X-Men #20 - Review/Spoilers

[JB]

Really impressive. Lots of twists!

We open on Arakko, Broo sleeping in a hammock on the beach. Magik lifts his sunhat with her sword gently waking him up. "You up, Broo, bro?" She tells him that the Brood are rampaging and Jean wants to know what's wrong because with Broo as their monarch this shouldn't be happening. Broo says it's not possible for them to attack anyone with his consent. To demonstrate his control, he mentally orders his sleeping Brood bodyguards on the beach to get up and perform the Thriller dance. Illyana is joyously fascinated.



Jean asks how he's been sleeping. He confirms he's a little tired, saying he came to Arakko to study the people and he's been having nightmares. He's pretty sure it's the change of planets, his allergies and what not. Jean says she needs him to open up his mind to her.

Broo: What if I'd rather not?
Jean, telepathically: I wasn't asking.
(Oh boy)

Title page says "Broo, bro... she wasn't asking." lol

We get the preview pages, Iceman, Firestar, Talon, and Synch (utilizing Firestar's powers) fighting back the Brood as the planet's inhabitants rush to board a ship the X-Men have commandeered to escape. This distant planetoid is called "Refugee Rock", lost to the ages and never visited by the Nova Corps.

Cyclops is looking over his father who is unconscious and gravely injured. Scott promises Corsair that they'll get out of this alive and he'll make sure this never happens again. He fires up the engines as the last of the survivors rush onboard. Iceman tells Cyclops to punch it even if he doesn't get onboard. He can't be infected while he's in ice form. A flying Brood descends on him and stabs him in the gut. This just makes Bobby angry as he stabs it in the eye and ice spikes pop out of the Brood's head. He says Cyclops was right, they should have ended all of the Brood a long time ago. With everyone on board Talon says they need to take off. Iceman is forming a wall to block the Brood and though Synch says they're not leaving him behind, Iceman says to trust him. The door is closing and they lift off, Talon yelling out to Bobby that they'll be back for him. The door closes. A voice behind her says he appreciates the concern. She turns around and tiny Iceman is standing safely inside the ship, saying he'll grow once he gets access to more moisture. "Don't worry, it's totally normal for men to suffer from shrinkage in extreme cold."

They rescued as many as they could, the survivors hugging each other. Iceman tells Synch and Talon that they did nice work. Ev says they've had experience fighting while retreating. Talon is like "only half a millennium". I like her. Firestar is in the cockpit with Cyclops and asks how they're doing because the engines don't sound too great. Scott says the ship is a mess and wishes Forge was there because they could use him.

Out in the middle of space nowhere on Knowhere, Forge and Monet are tinkering with a machine Forge created. Monet asks if he's absolutely positive that "it" will only exist for a moment. Forge confirms. Monet is like okay because I don't want to die but if I do, I'd prefer not to take the rest of whatever universe we're stuck in with us.



We're now inside Broo's mind and get a cute panel of him and other students of the Jean Grey school. We then see Broo as the king of the Brood and we're reminded that the Brood need to feed and reproduce. But with Broo's leadership they now have a moral compass guiding their needs. We get a flashback of Broo ordering the Brood to "kill the slavers" as they invade a ship used for slavery. The Brood kill the slavers as told and the newly freed slaves hoist Broo in the air in celebration and thankfulness. "Yes you're free! And tell everyone it was Broo of the Brood who liberated you!" The Brood have been a force for good in the universe for the past few months thanks to King Broo.

Back on the physical plane Broo says the memory he just showed her of the slave ship is recent and not tampered with in the slightest. He's spent "every waking moment" trying to target folks worthy of a visit from the Brood. I love him. Magik says he's like the cosmic-horror Dexter. Jean says, "Yes, every waking moment... and what happens when you sleep Broo?" He says he doesn't know and that he hasn't been sleeping too well and... Jean gently touches his head and puts him sleep. Evil laughter suddenly encircles them.

Jean: Oh no. Not you!



Nightmare slaps Jean hard for their encounter at Halloween and binds Magik in glowing nightmare chains, saying he's going to make a fear she has, one she is too scared to give voice to, course through her veins. He tells Jean that he's been busy and has crept through the dreams of thousands of mutants on "your freak-show island". He considered sleepwalking Polaris into crashing every plane on Earth or disrupting the planet's core but those ideas didn't excite him. (Thank goodness, no more mind-controlled Polaris please.) Then he came upon Broo and learning he was in control of the Brood hivemind, well, that's the stuff of nightmares.

