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  1. #1
    Astonishing Member Su_Whisterfield's Avatar
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    Default Way of X issue 4. Kill no man. SPOILERS!

    Apologies for any typos, not proof read it.

    Synopsis

    Starts with a datapage of Arakko (mars) and Lost/Marinette telling us a fable.
    It’s a story about tribal people surviving and not surviving bad times. The villain is brother Tiger who kills and cannibalises two of the tribe. Their daughter flees. When the rains return and the tribes flourish, the daughter returns, wanting vengeance but the tribal leaders tell her that past sins have been forgotten and forgiven. The daughter does not agree.

    Kurt and David are trying to understand her story. Is Lost the daughter? Did Cortez kill her parents? Is it a commentary on Krakoa’s forgiving of past mutant crimes?

    David hangs a lantern on The Council throwing Sabertooth in The Pit for crimes done before the Kill No Man law was in place, asks Kurt if he wants to unite his mutants behind a show trial for Cortez sins. Kurt declines.

    Lost is living on Mars, she’s been relocated as the lower gravity makes her powers less effective (so no one is puking around her) and she can learn to control them.
    Kurt and Legion are no closer to giving her closure, David notes that she is much more articulate when telling her story.

    At this point, Olympus Mons (biggest volcano in the solar system) starts to go off and, as seen in the preview, Dust comes through the gate. She’s there to deal with the dust clouds brought up by aresforming Mars. She’s spoken to the Arrako mutants, they just consider the dust storms as another challenge.

    Leaving Lost and Dust on Mars/Arakko, Kurt and Legion (with, as always the Xorn brothers in tow) head through the gate.

    Kurt has gone to New York where Fabian Cortez is entertaining himself.
    He’s in Central Park by the Krakoa gate and he’s brought the damaged Gorgon with him.
    Cortez is boosting Gorgon’s psi powers so he can feel the hatred in the crowd of humans who have gathered around him, Cortez is betting that he will tip over and rip his mask off, turning the onlookers to stone. Cortez really is a piece of ****.

    We get a datapage from Dr Nemesis, confirming, Cortez is a piece of ****.

    Legion and Charles meet in the Green Lagoon.
    Charles gives his son a gate seed (I thought the gates grew from little seedlings?) and they discuss their relationship, or lack thereof.
    In the background, the mutants in the Green Lagoon are getting angry.
    We find out what the Xorn brothers are there for. It’s an excellent page. Couple of pages.
    Charles does something stupid, trying to take the name of their enemy from Legion’s mind against his will. Chuck really is an overconfident idiot at times.

    This triggers Onslaught to manifest in Charles and for all the mutants in the bar to attack each other.

    David asks the Xorn brothers to do their thing. Oooh.
    Well, let’s just say that the The Five are going to be busy for a few days...

    Meanwhile, in NewYork, Cortez is still torturing Gorgon by amplifying his telepathy. But he’s currently blocking Gorgon’s eyes, so he’s not currently turning anyone to stone. Yet. The citizens of New York are in immanent danger, even though they don’t realise it.
    Cortez presents Kurt with three options, Kurt can kill Cortez to stop him, he can kill Gorgon to,stop him or he can go stand in front of Gorgon and become (briefly) a martyr.

    Cortez wants Gorgon to kill the flatscans, he wants to ignite a human/mutant war.

    The crowd has attracted an ice cream man, they are still watching Gorgon suffer and their hatred is feeding his pain.

    Kurt, being Kurt, has a non-violent solution.
    He performs a pratfalls into the ice cream cart, amusing and entertaining the crowd of humans.
    The change in atmosphere has an immediate effect of Gorgon, overwhelming him with happiness.
    Kurt drags Cortez away, leaving the blissed out Gorgon in New York (is that wise?) and tells he he’s going to engage in some meaningful conversation.

    Scene cuts to Lost on Mars. Is that who Kurt is taking him to?

    Legion and the Xorn brothers are also on Mars, Legion absorbs the gate seed, he’s using his body to make a gate that Onslaught can’t breach, he calls it the Temple Gate.

  2. #2

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    For me this is the worst x-book i read this era hands down.

    -somehow legion is the only righteous one here because he has the two xorns ready to take his head off when he steps out of line. "puleahse" if that was the case they would have taken it off when he came up with the idea to send onslaught to a planet inhabitting millions of mutants. A planet he just basically sent lost to because though krakoa is for all mutants, not all mutants like throwing up.

    -David kills everybody, everybody in this book with the help of Xorn but hold on they are the good guys because the writers said they are. You will not recognize a single character in this book from this era, or any era they were in because they are written to fit exactly whatever the plot wants.

