X-Men Blue #23 SPOILERS Summary

[Soulsword323]

IDK Soulsword, on Polaris/Malice, so far it's a wait & see... and the jury's still out, for me.

It was just speculation on my part, but the way this arc started for Lorna, as I said, I wouldn't too shocked if it's more about other people then Lorna. We'll see.

[jmc247]

As a Polaris fan, this was disappointing. Once again a writer devolves Lorna's character to nothing more than the doting girlfriend. That's the only reason why she's ever there. She doesn't get to have a larger agenda, just wants to fix her former man, because she hurts too much. I know that Polaris and Havok were close, and that Bunn can't just ignore that, but the way he portrays it is problematic. All this does is fuel my ever raging hatred for anything that involved "Just call me, Alex." and Lorna. Then to top it all off we have more of the mind controlled Lorna troupe. I had thought that Polaris might have freed herself from this, but with seeing Xorn in that Jimmy and Bloodstorm scene, I wouldn't be shocked if he joins them in fighting Malice, and ends up being the one to free her.

It was hard to stomach a lot of this, especially the whole being worried about Alex because of Lorna's time as Malice. Sure. The man who gave up on Lorna while she was possessed as Malice, and decided it was a better idea to nail his brother's ex-wife, and then realize maybe he loved Maddie more than Lorna.

Agreed completely she was back to being the one dimensional worried girlfriend character. I said before back last Summer I didn't care if Lorna wants to help save Havok and completely understand its in character for her to want to do that and am ok with it. But, and its pretty simple she also shouldn't be simply the girlfriend who wants to save her true love... the only man she ever loved while he had woman after woman (like his brother's exes). The character needs depth and something else she is for.

So far it smells alot like 1980s Lorna and that was her worst decade in the comics by far. Maybe she can break free from this Malice, maybe not in the end I just hope the character is more multifaceted and complex then what was given to us to date going forward in Blue even if Bunn does restore a one sided romantic relationship I loath. I just hope the next few issues can manage to turn things around in this area.

[AbnormallyNormal]

Already posted some thoughts in Polaris thread but

GREAT art

Like Briar's portrayal she is scheming half insane etc, I like that character

Bloodstorm looked really cool in this, her hair seems shorter or more cropped in some panels

Overall I don't think Emma fans have a LOT to whine about she was portrayed clearly as a struggling antihero not a full blown villain

The scenes with Bastion and Havok in a buddy duo fighting Sentinels was weird but I sorta dug it

The end "twist" obviously pisses off anyone who is a fan of Polaris but hopefully it will prove overall beneficial if she is able to free herself eventually and become a deeper character as a result

Oh yeah and it was interesting they made Gazing Nightshade look so similar to Jubilee too lol. Even though you could say she looks similar to Blindfold already

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Maddy was like 30 years ago, and done mostly to whitewash Scott's abandoning Maddy and their son...and what if say by chance Bunn were to write a two sided romance for the pair...not that I expect that to happen but I just wonder how many would like that...

[jmc247]

The end "twist" obviously pisses off anyone who is a fan of Polaris but hopefully it will prove overall beneficial if she is able to free herself eventually and become a deeper character as a result

The twist I can deal with. I can even deal with Havolaris and you know how I feel about that 'relationship'. Lorna having no depth and being generic and in the end mono dimensional is a step above the other two.

[Dante Milton]

Please remind me, why are we not rooting for the cabal? I mean, more mutants = good thing! Right??

Remember when the Inhumans released the T-Mists? Remember how it became toxic to mutants? That's bad. And it's incredibly bad writing to involve Emma in this nonsense.

Ya'll are seriously out here praising Bunn for his inability to write the characters he was hired to write.

[wano]

Please remind me, why are we not rooting for the cabal? I mean, more mutants = good thing! Right??

Who says we aren't rooting for this cabal? Go #TeamFrost

[Knives]

Please remind me, why are we not rooting for the cabal? I mean, more mutants = good thing! Right??