"As the Brood rampage across the stars, I'll make sure that the nightmares of every race are filled with visions of the true horror behind it all -- the so-called rulers of Sol are to blame for this new annihilation wave."

Broo says "NEVER! The X-Men will stop you!" Nightmare's demon horse kicks Broo in the face and Nightmare says he won't be stopped. He's directing multiple monarchs of the Brood and mentions how Carol and the team of mutants with her are currently in their clutches. And he says they would laugh if they knew what the X-Men were doing right now. Jean realizes he's somehow using the rescuing of that distant planetoid's inhabitants against them. Nightmare delightfully confirms saying their good hearts are so easy to manipulate. "So yes. The X-Men are working for me at the moment. Taking refugees that are ticking time bombs into new worlds for the Brood to conquer." Daaaaaamn. He also reveals that he's given the Brood the dream of conquest. Now that mutants have scattered their gates all over and Broo can use them, the Brood will be free to roam everywhere. Jean: "Oh god. We can't let these monsters have access to the gates."

A caption box below her reads, "You're not gonna believe the monsters that just came through a gate on Krakoa..."
It's from a new scene and this is Sage telepathically talking to Emma.
"... I need to alert the council, but I'm giving you a heads-up now, Emma" says Sage who is in front of her usual monitors on Krakoa. She tells Emma that a mutant has arrived to the island for the first time with her legally recognized husband. Emma is sparring with Kate on the beach and telepathically tells Sage to just welcome them, show them where the biome flowers are and the whole bit. Like why are you calling me, Kate is currently kicking my ass and I need to concentrate. Unless it's like Doctor Doom, what's the problem?

Behind Sage we see Typhoid Mary doing a cartwheel, holding a sword. "Wheee! I'm Mary, and I like you" as she practically nuzzles Sage from behind. Sage tells Emma that it's not Doom but he might have been preferable. Mary kisses Sage on the cheek and says she already loves it there and asks if she and her husband will be living in a tree too. Sage looks up at her husband who says, "Tell Emma Frost that I have arrived and that..."

[JB]

Data page of Interpol's Arrest Warrant for Wilson Fisk. He's currently a fugitive from justice in the Southern District of Manhattan. After whipping up riots to illegally hold the office of Mayor of NYC, he fled on a yacht. He's wanted for the murder of Matt Murdock, incitement of riot, witness tampering, electioneering, tax fraud, making false statements to investigators. Reward: $250,000.

This is gonna be goooooood. I hope this means Lourdes is showing up.

Probably my favorite issue of Duggan's X-Men year 2. The Nightmare reveal was completely unexpected and that's the beauty of a long run. Nightmare came back hard with a whole other level of revenge on his mind, setting things up for the mutants to take the blame. I'm really impressed. And the Kingpin stuff is just wild.

[Diammandis]

So glad Duggan is picking up on the Devils Reign X-Men mini, that was such a good book and I am more than excited to see Fisk and Emma go at it. The last time they met in Devils Reign X-Men #3 Emma promised that she would kill him and now that he has literally shown up on her front door im interested to see if she keeps her promise. I am also hoping this means we get more panel time for Lourdes as she was under his care.



Also i loved seeing Emma spar with Kate, i believe this is one of the few times we have seen Emma spar/train with someone in close combat. Its cute to see how far their relationship has come

[gonnagiveittoya]

Following up on Devil's Reign in a book Emma rarely appears in is odd. Is Emma joining the book later this year then?

[JB]

So glad Duggan is picking up on the Devils Reign X-Men mini, that was such a good book and I am more than excited to see Fisk and Emma go at it. The last time they met in Devils Reign X-Men #3 Emma promised that she would kill him and now that he has literally shown up on her front door im interested to see if she keeps her promise. I am also hoping this means we get more panel time for Lourdes as she was under his care.



Also i loved seeing Emma spar with Kate, i believe this is one of the few times we have seen Emma spar/train with someone in close combat. Its cute to see how far their relationship has come

Thanks for the scans as I didn't read Devil's Reign. I enjoyed seeing them spar as well and I'm down to see Emma physically fight more. Frankly I love seeing the mutants mixing it up with other MU characters so this Kingpin and Mary inclusion is a treat for me, on top of Nightmare's insane antics.

It's fun to think that Nightmare was bouncing around Krakoa in dreamstate without anyone noticing. Wtf lol

[carmoc1234]

Following up on Devil's Reign in a book Emma rarely appears in is odd. Is Emma joining the book later this year then?

more to do with gerry duggan being the writer for both this and the devils reign tie-in. this could just establish fisk here, to then bring him into gerry's iron man run later

[Diammandis]

Following up on Devil's Reign in a book Emma rarely appears in is odd. Is Emma joining the book later this year then?

