Before the Fall - Mutant First Strike #1 - Preview

[RAWRlrus]

I was going to point this out, but they actually skip the vote and when I counted up who would still be voting and how it likely would turn out I figured it did not really matter and just lumped it in with my comment about worrying about the writing and the idea of just needing to read the book for what it is. I do not think it is the first scene in a non Gillen X-book that takes place in this same window and seems consistent with the others.

I'm wondering if they might have show/powerless votes for when people who don't know about Sins are there. Like they say they how they vote but they don't actually count the votes. Would be difficult to do if it changes the outcome of the vote in front of someone though. Maybe they just vote two for two against so to keep up appearances and essentially cancel each other out.

[JB]

Don't really see the point in replacing the one healer on the team with a teleporter. Seems unnecessary with gates and given the mission statement. Especially given there may be a lot of hurt people. At best all they would do is teleport them to a healer.

Agreed. Triage is perfect for the mission statement when triage will actually be needed.

[NotABadger]

Ah, I see. I did not emit the sigh for the exact same reason, but rather the exact opposite reason.

The sigh I made was because 'oh I see we have to have the "just because one character says it doesn't mean that makes it the underlying motivation for every character who actually shows up to do the actual rescuing. There is zero on the page indication that Bobby, Jean, Triage, Warren and multiple other characters who aren't even in the same room when Xavier says that show up for any reason other than....to help people. None of THEM said anything whatsoever about being gods so if we could not paint them all with the same brush in an effort to invalidate every thing they do that would OTHERWISE come across as just as heroic as they've always been, that'd be great" convo.

*Shrugs* Call that apologism if you want, but I have no issue with people condemning that line from Xavier or feeling any particular way about it, same as I never had any issue with people feeling or concluding anything about Magneto saying the original line....as long as they kept it...ABOUT MAGNETO.

The issue for me has ALWAYS been one of 'stop using the dialogue of characters with decades-old established god complexes as proof that every single mutant hero feels the exact same way when we never had to have this discussion every time Xavier or Magneto pulled out a god-complex line PRE-Krakoa.'

Like, it used to be understood that a character like Bobby who isn't anywhere NEAR the convo calling mutantkind benevolent gods, shouldn't have to have his page time used to clarify that he doesn't actually see himself as a god and is literally just looking to help people here, when there is zero reason - based on things like his Infinity comic where he DOES say stuff like THIS

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- to presume he has any other motivation for being here beyond....just wanting to help people. Rinse and repeat for the other heroes in this scene, who are not Xavier, and claimed no godhood.

I know that the Krakoa era is wildly popular and I'm not telling you or anyone not to like what you like... but a couple of things.

You say that just because one character says something doesn't mean that they all think the same way. Which is of course true. But in that preview Shaw says something that shows he's a terrible person and Bishop reacts to it. When Xavier makes his point about them being gods we see no reaction, no rolling of eyes, no "give it a rest, Charles", for example. That's what led to me not buying X-Men comics any more. Characters talk about being gods, about humans being inferior, about being able to do whatever they want because they're above human laws and morality... simply because of an accident of birth... and no-one rolls their eyes and says "give it a rest". Up until the point I stopped reading there was very little implication that any of the characters I'd followed for decades disagreed with those sentiments, to say nothing of them calmly watching depowered kids getting beaten to death in the Crucible.

I've said it before but the moment that I realised this wasn't mind control or some kind of conspiracy and that I was supposed to be rooting for the cult-like aspects was a real shock to me.

Honestly, I have the opposite reaction to Bobby's page time being used to show that he has doubts about separatism and supremacy. If I'd seen a little more of that I'd still be reading the comics today, and personally I'm grateful that you included those panels. I've never been a big fan of Bobby but those panels show that some of the characters I used to follow are still, well, human.

Anyway. Not expecting you or anyone to agree with me and certainly not looking to start an argument, but I wanted to express why the whole "gods" thing makes me uncomfortable and why seeing Bobby question it gives me some hope.

[BobbysWorld]

I know that the Krakoa era is wildly popular and I'm not telling you or anyone not to like what you like... but a couple of things.

You say that just because one character says something doesn't mean that they all think the same way. Which is of course true. But in that preview Shaw says something that shows he's a terrible person and Bishop reacts to it. When Xavier makes his point about them being gods we see no reaction, no rolling of eyes, no "give it a rest, Charles", for example. That's what led to me not buying X-Men comics any more. Characters talk about being gods, about humans being inferior, about being able to do whatever they want because they're above human laws and morality... simply because of an accident of birth... and no-one rolls their eyes and says "give it a rest". Up until the point I stopped reading there was very little implication that any of the characters I'd followed for decades disagreed with those sentiments, to say nothing of them calmly watching depowered kids getting beaten to death in the Crucible.

I've said it before but the moment that I realised this wasn't mind control or some kind of conspiracy and that I was supposed to be rooting for the cult-like aspects was a real shock to me.

Honestly, I have the opposite reaction to Bobby's page time being used to show that he has doubts about separatism and supremacy. If I'd seen a little more of that I'd still be reading the comics today, and personally I'm grateful that you included those panels. I've never been a big fan of Bobby but those panels show that some of the characters I used to follow are still, well, human.

Anyway. Not expecting you or anyone to agree with me and certainly not looking to start an argument, but I wanted to express why the whole "gods" thing makes me uncomfortable and why seeing Bobby question it gives me some hope.

I mean I get that, its just also part of my point? Again, Shaw and anyone else in the room when Xavier says that - valid to make their reactions or lack of reactions to what Xavier says a part of the conversation.

But the vast majority of the mutants who show up for the rescue mission are not there. So its specifically using what Xavier says to paint over any other possible motivation they might have for doing so - aka just....being heroes, same as always, that's my issue.

And for instance.....Bishop's got a job to do, but him being able to do that is contingent to a degree with not making waves with the people who are effectively his bosses. He's ALWAYS been a pragmatist, so for example, that page could easily be interpreted as he just doesn't say anything about Xavier's line because he's just like whatever dude, pontificate all you want, all I care about is you gave me the green light for this mission.

A lot of people who dislike this era go INTO the act of interpreting every page they read with a bias about how the heroes are these days, and confirmation bias is a thing. So they see a line like that from Xavier and go ah hah, further proof that the X-Men aren't acting like themselves. But does it actually prove that about the characters in the overall story, or just the ones actually saying that stuff?

IMO its just not reasonable to expect characters who aren't even present for certain lines to always be actively offering up lines that definitively prove they don't agree, just because WE know that somewhere else in the comic, other mutants are saying those things.

Wait until they ACTUALLY say something like that or agree with it and THEN its valid to criticize them on that basis, but so many people this era just....chose to leapfrog right over that part with literally every character.

[Soulsword323]

I'm all for matching team jackets, but these don't look good IMO. Don't think this color scheme works for a lot of these characters, but that's me.

[yogaflame]

I think they just wanted a visual allusion to the Red Cross as an emergency response unit. I agree, its not the best or most on-brand for the team(yellow and black/blue is), but it's fine.