X-Force 12 Preview

[Tenebrae]

Always happy to see Mikhail used. He's the more put together Jamie Braddock. He should be used more.

[Immortal Hulk]

This is gonna be good. Great book!

[ARkadelphia]

Wondering now if Q will be the first mutant who is resurrected that’s still alive.

[ericng]

Cool to see Mikhail, but will we ever see the other Russian Mutants Sibercat, Blind Faith, Concussion, Mentac, Soul Skinner, Darkstar, Vanguard, Iron Curtain, Stencil, Ursa Major??

Are all these mutants? I thought only Darkstar is a mutant.

[rhaenylis]

The moment I fear in this issue is when the stupid council is going to judge our poor Piotr

Mutants like Kate and Logan easily escape scolding when they gleefully maim humans, but Piotr, who is gentle as a lamb, is bound to be guilty

[Soulsword323]

Very curious about what's going on with Mikhail. Excited to see this plot pick up momentum.

[Rev9]

Are all these mutants? I thought only Darkstar is a mutant.

I think all are, Soul Skinner looks like some Blanka-demon crossbreed but I think he's no different than Emplate

[Nyssane]

I never thought twice about Mikhail, but I just did (one for each cheek).

[9th.]

Mikhail trying to take Nightwings audience.

[Technopriest]

This is the kind of stuff many people brought up at the beginning of Hickman's run. That being a mutant does not necessarily beat out every other thing that makes up an individual. Percy has dropped lots of remarks, typically by Wolverine, that poke at the 'truth' of Hickman's Krakoa, and I don't know if it his little part in the big story to plant these seeds, or just something he is doing to differentiate his books from the others.



I would be surprised if there is not some data page that explains enough, that is what is relevant to what this story actually cares about. Someone gave a link, but my growing impression is that a lot of this stuff is probably better the less you know, or the less you care lol.

Because that is a more realistic take. Nobody in real life is just gay, or black, or Latino, or American. We as people are a collection of the traits and identities we choose or are imposed on us. As much as Hickmans take is an interesting one, it still doesn't reflect the way people actually identify in the real world. I understand that this is about nation building ala Israel, but where the more interesting conflict can come for me is from those mutants that just will not identify as krakoans (Wisdom, Mikhail, Omega Red, etc).

[Rev9]

The moment I fear in this issue is when the stupid council is going to judge our poor Piotr

Mutants like Kate and Logan easily escape scolding when they gleefully maim humans, but Piotr, who is gentle as a lamb, is bound to be guilty

Valid point, either Colossus killed the assassin under mind control, or willfully. If it was under mind control maybe he'll be forgiven, but I don't know how they can prove it, maybe if cerebro detects that he has blind spots in his memory

[Rev9]

Always happy to see Mikhail used. He's the more put together Jamie Braddock. He should be used more.

Is he as powerful as Jamie though? We'll find out eventually

[numberthirty]

Is he as powerful as Jamie though? We'll find out eventually

I think that it might all depend.

While my "Knee Jerk..." was that he turns back up at a roughly equivalent power level to when last we saw him, there's really no telling. Thinking about all that's apparently gone down, I wouldn't discount him winding up at a higher or lower power level.

[Grunty]

I was wondering how the Krakoan gate could end up leading to the Red Square in Russia, when that country's government would not allow one of the portal plants to take root there. But then i remembered Mikhail has teleportation powers and more, which means he likely created the exist gateway there himself.
If that's the case it also means he should be able to open an entry gateway into Krakoa, or it's other portals, from wherever he stands and pass through it. Which would also mean he can make swiss cheese out of the allready terrible Krakoan defence.

Especialy once he could give these artifical soldiers an X-gene.

Because that is a more realistic take. Nobody in real life is just gay, or black, or Latino, or American. We as people are a collection of the traits and identities we choose or are imposed on us. As much as Hickmans take is an interesting one, it still doesn't reflect the way people actually identify in the real world. I understand that this is about nation building ala Israel, but where the more interesting conflict can come for me is from those mutants that just will not identify as krakoans (Wisdom, Mikhail, Omega Red, etc).

There are also the Morlocks who seem to prefer their own little enclave away from the island, over fully migrating to it, while essentialy being in an alliance or union with it.

