Dazzler: X-Song Spoilers, Stand Together

[Heroine Addict]

First, just wanted to say how much I really liked the intro's write-up description:

... 'cause I thought it hit all the right notes. ;D

Immediately after what we saw in the previews, comes the first of what I thought were the two best parts of the book. It's a scene between our girl and... COLOSSUS! And let me tell you, for me, these moments with her & Piotr were EVERYthing - LOVED them! They were warm, touching, and just the right amount of meaningful, ya know? The two of them are talkin' about where things are at, where they're at, and then she asks what's up & why he's there. He mentions here that She-Hulk let the X-Men know Dazz left A-Force, and we see that she still has her departed Thor counterpart's hammer, Lightbringer. He eventually gets around to his motive, which is seeing if she wants to rejoin them at the mansion, now that things are settling down. She declines, saying she's not feelin' it, and they hug & he lets her know they'll always be there for her. It was a really nice sequence, I thought, that allows us to catch-up with Dazz's current status quo, how she got there, and that her Mutant fam hasn't forgotten about her.

NeXt up, it's those 2 Inhumans girls - Nora & Zee - we saw from the previews, gettin' harassed by a gang of goons callin' themselves 'Mutant Action'. Dazz intervenes & kicks their asses, then the girls fill her in on what was goin' down:

After, we enter a flashback of sorts, where Dazz narrates how things progressed from there & escalated. They even showed up at one of her signings, threatening & trying to intimidate her:

Following that, we learn she's talkin' to one of her band mates 'bout all this, as they ride together to a gig. His name is Farley, and after they discuss the likelihood of her returning to a super hero's life, she talks about how the rising anti-Inhuman sentiment within the Mutant community was bound to happen. Inhumans outnumber Mutants now, who are still battling back from the brink of eXtinction, which has understandably led to some desperation out of fear & anger.

Now we're at the venue, and the Mutant Action crew have increased in number, have a power dampener specifically attuned to the Inhuman signature, and are beatin' up again on those 2 girls. Once again, Dazz is on it, and gives their leader a poundin'. She's runnin' low on juice tho, and asks the girls to start singin', to amp her up. It works, and long story short, the bullies are sent runnin' with their tail between their legs.

At the concert, Ali talks about unity & family, while still remaining an individual. Colossus is in the crowd, and they meet up again after the show, for my other favorite bit. He reaches out to her again, and this time she seems to have a change of heart, after everything she's been through recently. She talks about how fighting for a better world again, felt good. He gives her a way to reach them, when & if she decides to. Her response was one of the funniest:

"HOLY JEEZ. YOU GUYS STILL HAVE THESE? THIS ISN'T A SATURDAY MORNING CARTOON, DUDE.

CAN'T WE JUST TEXT? LIKE ON A PHONE?"

He comes back with:

"HEY. SOME OF US STILL PLAY THE CLASSICS."

Once again, LOVED their eXchanges. It ends on the final page with him walkin' away, while Dazz reflects on where she's been, and where she goes from here. Cue Astonishing set-up & segue, in a damn fine way, IMO. Needless to say, I'd enjoyed this MUCH! 8D

[Heroine Addict]

Rich Johnston from BC's thoughts, where I got the piX from:

BleedingCool.com, Mutant Prejudice in X-Men Comics Today… (Spoilers for Dazzler, Astonishing X-Men and X-Men Red)

... Dazzler X-Song by Magdalene Visaggio, Laura Braga and Rachelle Rosenberg, a new tale of the mutant singer/songwriter, was originally intended to be published as one of the Marvel Legacy oneshots, at a time when the internecine mutant and Inhuman battles were still a little more recent, alongside the Inhumans Vs X-Men event and spinoffs. Rather that pitching mutants against an actual human race, it uses the Inhumans/mutants battle to demonstrate prejudice between one targeted group and another.

