Powers of X #6 *spoilers*

[JKtheMac]

This is my biggest dislike with the entire thing and it's too in the face to get over which is why I kinda fell away compared to when the events started. Kinda let down.

The entire Powers series could have been erased and I wouldn't care less if I'm being honest.

Your perspective and dissatisfaction with PoX doesn’t diminish its importance to the overall story. It is essential to the development of the wider themes of Hickman’s approach, and will probably be important for a clearer perspective of what Hickman is trying to do with this new status quo.

Without PoX one would be forgiven for thinking this is all about Mutants Vs Humans in a fight for survival. But with PoX an entirely different perspective is given. One that sows the seeds of the conflicts and issues inherent in this new nation. PoX is not as optimistic as HoX. Not as straightforward. Not as easy to digest. But, all the more interesting for that.

[jwatson]

I know it's a stupid thought but i think powers of 10 should have been called x-ponents of 10. Just cause i was waiting for the powers of 10 even though i knew it was reffering to the math given the story it had no real meaning imo. Like the same story could have been told and would have made more sense with a different name. But i guess that shows how good it was for me all my gripes are trivial for the most part. But for me powers of X was THE book. House of X shows the rise of mutants and Powers of X is very much a story about the fall of humanity. When the last mutant dies and humanity ascends the world as god (the higher power in the mu) intended is over. I don't know where the thread is but something about this, immortal hulk, and a few other titles feel like they are going somewhere. It's like right out of sight. lol

[JKtheMac]

I guess it depends if one views the books as telling different stories or telling one longer narrative. I always saw them as separate but related. I still see HoX as having finished last week. This was the ending of a different story. A more complex and epic story that does feed into HoX but remains its own thing.

Both PoX and HoX will inevitably inform the stories in DoX, but I don’t expect them to develop quickly. We are not suddenly going to have stories about The Phalanx. I don’t expect a new book to start peeking into the far future of this new reality. But, underlying the stories there will presumably be a new thematic unity where some of these ideas will be explored more fully in the context of an ongoing narrative.

[cranger]

Nothing wrong with that part. It’s just the assumption that they will eventually drop this status quo and rehash. There is a subtle form of cynicism in that. A cynicism that has been encouraged by Marvel but no less so for that.

Put it in context. We have a radical new shiny direction right now that is generating a lot of buzz precisely because it isn’t a rehash, and yet you look towards a less innovative future we may never see.

I do not think it is cynicism. It is fact. When sales dwindle they will relaunch. It is what they do. To me, at this point, that is the only hope

Also, I think the enjoyment of this title by some (or many) does not equate to giving it praise. From my reading, so much of this is a rehash. It is Days of Future Past except instead of being done in two issues it is being dragged on and on. The only 'innovation' I see is that the X-Men I care about all got killed and replaced by pod people. What ever floats someone else's boat though.

[Rosebunse]

I'm having fun with it and I think Hickman is doing some interesting things with it.

While the last issue wasn't great, it did change things up a lot. You have Magneto and Charles obviously not exactly agreeing with Moira, you have the revelation that everything might die if Moira dies, you have the very real speculation that superhumans are in fact a threat to mutant supremacy, and you have Moira herself.

These are big things that are going to carry over.

[spirit2011]

I do not think it is cynicism. It is fact. When sales dwindle they will relaunch. It is what they do. To me, at this point, that is the only hope

Also, I think the enjoyment of this title by some (or many) does not equate to giving it praise. From my reading, so much of this is a rehash. It is Days of Future Past except instead of being done in two issues it is being dragged on and on. The only 'innovation' I see is that the X-Men I care about all got killed and replaced by pod people. What ever floats someone else's boat though.

Different people have different views on what happens on comics. For me this isn't like days of future past, but a mega hits from X-men tied together.

if sales dwindle fast they gonna reset hox pox

[David Walton]

I'm having fun with it and I think Hickman is doing some interesting things with it.

While the last issue wasn't great, it did change things up a lot. You have Magneto and Charles obviously not exactly agreeing with Moira, you have the revelation that everything might die if Moira dies, you have the very real speculation that superhumans are in fact a threat to mutant supremacy, and you have Moira herself.

These are big things that are going to carry over.

There is so much set up in HoX/PoX that Marvel could easily mine it for a decade!

I am really looking forward to how all these new dynamics play out. Especially the Moira/Xavier/Magneto alliance.

[Rosebunse]

There is so much set up in HoX/PoX that Marvel could easily mine it for a decade!

I am really looking forward to how all these new dynamics play out. Especially the Moira/Xavier/Magneto alliance.

Oh, we all know that Xavier and Magneto will mess up.

[JKtheMac]

I do not think it is cynicism. It is fact. When sales dwindle they will relaunch. It is what they do. To me, at this point, that is the only hope

Clearly you define cynicism very differently to me. I define cynicism as when a major character dies someone immediately saying ‘But they will be back because death means nothing in comics.’ Basically any hardened stance that can no longer see the fun in the current story because they think they have seen it all before.

As I said, this is understandable. Most of us have lived through the most cynical of eras for comics. But in the grand sweep of comic books that was a blip. We may be in a commercialised age now, but I do not see that kind of raw cynicism in modern Marvel.

