X-Men #12 Spoilers/Review Thread

[Kingdom X]

Liked the issue! I do feel like everyone’s “I’m going to or might leave now,” felt very inorganic. Like a year ago they said the team would change so now they have to do it even though this iteration of the team just started to feel like a unit and could have continued.

I do hope the X-Office has another book that they haven’t announced (I guess by Alyssa Wong?) because I feel like there are enough b-listers floating around to make something work.

[PyroFN]

This was far more interesting to me than anything in Hickman's run

It was definitely a step-up comparatively in characterization. Hickman was less character focused and more lore focused in his approach. Duggan, for the flaws of his pacing went, did give the characters a voice. The complexity was lost, but you could tell who these characters were in their dialogue to everyone. (With exception of Laura, who came off as female Logan in the beginning, only to get a bit more nuance near the end of the teams cycle)

[Jackraow21]

Liked the issue! I do feel like everyone’s “I’m going to or might leave now,” felt very inorganic. Like a year ago they said the team would change so now they have to do it even though this iteration of the team just started to feel like a unit and could have continued.

I do hope the X-Office has another book that they haven’t announced (I guess by Alyssa Wong?) because I feel like there are enough b-listers floating around to make something work.

Agreed. And just adding them all to the other books will overcrowd some already crowded lineups. Thinking about Sunfire possibly joining X-men Red, for example. That book is already juggling a large cast and so I’d hate to have him shoe-horned in there too.

[PyroFN]

The cast should have been 4 members Jean Cyclops Synch and Laura, 12 issues of holding Rogue and Polaris hostage

*Sunfire silently watching in the shadows*

[Doom'nGloom]

RP were bound to get revealed at some point and I was all for it but still Scott basically leaked classified information to the press. I don't know whether Krakoa has more than the 3 laws it originally had but realistically Scott should stand trial for what he did regardless of why he did it.

[Kingdom X]

Agreed. And just adding them all to the other books will overcrowd some already crowded lineups. Thinking about Sunfire possibly joining X-men Red, for example. That book is already juggling a large cast and so I’d hate to have him shoe-horned in there too.

I had the same thought about joining current rosters. The rest of the teams are all full as heck. Gillen is balancing the full council. Ewing is balancing several competing factions of characters + all the Arrakki. KoX and Marauders each have 9 main cast members + supporting characters. LoX has a whole precinct to develop + the original characters Spurrier has introduced. The only book with space is X-Force and I don’t think any of these characters fit within Percy’s vision.

[Jackraow21]

I had the same thought about joining current rosters. The rest of the teams are all full as heck. Gillen is balancing the full council. Ewing is balancing several competing factions of characters + all the Arrakki. KoX and Marauders each have 9 main cast members + supporting characters. LoX has a whole precinct to develop + the original characters Spurrier has introduced. The only book with space is X-Force and I don’t think any of these characters fit within Percy’s vision.

X-Force needs an overhaul so badly tho… not just a cast shake up, but new writer too IMO. Its concept has so much potential that is being wasted.

Hmm… perhaps this is where Laura is going as Jordan White mentioned more “Snikt Family” action coming soon. Her running with X-Force under her old man is regressive in many ways, so it seems like precisely something Percy would do. Ha.

[Mercury]

While I have my criticisms of "Year One" of Duggan's X-Men, I'm reticent to lob them squarely at him. After all, for most of the year, he was tiptoeing around four major events (i.e., Williams' Trial of Magento, Hickman's Inferno, Percy's X Lives/X Deaths of Wolverine, and Gillen's upcoming Judgment Day). Who's to say Duggan wasn't somewhat limited to or bound by these ongoing stories? Nevertheless, I think the character development and teamwork could have used some tightening and embellishment, if that makes sense.

Ultimately, I had fun reading Duggan's first year on X-Men. He gave each character at least one big moment to shine, if not more, clued us in to their motivations, and introduced intriguing new villains and ongoing plotlines. Moreover, he kept the overall plot moving, and no issue was ever dull or uneventful. Lastly, as a Jean fan, I am pleased with what he did with her and has alluded to doing with her in the near future. He gradually reestablished her image, identity, and power, along with her skills, generosity, and effectiveness as a formidable leader.

