Saying I am worried for Quentin Quire is an understatement.

What do you mean? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

THIS COVER SAID HE DIED 100 AND HE STILL DIED MORE TIMES THAN THAT... LET'S BE FR RIGHT NOW.

JED MACKAY, I AM BEGGING YOU.

How I read this scene exactly:

Moira went from such an interesting character after HOUSE OF X, looking at her from a completely different perspective from what we'd been used to, to going on to be yet another basic mustache-twirling villain who wants to destroy mutant kind.

Someone upload a virus into that woman.

extremely funny that non mutants have fancy hellfire gala outfits this year. they got ate up so bad in their basic supersuits last year when every mutant on the island was in high fashion couture and now they gotta compensate for the shame

Krakoa fic I'm not going to write

Emma Frost has already been congratulated on conquering the planet. That's a thing. It's canon. So it got me to thinking...

First scene: Magneto and Xavier have a tiff over something stupid. Doesn't matter what it is. Just dumb not-boyfriends arguing over some dumbass thing or another.

Then Amora the Enchantress shows up quite suddenly. Because she wants to marry Magneto. Because, you know, he's the best-known of the Krakoan leadership and she has thus decided that *he* has conquered the planet. Magneto is therefore worthy of her time.

Magneto agrees, mostly to piss Xavier off.

Various Marvel characters cameo to react to this announcement. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch both agree that their new stepmom-to-be is "disturbingly hot," which is incredibly awkward.

Blah, blah. There's a lot of Amora demanding attention and Magneto giving it to her in an obvious bid to make Xavier jealous. It's all very obnoxious.

Blah, blah. Wedding planning is a nightmare. Amora announces to Magneto that they should kill Polaris. Because Amora demands to be the only one in green at the wedding. Magneto refuses and insults her. She casually backhands him, which crushes his skull. Because she's an Asgardian goddess with super-strength and he's a Squishy Wizard (warning for TV Tropes link!).

The wedding is off. Amora flounces back to Asgard in a huff. Krakoa enters into discussion about whether or not to bump Magneto to the top of the resurrection list or let him wait a bit as punishment for being obnoxious because it's bad form to jump the line (again).

Uh

What the fuck.

Miora is a fucking robot now? And are they actually gonna have her kill and skin MJ to get into the Hellfire Gala?

HAVE THEY LOST THERE FUCKING MINDS WHAT IS THIS SHIT!?!?!?!?

Actual photo of the editor who made this decision

Seriously though, wtf have they done to Moira?

Me in the beginning: Wow, this Krakoa backdrop is super ominous and will set up for some great storytelling re: compromising ethics for nation building/emotional conflict of resurrection. It's clear they're staging a remarkable conflict between what is "heroic" and what---

Marvel: JK! Everything's fine this way! Yay, Krakoa!

Me: But...the Crucible? And the anti-human stuff? Sinister being evil as f--- and serving on a governing council? How do characters feel when long-dead loved ones or victims or foes are suddenly---

Marvel: NEVERMIND ABOUT THAT! WHOOHOO! THEY HAVE A BAR! WITH FREE DRINKS! Krakoa is great!

Me: ...Okay, well, I guess Krakoa has elevated a number of characters that have been underutilized, like Cypher and Kwann---

Marvel: WE'VE GOT TEN SOLID WEEKS OF TIME TRAVELING WOLVERINE SAVES THE MULTIVERSE!

This is more Marvel’s fault than Hickman’s. If we look at his past works there was always something worth it at the end (FF and Avengers). They want to milk this Krakoa story for all it’s worth. Case in point: Hellfire Gala.

Warpath (James Proudstar) reunites with his brother, Thunderbird (John Proudstar). After many years of being dead, Thunderbird is alive again thanks to Krakoaland’s Resurrection Protocols. 

- New Mutants v4 #24, 2022

This has been so long overdue…

The Yassification of Fabian Cortez, Exhibit A

As much as I disliked the HUGE over-muscled characters of the 90′s (even dudes meant to be “slim” would be considered massive, ripped guys in the real world), I also dislike how some characters have inexplicably lost their muscle mass.  Fabian should not be as skinny little dude.  Sebastian Shaw especially should not be a skinny little dude.   

I can only assume that the Five brought them back missing about 50% of their body to try to humble them.