Also, I think the enjoyment of this title by some (or many) does not equate to giving it praise. From my reading, so much of this is a rehash. It is Days of Future Past except instead of being done in two issues it is being dragged on and on. The only 'innovation' I see is that the X-Men I care about all got killed and replaced by pod people. What ever floats someone else's boat though.

Sorry you have totally lost me. This is absolutely nothing like Days of Future Past from my perspective. Not even on the most superficial level.

[RachelGrey]

There is so much set up in HoX/PoX that Marvel could easily mine it for a decade!

I am really looking forward to how all these new dynamics play out. Especially the Moira/Xavier/Magneto alliance.

I just want to see Apocalypse wearing a suit and walking around with Erik and Charles at a international conference (that upcoming image). "Hello, let me introduce myself I am En Sabah Nur, I am one of the representatives of the Krakoan government, I am hoping that all of you will fight each other at this conference so I can see who is the fittest at the end."

[cranger]

Sorry you have totally lost me. This is absolutely nothing like Days of Future Past from my perspective. Not even on the most superficial level.

Bad future prevented by a crucial decision in the present. Moira has knowledge and experience of a future she is trying to prevent, will the X-Men manage to do something in the present to prevent that future? It isn't even like the future they are trying to prevent is anything different in either story. If you cannot see any similarity in these stories then we have different definitions of 'similar' as well.

[Electricmastro]

We have a radical new shiny direction right now that is generating a lot of buzz precisely because it isn’t a rehash, and yet you look towards a less innovative future we may never see.

I just, reasonably I'm sure, talk about any expectations and observations I may have. I'm not saying they *will* change up the status quo in a way that they lose their nation, but given the varied nature of never fully knowing what writers may do next, it doesn't hurt to at least briefly consider the possibility.

If you're thinking that I'm unheathily focusing too much on a possible negative by looking towards a less innovative future, then I'm sorry to hear that buddy. Don't now what else to tell you.

[RachelGrey]

Bad future prevented by a crucial decision in the present. Moira has knowledge and experience of a future she is trying to prevent, will the X-Men manage to do something in the present to prevent that future? It isn't even like the future they are trying to prevent is anything different in either story. If you cannot see any similarity in these stories then we have different definitions of 'similar' as well.

I think Moira's life 4 leads to Days of Future Past. This is the one where she goes all in on Xavier's dream of cooperation and coexistence. Even with all their efforts to be heroes and help people the humans still build the Sentinels and kill all of the X-Men.

Life 5 they try to create a mutant nation really early but the humans make the adaptive Sentinels which eventually overwhelm Faraway and the entire nation is destroyed by the Sentinels.

Life 10 seems to be a merger of Life 4 and 5, with some elements from 8 (Magneto) and 9 (Apocalypse). Moira is trying to see if she unites Charles, Erik, and En Sabah Nur and they all work together perhaps this time they can prevent the rise of the machines. Moira is pretty pessimistic about it, she isn't confident that the Krakoa project is going to work, and she is also pissed off at Charles and Erik for allowing Sinister to even walk on the island let alone bringing him into the council. I don't think Moira is actually that worried about En Sabah Nur, she is far more worried that Sinister is going to turn traitor and betray them all to further his own agenda.

[cranger]

I think Moira's life 4 leads to Days of Future Past. This is the one where she goes all in on Xavier's dream of cooperation and coexistence. Even with all their efforts to be heroes and help people the humans still build the Sentinels and kill all of the X-Men.

Life 5 they try to create a mutant nation really early but the humans make the adaptive Sentinels which eventually overwhelm Faraway and the entire nation is destroyed by the Sentinels.

Life 10 seems to be a merger of Life 4 and 5, with some elements from 8 (Magneto) and 9 (Apocalypse). Moira is trying to see if she unites Charles, Erik, and En Sabah Nur and they all work together perhaps this time they can prevent the rise of the machines. Moira is pretty pessimistic about it, she isn't confident that the Krakoa project is going to work, and she is also pissed off at Charles and Erik for allowing Sinister to even walk on the island let alone bringing him into the council. I don't think Moira is actually that worried about En Sabah Nur, she is far more worried that Sinister is going to turn traitor and betray them all to further his own agenda.

Seems pretty well summarized. Moira obviously has a plan as shown by her reaction to the various things Xavier and Magneto do that she does not approve of and Hickman is keeping that a secret for now. Apocalypse and Sinister have both been set up nicely to be unknowns as well, and will they help or hurt the plan has yet to be seen (Sinister implies he knows something, Apocalypse has been shown to cause some pretty nasty futures himself).

[JKtheMac]

Bad future prevented by a crucial decision in the present. Moira has knowledge and experience of a future she is trying to prevent, will the X-Men manage to do something in the present to prevent that future? It isn't even like the future they are trying to prevent is anything different in either story. If you cannot see any similarity in these stories then we have different definitions of 'similar' as well.

Nope. You are forcing them together to make them sound similar. They are entirely different. One is a future based on present consequences, the other is a trend that may or may not come to pass based upon a character’s experiences of other lives. One is an analogy of concentration camps and the oppression of a minority, the other is an exploration of different kinds of evolution. One simply involved stopping an event from happening, the other is an uncertain future that is bringing into focus a number of different philosophies from a wide range of players. These are not even remotely similar stories.

Like I said much earlier, I am sure some will only see this story through the lens of past Human Vs Mutant stories, that is inevitable given the history the franchise, but this isn’t one of those. It has the superficial trappings of that kind of story but it is very different.