It’s not an uncommon phenomenon for one targeted group to target another, one that you might have thought that could have found common ground with. Certain groups of feminist activists and trans women for example, or anti-Carribean immigrant feeling from Nigerian immigrants in the UK. Sunni vs Shi’ite street violence. Prejudice expressed against African Americans by Jewish and Asian groups in the US.

It’s something that the establishment has been accused of encouraging, divide and conquer, the classic tactic of the British Empire. But it’s a far more subtle and considered use of the mutant allegory from Marvel that we may have expected, even in the confines of a superhero comic and Dazzler plays this really well. ...

[Heroine Addict]

RoguesPortal.com, Dazzler: X-Song #1 Review

... Not unlike the Mockingbird one-shot that preceded her ongoing title by Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk (which Rosenberg also colored!) in 2016, I’d love for X-Song to be a backdoor pilot for an extended run. I don’t exactly see that happening, unfortunately; the issue ends with an advertisement for Dazzler’s first appearance in the upcoming run of Astonishing X-Men by Matthew Rosenberg, where she’ll officially rejoin the X-Men. I can’t see Marvel Dazzler-fying two ongoing series at the same time, and that’s a shame.

But who knows! Weirder things have happened. 2018 is a scary new world, but as we have fun superhero comics like Dazzler: X-Song keeping us sane, I’m willing to brave it.

The Verdict: Buy it.

As a reintroduction to one of Marvel’s most beloved (and niche) mutants, Dazzler: X-Song #1 both exceeds expectations and leaves you wanting more.

[Heroine Addict]

https://twitter.com/MTFIII/status/1004391877578252288

Michael T Ford III
‏@MTFIII

(4.75 stars. It's a shame this was a one-shot.) Dazzler: X-Song (2018) #1...

[Heroine Addict]

https://twitter.com/OliverSava/statu...10765886590977

Oliver Sava
‏@OliverSava

Really enjoyed @MagsVisaggs @LauraBraga_rt & @rachellecheri's DAZZLER: X-SONG, a one-shot exploring exclusionary thinking within oppressed groups. Really showcases why we need more LGBTQ+ voices in superhero comics.

[Heroine Addict]

ComicBook.com, Reviews for This Week: 6/6/2018

DAZZLER X SONG #1

To say that Dazzler X Song is a delightful comic is accurate, but also woefully inadequate to describe what Magdalene Visaggio and Laura Braga accomplish in a single comic book. Delightful does aptly describe the dialogue, Dazzler's characterization, and in particular her interactions with Colossus, a well-chosen pairing harkening back to Dazzler's time as an Outback-era X-Man. What the word fails to communicate is how brilliantly this issue uses Alison Blaire's status as a musician and icon within her community to tackle themes of tribalism and territorialism within subcultures including, but not even close to limited to, X-Men fandom itself with an insider's nuance that shows empathy for all sides without necessarily bestowing approval. Braga's artwork does a superb job of being grounded while allowing the things that make these characters stand out to truly shine, bringing the issue's overall theme to life visually. This is a fantastic one-shot that everyone should read. -- Jamie Lovett

Rating: 5 out of 5

[Filthy Mutie]

The quality of this first page is quite high. Well done, Heroine Addict.

[Luckystar.]

All the anti-mutant propaganda aside, this was hilariously cringy and corny straight up from Tumblr.com

[Heroine Addict]

The quality of this first page is quite high. Well done, Heroine Addict.

Thank you kindly, Filthy Mutie. That means a lot, and I appreciate it. Was beginning to feel like a one-man band, lol. But at least now, there can be a duet.

[Heroine Addict]

All the anti-mutant propaganda aside, this was hilariously cringy and corny straight up from Tumblr.com

Sorry to hear ya feel that way, but I'm not surprised, it's to be eXpected. ThanX for sharin' tho, nonetheless.

[Luckystar.]

Sorry to hear ya feel that way, but I'm not surprised, it's to be eXpected. ThanX for sharin' tho, nonetheless.

