Academy X: New X-Men Appreciation 2022

[Starfish]

I miss the Hellion and Mercury who wouldn't hesitate to speak their mind about what they thought of their leaders and how they ran things.



I can't imagine they would have no opinion on the shady Council of oligarchs ruling over mutantkind without any accountability, while people they know, such as Nature Girl and Oya, get disappeared into the hole for acting out of line.

[mugiwara]

I can't imagine they would have no opinion on the shady Council of oligarchs ruling over mutantkind without any accountability, while people they know, such as Nature Girl and Oya, get disappeared into the hole for acting out of line.

Unfortunately, they're not allowed to have agenda anymore. Even in the rare books where they appear, they don't question anything.

Anole is often featured in New Mutants, and we didn't even get his reaction to his best friend's death. He was one of the most traumatized kids after M-day and then Messiah Complex. I'd expect him to have some thoughts about the fact that it's again his generation who has to die.

And there is also the Blindfold case. Nobody asked why she wasn't coming back. I know she was a bit of a loner, but there should have been some solidarity between the post M-day survivors.

[Ambaryerno]

Unfortunately, they're not allowed to have agenda anymore. Even in the rare books where they appear, they don't question anything.

Anole is often featured in New Mutants, and we didn't even get his reaction to his best friend's death. He was one of the most traumatized kids after M-day and then Messiah Complex. I'd expect him to have some thoughts about the fact that it's again his generation who has to die.

And there is also the Blindfold case. Nobody asked why she wasn't coming back. I know she was a bit of a loner, but there should have been some solidarity between the post M-day survivors.

Don't forget Surge's epic telling-off of Xavier, and now she's just another rank and file without her fire.

[Confuzzled]

Their Tumblr has a lot of behind the scenes details. A few highlights include:

• Luna DePaula was going to be a long-term romantic interest for Karma, and would have a story about her unsupportive parents, and how she changed her name in honor of the woman who took her in when her parents kicked her out.
• They wanted to do minis for all the squads, not just Hellions. They weren't fully realized yet, but the Paragons would have gone to Nova Roma, and DJ would fall in love with a girl. (This one seems to have been deleted or something because I can't find it.) Alpha Squadron would have been the ones to find Northstar's body, and would go up against Hydra and the Hand. Corsairs would go into space.
• Kingmaker would come back for revenge.
• They toyed with James Keller being a "passing" mutant who hid his powers.
• Julian/Sofia were envisioned as endgame, while Noriko/Prodigy might not have lasted beyond their teen years.
• Julian would get the Phoenix Force, and would eventually take the codename Scion.
• Laurie's father was a mutant supremacist, and would have a story where he manipulated a bunch of students onto his side.
• This arc would be "huge" for Laurie and would lead to a big confrontation between them, and she would have been the one to save the day against him. She'd finally stop being afraid of her powers, and would learn to use her powers strategically.
• Also, she and Cecily would have an adventure together.
• Josh would join Garrison's side, but Kevin would talk him out of it and save him.
• As the kids go out into the field, David would be against it and pushed for everyone to stay students, rather than active heroes. Eventually he was gonna be “the guy in the Chair” for the kids who did adventure, but whenever he would get on the field, he'd be "like a machine:" very precise, and hard to hit.
• For Noriko, Wallflower's dad would help her learn to control her powers so she wouldn't need her Gauntlets most of the time. This would make her blind to his bad side. But she would be instrumental in convincing others to turn against him once she realizes what's up, taking on something of a leadership role.
• Her infamous fight with Dust would have lead to more development, with them eventually becoming good friends.
• Kevin and Cecily would get together.
• Kevin would have learned to kill specific cells and cause slower decay, or paralyze limbs (albeit Josh would still be able to heal the damage.) So he would be able to cause pain without killing, and possibly even cure cancer.
• Tag backstory, mentioned below.

Speaking of their Tumblr, we got some juicy Tag lore!

• He's from Puerto Rico and was always treated like an immigrant by others, despite being an American citizen. He felt somewhere in between.
• He from a broken or neglectful home.
• Because of the above points, he always didn't have a good sense of who he was.
• The idea was that he had no real sense of family, and possibly no sense of identity outside of his friends and being an Xavier student.
• "One of the reasons we had Brian be with Cessily in the aftermath scenes of the final issue of the Hellions mini was to subtly set up that his situation and hers were similar."
• Julian would notice Brian's issues and try to do something about it. This would have lead to Brian reconnecting with his parents, whom he hadn’t been home since coming to Xavier’s.
• This would all lead him towards figuring himself and his powers out.
• They weren't planning for Tag to fall in love with Julian, but it was "100% on [their] list of possibilities."

Like we needed more reasons to hate M-Day.

@Rift The DJ question is separate from the one where they talk about their plans for the minis for Paragons and Alpha Squadron.

The most out of left-field reveal here was that Castle's Molly Quinn was a Mercury fan back in the day.

