Children of the Vault #1 - Review/Spoilers

[Jackraow21]

Okay, fam, this issue definitely delivered! Whether you're a Bishop fan, a Cable fan, a Children of the Vault fan or just a fan of competently written, fun comics this one is worth checking out. Deniz Camp is definitely a fresh new voice for the X-office and I hope he sticks around for a good long while... preferably continuing to write Cable somewhere (takes over X-Force for Percy perhaps?) as he really gets the character and has done his research on him. So let's get into it...

- Starts out with the machine Forge built starting to fail in light of Krakoa's fall at the Hellfire Gala, and we see the CotV hatching from those eggs outside the Vault.
- Serafina-187 immediately talks to machines all over the planet and quickly ascertains the truth, that they were imprisoned, and they are not happy about it.
- "The dream is over. We're free at last. Return to the Vault. The City must be informed."

- Cut to Northern Chile, weeks later, and a young boy walks through some poisoned lithium fields; the narration boxes note how the wealth from the sale of lithium, an essential component in smartphones and EVs, has been extracted from the area just like the lithium itself has been extracted from the earth.
- As the boy, Rodrigo, stands in the fields taking a selfie with his phone, feeling that the future has failed him, a giant futuristic looking city flies overhead.

- Cut to Cable imprisoned by Orchis at a "Black Brain Psychic Interrogation Site" outside of Washington D.C., being experimented on and tortured as we saw in the preview. For over a month now they've tried everything... A.I.M. Mind Flayers, S.H.I.E.L.D. Patriot Probes, S.T.R.I.K.E. Psychic Scalpels, a new form of weaponized talk therapy devised by Dr. Faustus, and when none of those worked, just good old fashioned pain as they seek to get Nathan's secrets... so far, all the tough S.O.B. has given them is the Askani phrase "What is, is" and he goes on to say that basically that means "accept what you can't change, and change what you can't accept" (which is very Catholic "Serenity Prayer" like, but I digress...).
- Note: It is addressed that this is indeed the adult Cable, and they captured him by somehow taking him unaware while he was on his ship (I assume Graymalkin); they now have his ship and "his favorite arm" (as he put it).
- He's devised a plan to escape in three days, but before he can Bishop comes and busts him out.
- Bishop's intro is awesome here - "You! What are you doing here?" "Working on my %$#@ memoirs. What's it look like? Let's go!" - and he proceeds to bust Cable out over narration boxes that mention their long, bloody history together... one of the boxes says that "truthfully, Cable would rather accept help from Apocalypse."
- Cable, "changing what he can't accept," makes some of the Orchis soldiers think they're mutants and Krakoan spies so they fight with Cable and Bishop against their comrades.
- As he and Bishop are escaping, Nathan says "they've got my favorite arm" and Bishop remarks "we're not going back for it"... to which Cable says, "didn't say I wanted to go back for it" and he triggers a self-destruct mechanism, blowing the entire base and all the scientists and Orchis soldiers within to Kingdom Come.
- They escape on a motorcycle, with Bish driving and Cable on the back; during this drive away from the exploding base Nathan reads Bishop's mind and gets filled in on the events of the Hellfire Gala and the Fall of X... Bishop says, "the Gala was just the beginning. Welcome back, Summers. Everyone you loved is dead, and everyone still here wants to kill you."
- Truly awesome escape scene, and I love the banter between Nathan and Lucas so much here.

- Cut to a data page of Bishop's War Journal, showing several Orchis operations that he's taken out solo while searching for allies.
- During one of these raids he found reference to Cable, who he says he isn't surprised to see still alive as he knows better than most how hard he is to kill.

- Cut to the CotV revealing themselves to the world and making their big pitch.
- They now call themselves "The Children of Tomorrow" in a rebranding effort to appeal to humanity.
- They say that their gifts are for everyone, and that they view humanity as their ancestors - their "fathers and mothers", and the CotV "are your children."
- Their message is simple: Leave the past behind, become the future.
- The CotV start setting up buildings composed of brand new elements all over the world, which people begin calling "pueblos de manana" or "tomorrow towns."
- They have machines for everything and are healing people, extending lifespans, solving for world hunger, etc.; and they're averting natural disasters too - a new character (I think) called Capitan stops a tsunami that threatens the Philippines and another character named Prisa-38 evacuates a city in Turkey before a massive earthquake levels it.
- Governments at first object to the violation of their sovereign territory - in Queensland there's a close encounter between a fighter jet and Ferro-51 as the latter is putting out a massive wildfire - but the Children get things done and public opinion is with them, so the message spreads.
- Even Orchis gives them a wide berth and views them as a secondary concern, saying they must first finish what they started with the mutants.

- Cut to Hell's Kitchen, New York City and Cable and Bishop are walking around - Nathan still in his boxer briefs by the way.
- A guy on the street looks at him and starts to say "Hey, is that..." and Cable makes him think he's Josh Brolin, the actor. Pretty funny little scene there.
- As this is happening, they're discussing the Children and Cable says he believes they're doing something to everyone's minds... manipulating them somehow.
- My only gripe here is that Luca Maresca, the artist on the series, draws Nathan and Lucas waaay too skinny in these scenes. These are big dudes, and he gets that wrong. But otherwise the art is pretty solid IMO.
- They walk into a flower shop called Dayspring, which is of course one of Cable's many safe houses... he remarks that he bought this property for a song back in the 90s... the 1890s. This was in response to Bishop asking how he could afford a safe house in this neighborhood.
- The sub-level is full of weapons, futuristic vehicles and even some old memorabilia (there's an old timey plane hanging up in there)...

