Age of X-Man: The X-Tremists #1 (spoilers/discussion)

[Anduinel]

So, everyone who used basic sense to guess that we were going from Bobby trolling the older sibs to the team casually ripping lives apart? You get a cookie. (On a baking sheet.)


The plot itself is pretty straight-forward: Dept. X goes to bring in a couple of third-strike intimacy offenders, intending to take them to Cerebro. But it turns out that one of them, Nezumi, is pregnant, and no one on the team has any idea how to deal with this. Literally. Due to Nate Grey’s meddling, the team has no conception (*rimshot*) of the processes, mechanics, or tells of pregnancy. All medical equipment meant to ensure safe, natural births was junked years ago. It’s considered such an unlikely situation that there’s not even criminal protocol for how to deal with a pregnant criminal. Reproduction is such alien territory that the guys have to ask the ladies if they can tell if Nezumi is pregnant by looking at her. In the end, Betsy confirms Nezumi’s story telepathically, and Blob decides the best thing to do is to deliver Nezumi’s lover to Cerebro, then take her back to their base and make her comfortable.


So, first chapter in, and the Intimacy Cops are literally harboring a sex criminal, and she hates them very, very much. This will surely not cause any tension or repercussions throughout this miniseries, oh no.


Williams also does great job setting up the character interactions here and foreshadowing where the fault lines are going to be as the disillusion sets in and the team begins to crack apart. We get a lot of Iceman this first chapter, and it’s seems that Bobby is Bobby in any universe - making lots of jokes to cover up the fact that he’s starting to lose the faith. By contrast, there’s Jubilee, who’s presented as the more mature of the two and concerned about doing right by the people they’re policing, even if it just means acknowledging their humanity in the process of taking them in.


Our other pair is Northstar and Moneta. Wee Moneta is a True Believer in Nate’s dream, and is immediately dismissive of anyone who isn’t. (Which makes sense if the theory that she’s a construct of Nate’s pans out.) She’s judgmental, quick to condemn people, and generally demanding, inflexible, and unpleasant. Northstar is her mentor - and if you’re familiar with Jean-Paul’s relationship with his sister, it’ll likely make sense why he’s tolerant of this obnoxious little bug. But rather than share in Moneta’s hardline stance, Northstar seems to be distancing himself from the work as much as he can; he’s just fine with being as hands-off as possible when it comes to the job. He buries it under snark and a sense of his own superiority, but he keeps out of this arrest entirely, even raises a mild protest when Blob announces the mission.


And then there’s Blob and Betsy. With Freddy Dukes, we get the sense that he’s someone who believes in the team’s mission, but seems to delude himself into thinking there’s a humane way to rip someone’s agency from them. He’s very much the, “Hey, everything’s OK. We don’t want anyone hurt, we’re here to help put you back on the right path. This won’t hurt a bit” guy. And, meta-wise, it’s actually genuinely sad to see a guy who’s been a villain for pretty much his entire published history literally brainwashed to think that he’s finally doing something to help people, when the reality is, he’s just a dog to a new despot. Betsy is largely a cipher for this chapter - we’re told that she’s “been through a lot”, and she and Blob definitely have A Moment during the arrest, where he gets so awkward around her that he almost literally turns and runs in the other direction when given an excuse to be elsewhere. But given that Betsy’s POV chapter is likely next issue, it seems like we’re going to make up for her lack of page time here.


Also, some of the world-building touches here are just chilling. The subtext that Moneta (and Nate) think it’s just fine that pregnancy is a potential death sentence, for example? That is a well-placed detail for an oppressive dystopia, given some of the arguments out in the real world when it comes to controlling women’s bodily autonomy. And it’s something that can almost sneak by unnoticed in the dark absurdity of the conversation surrounding it. Really good work on William’s part.


This is another strong chapter for AoXM, imo, in that it’s a built-in series of cliffhangers with escalating stakes. We’re poised to watch everything come crashing down in the messiest way, with the added weight that these characters are Nate’s enforcers. When their blinders inevitably drop, that’s endgame for Nate’s utopia. And there’s no way that’s going to happen without a fight.


Can’t wait to see it.

[Rnap22]

This book I didn’t enjoy reading at all. I pretty much hated everyone’s interactions. Bobby and the cookie sheet thing was awful. I didn’t get it and don’t think that it was even remotely amusing. I didn’t like this book compared with all the others.

