X-Men #22 - Review/Spoilers

[JB]

Fall of X is being set up to be really ugly.

We open with the preview pages, Karima/Omega Sentinel meeting with Opal of Hordeculture at the Treehouse. Karima hates that she thinks the Treehouse is pretty and often visits to remind herself of her belief that mutants are an invasive species. If left unchecked she believes there will be more of these structures around the world. Opal brought the information Karima requested but wants to know why she should hand it over. Karima tells Opal that she can smell the Krakoan medicine in her. She knows Opal is on the "drugs of the mind" and that it's a mistake to take them. Opal hands her a flash drive containing Hordeculture's research on the gates. Karima tells her that the mutants put a Trojan horse into the medicines and anyone taking them is in grave danger. She warns Opal to make sure she's using completely organic Krakoa flowers for her doses, then leaves.

Updated Orchis Protocol data page.



Later that night we're shown an aging man in his NYC apartment, taking Krakoan drugs before going to bed. A caption box tells us that Karima was telling the truth about the drugs being secretly subverted but lied about the perpetrators. Nimrod and Dr. Stasis are in an Orchis-labeled hovercraft above the city being piloting by an Orchis goon, MODOK flying beside them. Stasis says this will be the final test if it goes like the others. MODOK tells us that the genius is in the frequency which is above the range at which a human can hear it. He turns the dial on a handheld device and the man we just saw is suddenly woken up. MODOK says that his fight-or-flight response is kicked into overdrive when the drugs in his system encounter their special broadcast. The poor man gets up and runs into one of his floor to ceiling windows, horribly smashing his head into it over and over until it breaks and he falls several stories to his death. "Success!" says MODOK. He says this was just a localized signal and that if they were to broadcast it via mobile towers there would be a run on mops. He laughs and looks insane. Stasis, with an evil smile on his face, asks how many humans have ingested the Krakoan drugs with the Trojan, and MODOK replies millions. He says with his creation in their blood he can control them and turn them on each other or themselves. Stasis is very pleased as they fly away, saying he has to meet his tailor about his tuxedo.

We're now at a pop-up clinic in Chicago, created and run by Orchis. They are apparently offering the suppression and eradication of the X-Gene and seemingly have several of these pop-up clinics. A mutant named Woofer is curious about the treatment and is told that if he signs the consent form they can start suppressing his X-Gene right there. He's led into a tent and is told salvation lies within. However he starts to have second thoughts as he enters, seeing several Orchis members in their red suits working on other mutants on medical tables. He nervously says he changed his mind and walks out but they yank him back inside the tent. They're dragging him to a table when a voice from outside says, "You heard the man. Changing one's mind is a fundamental right." It's Cyclops, who enters the tent with Forge and Firestar. He says anyone who wants to leave should start walking towards him. He reaches his hand out to Woofer but the Orchis goons won't let him go as he cries for help. Cyclops punches one of them but it has little effect, the goon then almost knocking Cyclops off his feet with a return punch.

The "doctor" that originally convinced Woofer to agree to the treatment, who apparently had it done on himself and is no longer a mutant, pulls a techy gun on Forge and says their cure works whether someone volunteers or not. Forge spits his pink bubble gum onto the doc's shoe and it starts to grow and encase him. Firestar incinerates his cure gun while Forge is clotheslined by the goon that was fighting Cyclops. He yells "Death to the X-Men!" Firestar starts to use her powers on him and warns him to stand down as she doesn't want to hurt him. His body starts to make strange sounds in response to her microwaves and Forge realizes it's a machine and tells Firestar not to hold back. She blasts it with more strength, melting its uniform away...



Cyclops says it's made of adamantium and Forge posits that it's a Sentinel made from a dead Logan. Lovely. They battle it as it slashes Forge's prosthetic leg off, which Cyclops then uses to knock it back. He tells Firestar that the skeleton is made of adamantium but the rest of it isn't. "Show me what you got!" Firestar charges up and tells everyone that if they can hear her voice then they're too close. She tells them to gather the wounded and run.



(Woofer absorbs light and turns it into sound so he's apologizing for the BOOM's). Thankfully Firestar stops the Sentinel right before it attacks her again leaving only the lifeless skeleton behind. She emerges from the clinic dragging the skeleton and carrying Forge's leg.

Forge: Nice save, Firestar.
Firestar: That's the job.

