Age of X-Man: The X-Tremists #2 (spoilers/discussion)

[Heroine Addict]

• So... Blob's the leader? Sure seems like it.
• Likin' Iceman & Northstar's dynamic, and their "weenie" jokes. 8P Bobby's right, JP is "mean", lol. And "Princess Jelly Bean" Jubes is like their lil' sis.
• Aw, Betts & Fred, so cute in their awkwardness.
• Ha-ha, F U Moneta, nobody likes you... especially us readers!
• Yow, dicey eXchange between that vile lil' upstart, Jubes, & Nezumi. REALLY uncomfortable with the latter two, especially.
• Like moths to the moon = fatal attraction, doomed from the start... ruh-roh! Damn, Blob, waXing poetic's your thing - who knew? And Psylocke's deeply messed up, THAT, we did know.

Good ish, definitely liked it more than the first. This one had the charm I was originally eXpectin', from the premise & its cast, so it seems to be findin' its groove.

[Rosebunse]

this ruins every single character involved until Hickman fixes them

I don't see how it ruins anyone. I mean, I'll never be able to look at several of them the same way ever again, but that doesn't make them broken.

Also, I really liked the exchange between Jubilee and Nezumi. Normally, I cringe hard when a characters tries the old "You're like me, why aren't you helping me?" thing.

But here Leah Williams made it work because what Nezumi is being punished for is ridiculous. All she did was have sex and get pregnant and because of that, she's being punished far worse than what we saw in the prison. She's asking Jubilee to see herself in her plight, which I think Jubilee does, but she doesn't know how to act on it.

[Tazirai]

Zac Thompson said they are the 616 characters.

On her Twitter Page Leah said this is an AU in the link above.

[Rosebunse]

On her Twitter Page Leah said this is an AU in the link above.

It's an AU with 616 characters mixed in.

[Silver Fang]

It's an AU with 616 characters mixed in.

Exactly. The characters are in Nate's world, hence why Scott, Chamber, Logan, and tgen some, think the X-Men are dead.

[Anduinel]

I don't see how it ruins anyone. I mean, I'll never be able to look at several of them the same way ever again, but that doesn't make them broken.

Nah. No more than when Wolverine was brainwashed by The Hand, or Cyclops possessed by Apocalypse. It's not even a case of "this is what you'd be capable of if you were born into different circumstances" like in the original AoA. They've been straight-up brainwashed to play the roles Nate Grey assigned to them. Literally nothing about their circumstances was done with consent, which is part of the horror of the whole thing.

[Rosebunse]

Nah. No more than when Wolverine was brainwashed by The Hand, or Cyclops possessed by Apocalypse. It's not even a case of "this is what you'd be capable of if you were born into different circumstances" like in the original AoA. They've been straight-up brainwashed to play the roles Nate Grey assigned to them. Literally nothing about their circumstances was done with consent, which is part of the horror of the whole thing.

Again, I don't think these characters are broken or ruined and I agree, everyone has been brainwashed and no one, not even villains like Apocalypse or Omega Red, can be fully at fault for their actions, there's still just this question of how much these people realize is wrong.

Even in this issue, Jubilee realizes that Nezumi was right, that she didn't care enough to spare a few minutes to just go down there to check on her or talk to her.

[Anduinel]

Again, I don't think these characters are broken or ruined and I agree, everyone has been brainwashed and no one, not even villains like Apocalypse or Omega Red, can be fully at fault for their actions, there's still just this question of how much these people realize is wrong.

Even in this issue, Jubilee realizes that Nezumi was right, that she didn't care enough to spare a few minutes to just go down there to check on her or talk to her.

For the record, I was agreeing with you.

[Heroine Addict]

... Also, I really liked the exchange between Jubilee and Nezumi. ...

I did, too. Probably the best part, save Betsy & Freddy. The confrontational, accusatory nature of it was a bit unsettling and... somewhat jarring.

... Even in this issue, Jubilee realizes that Nezumi was right, that she didn't care enough to spare a few minutes to just go down there to check on her or talk to her.

Ignorance is bliss.