[Fokken]

omg the the proposal for WITHER's powers???!! Wow. The idea of him applying his "kill" power toward acting like a painless chemotherapy?? Or to hinder decay? Target cells to paralyze? Wow that would've been such an incredible turn for poor broken Kevin.

I NEVER tire of hearing about Julian and Sofia intended as END GAME. I love that so much. They're so lovely.
Can't say I'm that enthused about the whole Phoenix of it all, but it didn't happen anyway so no sense in grumbling.

[mugiwara]

Talking about powers used with more precision, if X-writers wanted to do something with the NXM, Tag could be their secret weapon.

Imagine if he could tag unnanimate objects.
Or if he could make the tag work only on the people he chooses.

Boosted by Fabian Cortez, he could tag the whole Krakoa island with "repel" and make it affect, let's say... any Eternal.

[Fokken]

Talking about powers used with more precision, if X-writers wanted to do something with the NXM, Tag could be their secret weapon.

Imagine if he could tag unnanimate objects.
Or if he could make the tag work only on the people he chooses.

Boosted by Fabian Cortez, he could tag the whole Krakoa island with "repel" and make it affect, let's say... any Eternal.

His repulsion powers have always fascinated me. Like, what is it he's affecting? It's not fear based. Is it like mild hypnosis? Suggestion? And if so, how would it potentially expand? Is it emotional, like Wallflower, but not pheremonal?

Especially with the reveal about Kevin's "death touch" intentions, now my head is spinning with "HOW WAS TAG GOING TO BE EXPLORED??"

Would it work, as you suggested as a protective barrier of sorts for any environment? Like, once tagged, the intended target(s) are simply compelled to avoid it? Or have no interest in it? Could it also evolve into a similar affect as "Forget me Not" and expand to going unnoticed by someone standing right next to you. The OMMITANCE/repulsion/rejection of any intended target?

[Paleo_Rage]

His repulsion powers have always fascinated me. Like, what is it he's affecting? It's not fear based. Is it like mild hypnosis? Suggestion? And if so, how would it potentially expand? Is it emotional, like Wallflower, but not pheremonal?

Especially with the reveal about Kevin's "death touch" intentions, now my head is spinning with "HOW WAS TAG GOING TO BE EXPLORED??"

Would it work, as you suggested as a protective barrier of sorts for any environment? Like, once tagged, the intended target(s) are simply compelled to avoid it? Or have no interest in it? Could it also evolve into a similar affect as "Forget me Not" and expand to going unnoticed by someone standing right next to you. The OMMITANCE/repulsion/rejection of any intended target?

For me Tag if pushed is low key version of reality manipulation through command inducement based on will power.. like giving tag the ability to command thing vis psionic commands make the most sense a hybrid telepathic/telekinetic ability.

I would want tag to be able to make things stop, go away from him, and if pushed explode , heal, etc ..like there is so much you could do with Tag that makes his power viable for a team but not to OP.

[mugiwara]

Could it also evolve into a similar affect as "Forget me Not" and expand to going unnoticed by someone standing right next to you. The OMMITANCE/repulsion/rejection of any intended target?

MCU Brian Cruz is the reason nobody knows about mutants. He tagged them all.

[Sutekh]

For me Tag if pushed is low key version of reality manipulation through command inducement based on will power.. like giving tag the ability to command thing vis psionic commands make the most sense a hybrid telepathic/telekinetic ability.

I would want tag to be able to make things stop, go away from him, and if pushed explode , heal, etc ..like there is so much you could do with Tag that makes his power viable for a team but not to OP.

I have always thought of Tag's power as being primarily telepathic, like one of the many other mutants whose power is 'a tiny subset of telepathy' (Cypher, Mirage, Karma, Prodigy, etc.).

But it would be quite interesting if it also had a telekinetic component, and something he tagged could physically repel people, objects (such as bullets!), robots, etc. (or attract same), and / or if he could select who and what exactly he was repelling or attracting. ("I'm repelling gravity, to fly." "I'm attracting the light striking my body, rendering me invisible, since no light can bounce off of me." "We're safe from their guns, all the bullets coming within 10 meters of us will be attracted to that rock I tagged. Just don't get between any gunmen and that rock...")

[Rift]

I think Tag can choose who to tag, since he and his friends don't seem to be affected when he activates his powers, even when they're close by.

But I've been thinking about how he could expand his powers, too. It's hard to determine his limits and abilities when we don't know the basis of his powers. But imagine if he could be very specific with what he tags, and not have to touch it. IIRC in an AU, Tag made a man fear himself and commit suicide. He could make people fear their own body parts and try to cut their limbs off. Or, if you want to be less morbid and more abstract, maybe he could make people fear aspects of their personality and force them to change their behavior. Suddenly, criminals are afraid of committing crimes, alcoholics are afraid of alcohol, and mutant hate groups are repulsed by their own prejudices.