The art was really good though. Dazzler hasn't looked this good in ages. Kinda upset the last page said she returns in Astonishing #14 rather than #13

[Tycon]

Nice art, but I'll post what I said in the X:Red thread:

The comic has mutants explicitly antagonizing Inhumans in a way that reminds me of the current Ace Discourse or discussions surrounding """reverse racism""". It throws out the oppression that mutants faced at the Inhumans' hands while treating the NuHumans as the 'Ultimate Victims of An Oppressive System.'

I kid you not, there's a line that has a mutant saying: "You people are sick, you know that? Treating Inhumans like they're us? Nobody's bringing Thor or the Hulk here. Why? Because they're just super-powered humans. Inhumans are just humans, They don't get to colonize our oppression--"

and he gets cut off because Dazzler threatens to blast him to dust. It's...upsetting that this could've been a conversation about the complexities of intersectionality and how different oppressed groups can still be disadvantageous to others while being disadvantaged themselves. Instead, it comes off as an oppressed group trying to get their oppressors out of a safe space, only to be ridiculed and framed as the antagonists of the story. Even with that in mind, if mutants hadn't been framed as metaphors for the LGBTQ+ community, black power, disabled rights etc etc while Inhumans "elitists, xenophobes, colonizers", this comic would've been a fun little read.

[blanchett]

I found this very odd. I am not really sure what she was trying to say in this. Was it a comment on terfs, safe spaces being problematic, social media? I really don't think it was clear.

I also found it quite unsettling actually at the point in the story were the mutant says to Dazzler he just wants to feel safe and she doesn't get to tell them they don't have that right and she beats him up......did no one else think that was f*cked up?

Wasn't that the "X-Men" moment to try and bring people together as opposed to a bizarre girl power moment.

Also notice every aggressor was male and unfortunate looking.

[Former Morlock]

I'm happy with any book that has dazzler in it. She looks the best she has in years. I liked the Peter interaction. However, I felt like it did nothing for her at all except introduce a little segway in order to introduce her into Astonishing.

My biggest pet peeve is how artists display her power. Her powers haven't been properly showed visually since X-Treme X-men. Throughout Fraction and A-Force (and now in the mini) she just has little sparkles and flowing lines of lights. It makes her seem weak. Do your homework and look at her power signatures throughout her solo, her outback years, x-treme, etc. Show her with lasers. Show her with huge photon blasts. Show her blasting out of her eyes. Show her using a strobe blast that would blind a block. I hope it gets better with Astonishing, but I'm not holding my breath.

[CraigTheCylon]

Whatever, I liked it. Minorities turning on each other is depressingly real, and yes I do happen to think the Inhumans were the right choice here. Previous stories aside, you can't bring them up around these boards without much wailing about how they're all imperialist genocide monsters, as if every single Inhuman had their finger on the trigger of the T-bomb back in Infinity. That's akin to calling every German citizen from 1939 'til now a Nazi. (doubly hilarious since, if you're looking for Nazis nowadays, you'll have much better luck looking in the United States) (god this world deserves death) Unless Black Bolt and Maximus were trying to get into Dazzler's gig, there were no "oppressors" on-page. Most Inhumans are just...people, who got turned into coccoons by gas once and are trying to deal with traumatic physical change but are still just people. Mutants in general, and the X-Men in particular, should know how it feels to be held accountable for the sins of the worst of your own kind despite having nothing to do with it. Unfortunately, there's always a bunch that just LOVE having the shoe on the other foot and can't stop themselves from kicking when they should be better than that.

The X-board should also know better than that. But they don't. Time and again this place is...I can't f***ing...can't put the words together because I'm just remembering all the other times I have been ashamed to post here and now I'm honestly trembling with rage. And not to name and shame, but Tycon, I expected better from you. That kind of POV is what I'd expect to see from the folks with Cyclops avatars (for it is always them, every time), you are normally better than this.

...I need to walk away from the computer now and punch a wall until my knuckles swell up.

Good book. Right message. Wrong fanbase.