[Tenebrae]

I just read this and I loved it. Who knew I would ever care about Blob. It was a great issue of character moments, something which I wish the other books pre AOXM had more of. Moneta is definitely being worked up to be the big bad in this. She'll probably make Jubilee forget about how they're treating the pregnant woman.

[Rosebunse]

For the record, I was agreeing with you.

Sorry, it's hard to tell sometimes <3

I just read this and I loved it. Who knew I would ever care about Blob. It was a great issue of character moments, something which I wish the other books pre AOXM had more of. Moneta is definitely being worked up to be the big bad in this. She'll probably make Jubilee forget about how they're treating the pregnant woman.

Can Moneta cause people to forget or is that Betsy? I sort of thought that Moneta is the one who can look inside their minds, but Betsy changes their memories.

Actually, when you think about it, why is Moneta there? I know she's a plant by someone, but she honestly seems to serve no true purpose other than reminding the other characters to keep up their jobs and to be a fanatic. This isn't a dig against the writers, because I think that's her point, it's just another aspect of this world that shows how controlling Nate wants to be.

[anyajenkins]

And people were still pissing blood over him being on X-teams & having a budding romance with Monet. But if he was a different person, and it shouldn't count, then why was it such a big deal, if it's not the same Sabretooth?

Clearly fans still counted that as Sabretooth, and despite circumstances he still did all the disgusting stuff he did. Very few gave him a pass as a different character. So these characters are still our characters & their actions still count, despite Nate's manipulation.

In the end, whether we like the stories or not, these are our 616 characters. Which is why they aren't with the others in Uncanny & X-Force, because they got moved elsewhere. lol

Because everyone knew (in the story and out) that sabretooth was only changed because of a faulty magic spell that they had no reason the believe it would last? That’s probably the biggest reason. And his memories and past actions weren’t changed only his sense of ‘right and wrong’ which, again no one had any idea how long it would last, hence no good reason to trust him.

[Rosebunse]

Because everyone knew (in the story and out) that sabretooth was only changed because of a faulty magic spell that they had no reason the believe it would last? That’s probably the biggest reason. And his memories and past actions weren’t changed only his sense of ‘right and wrong’ which, again no one had any idea how long it would last, hence no good reason to trust him.

Which is exactly what happened, it wore off. Heck, even in AXIS, a lot of characters broke out of their invesions themselves or they at least were sort of fighting against it, so everyone is well aware that that inversion wouldn't last.

Plus, Sabretooth is just such an unpleasant person. He has no real redeeming qualities and is just a sadistic jerk. Why would anyone want to work with him?

The horror of AoX is that many of these characters aren't bad people and they're actually a lot of our favorites.

[Silver Fang]

Because everyone knew (in the story and out) that sabretooth was only changed because of a faulty magic spell that they had no reason the believe it would last? That’s probably the biggest reason. And his memories and past actions weren’t changed only his sense of ‘right and wrong’ which, again no one had any idea how long it would last, hence no good reason to trust him.

So Angel from Buffy then. Given back his soul through a magic spell, which could be broken any time he experienced true happiness, and Angelus has been released 3 or 4 times. Buffy was still in love with him, and he had friends who were always with him. Despite the act Angelus never stopped being an issue -except 1 episode where he was human for a day.

And these characters' pasts haven't been changed. Only memories because some are showing signs of remembering the truth. Like some inversions showed signs of slipping.

Now AoX may be pure filler with no repercussions afterwards. Same as Creed's inversion. So it may not matter in the long run. But if it's not filler, the stuff done & experienced here will matter as it's things these characters still experienced & / or took part in.

So similar to the inversion, it's effecting the character in a non-standard way & has them exposed to / doing things they may not under non-manipulated circumstances, but still those same guys with the same pasts.

[ermac]

While I haven't been crazy about Age of X-Man, this issue was certainly an improvement from the first one. Maybe the best one of the crossover so far.

Leah is one of the most promising writers of lately. With this, that Magik annual, the X-Men Black Emma Frost she has proven to be a hell of a writer. And even better, that loves the mutants.

The speech the prisoner gave Jubilee and Blob's talk with Betsy were like punches in the gut. Very well done.