    -Nightcrawler goes from looking like a jerk, exiling Lost through the rejects gate, to looking boredline evil as he watches what he doesn't know is a pretending gorgon in a scene that looks like he is being stoned. To looking like a absolute FOOL when he is joisting around and falls into some icecream as though he was back at the circus. To utterly incompetent as he finds out goron and Cortez no less were teaching him a lesson.

    If you want stories that make no sense. Pocket continuity that ignores what happened just issues before. And pretentious characters who make everyone else look uttely incomeptent then look no futher than Way of X#4.

    Oh and you know how this book gives no one the benefit of the doubt, well we are suppose to assume that legion and the xorn bros are in the right and the only ones seemingly not affected by onslaught.

    And those are just a few of the problems here. I didn't even go over the terraforming thing. 1/10 from me. I wish i had a physical copy so it could find it's Way to the Trash Can.

    Edit: After reading above he says every devil needs a temple so i assume he is creating a place for onslaught not to keep him out.
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  3. #3
    Astonishing Member Su_Whisterfield's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jwatson View Post

    Edit: After reading above he says every devil needs a temple so i assume he is creating a place for onslaught not to keep him out.
    Legion says “what mutants need is a place where the devil can’t whisper in their ear”

  4. #4
    Y'know. Pav's Avatar
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    I love this series. Like District X before it, we gain a glimpse into nuanced mutant interaction as a society rather than simply a superhero team. It's my favorite type of X-book.

    Really interested in where all the plots are going. Will a discussion between Cortez and Lost help Kurt establish his mutant philosophy? Did David really just shove a Krakoa seed into his own mind? Will mutants be able to teleport into his mind palace? If so, will they be able to interact with other personalities? I miss Tyrannix the Abominoid!

    Also very stoked to see the Xorn Bros take a more active role. I hope that continues -- they're fascinating characters, as are so many others being given the spotlight by Spurrier.

    -Pav, who is glad the plot is moving forward quickly...
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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Su_Whisterfield View Post
    Legion says “what mutants need is a place where the devil can’t whisper in their ear”
    Interesting wording. It can either mean a place where he can't reach them or one where everyone can see him, meaning they know when he tries to affect them.

  6. #6
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    Wait I'm confused. Lost isn't "exiled" to Planet Arrako she's just there to get a better grasp on her powers. She can return to the main island at anytime right?

  7. #7
    Astonishing Member Dante Milton's Avatar
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    This was good. Figuring out a work around to Lost's powers on Planet Arakko so that they can have an actual conversation and get some much needed backstory on her was clever. Looking forward to her getting the closure she deserves and seeing how Nightcrawler manages to accomplish that while respecting the absolution of a Krakoan fresh start. Cortez continues to be a character you love to hate, I do hope he gets some kind of comeuppance. It was good to see Kurt resolve the hostage situation with a non violent solution (although I'm not sure why he didn't just teleport Gorgon away?), very in character for him. I'm intrigued by Legion's "temple" and how it's supposed to keep Onslaught out. The Green Lagoon scene was brutal, but Legion did warn Xavier, no big surprise that Xavier assumed he knew best and subsequently endangered everybody. My only real disappointment is that I wish Spurrier could address the problems of Krakoa and Planet Arrako without making the characters look a bit irresponsible and thoughtless. I'm appreciating Quinn's art more with every issue, but I don't much care for the coloring.

    Quote Originally Posted by loke13 View Post
    She can return to the main island at anytime right?
    That was my interpretation, yes.
    Last edited by Dante Milton; 07-14-2021 at 09:58 AM.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by loke13 View Post
    Wait I'm confused. Lost isn't "exiled" to Planet Arrako she's just there to get a better grasp on her powers. She can return to the main island at anytime right?
    Then why compare it to sabretooth being exiled within krakoa. And the gate was literally called the "outcast gate"
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  9. #9
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    I think the reference to Sabretooth was brought up due to Cortez not Lost

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by jwatson View Post
    Then why compare it to sabretooth being exiled within krakoa. And the gate was literally called the "outcast gate"
    They were comparing Creed being in jail for the **** he did before the laws were made with Cortez who broke laws before they were made yet is free and arguably more of a dick.

    Outcast gate is the name of the gate. There over the top with names.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by jwatson View Post
    Then why compare it to sabretooth being exiled within krakoa. And the gate was literally called the "outcast gate"
    No idea but regardless the reason why she's on planet Arrako is to better hone her abilities. And it doesn't seem like anything stopping her from floating right back through the gate regardless of what it's named right?

