We Already Know How To Die: New X-Men Appreciation 2019

[Anduinel]

I know comics fans/X-Men fans already do this, but the fans of students cannibalizing themselves is exhausting. Can't you be sad about the characters you like dying without trying to resent the ones that are still alive?

Eh. I'm not calling for their deaths, but I do resent the ones that step in and take over roles already filled by existing students. I don't have a mad hate-on for Eyeboy, but I've read him through three series now and just don't care. Nature Girl I'm starting to come around to because Nadler and Thompson are doing a take where her personality actually seems influenced by her powers in a way more profound than what you'd see from a newly-converted vegan's Twitter. But Glob and Quire? Newp, they can go and I won't miss them.

It's not like the NXM are dropping dead from unavoidable circumstance; readers aren't railing at lightning strikes. These characters get left behind because writers choose to prioritize other characters, which leads to less exposure, which leads to the older crew being considered expendable. And then writers choose to kill them off.

[Mirai]

I think all the missing New X-Men are Hellion, Dust, Match, Trance, Indra, cipher, graymalkin, and ink. The rest are relatively safe in Age of X-Man. But from Rosenberg’s story DLC tweets, Ink might be on the chopping block, too, with Indra and Elixir.

I asked Marcus To about Trance and Match whereabouts, he told me they were in Nextgen!

[Jumpyshark]

The other infuriating thing about UXM #11 is that Cyclops is seemingly trying to die when he just came back and resolved to be a hero so recently. It's like they needed an actual suicide to lock in the clumsy theme, because Cyclops is already inconsistent within the space of 3 issues. And of course, who do they choose...

Guggenheim and Rosenberg on the flagship X-Titles could be a new low point - Austen had better beware!

[MYCMTSC]

Nope. Nature Girl and Glob are two of those characters who got shoved on us and got the spotlight shined their way rather than the students we kept asking for and wanting more of again and again. Then there's situations like this NextGen book coming up. They say its going to star the characters we keep asking about but...nope, turns out is a stealth Glob solo which means everyone else is going to suffer in favor of him.

That’s also how X-23 got her start when New Mutants/Academy already had a fanbase...

[Tycon]

I asked Marcus To about Trance and Match whereabouts, he told me they were in Nextgen!

Oh, good! At least they aren’t gonna get mercilessly killed off. They probably won’t speak or anything because that would be taking pagetime away from Glob. But at this point, after seeing the graphic deaths of Loa and Blindfold, I would MUCH rather the New X-Men stay in Limbo for all eternity than just get killed off for ‘sad status quo’ points.

The other infuriating thing about UXM #11 is that Cyclops is seemingly trying to die when he just came back and resolved to be a hero so recently. It's like they needed an actual suicide to lock in the clumsy theme, because Cyclops is already inconsistent within the space of 3 issues. And of course, who do they choose...

Guggenheim and Rosenberg on the flagship X-Titles could be a new low point - Austen had better beware!

This is, funny enough, the exact same thing that happened with Dazzler. Dazzler and Cyclops both have issues (X-Song, UXM Annual) that are gonna set them up with a new status quo to join Rosenberg’s team (Astonishing, Uncanny), but Rosenberg either hasn’t read the issue or missed what should’ve been the goal of the one-shots and does whatever characterization he wants.

[Snoop Dogg]

This is, funny enough, the exact same thing that happened with Dazzler. Dazzler and Cyclops both have issues (X-Song, UXM Annual) that are gonna set them up with a new status quo to join Rosenberg’s team (Astonishing, Uncanny), but Rosenberg either hasn’t read the issue or missed what should’ve been the goal of the one-shots and does whatever characterization he wants.

can you tl;dr x-song because i need more laughs at matt's expense

[Tycon]

can you tl;dr x-song because i need more laughs at matt's expense

Business is booming for Dazzler, sold out shows and everything. Some dirty muties ruin the experience for the holier-than-thou Inhumans at the concert, Dazzler beats the shit out of them, Colossus shows up and offers her to a membership to the X-Men, and Dazzler declines because she’s loving life right now.

[Ambaryerno]

That’s also how X-23 got her start when New Mutants/Academy already had a fanbase...