Which makes sense given that they allready have their own quasi-tribalistic culture and identity and have fiercly maintained it through all what the writers and editors have thrown at them over the decades. (Nevermind that most of the new random, nameless Morlocks to keep the identity up where just snapped into existence without explanation where they came from.)
Not that there isn't some potential for the Morlocks getting split over fully embracing Krakoa or sticking to their "old ways".

In addition to that there is also the potential for division among the "reborn" original Morlocks who died in the Mutant Massacre and the survivors or newcommers who have kept up the identity since then. Some of the original Morlocks have shown an internal doubt or dislike for their home before the massacre, so they might be far more willing to embrace the Krakoan identity than those who have survived and clung to their Morlock roots against attacks and even Decimiation.

And then there is Gene Nation, a large group (numbers never specified but judging by what was shown in Storm's mini series there could have been hundreds of them) of radical, violent fighters and killers, born from a twisted version of the Morlock identity, raised in constant battle royals against one another and taught to hate normal humans and weak mutants.
They should be a nightmare to intigrate into Krakoa. But then again it's doubtfull they are on any priority list to be brought back over the more popular villain factions.


Overall.
It can indeed, feel odd how most mutants have been presented as an almost homogeneous mass of agreement over Krakoa and identitifying with it above all else, considering how most countries are full of internal identities, seperated or combined, based on locations, ethnicities, cultures, etc. Which is maintained via a constant discourse or supression of it between the parts.

It starts with the locations. The neighbourhoods, the village, town or city district, the geographic or administrative region, the country or nation and then there are unions, federations or alliances between nations. All forming internal identities
These are then combined with cultural, ethnic, religious, or sexual identities which can spread over borders or be limited by them. Which in turn have their own internal seperations.

This is overall one reason i'm fairly unimpressed by the "nation building" aspect of Dawn of X so far (not that i's my main interest i admit), because any logical real world issue feel brushed aside to hammer in a "this is the mutant utopia dummy!". Including most characters sounding like they can't get their nose down anymore over sneering at "the humans" and how bad they are compared to them.

Then again the whole nation was formed because the mutants suddently gained a magic super island, nobody else claimed, that provides them with everything they ever need, without having to set up complicated machinations of resource gathering, taxing, trading or productions. Because either the island does it for them or their super powers make it easy for them.

To quote the musical Hamilton:
"Thomas that was a real nice declaration. Welcome to present we are running a real nation!"

Nations are the result of agreement of various groups of people, conquest of allready occupied or claimed territory or both. All that got brushed aside in HOX/POX to get the new status rolling with minimal actual writing effort.
No oppressed cultural or ethnical minority will suddently gain an untouched magic land that is powered by them being different from the majority and have natives who are super cool with them being there and giving them everything they need for free because they have no need for it.

Of course one could say that it only exist because Krakoa agreed to form the nation with them, but that falls a bit flat given that it is not a group of people, but a hive minded organism, which also still magically provides them with everything they needed because the writer designed it to be that way. Also it has allready been made somewhat docile by Apocalypse in the past via retcon and got possibly infected by a techno-organic organism via Doug Ramsey. Which might both be hints towards a less voluntary status.

There is of course the valid argument that this is all a super hero comic franchise focused on action and flashy costumes. So actual nation building would bore the readers. But that would mean it heavily simplifies real world issues and trials, weakening any metaphor or analogy the story could ever make and just being a setup/excuse for big action splash pages and an out there sci-fi story with little value for real life resonance.
Which certainly fits into Hickman's past stories.

However. Perhaps all the potential division and disagreement will eventualy make it into the Dawn of X story. After all utopias in super hero comics like these usualy have one of two purposes. Either to burn down specteculary or get shown to be rotten from the inside requiring heroic reformers or rebels.

[Tasuxeda]

The moment I fear in this issue is when the stupid council is going to judge our poor Piotr

Mutants like Kate and Logan easily escape scolding when they gleefully maim humans, but Piotr, who is gentle as a lamb, is bound to be guilty

Personally I hope his trial has more to do with Domino's Resurrection without her memories despite making Piotr promise to ensure that she is resurrected with her memories.