Data page, a note to Emma from Forge. Basically he's saying that he's been holding back with his creations in fear of mutants hurting each other as they have in the past. He wasn't sure he could trust his fellow mutants with the kind of creations he could make. "What if I made Krakoa too powerful? What if I contributed to the threat assessment on us that is happening every day behind closed doors in every country around the world?" But he's done being afraid and done half-assing it with his creations. He says he'll always be available to the Quiet Council but that he's moving in a new direction. He proposes giving Treehouses to the world, minus the gates. He says they can end homelessness in a month by providing biomes that can also grow their own food. They can deploy them in disaster areas as well. He wants to make them free and help as many people as possible. He wants mutantkind to lead by example and is requesting from Emma stage time at the Gala to present his idea. If she agrees then he'll meet with Jumbo for his gala outfit and if not, he's going to attend wearing jean shorts and a polo.

Back at the Treehouse as Synch and Talon bandage Firestar's wound, a caption box tells us that things have been a little tense around the Treehouse, that Scott and Jean have hit a rough patch over the Brood and the rest of the team have been giving them their time. The three watch as Scott silently walks by them, heading to meet with Forge. The adamantium skeleton is decorated with Christmas lights and a santa hat in the background. Forge tells Scott that he's worried they're losing the hearts and minds of humans and that he has an idea if he can get some stage time at the gala.

Forge: But first, I have a question... how many times has Logan died and we haven't returned his damn skeleton?
Scott, thinking while rubbing his chin: Uh...

We cut to an Orchis facility...

[JB]

Mistakes of the past are coming back to haunt them as we march towards the Fall. While I'm so over red diamond Sinister I like Stasis as a villain because of how outwardly evil he is. I much prefer straightforward villains.

Question: is that last paragraph of the Orchis protocol new? I don't recall it being revealed that they want to target superhumans after dealing with mutants.

[jwatson]

Mistakes of the past are coming back to haunt them as we march towards the Fall. While I'm so over red diamond Sinister I like Stasis as a villain because of how outwardly evil he is. I much prefer straightforward villains.

Question: is that last paragraph of the Orchis protocol new? I don't recall it being revealed that they want to target superhumans after dealing with mutants.

haven't read this yet but if i ever run into duggan and he try to fist bump me he getting made side eye. LMAO. yup fed covers still on the back of my mind somewhere it seems.

[ZephyrSurf]

Those wolverine skeletons are all on hickman. He's the one who stacked up the countless logan skeletons. in Inferno they had 11 failed X-force orchis attacks.

12 if you include HoX

[Mungho]

Forge: But first, I have a question... how many times has Logan died and we haven't returned his damn skeleton?
Scott, thinking while rubbing his chin: Uh...

We cut to an Orchis facility...

sigh The massive amounts of stupidity require to make this plot work are staggering. It's like mutants collectively lost all their IQ during the Krakoan era.

[Rift]

Don't Orchis still have a Kurt Korpse after he died protecting Arakko?

[JB]

The Logan Sentinels are gonna be a pain in the ass but they can be defeated as we saw. I’m more worried about the millions of people who have taken the compromised meds.

Don't Orchis still have a Kurt Korpse after he died protecting Arakko?

Yeah I believe Feilong still has it.

[Master of Sound]

Oh, so those Orchis monkeys, do we know who they are?

Glad to hear Cyclops is there still. However, this might take place before the FCBD issue?

[Arachne]

Yeah, the FCBD issue takes place the night of the Gala.

This almost sounds worth getting, but I'll wait for it to come up on Marvel Unlimited.

[sunofdarkchild]

So sending the same small group of people who failed the first 5 times an additional gazillion times to get killed over and over again was a bad idea that came back to bite them? I'm shocked, shocked.

[ZephyrSurf]

Oh, so those Orchis monkeys, do we know who they are?

Glad to hear Cyclops is there still. However, this might take place before the FCBD issue?

Aren't they from Hickman's issue 1 of X-men?

[Diammandis]

So after Orchis takes care of the mutants they going after the Avengers and every other superpowered hero

[Cyclone_Ablaze]

This was ok. I give it a 7/10.

I really Enjoyed Firestar blowing **** up and stoping the Orchis Sentinel.

And I really liked Forge’s Internal Struggle on the data page. How he wants to make the world better that’s cute.

Now, I’m more baffled as to why NOW are they realizing they haven’t retrieved all the Logan Skeletons. -_- Honestly at this point just hurry up and destroy Krakoa so we can start over because Marvel has the Mutants doing dumb stuff.

[cranger]

So after Orchis takes care of the mutants they going after the Avengers and every other superpowered hero

That was basically the premise of Days of Future Past, and there have been plenty of anti-superpower laws recently so it should be expected. If ORCHIS comes out of FoX in any shape then it makes them a shared villain to connect the X-Men to the broader MU.

[jwatson]

Yeah, the FCBD issue takes place the night of the Gala.

This almost sounds worth getting, but I'll wait for it to come up on Marvel Unlimited.

Yeah after reading more comments i think i may wait on this one too.