I'd say that this would make him too broken to be used, but it's not like he's being used anyway.

[Kingdom X]

I think Tag can choose who to tag, since he and his friends don't seem to be affected when he activates his powers, even when they're close by.

But I've been thinking about how he could expand his powers, too. It's hard to determine his limits and abilities when we don't know the basis of his powers. But imagine if he could be very specific with what he tags, and not have to touch it. IIRC in an AU, Tag made a man fear himself and commit suicide. He could make people fear their own body parts and try to cut their limbs off. Or, if you want to be less morbid and more abstract, maybe he could make people fear aspects of their personality and force them to change their behavior. Suddenly, criminals are afraid of committing crimes, alcoholics are afraid of alcohol, and mutant hate groups are repulsed by their own prejudices.

I'd say that this would make him too broken to be used, but it's not like he's being used anyway.

He did, but I don't think it was intentional. He expected him to get freaked out, but then during the freak out he ended up jumping out the window.

[Ulysian_Thracs]

I miss the Hellion and Mercury who wouldn't hesitate to speak their mind about what they thought of their leaders and how they ran things.

I can't imagine they would have no opinion on the shady Council of oligarchs ruling over mutantkind without any accountability, while people they know, such as Nature Girl and Oya, get disappeared into the hole for acting out of line.

This is one of my two main gripes about the whole X-Men line for years now. Anything that doesn't show the dozen characters the editors have as their personal pets in a good light is blasphemous and cannot see the light of day.

PS- My other major gripe is a symptom of the same cause...that the writers are so in love with the same dozen characters that they can’t bring themselves to actually hurt or even challenge them. It’s like mutants in general and these dozen characters in particular have come to represent something that makes it somehow abhorrent to harm them or cause them discomfort, so they get these second-rate villains like MODOCK on a cruise ship or Jeanie soloing some Nightmare guy without breaking a sweat.
Even Judgement Day, which was supposed to be a real battle, turned out to be a complete clown show. I’ll download and skim it because I do want to see if my favorite characters get background panel time, but to me this kind of one-sided beat down with no challenge just isn’t exciting to read.

This whole big bad threat boiled down to:
1. Sneak attack was completely pointless.
2. Uranos was completely pointless.
3. Hexes are taken down one after other with one-shot by various mutants and are completely pointless.
4. Celestial is some kind of big bad that’s gonna wipe out everyone? Come on…

I hate this kind of writing because there were such great stories to tell in a war between two equally strong sides with such divergent backgrounds and values fighting for what they genuinely believe to be right.

Don't forget Surge's epic telling-off of Xavier, and now she's just another rank and file without her fire.

I personally think this has all been something telepathic Xavier has been doing to large or small degrees since Surge told him off.

“Stupid children! They won’t just shut up and get my dream? Well, I’ll just go into their heads and ‘get it’ for them…”

It has been a long time since I've seen Xavier as the 'good guy'. I've always found him to be just a subtler version of Magneto (Same coin, different sides), which makes sense because his power is much subtler.

His repulsion powers have always fascinated me. Like, what is it he's affecting? It's not fear based. Is it like mild hypnosis? Suggestion? And if so, how would it potentially expand? Is it emotional, like Wallflower, but not pheremonal?

Especially with the reveal about Kevin's "death touch" intentions, now my head is spinning with "HOW WAS TAG GOING TO BE EXPLORED??"
Would it work, as you suggested as a protective barrier of sorts for any environment? Like, once tagged, the intended target(s) are simply compelled to avoid it? Or have no interest in it? Could it also evolve into a similar affect as "Forget me Not" and expand to going unnoticed by someone standing right next to you. The OMMITANCE/repulsion/rejection of any intended target?

I have always thought of Tag's power as being primarily telepathic, like one of the many other mutants whose power is 'a tiny subset of telepathy' (Cypher, Mirage, Karma, Prodigy, etc.).
But it would be quite interesting if it also had a telekinetic component, and something he tagged could physically repel people, objects (such as bullets!), robots, etc. (or attract same), and / or if he could select who and what exactly he was repelling or attracting. ("I'm repelling gravity, to fly." "I'm attracting the light striking my body, rendering me invisible, since no light can bounce off of me." "We're safe from their guns, all the bullets coming within 10 meters of us will be attracted to that rock I tagged. Just don't get between any gunmen and that rock...")

The New X-Men yearbook says, ‘Telepathic ability to ‘Tag’ a person and make them it’.

[Milici]

The next arc of the Unilimited X-Men will focus on the losers of the last election.
bling.jpg

[Ulysian_Thracs]

The next arc of the Unilimited X-Men will focus on the losers of the last election.
bling.jpg

This sounds really good! I especially want to see Surge and Monet's vignettes. Just thinking about seeing these characters makes me wish for something like a StarTrek Lower Decks kind of serial for all the 'other' 735 mutants on Krakoa.