly horrifying Jack Winters), and we'll always leap on the opportunity to share those things.

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as for 2. I don't know if you read the Giant-Sized finale of Astonishing X-Men, but they do have a scene where Scott's eyes start glowing again and Emma places the visor on him. It's a nice, quietly somber scene.

In current X-continuity, Scott does still need the visor. The inability to control his blasts may have a psychological component but there's also physical brain damage. (In the Krakoa arc, there are mechanisms where he might have repaired said damage, but it actually does come up at some point, and he specifically chooses not to. I hope I can find that page again, because I feel like there's a lot of interesting potential meta in that choice.)

I don't think they ever really revisit why Emma (or Cassandra, possibly) had been able to neutralize Scott's blasts/restore temporary control over them, but I tend to go with the interpretation that a powerful enough telepath could force a bypass with his powers, but it's an incredibly traumatic, potentially damaging, and ultimately temporary solution. Hence, what we see.

For her part, Jean Grey (at least in the modern era) is able to psychically block his powers. And that's always fun. (And sometimes a little kinky!)

[amageish]

I was clearing out my phone photo album for the new year and realized I have way too many screenshots of queer Dani stuff, so let's talk about it.

Danielle Moonstar and Rahne Sinclair are a duo who stand out to me, even among all the many "this is clearly meant to be gay" characters and pairings that populate the X-Men, because of how explicit it is? They are not the only Claremont women to call each other their "soul mate" or "soul-mate," but they are the ones still doing it into the modern day.

They have a psychic rapport with each other which is constantly used to advance the plot. The fact they specifically can find each other is important to their stories... Here, you can even see Warlock pondering the nature of their relationship, though whether he is speculating on them being gay "I know what you are"-style or still learning about the concept of love in general is up to interpretation.

They smooch! They hug! They cuddle!

They go on date-like activities together! Dani won her a teddy bear!

I feel like you could have them be a queerplatonic thing and/or a romantic gay gay homosexual gay thing - either works - but it feels kind of silly to me that we've hit 2024 and these two are still not officially life partners in some form...

... though I do feel like there's a third person worth mentioning here too.

When Kate Pryde ran out on Xuân Cao Mạnh, doing her signature move of "abandoning a Sapphic relationship right when it gets serious," Danielle Moonstar was the one who showed up to replace her... Literally. Xuân Cao Mạnh was getting her college diploma and Dani literally showed up to take her seat at her graduation.

Dani brings Xuân back to Xaiver's Academy, with her becoming one of the main teachers at the academy for that era. Rahne, at this point, was busy going through a "What if this Good Christian Girl... went BAD?!?!?" phase and the less spoken about that the better, but Xuân and Dani got to be the main duo for a bit.

Xuân was already an out lesbian by now, so there's a weird subplot where Dani meets a lesbian barista and tries to set Xuân up with her in a "I know two lesbians, therefore they should kiss" way.

It's weird, but feels relatively realistic as something for a closeted queer girl to do to her openly-gay BFF in the early 2000s... also the fact that Dani claims to be straight to Prodigy, bisexual icon who knows everyone's sexuality because of his superpowers, is very funny to me.

Xuân and Rahne don't really have much going on between each other specifically, but you can take this panel from the first issue of New Mutants out-of-context and make it look like they do... Like, this is gay werewolf culture in a way, right?

It also probably merits mentioning that, in the modern era again now, the Infinity Comic Karma in Love had a fake-out where Xuân thought that Dani was hooking up with her girlfriend, Ellie Diwa AKA Galura...

And in the latest New Mutant series, Karma, Galura, Dani, and Rahne are the leaders and have big dad energy... all four of them are the dads. I stand by this characterization.

ANYWAY. Point being. Dani and Rahne should be able to kiss on-panel on the lips by now and maybe Xuân and Elle can join from time to time too... They're cute. They're fun. They were explicitly gay in the movie. This one feels really overdue.

[ffverr]

hello I come to you with a request. I watched x men 97 recently and was saddened by how little time the whole magneto in charge of the x men storyline got and I know he does this longer in the comics (I can't say why but the phrase "its seven in the morning max..." lives rent free in my brain) so I wanted to ask if you have any recommendation for comics from that era / any recommendations for comics with mister magnet-os because I want to get into x men comics but comics as always are so daunting

It is my great pleasure to answer this!!

