X-Men Red #9 - Review/Spoilers

[jwatson]

So i started smiling as soon as i knew i was about to read this and it got bigger when i saw the cover in my library and knew i was about to click. Then i was like i got to know i avoided all spoilers so i rushed through it without reading and then i was lik YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS! to quote X-treme Xmen # 1 "She sure knows how to make an entrance." Yes repeatedly and often and then i was like let me grap wordpad in case any thoughts pop while i go back and read. lol
"I believe commander brand was right..." I'm like damn she good. I need to go get me some wine but i don't have none but this read feels like it needs wine...ok so im back from the store.
"I just won't do it! i WON'T!!! unless i have to..." i love me some Xavier. lmao And for a second i think am i xavier and then i go know, while his reasoning is sound and logical it's still influencing someone else's free will directly and thus wrong imo. Also this made me think of what happened to Selene and the icky feeling kicked in. The end was also a double edged sword, i am liking ewing voice for xavier but i am also noticing he doesn't see jean as his peer, not truly. She is both a psychogist and an omega level telepath both things i would think one would want in this situation so why not call her in?
Xavier's powers are growing or that cerebro helmet is doing something. He watched Emma, confident he will succeed with Vulcan the telekinesis he ha show. It may be resurrections or something else but Xavier is definitely pushing his powers and consciously replicating and observing others.
Whoa the next few pages where action packed and history riddled. We still don't know where bishop baby is but we know Deathbird kid is out there somewhere and though vulcan said son i am hoping deathbird lied and her and Bishop daughter is thriving somewhere. And i really love me some Brand.
Not WizKID! Noooooooooo!
Cable team putting in the damn work!
eden! Noooooooooooooo not eden not the scarlet witch cover to the chest. Why you doing this to me Ewing, why do i love it.
Vulcan got to go. I don't care how many people he has killed as a character but his character is fundamentally a bully is what i can not forgive and it is a consistent character trait.
Still loving brand.
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat that Roberto twist, Caselli is on point i knew it was going to be GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD when we saw brand shock through the shades. lmao. Yasss!
Sunspot data page got me supped up i love how these analytical minds are showing the telepaths how it's done. This is chess!!! Sometimes it really is just all about the moral win. The best feeling kind. lol.
YAAAAAAAAAAAS queue first paragraph and that entrance. This was the good stuff. lol. Th of Xavier line took me out for a moment cause i was like are they hinting to mentallo being related to Xavier but i was able to work through it within the next few panels with the alluding to Xandra being in his mind. lol. And it really doesn't matter how Storm wraps this up, Sunspot was a diversion, she left during Immortal 9 and Vulcan came to her, she had plenty of time to prepare to wrap this up anyway she wanted as she would have been one of the first to be informed of Vulcan's pending resurrection. 12/10
My fave Pages
sheknowyoufire.jpg
butshetoldyousheahurricane.jpg

[mugen]

I really enjoyed this issue. Sunspot’s plan reveal was great. Not only is he powerful but his tactical thinking is great. Ewing has such a good grasp on Cable and his crew. I’m hoping they won’t have to kill Eden, and that they destroy Orbis’s a$$ (and his weird a$$ alien creations). I just hope we get enough panel time in the next issue for Cable to get a big finish and set him and his team up for running SWORD. With this arc wrapping up in #10 I get the feeling Brand is going to get exposed but escape before they can give her the beatdown she is well overdue for. I’m sure she will come back in a future arc though.

I am looking forward to the Vulcan vs Storm fight. I want a solo fight between them. There has been too much build up in the book for her to waste Uranos vs saving him for Orchis/Nimrod (or maybe Sinister).

Ewing/Casselli is Marvel gold! 10/10

Regarding abigail the preview of immortal x-men 10 spoils a bit what will happen in xmr 10 we see cable on krakoa with sinister take him to the council which means:

- that cable will be fine against stellaris just like ororo against vulcan and roberto against abigail

- cable has probably finally told qc the truth about abigail lol

- cable brings sinister lynched by the krakoans so that he is sent into the pit which will cause sin of sinister.

I don't see Abigail being arrested and sent to the pit at the same time as sinister, so yes it is sure that she will quietly flee the station without being arrested because cable will not have warned anyone when he has discovered his plans.