There's a good bit of differences between how the two were handled. She didn't just jump in as Hellion's new GF, and replace everyone's BFFs on the writers' whim. Her relationships with Hellion, Mercury, and Dust took some time to develop. Whereas writers just dropped Glob in as Anole's new BFF in place of Rockslide (or with Santo in place of Anole). Nor did her powerset supplant any other member of the team, like Glob has been used as a low-rent Rockslide tank. And New X-Men remained an ensemble book where she was part of the team rather than a stealth X-23 solo (when you look objectively at the story arcs after KYost took over, rather than through the filter of resentment of favorites like Sofia and Tag being depowered, the only story that was ACTUALLY centered around Laura was Mercury Falling).

[mugiwara]

Still, I think it's a an odd coincidence that the girl with a similar name as Laura got killed, and the one in a (horribily cliché) relationship with Hellion got depowered.

[Tycon]

There’s a theory circulating around that the “duplicates” in Age of X-Man may be a key to bringing back the dead or potentially dead, as we do see Blindfold on the cover. Personally, I just think Bachalo got to draw who he wanted to draw on the cover of NextGen while Prisoner X seems to have Dani more involved in the plot. By on the other side of things, Blindfold being split in the two timelines may be explain her powers being broken, idk. Rosenberg did say that “things aren’t what they seem” so that might come into play later down the line. I doubt that might have anything to do with Loa, but maybe there’s a possibility at there being more to what happened with Ruth.

[Jumpyshark]

This is, funny enough, the exact same thing that happened with Dazzler. Dazzler and Cyclops both have issues (X-Song, UXM Annual) that are gonna set them up with a new status quo to join Rosenberg’s team (Astonishing, Uncanny), but Rosenberg either hasn’t read the issue or missed what should’ve been the goal of the one-shots and does whatever characterization he wants.

I forgot about that, and I really enjoyed X-Song. It deserves better than to be a footnote! It's extra frustrating because clearly we can see that Kelly Thompson (admittedly busy), Leah Williams, Seanan McGuire, Sina Grace and Magdalene Visaggio have things they want to say with the X-Men but the flagship book keeps going to straight men who want to twist the X-Men to fit whatever they want to do, and then likely getting constrained by editorial so we get a mess of conflicting motivations, themes and plots. At least this keeps happening while the solo/duo books - and X-Men Red - do their own thing and continue to be of a much higher quality.

I realised in viewing some other threads that I forgot about the mutant mass grave in Lemire's run, having just been so grumpy about the ongoing damage of DoX/IvX. Please can we get some people who can do something with the X-Men other than kill them for shock value and misrepresent their struggle? I think of Williams' support group in the Domino Annual, for example, and just despair as writers just perpetually try to sell us on this survival struggle that eclipses any nuance.

[The Big G]

You know what kinda twists my nipple a bit?

Is that over at DC Bendis (of all people) is basically allowed to do classic YJ in its own continuity and junk...and I can't help be feel...why cant' we have that with the NXM? I don't know exactly where and when you would set it...but like get the classic NXM roster in their own canon would make me as happy as a clam.

[AJpyro]

You know what kinda twists my nipple a bit?

Is that over at DC Bendis (of all people) is basically allowed to do classic YJ in its own continuity and junk...and I can't help be feel...why cant' we have that with the NXM? I don't know exactly where and when you would set it...but like get the classic NXM roster in their own canon would make me as happy as a clam.

Cause DC is Ditch Continuity. And its Bendis.

[CGAR]

I think this would be the perfect opportunity to have some of the New X-Men breakaway from the X-Men. Do a roadtrip and figure themselves out. I hate that editorial keeps making them students when theyve been through so much already. And some have already graduated.

The X-Men failed this generation and they need to see some consequences to that. Some of them joing Emma or starting there own thing and moving on.

[scourge]

You know what kinda twists my nipple a bit?

Is that over at DC Bendis (of all people) is basically allowed to do classic YJ in its own continuity and junk...and I can't help be feel...why cant' we have that with the NXM? I don't know exactly where and when you would set it...but like get the classic NXM roster in their own canon would make me as happy as a clam.

Well, YJ is technically part of the main DC continuity. They just going with their usual "we have no idea what we're doing with continuity" approach and grafting things into the nu52/Rebirth stuff without thinking about how or if it'll actually fit.

But that aside, a NXM title set in its own alternate universe would be great. I'd still rather have the main versions but it would be better than the crap treatment they've been getting for a long time.