Disclaimer 1, I am still going through a lot of the issues of this era but I will try my best to make it as clear a guide as I can for you!

Disclaimer 2, Headmaster of the school and leader of the X-Men are quite different positions that they kind of fused together in the 97 show so I do want to make it clear that magneto in the "seven in the morning" era is headmaster of the school, teaching young kids, while Storm is leading the X-men team and Scott is leading the X-factor team, so with that said:

Magneto's teacher arc starts in uncanny X-Men issues 199 and 200 (iconic issues containing the trial of magneto that was adapted in the show!) And then he is headmaster of the school in the book "The new mutants" by Chris Clermont, from issue 35 to issue 75. It is A LOT I admit and he gets a more minor place considering the book is about the kickass young class of new mutants that he's teaching. But it is worth checking out! Many consider this to kind of be peak magneto because.... he's trying so hard to be a good teacher and to handle all these kids and it's very humanizing for him!

I mean look at him and his 8 kids!

Now, how to get into Magneto overall? Let's get into it:

I believe it is impossible to get into Magneto without reading his ultimate origin story, Magneto: Testament by Greg Pack. It is a quick intro, it barely features his powers (not an action comic) and it is a very very emotional read. I consider it essential magneto reading!

Next up: Two One shots if you want to get a quick primer on the character pre moral arc instead of sitting through his few appearances in the Stan Lee comics:

A classic one: X-Men: God Loves, Men Kills by Chris Claremont. It is an iconic comic book one shot that can be read out of continuity just to see what his deal is when he's not necessarily on the side of the X-Men but fighting for his own ideals! It's overall a brilliant comic book!

If you want a more recent retelling of the first appearances of magneto you HAVE to read X-Men Mythos that retells magneto's major first appearance in the 60s in quite a beautiful and amazing way! It also has an absolutely insane magneto scene that is very memorable! (So this would "chronologically" come before God loves men Kills)

Now for his switch from cartoon villain of the 60s/early 70s to complex guy in the 80s, read the issues 149 and 150 from the run Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont. This is THE pivotal moment for "good guy" Magneto

(know that after issue 150, somehow he falls in the ocean from asteroid M, is rescued from a shark attack by Scott's girlfriend Lee Forester. They have a quick relationship where he struggled with his change of morals then he comes to the new mutants)

if you want to continue chronologically you read the issues 199 and 200 that I recommended at the start then go to the new mutants book I talked about earlier!

If you want MORE MODERN comics, then I advise you get right into what's happening at the moment!

House of X powers of X are two series that intertwine (you'll easily find them in the right order) by the same writer, Jonathan hickman!

It serves as a status quo change/relaunch of the X-Men universe. Magneto plays a big part of the story as he is directly involved in building a mutant nation. I'd say it's a bold but quite functional intro to X-Men comics!

Then he appears as a major character in the GREAT series X-Men Red by Al Ewing alongside Storm, a character that meant a lot to him in the 80s, so it's really nice to see again.

In this he is- epic, depressed, suicidal, sassy, it's great magneto stuff! This series is widely regarded as the best X-Men comic out right now!

(if you want context for this book read the event X of Swords, or I could explain if interested)

That's about all I will lay on you ! If this is hella confusing, don't hesitate to dm me! I can detail more cleanly exactly what you have to read and when!

Good reading!

[spaceorphan18]

The Rogue and Gambit Project: The Basketball Game (X-Men #4)

Alright! Here we are! That pivotal moment we've all been waiting for! The introduction of Omega Red.... Wait, no, that's not why you guys are here? You don't want me to dissect another Wolverine story that digs into the seemingly never ending well of his past? You aren't really interested in the creepy twins that make up Fenris? And you don't really care all that much about what's going on with Moira?

I mean, fine, if you'd rather I get into all the other boring stuff going on in the issue... ;)

Today we're going to test the limits of how much of an issue Marvel will let me repost without getting in some kind of trouble....

X-Men #4 Ladies and Gentlemen....

