X-Men #17 - Review/Spoilers

[Aeon]

Because of him being inhumanly treated, Caliban should be put into the main team. I loved him with Storm’s X-Men team and he would be a nice diversion from the fitness Model members.

[Devaishwarya]

He himself wasn't treated inhumanely. Forge used his DNA and that of others to create a suit. Granted...he didn't outright ask him face to face if it was okies to do so but it's not as though Caliban himself was hurt emotionally, mentally or physically because of the suit.

[Vegeta]

Personally, I thought Forge's Caliban skin suit was horrific. That's some sicko "Leatherface" style thinking. Then he kills it with a flame thrower.

[Devaishwarya]

Well...He couldn't just hang it up in his closet. That would have been twisted.
Logically he had to get rid of it somehow so that it wouldn't fall into wrong hands once it's served its purpose.
And as macabre as it was it was also quite ingenious.

[dkrook]

No thank you. The Monet thing is long passed.

It was something sexpest Ellis fabricated to deepen a cheap death.

Agreed, personally Everett should have been with Jubilee anyway. Let's see Older Laura and Everett work things out minus x-23 and Monet. Besides we have seen no f's given by Monet when she was getting her bang on with other dudes. I got my popcorn ready and waiting to see if all the haters talking about how much older Everett was to X-23 2.0, and how that was a main reason they shouldn't be together. Is that same energy here for Old Lady Laura being much older than Synch..!

[Ambaryerno]

Agreed, personally Everett should have been with Jubilee anyway. Let's see Older Laura and Everett work things out minus x-23 and Monet. Besides we have seen no f's given by Monet when she was getting her bang on with other dudes. I got my popcorn ready and waiting to see if all the haters talking about how much older Everett was to X-23 2.0, and how that was a main reason they shouldn't be together. Is that same energy here for Old Lady Laura being much older than Synch..!

It was never about the age difference. It was about how Laura was used as a prop for his development in the vault, got fridged to give him angst, and then after her resurrection he became her entire reason for being on the book, at the expense of all her other history.

[dkrook]

It was never about the age difference. It was about how Laura was used as a prop for his development in the vault, got fridged to give him angst, and then after her resurrection he became her entire reason for being on the book, at the expense of all her other history.

I hear what you're saying and I would only suggest that there are so many instances where a character get's highlight and due to the fact they're interacting with others, those other characters can be used to so effect. If X-23 happens to be one of your favorites, I get it. Matter of Everett was cheaply and irrationally killed off to further impact other peers. I also understand there's a flip side and that Synch fans liked the concept and narrative of him having a relationship. Execution may have been flawed, yes but its not a perfect science.

[Devaishwarya]

As a Synch fan...it really wasn't a relationship at all in X-Men because he didn't tell her how he actually felt and why (because of what transpired in the vault.) And ultimately chose to not do so, at all. X-23 wasn't there just to prop him up (though I could see how it might be perceived in that context by the X-23 fans, considering Duggan didn't do anything significant with her character otherwise.)

[loke13]

As a Synch fan...it really wasn't a relationship at all in X-Men because he didn't tell her how he actually felt and why (because of what transpired in the vault.) And ultimately chose to not do so, at all. X-23 wasn't there just to prop him up (though I could see how it might be perceived in that context by the X-23 fans, considering Duggan didn't do anything significant with her character otherwise.)

Yeah kind of confused how she was used to prop Synch up myself.

[Rnap22]

So did Darwin come back with Forge or did Darwin maybe give Forge some of his knowledge to be downloaded? Or did Seraphina breaking his containment helmet let time flow normally? Forge is a lot more gray when he is talking to Caliban at the Lagoon at the end of the issue.

[Grunty]

What bothers me about the whole Caliban thing, is that it feels emblematic of a general trend in the current status quo and how writers use it, by reducing most mutant characters to functions via their powers.
"Come here! Do that with your powers! Now back into the backround!"

While this could always happen in the past too, it seems to me that having basicly everyone gathered in the same spot and practically having no personal agency or occupation anymore, which might make them unavailable or require explanation for their usage, means that the writers can just draw, use and discard them like Magic the Gathering cards. All while having that convinient explanation of everyone sitting around doing nothing because of their utopic techno-organic island nation.

Anyone who isn't on a team, will most of the time only appear so their powers can be used by the main characters and then they are kicked back to limbo or pointless backround appearances.

Which ironicaly also seems to have been by design of the creator of the current situation, looking at the whole "Mutant Circuit" concept and how it feels like a hint that mutants are on a dark path towards self machination.

And now here Caliban was even further reduced as character and to a degree person. Because there was no need to have him involved personaly anymore, because Forge could just make a machine out of his DNA which fullfilled the same function.

Of course as mentioned above, it's potential intentional, by showcasing a slow decline towards Bene Tleilax type of thinking among the mutants. After all, it's not like normal humans have the monopoly of potentialy becoming "post humans". But if it's not then it just reinforces some troublesome character usage in the current X-office.

[dkrook]

Yeah kind of confused how she was used to prop Synch up myself.

I think some people just used that as a cover for disdain at bm and ww relationship. I'm sure a few have a preset idealized vision of who X-23 should be with, and Everett just doesn't make the cut.

[skyvolt2000]

Yeah kind of confused how she was used to prop Synch up myself.

When you have a character that in the past has seen usage in their own solo or a team book and then they get into another book and barely get used. UNTIL another character arrives and suddenly they only get used when around that other character for a particular plot or reason.

It's can be this...

considering Duggan didn't do anything significant with her character otherwise.)

Or this...

I think some people just used that as a cover for disdain at bm and ww relationship.

Or a combination of both.

More X-23 fans will say it's the first point.

While other will say it's the later. With one group being those who don't read the books. Another that has issues with black male doing anything in comics. See Black Panther comic where he has been used as a prop for others for the past 7 years. Yet it gets defend to no end.

I think this falls on more of issues with the writer versus issues with Synch.

At worst this should be used to X-23's advantage-her fans can point people to all her books where she does more for anyone that thinks she is a prop for Synch. She got material to counter it while if the roles were reverse-Synch doesn't as it's been awhile since GEN x trades have been out and that book is pretty much all he has.

[pkingdom]

I'm in the camp of not liking the romance. I only had a little idea of Synch before this, but after that issue he was essentially a completely new character, and Laura did almost nothing afterwards. Not to mention that it felt like her character history was largely ignored; she has a huge problem with being used and seen as a weapon but was literally used as one at several points and had no comment. Not to mention her issues and concerns with clones.

Frankly I was more interested in if they would finally confront the ethical problems of their little clone factory and how everyone is just copies of dead people and not actually 'resurrected'. Hell, thinking on it, I almost want to see Laura find out about what just happened with Caliban. Forge copied his DNA without his permission to use him as a disposable weapon, which is super vile the more I think about it. Getting half-informed permission ex poste facto doesn't help his case.

[CoCoBandz]

They're adorable. Reminded me of when Scott and Jean finally saw each other in Rosencanny(yuck).

There needs to be an unlimited book about their time in the vault. Just let some writer go crazy.