#xtremists

*Age of X-Man Omega spoilers*

So I guess this doesn’t ‘count’ as an AU because it was the life seed and constructs of the X-Men…?

Apparently NONE of the conflicts around the younger vs older generations of X-Men got resolved either, except for Armor kind of realizing how “hard it was” for the X-Men back in 'Disassembled’…?

There’s also NO indication ANY of these plotlines will be picked up….?

For a event that heavily advertised 'the X-Men won’t be the same’- it sure did go back to 'same-y’ plot points like Jean-Scott, extinction plot point, a fake vaccine, ect….

Again- I will say some of the mini’s were GREAT FUN, and if it wasn’t for Disassembled, Uncanny, and the multiple character deaths; I probably would NOT give Marvel boo about doing a filler event.

But sadly this isn’t what happened.

So yeah, overall- 'Age of X-Man’ was extremely rough, at times at the level of 'DC’s 'Heroes in Crisis’, and deserves to be heavily critiqued as a useless filler event that killed off a lot of diverse characters for shock value…

Best of this Week: Avengers #18 (Legacy #718) - Jason Aaron, Ed McGuinness, Mark Morales, Justin Ponsor and Cory Petit

I love the Squadron Supreme.

I loved their original appearances as the Squadron Sinister, the later Squadron Supreme series, the Supreme Power series from Marvel Max, it’s sequel and the 2016 Squadron Supreme series that I felt ended way too early with so many good stories to tell.

I understand that these characters aren’t necessarily the most popular,  but they are still Marvels best DC analogue and the fact that they keep trying to trot them out means that they have some semblance of faith in these guys, especially as antagonists to The Avengers

The book begins with short introductions to the Squadron. Mark Milton is a mild mannered American History Teacher excited about teaching his students about the country he loves so much before rushing off to face the danger brought on by the War of the Realms as Hyperion. Kyle Richmond is a Congressman in Washington DC but when the Frost Giants attack he becomes the cowled hero, Nighthawk. Zarda Shelton is an MMA fighter that wears a necklace given to her by her people on the Utopian Isle that dampens her powers, but won’t need it as she becomes Power Princess. Stanley Stewart is your everyman American with many a blue collar job thanks to his speedy powers as The Blur and Joseph Ledger is an astronaut who found a colored prism that gave him amazing abilities as Doctor Spectrum!

What I loved best about this is that throughout the book here’s this unsettling feeling of American patriotism from each member of the team and it’s not until we see short vignettes about the  Squadron, as they fight and kill invading Frost Giants on American soil, that we get a glimpse into what this team is about.

They seem to have been manufactured by some secret project that Thunderbolt Ross used to run, now manned by a resurrected Phil Coulson. Both Hyperion and Power Princess seem to have had their love for America planted into their minds as well as some small modifications to their personalities. Mark appears to be the golden boy American and Power Princess is just a sexy badass that loves him. Nighthawk is as distrustful of his bosses and Coulson as any Batman analogue should be and that's the way they want him to be, saying he’s best when he’s brooding.

Quite honestly though, I love their characterizations as uber American superheroes, not even venturing into Canada once they run the Frost Giants out of the American Border. It reeks of Making America Great Again as Coulson remarks that it “isn’t their job to keep the world safe, just the best little part of it” to his mysterious and heinous benefactor who I won’t spoil.

This does make me wonder what happened to most of the other versions of the Squadron members that are still in the 616 Universe, however. I know Nighthawk died and Deadly Nightshade wears the costume now, but what happened to trucker Mark Milton, Inhuman Doctor Spectrum and Blur who became a SHIELD agent? I'm sure we'll get answers, but this team still more than satiated my desire for more Squadron Supreme.

Not only is this little side story great, but Ed McGuinness’ art is superb. These are the most imposing Hyperion and Nighthawk have ever been, even back in the days of King Hyperion. Power Princess looks both sexy and threatening as all hell. Blur looks delightfully insane and Doctor Spectrum is a colorful mess of crazy. Facial expressions are devious and full of certainty in regards to the mission and the violence they display against the Frost Giants is absolutely brutal. This Squadron is not afraid to get their hands dirty in the name of freedom and I’m excited for their eventual clash with the Avengers.