[Tycon]

The whole idea of lovers still reconnecting through mindwipes just on the basis of how strong their love was really great. I loved the page of Luke professing to Nezumi that no matter what, they’d always find their way back to each other. Not that Bishop and Jean are the world’s most iconic couple, but it’s interesting how even after being mindwiped, Jean still found her way back to Lucas. And maybe if Lucas had one less breach against Nate’s rules and had just been mindwiped again, the two may have ended up in the Danger Room together.

[Rosebunse]

Even if this isn't a great issue, Nate just basically sentencing pregnant women to death is rather disturbing. I meam, that's what they're doing. Nate made a whole reality full of women with working reproductive systems and no concept of birth control or even how reproduction works and no medical equitment for if they do become pregnant.

That is fucking scary.

Of course, we all know that many women give birth without a ton of medical assistance, but even that is normally done with a midwife or someone who has some sort of knowledge of what to do when things turn to ****.

How little does Nate think of people and women that this sounds like a good idea?

[Anduinel]

The whole idea of lovers still reconnecting through mindwipes just on the basis of how strong their love was really great. I loved the page of Luke professing to Nezumi that no matter what, they’d always find their way back to each other. Not that Bishop and Jean are the world’s most iconic couple, but it’s interesting how even after being mindwiped, Jean still found her way back to Lucas. And maybe if Lucas had one less breach against Nate’s rules and had just been mindwiped again, the two may have ended up in the Danger Room together.

For me, the primary point of interest is that Luke and Nezumi's heartbreaking love story isn't real. So is this a sting by Nate? Are the rebels actually aspects of Legion's personality trying to assert themselves? There has to be some reason Dept X is even needed when this place is all Nate's doing.

[Fokken]

I wonder if Moneta is an anagram. Since it has the name Nate in there, when rearranged.

I'm probably reaching.

Or, like.....NO META? yeah, I'm probably reaching.

[Tenebrae]

It was like an aggressive Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

[Snoop Dogg]

I wonder if Moneta is an anagram. Since it has the name Nate in there, when rearranged.

I'm probably reaching.

Or, like.....NO META? yeah, I'm probably reaching.

It's

Mo Bamba

[Ambaryerno]

Even if this isn't a great issue, Nate just basically sentencing pregnant women to death is rather disturbing. I meam, that's what they're doing. Nate made a whole reality full of women with working reproductive systems and no concept of birth control or even how reproduction works and no medical equitment for if they do become pregnant.

Haven't read it, but that definitely sounds like a Meta commentary on the Evangelical Right.

[WildR]

Though Moneta is literally a bug, I hope Leah got good plan for the one representing Nate's idea.
But the rest of Dep. X are loving, I'm gonna buy the next issue.

[Tycon]

For me, the primary point of interest is that Luke and Nezumi's heartbreaking love story isn't real. So is this a sting by Nate? Are the rebels actually aspects of Legion's personality trying to assert themselves? There has to be some reason Dept X is even needed when this place is all Nate's doing.

It does seem like Nate is testing everyone in this reality with different faces and agents. Just as it looks like Nate is gonna present Kurt with an ultimatum of a kid in a society that abhors even the thought of conception, he seems to be trying to strengthen the X-Tremists’ resolve or weed out the weak. We don’t know if Pixie in NextGen is a fake, but she seems to snap at anyone who dares to question how Nate’s society works. So it just feels like Nate is torturing everyone with these life-changing situations to perfect his utopia.

[Dthirds3]

I liked it.

[Rosebunse]

For me, the primary point of interest is that Luke and Nezumi's heartbreaking love story isn't real. So is this a sting by Nate? Are the rebels actually aspects of Legion's personality trying to assert themselves? There has to be some reason Dept X is even needed when this place is all Nate's doing.

What makes me question this is Legion and the Life Seed. Legion has his own personalities and the Life Seed was designed to create life. It wasn't made to create whole realities, but it can create life.

So I'm guessing that only some of these constructs are really under Nate's direct control. That's probably why these people still have working reproductive systems and the desire for love.

[Triniking1234]

I wonder if Moneta is an anagram. Since it has the name Nate in there, when rearranged.

I'm probably reaching.

Or, like.....NO META? yeah, I'm probably reaching.

Get some sleep.

[Knives]

The way some members of this team were intentionally chosen was interesting. Overall everyone who is part of this experience imposed by Nate will have a lot of unpleasant memories (others not so much) but for these characters in particular will be worse because they are the spearhead that Nate used to keep everyone in check.

Iceman and Northstar for example must suffer even more because of personal experiences and for having been placed in that role by Nate and eventually will focus that anger against him at the right time when this universe begins to crumble.