I believe I said this previously, but one of the best parts of X-Men comics is really the soap opera shenanigans that go on in-between all the big villains. The inner personal relationships that happen among the X-Men are really the best, and often the most delicious part of the comics. I honestly think fans would be entirely happy if we got full issues of them just playing basketball, or baseball, or hanging out at Harry's Hideaway, or getting therapy.... Because these personalities are so much fun and play off each other so well that sometimes they are far better than the endless 'save the world' story lines we often get because - apparently - all published fiction needs a plot to hang on.

But I digress. It's a post-Claremont world now, and all bets are off. It's kind of interesting that - despite Gambit and Storm's initial friendship, the two X-Men Gambit has been spending the most time with lately are Wolverine and Jubilee. There's no surprise, really, that Wolverine and Gambit have an antagonistic relationship. Jubilee, however, due to her relationship with Wolverine, has been somewhat of a sass master towards Gambit as well. Except now we have Jubilee on the same team as Gambit, which, turns the dynamic a little on its head. And it's a delight.

And then we throw Rogue into the mix. How did this game even get started anyway? My guess - Jubilee wanted to play and taunting and teasing of some sort got the four of them paired off as they are. I kind of love that not only is Gambit goading Wolverine about relaxing, but Jubilee is, too.

Remember when I said Gambit spends most of his non-uniform time half naked? Continuity! ;)

Wolverine is not the only one who needs to relax. Rogue is wound tight - and I really doubt it's about wanting to adhere to a non-powered game of basketball.

All that skin and sweat? The girl's got some pent up needs that haven't been met during the entire previous decade. Probably time to rectify that.

I love Jubilee's commentary, she is so obnoxiously sassy, and I love it. Also, I kind of love that they are taking the time to set up Gambit's athletic skill.

Btw, I love the kind of smirk he gives Rogue as he easily tosses the ball over her head. He's having fun. Is she having fun? Hard to say - mostly she just wants to win. And Gambit is most definitely getting under her skin. The hilarity coming from Jubilee isn't helping.

Is this a good time to bring up the whole -- he's playing games and messing around with her and she takes things seriously part of their whole story? Is this entire game just a metaphor for the early part of their relationship?

I mean - you can read into it as deeply as you like! I have a feeling the writers didn't think think that hard about it - and this is merely just a way to show off all of their skills. But it definitely can be interpreted that way. I mean, what are we even doing here if we can't extrapolate intended and non-intended things from the text?

Of course, this is an X-Men story, so we can't go too long without the usage of powers. Everything is going to get thrown up a notch. Is Gambit using his powers of agility? Well, idk how he couldn't be using them since it's a natural thing.

But man, does Rogue hate losing or what? The escalation of this whole thing goes from 0 to 100 like that.

Jubilee lowering her glasses kills me every time.

I do think Gambit was just taking it easy and playing around at the beginning of this. I think he liked getting Jubilee on his side and cheering him on. He liked driving Wolverine crazy. And more than anything, getting under Rogue's skin is a challenge he really seems to take pleasure in.

But Rogue did take it up a notch, so Gambit does what he always does - and ups the ante.

It's interesting - I think if we hadn't had the little bit of flirting in X-Men #3, this whole thing may read a little differently (up until this point). But I think we're at the point where it's clear that they physical one-upmanship is masking the sexual tension.

I mean, their screwing around literally blows a hole through the mansion wall. Idk why, but this always has me dying, too. There's some very serious stuff going on with Moira - meanwhile Rogue and Gambit are at the playground throwing dirt at each other because they like each other.

No, but here's one of the things I like about them. It was all fun and games, and then Rogue did throw the first punch. And then Gambit pushed back. There's going to be a lot of shifts in power dynamics as we go through this, but the thing is, they don't really back down from each other. For better or for worse.

Ah, the infamous panel!

You saw how angry Rogue was just a second before, and then Gambit scoops her up in his arms and starts spouting all this romantic stuff she's longed to hear and for a moment, she's just kind of gone.

Btw, I love the details of this panel. The mansion is in ruins. Cyclops is like, uh, dude, you may want to throw some cold water on yourself. Jubilee, child that she still is, is like - ew bleck, they're gonna kiss now.

