Hannah

Wanda Jericho x Art

Okay-

First of all, the “Laura saving lost mutants” in my opinion isn’t a great hook. We have three books with essentially the SAME PREMISE- NYX with Prodigy, Exceptional with Emma and Kitty, and Uncanny with Rogue.

These mutant “kids” on top of it are basically a “by the issue” characters; they disappear the minute the issue is over and basically give readers zero reason to really care.

I don’t know HOW this got approved by editorial (Jim Shooter would have NEVER ALLOWED THIS lol!)- the whole POINT is you want the X-Men books to be varied enough that people will pick up several titles. Laura is the lowest on the totem pole because you don’t even have to worry about the “new characters” being important…of it feeding into another book… (Psylocke’s solo for example, plays into “X-Men”…)

It’s a premise that isn’t particularly original and it’s a book you can essentially drop at any time. While Taylor’s ANW wasn’t tied particularly into ANXM… he was smart about it, because it felt “fresh” enough and different from the other x-titles on the market.

If I was writing this solo- I would instead have focused on the Facility- Tom Taylor ended ANW with Laura avenging victims of the Facility.

Most likely, if there are still underground branches of the facility open (which KYOST hinted there WERE with Predator X…), they would send a “cleaner”. Get rid of anyone who “talked” and Laura (and possibly Gabby and Bellona since she was made by Alchemex, a different company that stole their research!) to eliminate the threat of lost revenue and jail time.

There had to be more individuals funding the Facility besides Sutter and someone funding the other branches- it would be easy to connect that to Graymaulkin Prison and Ellis.

I would make the “cleaner” and another facility CEO the “A Plot”.

The “B Plot” would be introducing other villains, which is what Laura desperately needs!

Honestly I am surprised they haven’t played with “religious villains and themes” more… considering Laura’s dilemma with “do I have a soul” and the battle of technology vs religion.

I’m surprised they haven’t gone the “serial killer” route, especially if they were preying on sex workers.

I would avoid too many guest appearances- while I might bring in villains like “Kingpin” again, since the mini was so lackluster… I would for the most part focus in on developing Laura, who currently feels a little lost as a character.

I wouldn’t touch the “Talon drama” with a ten foot pole- no one wants it. It’s one hundred percent going to blow up in Marvels face, the SAME way the “Clone Saga” did for Spiderman. If they double down on it- a lot of readers will be done.

The site above has a great starting list with books I've been meaning to read, as well as videos and articles.

2S roles vary by Tribe/Nation, as I understand it.

Some fictional book recs with 2S rep:

"Love Beyond Body, Space & Time" A collection of Indigenous sci-fi and urban fantasy short stories focusing on Indigiqueer and 2S characters by various authors.

"Between Earth and Sky" Series by Rebecca Roanhorse An an epic fantasy series inspired by pre-Columbian Americas. It's a great mixture of clashing politics, prophecy, and fantastic characters. There is a large cast with different genders and sexualities, including characters within cultures outside of a binary gender system. (The first novel is Black Sun)

Here's one.

Aanin.

In Ojibwe my native language it's a greeting that usually is just meant to say hi or welcome. But it's older translation means something that's more like "I see your light" or "I see you."

It was a way of recognizing a person while also showing respect for their personhood.

I'm two spirit.

Do you see me? Do you see my light? If I said aanin to you, could you say it back?

Do you want to?

•••

If studies on gender, work/job inequalities, sexuality, hate crimes, assault, population, education levels, or other demographic based statistics include you then you have the privilege of being seen within systemic oppression.

Perhaps you entirely lack systemic power, but at the very least you don't lack visibility. You have the ability to reference objective sources that you can use to prove that not only your oppression exists, but that you exist and deserve to be cared about.

I'm two spirit which makes me part of a demographic that not only is never included in studies or statistics, but that is also left out of even feminist analysis. The exception to that being when the person writing the analysis is intentionally making the point that white supremacy, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and/or racism are all tools of colonialism that must be deconstructed.

Anti-colonial understandings should be the standard of feminist and gender analysis, especially if feminism is to serve all women.

There are so, so many indigenous genders and expressions that are never ever talked about, known, or accepted outside of their own tribes or people.

This is a failing.

The vague expression that "queer ppl have always been here" is a popular slogan and so often indigenous people are used like tools to prove that point, but nobody can name what makes us queer or asks if we even want to be considered queer. Nobody seems to notice the way we are only ever acknowledged to prove the important of someone else.

To know nothing about us, our values, the ways we serve our communities, or our personhood while using us as tools in debates is just another racist way objectifying us without having to actually care about us.

So few people stop to think about the word queer itself, who it describes, or what queer people are being compared to, where those things come from, or perhaps most importantly: why. So few people stop to think about those of us who consider ourselves outside of all that. By that I mean queerness, being straight, the definitions of man and woman, being cis, etc. Those are all labels and ideas that stem from a colonial and oppressive framework of understanding gender, sexuality, societal expectations, and identity.

So it makes sense that this framework never ever includes people like me, someone from a people that colonialism actively targeted from the very beginning.

I say knowing exactly how indigenous kids were forced to conform to these standards in boarding & residential schools.

So it isn't a mistake nor is it a coincidence that people with indigenous genders, sexualities, or identities are never included.

They still don't want us to exist.

I know it seems like I'm asking for acceptance into that framework. So let me be clear that I am absolutely not. I don't want my indigeneity to be absorbed into the same exact framework that has always sought to oppress, suppress, subjugate, and erase my people.

I don't want my oppression to be inclusive of me. What I want is liberation and not just for me but for all indigenous peoples regardless of their gender, sexuality, or identity.

And to have that first we must be recognized, cared about, heard.

We need to be seen.

Nothing like chilling on a desert island with your best friends!