  12. #12
    Astonishing Member Dante Milton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jwatson View Post
    Then why compare it to sabretooth being exiled within krakoa. And the gate was literally called the "outcast gate"
    Sabretooth was mentioned in reference to Cortez. Legion is saying that even though Cortez broke the law before the formation of Krakoa, like Sabretooth technically did, he should be punished similarly. The Outcast Gate was named such by Gerry Duggan in Planet Sized, probably as reference to the Arraki.

  13. #13
    Astonishing Member Kingdom X's Avatar
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    Things I don’t like: There is a bit of unnecessary edge in this book to justify the plot. The preview thread already did a deep dive into the stuff with Dust and everyone in the bar getting obliterated was a bit much for me. Also dumping Lost on Mars was dumb. I know somebody can take the time to train her or at least limit her powers.

    Things I do like: The much needed exploration of Krakoan concepts. I like that we finally got to see the implications of the clean-slate and how that does a disservice to the victims of the villains who just get to walk around free now.

  14. #14
    Out Fighting for Peace! AJpyro's Avatar
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    So my take:

    -Really get tired of kurt being on the backfood of all these problem. At the very least he makes a thrid option to Fabian's bullcrap and reminds us that the guy is a wimp.

    -Soorya's grumbling about the volcanoes and such just feels like its trying to find something to complain about. Hopefully she has a more substantial appearance before the end.

    -Charles Xavier does have empathy. He like any other man, is flawed and prone to self destructive pride. I get that David has many reasons to say this, as others, but its not true.

    -Also Fabian's little test is stupid. Isn't there someone in charge of recently messed up resurrections? How was he able to just stroll out with Gorgon?! A former Captain General?

    -I did like Lost's story and the implications of it all. And the mention of Sabertooth's imprisonment. I don't care about Sabertooth but the mutants, especially those still evil, should really be thinking about it.

    -USing a seed and building a place to ward off Onslaught? Good call. Guess it needed the seed to happen and Charles was reluctant to hand one over. I don't know much about actual Zorn and Xorn so would them hanging around David to kill him if needed in character?

    So 3/5. Not bad but not good.
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  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by jwatson View Post
    Then why compare it to sabretooth being exiled within krakoa. And the gate was literally called the "outcast gate"
    Perhaps it's more about the idea of putting problems away where they can't bother them anymore in their grand plans, rather than actualy adressing them right away or even admitting that there are problems in their self-proclaimed utopia.

    Out of sight, out of mind.

    In Sabertooth's case it was putting him in the pit where he is in stasis so they didn't need to bother about the moral problems of either having him around or killing him for good (because mutants are not allowed to be dead anymore).

    In Lost's case it's encouraging her to hang around on Mars (which means either desolation or being around the "foreign" Arrakii) instead of admitting openly that her powers are a problems for others and creating an environment on Krakoa where she can handle it better or give her a device ala Surge that allows her to do so. Because that would mean to admit that mutants can't openly use their powers in the presence of others all the time, or that mutant powers in general aren't a 100% good thing for everyone.

    While we are at Mars, the Arrakii fit this whole theme aswell. As the X-men simply put them on Mars where they aren't a direct problem anymore for the moment, rather than having to deal with the fact that there are mutants who are socialy and culturaly not suited to be on Earth between normal humans and the modern mutants of Krakoa (who are culturaly shaped by the normal human cultures).

    That's also likely why the "outcast gate" is named that way. Since the Arrakii are outcasts from Earth for not fitting into the geo-political situation the leader of Krakoa are trying to play.

    And then there is whole situation with Gorgon, which shows that the problem of his mind being scrambled by the events of Ten of Swords has not been adressed and in seemingly the same "it will all work out in the end" mentality as mentioned above they not only let him walk around openly, but also unsupervised that someone like Cortez could misuse him for something like what was shown this issue.

    Since apparently just like prisons there are no mental hospitals on Krakoa either, even when they have people who clearly might require being supervised or suffering from mental problems, because that might require to admit that there is a problem.

    And then there is Cortez himself who is allowed to roam free and plan such terrible acts as long as he didn't commit the act, because of both the the limited scope of their laws and also because it would require to admit that some mutants can't change their behaviour and ideologies regardless of how much second chances are granted.

    So that's the theme i'm seeing here. That the utopia can't be questioned, that the utopia is perfect and imperfections are put away or turned a blind eye to rather than adressed. Because Xavier and Moira have this big plan and everything else to achieve it is secondary, even though it gnaws on their foundation and leads to people being mentaly or physical harmed.
    Last edited by Grunty; 07-14-2021 at 10:25 AM.

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