I love it!

I love that Gambit does not care that there is an audience (in fact - he may thrive on it), he's getting under Rogue's skin and it's worth all the fooling around. Meanwhile, Rogue maybe not really realize it yet - but she's getting someone who is not running the other direction due to her powers.

Plus, look, they're both just attracted to each other. And sometimes that fact is just fact.

I realize the above panel is the more famous one, but these ones. Man, they get me every time.

The first panel - Rogue just lets herself go with it. The second panel, though. That's a smirk. Rogue is 100% smirking because in that moment she is happy she is in the exact position she's in. And for that half second, she's enjoying it.

Which leads to an interesting thought experiment -- what if Rogue didn't have the powers she has. Would this whole thing end in a real kiss? (The answer is yes - some fucking around would have surely been had!) Would their relationship be as deep and real if they could act on their physical attraction? Would they have developed the good friendship they get over the years if there wasn't that initial barrier there?

Hard to say, but I think the story becomes richer having to work around her powers.

And.... we're back to the status quo as Rogue does have a skin condition that sucks the life out of everyone she touches. It's no longer a game, but the reality she has to face every day.

Also - I do kind of love she knocks him sideways. He does deserve being knocked down a peg every once and a while. Good for his humility.

The basketball game is now over, but I do think this is the real beginning of Gambit trying to win over Rogue's heart -- and yes, I think at first, it's merely for the sake of the challenge of it. I don't think he takes in account that he's going to change his own heart as we go along.

Just for completion's sake -- here's the last little bit of this part of the subplot. I do roll my eyes at the fact that Wolverine always has to come out looking the coolest. But it works for a nice tag to this particular scene.

So.... later...

Now, how did we get from the basketball game to what looks like a date? Especially since when last we saw Rogue was knocking him sideways? SHAMELESS PLUG TIME - I WROTE A FIC ABOUT IT. Or, you know, come up with your own headcanons. ;)

Of course Gambit rides a motorcycle - because this is the 90s, and this is the height of cool, lol.

I love Rogue in this moment. I love that she's owning him here. She knows she looks good. She knows she wants to go out and have a good time. She may even know she wants to have a good time with /him/ but won't think too much about that -- and instead enjoy the possibility of her own happiness first. Having an attractive man at her side is just a bonus. Go get it, girl!

This is why I love X-Men. Because they are such a family dynamic. Everyone is getting into everyone else's business. Jubilee is the younger sister just wanting to hang out with her ridiculous, cool older brother. Wolverine is that watchful, old uncle. Beast is the next door neighbor who doesn't care that he's butting in, he's just there for a good time. I love all of it! And I do love that there is a tad bit of protectiveness for Rogue. Gambit is still new to this dynamic (not that Rogue and Beast have spent any time together, lol).

The point is that they all love each other like family, and I adore that.

I love that Gambit just is not here for that family dynamic. This is almost a sitcommy moment, and it's delicious. I also love that Rogue is completely on board with this whole date aspect. Sure, her friends will be there, too. But she's not opposed to Gambit whisking her away for who knows what. Maybe she'll get that candlelight dinner and champagne and a little lite romance he's promised her.

I love Jubilee pouting! It also makes me wonder if he's already taken Jubilee out for a spin for the fun of it. He would.

So, her line is fascinating because there are different ways you can read it. Skeptical that he could actually out maneuver Beast. Or hopeful that he will. Read it any way you like! But the smile on her face says she won't be unhappy to lose her friends.

And BAM! Hit by the plot!

Stupid plot.

It's funny, because his first thought is to see if she's okay. Of course she is, she's invulnerable and she can take the hit. But I honestly think that in that moment, he is concerned for her. There is a bit of genuine care there -- even if she is quick to dismiss it.

And... as Omega Red inserts himself into our fun loving drama, the issue ends, with Rogue and Gambit tied up (and eventually in chains) which is going to become the norm for them, so get used to it. ;)

Honestly, I love this issue - and it's such a fun way to start their story. And I had forgotten that at least half of the issue is comprised of Rogue and Gambit development.

Shame we have to stop the development to get into the Omega Red arc that will take up the next few issues...