Yeah i wonder that too, unless he somehow manages to make this a xmen story as well by having Emma go to the xmen for assistance.

Thanks for the scans as I didn't read Devil's Reign. I enjoyed seeing them spar as well and I'm down to see Emma physically fight more. Frankly I love seeing the mutants mixing it up with other MU characters so this Kingpin and Mary inclusion is a treat for me, on top of Nightmare's insane antics.

It's fun to think that Nightmare was bouncing around Krakoa in dreamstate without anyone noticing. Wtf lol

Its very fun, Mary and Fisk were some of the last people i would have expected on Krakoa and now that they’re here i can only imagine what mess they’re going to be getting themselves into. I do wonder if they’ll be around on Krakoa long enough for Fall of X to start.

more to do with gerry duggan being the writer for both this and the devils reign tie-in. this could just establish fisk here, to then bring him into gerry's iron man run later

I can see that tbh, especially since Emma is slated to be in Duggans Iron Man run, I could see her asking Tony for help in getting rid of Mary and Fisk.

[JB]

Yeah i wonder that too, unless he somehow manages to make this a xmen story as well by having Emma go to the xmen for assistance.



Its very fun, Mary and Fisk were some of the last people i would have expected on Krakoa and now that they’re here i can only imagine what mess they’re going to be getting themselves into. I do wonder if they’ll be around on Krakoa long enough for Fall of X to start.

It's all so interesting how the topic of amnesty is front and center again because it wasn't intended for a human committing fresh crimes lol. If he wants citizenship then he's going to have to follow the "kill no man" law. That's if they even grant it to him. What a fun mess and yeah, I can see them still being around as we head into Fall of X.

I feel bad for Broo. He was doing good things and Nightmare is screwing it up.

[sunofdarkchild]

It's like Duggan completely forgot how to write Magik after Judgement Day. Why is the person who criticized Havok for not taking that fight seriously spontaneously breaking out into dance in the middle of a crisis now?

[Cyclone_Ablaze]

This was pretty Good I give it a 8/10.

I thought it was funny how Scott and Bobby have this New found "kill them all" mindset for the Brood. lol Anyway, it was Fun to see Bobby go killer mode again. And OOOP! did Jean just get SLAPPED!? Ooooh Nightmare is in trouble lol.

All in all I don't have much to say. Although, I guess we have to deal with Wilson Fisk BullShit......being Married to a Mutant and claiming Krakoan Citizenship is a NASTY Loophole. They need to fix that.

[JB]

This was pretty Good I give it a 8/10.

I thought it was funny how Scott and Bobby have this New found "kill them all" mindset for the Brood. lol Anyway, it was Fun to see Bobby go killer mode again. And OOOP! did Jean just get SLAPPED!? Ooooh Nightmare is in trouble lol.

All in all I don't have much to say. Although, I guess we have to deal with Wilson Fisk BullShit......being Married to a Mutant and claiming Krakoan Citizenship is a NASTY Loophole. They need to fix that.

I must admit, the silence is deafening and amusing. There was a lot of noise being made about Nightmare supposedly being punked by Jean last time but he’s showing out by taking control of a whole species and causing all kinds of chaos. And he was completely unbothered that Jean found him and in fact seemed prepared for the confrontation. He recreated the Maddie slap.

[Exodus]

I must admit, the silence is deafening and amusing. There was a lot of noise being made about Nightmare supposedly being punked by Jean last time but he’s showing out by taking control of a whole species and causing all kinds of chaos. And he was completely unbothered that Jean found him and in fact seemed prepared for the confrontation. He recreated the Maddie slap.

let's wait and see what Jean will do next....she angered a very powerful evil being for sure. I'm here for Jean finally getting a little challenged in order to show what she is really capable of these days: The most powerful psy needs to stretch her muscles sometimes. I also think Emma could come for her rescue and Nightmare will get double-slapped next.

[JB]

let's wait and see what Jean will do next....she angered a very powerful evil being for sure. I'm here for Jean finally getting a little challenged. The most powerful psy needs to stretch her muscles sometimes. I also think Emma could come for her rescue and Nightmare gets double-slapped next.

I agree. I’d like to see a good battle between them next issue and I like that he’s flexing a lot here. I have no doubt she’s gonna respond in a powerful way.

[Nicoclaws]

Bringing back Nightmare for this is kinda genius. Good game, Duggan.

[Devaishwarya]

Damn! Caselli is on Rocket Boosters! His art just keeps getting better and better.