Academy X: New X-Men Appreciation 2021

[Paragon]

Slow but good issue. I kind of feel it was out of character for Pixie to do what she did even if there was peer pressure involved. But she's also been though a lot so what do I know.

Agreed. It also made me wonder about which of the younger generation would be least likely to do as Pixie did, even if the current status quo and extenuating plot circumstances can bring about any outcome that might seem previously out of character. The first two I'd pick would be Dust and Mercury. Dust for personal religious reasons like Nightcrawler. Mercury because her durability would probably require something incredibly torturous and painful to actually succeed.

[Ambaryerno]

I really don't get why writers don't like using Hellion and Surge.

Because Hellion and Surge are the poster children for "The Elder X-Men FUCKED UP and failed us in every way imaginable," which spoils the narrative that Editorial is trying to sell with the X-Kids, and makes the O5/Claremont cast look bad.

Surge herself said it best: There's nothing more you can teach us, [Prof,] we already know how to die.

[Havok83]

Because Hellion and Surge are the poster children for "The Elder X-Men FUCKED UP and failed us in every way imaginable," which spoils the narrative that Editorial is trying to sell with the X-Kids, and makes the O5/Claremont cast look bad.

Surge herself said it best: There's nothing more you can teach us, [Prof,] we already know how to die.

Elixir exemplifies that more than anyone and he's the New X-men thats the most important in the current era

[CGAR]

Possibly bc they find her redundant with Armor, whom tends to be one of the kids that gets used the most. Obviously they have different powers but functionally fulfill a similar role and I feel that over the years, their personalities have blended to be the same. Armor has the upper hand bc her power is visually distinct and allows writers to do things that they cant with other characters, whereas Surge for the most part becomes another blaster

Because Hellion and Surge are the poster children for "The Elder X-Men FUCKED UP and failed us in every way imaginable," which spoils the narrative that Editorial is trying to sell with the X-Kids, and makes the O5/Claremont cast look bad.

Surge herself said it best: There's nothing more you can teach us, [Prof,] we already know how to die.

This is exactly why we need them to be more prominent. Also I find Armor boring AF. Surge and Hellion got the sass and attitude to call out the older X-men more than Armor does IMO.

The one thing we should be getting is the perspective of the generation that went through M-Day and then got massacred after AND then had to deal with Bastion.

But nope. No one is interested in writing them in this new era.

[Sutekh]

They should amp the other aspects of Nori's powers.
A speedster with electric effects always looks cool. See Flash or Kirua Zoldyck.
And her ability to absorb electricity could be used to fight machines.

When I think back on how dynamic Jolt, with a similar powerset, was on Busiek's Thunderbolts run, I feel like Surge has gotten a really raw deal.

She's also 100% different in personality than Armor, although the later writers on Armor have sometimes seemed to forget and write her more like Surge, which also kind of annoys me. (Oh look, it's a Japanese teen girl, surely they must be interchangeable!)

[Anduinel]

When I think back on how dynamic Jolt, with a similar powerset, was on Busiek's Thunderbolts run, I feel like Surge has gotten a really raw deal.

She's also 100% different in personality than Armor, although the later writers on Armor have sometimes seemed to forget and write her more like Surge, which also kind of annoys me. (Oh look, it's a Japanese teen girl, surely they must be interchangeable!)

Honestly. At least Surge has an established personality. Armor's tends to fluctuate a lot according to writer.

[Kingdom X]

I also think that Marvel needs to permanently graduate the original New Mutants. As long as they're the first option when a book revolves around young mutants it'll be like picking up scraps to try to get a New X-Men in there.

Heck, you could even keep that group together and give them another name like "Amazing" or "Extraordinary" X-Men.

[Havok83]

The NMs have graduated. I dont view them as the "young" mutants and I dont think Marvel uses them in that capacity either. Their role tends to be the mentors and teachers of the younger generations

[Odd Rödney]

They should amp the other aspects of Nori's powers.
A speedster with electric effects always looks cool. See Flash or Kirua Zoldyck.
And her ability to absorb electricity could be used to fight machines.

I agree 100%. She has always been a favorite of mine and she deserves some real development. She could be a serious player. In fact, I would love to see her (and the other New X-Men) graduate and be featured on the main X-Men team. Laura is finally getting that chance and I'm here for it but it'd be rad to see Nori and the others get similar treatment.

[Havok83]

I agree 100%. She has always been a favorite of mine and she deserves some real development. She could be a serious player. In fact, I would love to see her (and the other New X-Men) graduate and be featured on the main X-Men team. Laura is finally getting that chance and I'm here for it but it'd be rad to see Nori and the others get similar treatment.

It wont be Laura's first time. She was one of the main X-men during Disasembled which was an issue bc the other Ne X-men werent

[Odd Rödney]

It wont be Laura's first time. She was one of the main X-men during Disasembled which was an issue bc the other Ne X-men werent

Oh yeah, I forgot about that! In my defense, I wasn't the biggest fan of that run, but you're technically correct (which is the best kind of correct)!

[bladeofdarkness]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that! In my defense, I wasn't the biggest fan of that run, but you're technically correct (which is the best kind of correct)!

Made my day with the reference

[Anduinel]

Slow but good issue. I kind of feel it was out of character for Pixie to do what she did even if there was peer pressure involved. But she's also been though a lot so what do I know.

I'm curious to see if Spurrier explores Pixie's mindset or not wrt her letting herself be offed. Because while I agree that peer pressure alone doesn't feel like it would be enough to do it, guilt might. The defining trait for that class of X-Kids is the ongoing trauma of their friends being slaughtered. Pixie's taken some lumps (like her bashing during the Utopia era), but she hasn't been killed or even very badly maimed (physically, anyway). Compared to what happened to DJ, Tag, Loa, Elixir - or even Hellion, Prodigy, and Anole, who were tortured or disfigured, even if they weren't killed - she might feel like she's gotten off light compared to everyone around her. It's not logical or even true, but it is a common reaction to trauma - that what happened to you wasn't that bad, even if it was objectively horrible, because others had it worse. So I could see her being willing to take a shotgun to the face and risk losing the last two weeks of herself just to feel like she's not somehow skating by anymore.

But again, that's something I would need Spurrier to take the time to touch on in the actual story.

[Odd Rödney]

Made my day with the reference

Glad to hear it!

[The Big G]

The fact that Marvel refuses to doll/slut up Hellion for the Hellfire Gala is an insult we should not take sitting down