Abigail will have to flee because everyone will know the truth (mutant, shiar and kree/skrull) she can no longer hope to strengthen the sol system and the earth with the sword because no one will trust her anymore, and unless she is another ally that we do not know she will have no other choice but to go to the only idiot who does not know that she is manipulating them... orchis and become another ridiculous diabolical villain twirling mustache number 344 who wants revenge on the mutants for stopping him from protecting the sol system.
I hope I'm wrong but I have no illusions.

I find it hard to believe that orchis doesn't kill her because she won't have any more use for them but given the amount of stupidity in the plot of this series it wouldn't even surprise me, then it's not as if abigail was a mutant and orchis anti-mutant whose goal is the extermination of all mutans... she does not risk anything

[jwatson]

My one major criticism, and it has been bothering me since Uranus destroyed everything. Where is the tree that is Arrako. I been worrying and wondering this whole time if Arrako survived the destruction of the council with bated breath.

[Sutekh]

"I just won't do it! i WON'T!!! unless i have to..." i love me some Xavier. lmao

Xavier is just always wrong. Arrogantly, confidently, authoritatively *wrong.* It's kind of hilarious that he never fucking learns, either, and just keeps on thinking he knows what's best, when it all just keeps blowing up so spectacularly in his face. He's just utterly deluded about who he is.

Like Beast, without the body count and mustachio-twirling. (Or, Beast is a cartoon-cutout caricature of Xavier's 'father-knows-best, do what I say, not as I do' mentality. Which, now that I think of it, makes them and Abigail Brand all more or less the same personality-type, each convinced that only they are smart enough or hard enough to make the adult decisions and that the world would be so much better if everybody else just shut up and let them drive...)

Whoa the next few pages where action packed and history riddled. We still don't know where bishop baby is but we know Deathbird kid is out there somewhere and though vulcan said son i am hoping deathbird lied and her and Bishop daughter is thriving somewhere.

I noticed that Vulcan specifically asked about his *son,* and Deathbird replied 'the child' is fine. I have no idea if the child's gender was ever revealed, but it would be interesting if Vulcan just sort of assumes any kid of his is gonna be a manly man, and, not so much...

Not WizKID! Noooooooooo!

I don't think Taki is gonna be that easy to kill. Those dudes looked like giant robots, which makes them his huckleberries.

Eden! Noooooooooooooo not eden not the scarlet witch cover to the chest. Why you doing this to me Ewing, why do i love it.

This one has me concerned, not that he's gonna die, but that the nature of his powers is going to change and he's going to be just generic teleporter 125872 for awhile.

[BobbysWorld]

I noticed that Vulcan specifically asked about his *son,* and Deathbird replied 'the child' is fine. I have no idea if the child's gender was ever revealed, but it would be interesting if Vulcan just sort of assumes any kid of his is gonna be a manly man, and, not so much...

I did catch this too, and had the same thought! It did seem deliberate, and the child's gender hasn't been stated anywhere else so I could easily see Gabe just assuming 'oh obviously I had a son' and Deathbird was just like "hah! Misogynistic fool. Our daughter shall destroy you someday, mwahaha."

I'm paraphrasing, obviously.

But on the other hand, it could have just been a casual mixing of word choices when talking about the kid, and it really is a boy. I've long thought that the Child of the Sun who Omega Sentinel said used the Phoenix Spear to destroy the last of the Dominion Titans in the future, might actually be the child of Vulcan and Deathbird rather than Sunspot or Gabe himself, like a lot of people assumed. And pretty sure Omega Sentinel used he pronouns as well as the term Child of the Sun to describe that person.

[Jackraow21]

I wonder if there will be an oversized hardcover of this run, and also what issues it will contain? 1-10? Will it include the issues of Storm & The Brotherhood from Sins of Sinister too?

Either way, I’m buying it.

[Hi-Fi]

I wonder if there will be an oversized hardcover of this run, and also what issues it will contain? 1-10? Will it include the issues of Storm & The Brotherhood from Sins of Sinister too?

Either way, I’m buying it.

I hope it collects SWORD as well, since it's basically a continuation of that. This entire run deserves the Omnibus treatment.

[Wind Rider]

My one major criticism, and it has been bothering me since Uranus destroyed everything. Where is the tree that is Arrako. I been worrying and wondering this whole time if Arrako survived the destruction of the council with bated breath.

I’m noticing that too. At first ai didn’t think Arakko herself was killed bu the attack but not seeing her all this time is beginning to male me wonder. Plus, if she feeds off mutant energy like Krakoa…she may jave a hell of a meal coming her way if she is alive and in need of regenerative sustenance…

[Alex_Of_X]

I wonder if there will be an oversized hardcover of this run, and also what issues it will contain? 1-10? Will it include the issues of Storm & The Brotherhood from Sins of Sinister too?