Ok so I actually have an ESSAY on this. Okay, firstly, I love Schiti’s art and his Fabian design is beautiful. All his character designs have been stunning. And I too hate that every male character in the 90s was drawn as a hulking roidbeast, to the point that characters described as skinny or “pretty boy” like Shin and Fitzroy were ripped. So toning them down in general (like Shinobi’s post-90s appearances in which he’s the sleek bishounen he was clearly always meant to be) is in general a good choice imo. Except with Fabian.  Fabian is a sneaky, conniving little backstabber. And characters like that are typically drawn as physically feeble, either very short/hunched (ex: Grimer Wormtongue from Lord of the Rings) or very skinny (Jafar from Aladdin) The contrast of their “inferior” physiques next to the always-more-muscular hero is one of the shorthand visual indicators of their evil. And on an in-universe it does make sense that someone who isn’t going to be in the field is going to look a lot less like a physical fighter. But, Fabian is a fighter too, and a good one. In his very first appearance, he’s taking on the X-Men using a bigass gun (why don’t more mutants think of that?) and he’s able to physically overpower Psylocke—a literal fucking ninja—in a mere second in order to get a chance to use his power on her. This is a guy for whom it makes sense to have some muscle. More than that, though, what I like about Fabian’s design is it indicates the exact OPPOSITE of what he is. This is perfect for a deceptive character, while also undermining some problematic stereotypes that have long plagued comics. Fabian is large, strong, very tall, handsome, and wearing primary colors. All of these are “hero” traits. Villains certainly can be large and strong, usually “bruiser” types but they’re rarely handsome (though the 90s art is ugly in general, he’s literally described as having “movie star looks” in one of the novels) and traditionally in comics, heroes frequently have a primary color scheme, whereas villains nearly always have one or more secondary colors as their outfit. Look at Mufasa and Scar, or old-school Thor and Loki (hell, modern film Thor and Loki) You can pretty much tell instantly who is the hero and the villain, and I’m not gonna get into it because there’s better essays out there + you probably already know that, but the idea of what a villain vs a hero “looks” like is rooted in some pretty #yikes stuff. About the only telltale sign of Fabian’s evil is his red hair, which is typically a villainous trait for men (redhead women go either way) but it at least avoids the trope of associating darker coloring with villainy (heroes with black hair certainly exist–Batman and Superman come to mind—but it’s always in tandem with a buff physique and manly good looks) And this is cool not just on a visual level for readers, but it makes sense in universe. If Fabian was a small, ugly, weak-looking person wearing all black, how likely would people be to listen to him? He’s a joke now, he fell from grace after Exodus returns and Magneto showed up (aka a natural progression, unlike what happened with Shaw) and his lies were revealed, but when he shows up, he’s a successful cult leader who has amassed a force of 30+ powerful followers, trumping any incarnation of the Brotherhood in numbers and strength. People LISTENED to this guy. They BELIEVED him. When we meet him, he’s become comfortable enough in his role to start being cruel and tyrannical to weaker members and having outbursts in front of the whole team when things don’t go his way, but this is likely because they’re all loyal to him by then. He likely had to be FAR more charismatic and trustworthy-seeming in the recruitment process, and, unfortunately, people are MUCH more likely to trust and respect someone who looks like Classic 90s Fabian than like, say, Toad. It takes more than looks, of course, but they help immensely.  Making him into a slender pretty boy in a world where most men—especially most of the heroes—are still big and buff (even if it’s to a lesser degree) seems to me a more direct way of showing he’s a slick, weaselly coward. And I don’t think it’s some bad evil problematic choice, but it’s not as interesting subversive to me as his original design was. I think it still works, and it is very nice visually, but I strongly prefer the original (especially since I was so not ready for his writing to take the “poor widdle privileged baby is just SAD” direction) Similarly, Shaw’s been drawn huge and ripped af from his intro in 1980 all the way to 2018, it’s just how he looks, and it fits thematically to me that he’s this huge Neanderthal squeezing himself into antique colonial costumes that invariably come off the second he has the chance to fight. It’s funny, but it’s also thematically reflective of the fact that under his veneer of class and foppery, he’s a big brutal beast who can’t wait to show his true self and bash someone’s skull in.  I strongly LOVE the headcanon that their bodies were both modified to keep them in check tho fdjjshjfh

AHHHH!!!

reblogging this because I always love hearing your commentary on this! 💖💖💖

I did also realllly love how they made Fabian like the epitome of what a hero looks like despite that’s he’s the opposite, I love those types of juxtapositions in characters and character design, makes things a lot more interesting!

fabian cortez in swxrd was so funny. he just rolled up to the quiet council like "i think we should be able to murder people" like ok chad

Moving on to less salty discussion: How soon will Krakoa hold elections to fill the vacant positions on the Quiet Council, and how hilarious will Fabian Cortez’s campaign be when he inevitably runs?

Actually, another idea:  Iceman makes a joke on social media about running for a Quiet Council seat, but doesn’t officially sign up.  The joke goes viral, and people keep talking about it.

Bobby: Ha, ha, okay, guys, glad you liked it, but I didn’t really mean it.

The memes continue.  Pyro claims to be Bobby’s campaign manager.  Bobby disavows all association with him.  Pyro continues to post on social media about Bobby’s campaign.  The meme is everywhere.

Bobby: Okay, a jokes a joke, but you all really need to stop now. 

Bobby’s popularity climbs in the polls.  Kate publicly throws her support behind him.

Bobby: (sweating) Seriously guys, I am NOT running for QC.  Don’t listen to anything Pyro says, he just thinks it’s funny to torment me for some reason.

Due to most of the candidates being divisive or generally unlikable mutants, like Fabian, Fenris, Selene, Mastermind, Beast, Quentin Quire (actually a character with great potential, but also an obnoxious little shit), Bobby wins a Quiet Council seat despite not even being on the ballot.  People write his name in. 

Xavier convinces Bobby not to refuse the seat, because it would undermine people’s confidence in the elections.  Bobby is stuck.  This is great storywise, because Bobby actually has something to do and is treated as a serious character as he adjusts to his new position. 

Bobby insists on Pyro serving as his “assistant” as revenge for boosting the social media campaign.  Also maybe they bang.

LETS GO DOUG

I’m genuinely so glad I’m not alone on this because I seriously thought HOXPOX and the Krakoa thing was an AU like age of apocalypse or something then it just… kept going and didn’t show a sign of being an au so I was like uhhh ok guess this is actually happening.

Same here tho I still do think of this era overall compared to other eras as more of an unconfirmed AU because of all the continuity bs that’s even more than the average level of confusing rn. As is X Men though… basically one huge continuity mess ig