Simple.

1- Mothervine seems to have side effects that can cause the death of some who are exposed.The extent of these side effects are not yet known which makes the drug extremely dangerous and unstable.

2- X-fans and X-mens in general (there are always exceptions) are not in favor of turning people into mutants against their wills unlike BB and some inhumans.

[WhiteQueenEmmaFrost]

Huh. I enjoyed this surprisingly.

Kind of a lot going on with the different factions.

[AbnormallyNormal]

I mean yes it's fairly cockamamie for Emma to even be involved in MOthervine but all you could say is perhaps she has residual guilt/trauma after being there during the Genoshan Holocaust, plus M-Day. Plus AvX. So she is probably very eager to like yknow "promote the species" almost any which way at this point.

[tornshattered]

Remember when the Inhumans released the T-Mists? Remember how it became toxic to mutants? That's bad. And it's incredibly bad writing to involve Emma in this nonsense.

Ya'll are seriously out here praising Bunn for his inability to write the characters he was hired to write.

Simple.

1- Mothervine seems to have side effects that can cause the death of some who are exposed.The extent of these side effects are not yet known which makes the drug extremely dangerous and unstable.

2- X-fans and X-mens in general (there are always exceptions) are not in favor of turning people into mutants against their wills unlike BB and some inhumans.

Yeah, but you get loads of mutants whose power manifestation kills them anyway. Pretty sure with another writer (pre AVX), Magneto AND the X-Men would be out there helping the cabal

Honestly, after the whole terrigen mists thing, it'd be nice for someone other than the mutants to suffer... I feel like I might be coming off crazy here, but c'mon! It was fine for Inhumans to release the cloud, but the Mothervine is somehow worse?? It's not like it's gonna kill of ALL the humans, unlike the cloud almost did.

[jmc247]

I mean yes it's fairly cockamamie for Emma to even be involved in MOthervine but all you could say is perhaps she has residual guilt/trauma after being there during the Genoshan Holocaust, plus M-Day. Plus AvX. So she is probably very eager to like yknow "promote the species" almost any which way at this point.

She at least wants to help the mutant race in some way even if one disagrees with her methods and yes it fits her backstory. I like where Bunn is taking Emma.

[Soulsword323]

Agreed completely she was back to being the one dimensional worried girlfriend character. I said before back last Summer I didn't care if Lorna wants to help save Havok and completely understand its in character for her to want to do that and am ok with it. But, and its pretty simple she also shouldn't be simply the girlfriend who wants to save her true love... the only man she ever loved while he had woman after woman (like his brother's exes). The character needs depth and something else she is for.

So far it smells alot like 1980s Lorna and that was her worst decade in the comics by far. Maybe she can break free from this Malice, maybe not in the end I just hope the character is more multifaceted and complex then what was given to us to date going forward in Blue even if Bunn does restore a one sided romantic relationship I loath. I just hope the next few issues can manage to turn things around in this area.

Exactly. I don't see why people don't see this. I mean, really? Her character is there for Havok. She's just the supporting act to his story.

[MarvelMaster616]

I really enjoyed this issue. Sets a lot of interesting plots up for the next few issues. It even connects with a few others that have been lingering since the first few arcs of the series. We've got Emma, Bastion, Magneto, Briar, and the Hellfire Club coming into the picture. That's a lot of potential to work with and Bunn has shown an uncanny ability to make use of it.

I'm content to let the O5 enjoy their time in space, for however long it lasts. I like that we're getting some activity from Magneto's other side-projects, so to speak. Plus, seeing Polaris back in action is really fitting. After her role in The Gifted, I think the time is right for her to stake her claim in the X-books.

[yogaflame]

Definitely the best issue of the series, but Jimmy and Bloodstorm need more to do. There were on the cover and everything, but barely had a page or two of focused story. I get Bunn just loves Magneto to death, but come on. The Madripoor ninja kids got more paneltime.