Previously On X-Men: The Hunt For Xavier Marches On

Welcome to Previously On X-Men, a new regular column which takes a collective look at a given week’s X-books — highlighting the good, the bad, and the interesting in each issue! This week, we look at X-Men #13 and X-Factor #8 as “X-Manhunt” continues, as well as a post-metamorphosis Jean Grey’s efforts to save reality from Adani in Phoenix #9 and Akihiro keeps fighting demons in Hellverine #4….

X-Men #13 by Jed MacKay & Netho Diaz

• “X-Manhunt” Part 4 of 7, continuing from Storm #6, in which Professor X turned Storm against the X-Men as part of his (current) mission to execute one last resurrection.
• Kid Omega/Quentin Quire’s time as a student of Xavier’s dates back to Grant Morrison‘s 2000s era New X-Men run, which introduced the character. When Xavier appears in the mindscape on page 8, he is wearing a version of the Frank Quitely-designed uniforms from that era.
• When the issue cuts away briefly to the characters still back in Merle, Alaska, we see that Jennifer Starkey is still in her winged bird-person form she adopted in issue #10.
• Illyana teleports in and grabs Magneto’s helmet, saying “yoinks” — a word first coined by The Simpsons in the episode “Duffless”.
• The image of Quentin crucified on large X is an homage to the cover and contents of Uncanny X-Men #251.

• Whatever technique Netho Diaz, inker Sean Parsons and/or colorist Fer Sifuentes-Sijo are using to give the mindscape sequences a lush, painterly look is very effective. (Ed. Note: According to a post on Diaz’s social media responding to another site’s positive review of the same pages, the effect is a result of Sifuentes-Sijo coloring directly over Diaz’s pencils!)
• Cassandra Nova is Professor Xavier’s evil twin whom he tried to kill while in utero. Quentin encountered her in issue #5. While she has a long history with the Xavier and the X-Men at this point, the image here of her sticking her hand through Xavier’s head seems lifted from the character’s portrayal in the Deadpool & Wolverine film.
• Magneto’s helmet is designed to block telepathy, which is why Xavier’s control over Storm releases once Beast drops it on his head.

For a full review of this issue, check out Tony Thornley‘s review here.

—Austin Gorton

X-Factor #8 by Mark Russell & Bob Quinn

• “X-Manhunt” Part 5 of 7, continuing from X-Men #13.
• In addition to being issue #8 of this volume of the series, Marvel is also touting this as the 300th legacy issue of X-Factor, a count which conveniently skips over the four issue second volume from 2002 (which doesn’t really have anything to do with any other iteration of the series but does have the same title), but includes all the issues of All New X-Factor (which at least features some “usual” X-Factor characters, but is technically a totally different title). In practice, other than the big “#300” on the cover, all this really means is that there’s a three page collage at the end of the issue featuring thumbnails of all 300 covers.

• Even by Greg Land standards, the anatomy on this cover is pretty wonky.
• Angel says that Graymalkin is a federal prison, justifying their involvement in the story; this seems like new information/a contradiction of what’s been shown on page.
• Beast points out that Angel shouldn’t have needed so long to recover from the injuries he sustained in issue #1 given his healing factor; Angel’s healing factor is considered a secondary mutation, and was established during Chuck Austen‘s Uncanny X-Men run (when it was also used to heal other mutants via transfusions of Angel’s blood).
• Presumably, the later reveal that Angel’s Archangel form has been augmented is meant to explain the extended time he took to heal, though given what a … tumultuous relationship Angel has always had with being Archangel, it seems weird that he’d willingly undergo further modifications (it’s also not clear who would have performed them, given they seem outside the purview of a regular hospital).

• It’s a minor thing, but Professor X has lost the vest he was wearing in X-Men #13.
• This is the first we’ve seen of a Krakoan Resurrection Egg since the end of that storyline. It’s not clear how the egg would work without the Five, and if whomever is in there would just be a lifeless husk when it hatches.
• The person who teleports away with Xavier and the egg at the end of the issue is John Wraith, a teleporter with connections to Wolverine’s past (who was played by Will.i.am in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, something everyone needs to know) who is sporting a new look, making his appearance here extra confusing.

— Austin Gorton

Phoenix #9 by Stephanie Phillips & Alessandro Miracolo

• Thankfully, there aren’t any panels or pages in Phoenix #9 which jump out to me as obvious swipes.
• Majeston Zelia is the leader of the Dark Gods, effectively making her Perrikus’ boss.
• Writer Stephanie Phillips does a decent job with making Jean’s dialogue consistent with the character, but somewhat more arch and disconnected as a result of her recent metamorphosis.
• The issue concludes with Adani and Phoenix entering the Nexus of All Realities. As the name implies, it is gateway to all possible alternate realities. There is a nexus in the Florida Everglades that is traditionally guarded by Man-Thing; the M’Kraan Crystal — a significant object from Phoenix’ past — is considered one as well.

— Austin Gorton

Hellverine #4 by Benjamin Percy & Raffaele Ienco

Akihiro continues his hellish “This Is Your Life” journey all across this issue.

• Logan’s wife and Akihiro’s mother was murdered by the Winter Soldier in 1946 to draw Wolverine out and back to Madripoor.
• The Warlord Romulus then cut baby Akihiro- who presumably only survived thanks to an inherited healing factor from his father- out of his dying mother’s belly and raised him with a hatred of his father.
• After defeating the demonic avatar of his mother, Akihiro heads for Genosha, where he died for the first time.
• Genosha was introduced in Uncanny X-Men #235, June 1988, as a fictional stand-in for South African Apartheid. The African island nation has been through multiple incarnations, such as a nation trying to integrate, a mutant homeland, a desolate wasteland. Its most recent incarnation- Gigosha- was introduced in last month’s X-Factor #7.
• Percy reintroduces’ Genosha’s history of racism here, after about 26 years as a more mutant friendly nation or a mutant graveyard. It’s a very dark mirror to current American politics, without being topical.
• Akihiro and his demonic partner discovers demonic evil in the waters of Genosha… where he was drowned by his father while possessed by celestial death seed in Uncanny X-Force #34-35.
• Mephisto’s the devil, and clearly the devil is about to get his due based on the conclusion of this issue.

Percy might be writing the best solo book of the new era, and it’s not even being billed as a “From the Ashes” book. Ienco’s pencils are much more fluid than his work on Darth Vader, making for an incredibly fun, dark story.

–Tony Thornley