---------------------------------------------------

Blob is one of the worst Mutants.

Runner Up: X-Tremists #3 - Leah Williams, Georges Jeanty, Roberto Poggi, Jim Charalampidis and Clayton Cowles

He’s a crass, unfunny, douchebag who most commonly serves as a heavier, dumber and less cool Juggernaut. So, imagine my surprise when this series presents him as a well mannered, well-read man with a sense of gentleness and honor to him. I love Blob this way and it is going to hurt when he inevitably change back.

In X-Man’s world, love is discouraged and any action towards those feelings warrants arrest and memory wiping from the X-Men’s Black Team/Secret Police, Department X. In the last issue Blob revealed that he had feelings towards his co-worker, Psylocke aka Betsy Braddock. This causes him to leave his job briefly until she shows up to his house and explores her own feelings towards him, crawling across his table all sexy like and saying she’d see him tomorrow.

He returns to his job and spends most of the day distracted by the slight gazes he gets from Betsy and the irritation from Moneta, a junior member of Department X. She far too eager to stomp out any retrogrades, a slur for people who express loving feelings, and prove the existence of a Resistance, especially after a call about a wild party some teenagers are throwing.

After a long day he tries to get to bed but is woken up by Betsy knocking on his door. Acting as some sort of date, she asks to read some of his favorite books, mostly books that arouse different feelings, mostly of anxiety and interestingly enough, judgement and philosophy in regards to The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot of which Age of X-Man shares some thematic elements with.

Betsy tells him of her former struggles with her body image and how she enjoyed being in Kwannon’s Asian body because she is beautiful, but not her own. Blob assures her, much in his old crass way that he’d “sell out any member of Department X for a chance to %&%# her forever.” In a way, this is weirdly adorable as they both laugh and genuinely seem to enjoy each others company, especially making fun of Moneta at the end.

The team later investigate the party talked about earlier and fight a bunch of teenagers who refer to them as The X-Tremists. Soon after defeating them and rationalizing that they didn’t actually break any laws, Moneta reveals that she was the one who made the call to get rid of the “dangerous” retrogrades. This, combined with Moneta’s treatment of a pregnant prisoner, draws the ire of Blob who fires her in anger, earning the respect and adoration of Betsy.

Age of X-Man continues to toy with the idea of an imperfect utopia whose ideals are so flawed that even those whose entire duty is to erase memories and quell uprisings are starting to see the cracks in the walls. Though Blob isn't the most central character, this is definitely the most interesting he's been in years and I really hope that he remembers his time here once all returns to the way it was. He hasn't been a good or great villain in a long time, so maybe like Toad, it's finally time for him to switch sides and continue macking on Betsy.

Top New Marvel Comic Releases for the Week of February 27th, 2019.

X-TREMISTS #1 OF 12

KATHRYN IMMONEM (W) / VANESSA DEL REY (A) / DAVE STEWART (C)

THE WAR Part 1

As anti-mutant hysteria rises again, a small group of renegade mutants have decided they are done with it and are ready to fight back and attack first to ensure their survival. Guided by Destiny’s ghost, Mystique leads a pack of ruthless mutants who bring the war to whoever has done Mutants wrong.

Starring Mystique, Wicked, Dragoness, Spiral, X-Stacy, Marrow, Callisto and Destiny

“--And make people pay.”

...but I will give the book credit for knowing how fucked it was and using it to treat these characters with a deep level of empathy. It understands what was taken from them was even harder because queer people have never been allowed to have a safe and firm grasp on what we want.

Also, Bobby Drake gets the short end of the stick all the time. TD!Bobby got shoved back in time and mind-whipped and thus essentially back in the closet and then grown up Bobby had his identity psychically erased and was forced onto a team of relationship police.