[Devaishwarya]

At least you are honest.

Not certain. It could be hundreds. Could be more. But asking that what-if would be useless since Jean can’t do anything about that or know anything about that (at least not without a psychic scan from the possibility of maybe learning from the rich of what went on. Assuming there were any left from the past and not just a bunch of new rich aliens who didn’t get their chance to do any damage). It would be unhealthy and not even her fault to put that all on her shoulders. There is always a possibility that she and the X-Men could have done better, but that is a lesson she will have to learn for herself.

The pacing was not the best in my eyes either, but I have no clue how the planning goes behind the scenes to make any judgments about whether Duggan made the right calls for his story or not. I have my personal opinions on what Duggan could have done to make it flow better, but again, that would be doing so without the knowledge of how the behind the scenes work.

I agree. And my silly question was not at all a reflection of Jean's performance as an X-Man. Not in the least. I LOVED this book and this issue.

While we never know the goings-on behind the scenes...someone could have/should have pointed out to Duggan that while theoretically the HFG could occur annually, and a new X-Men team be appointed, also annually...having your main plot point stretch out for the duration of that year (in-universe, sliding time scale be damned!) isn't the most well-conceived.
If you really overthink it...which, admittedly, I am just to advocate devilishly...taking a whole year to find and beat Cordy makes the team look a tad incompetent, at least in comparison to previous eras and teams. Especially when, in the 12 issues that happened in-real-time, it seemed like very little occurred.

[Devaishwarya]

Liked the issue! I do feel like everyone’s “I’m going to or might leave now,” felt very inorganic. Like a year ago they said the team would change so now they have to do it even though this iteration of the team just started to feel like a unit and could have continued.

I do hope the X-Office has another book that they haven’t announced (I guess by Alyssa Wong?) because I feel like there are enough b-listers floating around to make something work.

Exactatiously.
It feels like Duggan backed himself into a corner with his "in-real-life yearly" premise. With the result being: This X-team and some individual members not having enough time to be properly developed and explored.

[Proxy]

Liked the issue! I do feel like everyone’s “I’m going to or might leave now,” felt very inorganic. Like a year ago they said the team would change so now they have to do it even though this iteration of the team just started to feel like a unit and could have continued.

I do hope the X-Office has another book that they haven’t announced (I guess by Alyssa Wong?) because I feel like there are enough b-listers floating around to make something work.

Wasn’t it explained at the hellfire gala that all members of the x-men would be chosen by the krakoan public each year. But three have just decided to stay on their own. So I guess they meant that the public vote only applies whenever someone leaves?

[Frontier]

I hope this is the beginning of the end of the resurrection protocols, at least in their current form.

X-Force needs an overhaul so badly tho… not just a cast shake up, but new writer too IMO. Its concept has so much potential that is being wasted.

Hmm… perhaps this is where Laura is going as Jordan White mentioned more “Snikt Family” action coming soon. Her running with X-Force under her old man is regressive in many ways, so it seems like precisely something Percy would do. Ha.

Yeah, I can't see Laura willingly going back to X-Force in any way unless they were, like, a non-lethal special ops team .

[Glio]

What Cyclops has done is not stupid at all. By exposing the truth now they control the narrative, instead of letting ORCHIS do it.

[BobbysWorld]

Yeah, I mean, the Orchis Unholy Trinity there towards the end were quite literally complaining about how now they couldn't catch mutantkind in a lie about resurrection. Whether or not the QC and Krakoans in general think Scott did the right thing, narratively speaking, its quite clear that Scott's call there was actually to mutants' benefit. The protocols were going to come out one way or another, Orchis was going to see to it. By doing it this way, Scott made the reveal an exclusive that was freely admitted to by mutants, ensuring it couldn't be spun as some kind of nefarious secret being hidden from humanity.

[CapCyke]

What Cyclops has done is not stupid at all. By exposing the truth now they control the narrative, instead of letting ORCHIS do it.

I think it's also to illustrate that he (and the X-Men) doesn't care about the Council anymore.