Either way, I’m buying it.

Did S.W.O.R.D. get a HC? Could be bundled with X-Red for like a sweet 25-issue book

[Kingdom X]

I’m noticing that too. At first ai didn’t think Arakko herself was killed bu the attack but not seeing her all this time is beginning to male me wonder. Plus, if she feeds off mutant energy like Krakoa…she may jave a hell of a meal coming her way if she is alive and in need of regenerative sustenance…

Y’all are reminding that Duggan set up that Sunfire was going to save Redroot from Otherworld so that they communicate w/ Arakko again at least a year ago. Really seems like Duggan didn’t feel like writing a full arc for him and was like… “Tini or Al, one of y’all got it.”

[Krakoa]

Y’all are reminding that Duggan set up that Sunfire was going to save Redroot from Otherworld so that they communicate w/ Arakko again at least a year ago. Really seems like Duggan didn’t feel like writing a full arc for him and was like… “Tini or Al, one of y’all got it.”

That was in March, so way less than a year ago.

I’m still expecting Duggan to follow up on this, tbh, in X-Men itself. Maybe after the Brood story.

[Sutekh]

I’m noticing that too. At first ai didn’t think Arakko herself was killed bu the attack but not seeing her all this time is beginning to male me wonder. Plus, if she feeds off mutant energy like Krakoa…she may jave a hell of a meal coming her way if she is alive and in need of regenerative sustenance…

Now *that* is a question I've been burning to get answered. Arakko most likely feeds off of mutant life-force the same way as Krakoa, and the Arakki are very much *not* like the mutants of Earth who have arranged a solution involving Krakoa feeling off a tiny percentage of their shared psychic energy instead of killing a couple mutants a year to survive, and it would be entirely in-character for the Arakki to pick a few randos who are guilty of some heinous crimes each year and straight-up feed them to Arakko...

These are the sorts of differences that would totally make sense, and help define both cultures by showing how they differ.

[Jackraow21]

Did S.W.O.R.D. get a HC? Could be bundled with X-Red for like a sweet 25-issue book

That could be great actually! The first 11 issues of S.W.O.R.D., plus Cable: Reloaded and then the first 10 issues of X-men Red.

[Dante Milton]

My one major criticism, and it has been bothering me since Uranus destroyed everything. Where is the tree that is Arrako. I been worrying and wondering this whole time if Arrako survived the destruction of the council with bated breath.

In issue 6, Magneto mentions that the giant ape machine he is fighting was sent by Uranos to specifically kill Arakko Prime, he and Storm defeat it, so I would say that Arakko lives it just hasn't regrown it's "face".

Y’all are reminding that Duggan set up that Sunfire was going to save Redroot from Otherworld so that they communicate w/ Arakko again at least a year ago. Really seems like Duggan didn’t feel like writing a full arc for him and was like… “Tini or Al, one of y’all got it.”

During my reread I was reminded of a scene between Storm and I think it was Isca where Storm brought up the topic of rescuing Redroot and Isca said that to do so would be an insult to Redroot, and if she is going to escape it is up to her to free herself. So I think that Sunfire story may have been shelved. Edit: But then, in more recent issues of Red we see Arakki culture is perhaps changing it's views on receiving help, so maybe not?

[BobbysWorld]

During my reread I was reminded of a scene between Storm and I think it was Isca where Storm brought up the topic of rescuing Redroot and Isca said that to do so would be an insult to Redroot, and if she is going to escape it is up to her to free herself. So I think that Sunfire story may have been shelved.

The scene with Sunfire showing Storm the tree Arakko grew with Redroot’s face happened after that though and seemed to pretty clearly imply that no matter what Isca and others thought, Arakko itself disagreed. I think it’s still in the works we just haven’t gotten to it yet. As Krakoa pointed out, that plot with Sunfire was only teased back in March, and we’ve seen plots in this era take way longer than that to come to fruition between stuff like the Vault, the setup with Vulcan and what was going on with him back in X-Men #10 when Hickman was on that title, the stuff with Maddy at the end of Hellions which took awhile before we saw Ayala pick her up next, the Lourdes plot line in Marauders, let alone the stuff with the mysterium box….I think Redroot’s rescue is still coming, but maybe after Sins of Sinister wraps.