IMG_3088.jpg

"Everything was better in the 90's"... very meta. Ha.

- Bishop has been working from a list of 1,743 Orchis facilities and has been taking them out one by one, moving at night and hiding out during the day. He aims to burn every single one to the ground.
- While this is being relayed, Cable is re-arming himself (quite literally) and gets a very cool, streamlined new costume that I love...

IMG_3087.jpg

Love the color scheme.

- At this point Nathan tells Bishop that he's looked into his mind and there's something there. Despite not trusting one another much - and the narration boxes cover why - Lucas allows him to probe deeper.
- It's some sort of "spot" and Cable missed it at first because it's not telepathy.
- He loads up an A.I. program called "Nurse Hetty" and asks her to analyze this thought form...

IMG_3089.jpg

Nurse Hetty is not an A.I. that we've seen before.

- The data page is an Organismic Analysis and breaks down what it is... which is basically a combination of a bunch of weird virus types we've seen before.
- Nathan says that someone would have caught it before but most telepaths are now dead.
- He says it's infectious and spreads the way ideas spread... high level semiotic engineering, which requires advanced technology like the Children have.
- The last page shows that everyone around them is infected with it... so clearly they have to stop the Children and this thought virus taking over humanity... to be continued...

This series is off to a great start! I'd give it a 9/10... and the -1 point is only because Maresca draws these fellas too skinny. Otherwise it was perfect IMO.

[JB]

This issue was excellent. Deniz Camp has brought fresh energy to the line and he built such a strong foundation for this series in this opening issue. His voices for Cable and Bishop feel right and at times I felt like I was watching an action blockbuster. I love that Bishop has been on a one man mission to destroy as many Orchis facilities as possible.

I love how Camp is starting to build out the Children of the Vault, my South American baddies. To be honest I've been starved for strong Hispanic characters so they've always been a breath of fresh air to me. I'm in love with Capitán and I'll spread propaganda for him I don't care. Bringing attention to lithium farms was really appreciated and I showed my husband the scene from Rocinha (he's from Brazil) and he liked the accurate depiction of the hilly landscape.

The Brolin joke, the DaySpring "flower shop", and the brilliant "Hawkspox"? We got a mastermind on our hands. I loved every page and the ending has me stoked for more. So far this is my favorite issue of Fall of X.

[HeraldOfStorm]

So the techno-virus that Storm left in The World was remembered, hopefully Storm will have some interaction with that.

[Jackraow21]

This issue was excellent. Deniz Camp has brought fresh energy to the line and he built such a strong foundation for this series in this opening issue. His voices for Cable and Bishop feel right and at times I felt like I was watching an action blockbuster. I love that Bishop has been on a one man mission to destroy as many Orchis facilities as possible.

I love how Camp is starting to build out the Children of the Vault, my South American baddies. To be honest I've been starved for strong Hispanic characters so they've always been a breath of fresh air to me. I'm in love with Capitán and I'll spread propaganda for him I don't care. Bringing attention to lithium farms was really appreciated and I showed my husband the scene from Rocinha (he's from Brazil) and he liked the accurate depiction of the hilly landscape.

The Brolin joke, the DaySpring "flower shop", and the brilliant "Hawkspox"? We got a mastermind on our hands. I loved every page and the ending has me stoked for more. So far this is my favorite issue of Fall of X.

I second everything you said. This was great! Hope Deniz Camp sticks around.

And I love Cable's new look. The new Krakoan era X-logo in black and red on a blue background... very iconic looking. I could see that as a T-shirt in a comic shop for sure. And when I do see it, because eventually someone will make it (especially if Cable keeps this look for awhile), I'm buying it.

[IN-a-Synch]

So Orchis has had two Cables and only one busted out. This has to be addressed sooner or later.

[Master of Sound]

Quick question: Is this 'our' Cable, or Kid-Cable, do we know?

[Jackraow21]

So Orchis has had two Cables and only one busted out. This has to be addressed sooner or later.

Agreed. I feel confident it will get mentioned. The question is will it be followed up on here or in Duggan's X-men book? Wouldn't be surprised to see Kid Cable as part of his Resistance X-men team, alongside Kitty, Ms. Marvel, Logan, Talon, Synch, Forge, Juggernaut. After all, it's not like Gerry minds having duplicates of the same characters running around, just different ages. See Laura/Talon.

Quick question: Is this 'our' Cable, or Kid-Cable, do we know?

It's 'our' Cable. Meaning the older one who was resurrected in Duggan's Cable series around issue #10 or 11 if memory serves. Kid Cable and his capture by Orchis is not mentioned.

[JB]

I second everything you said. This was great! Hope Deniz Camp sticks around.

And I love Cable's new look. The new Krakoan era X-logo in black and red on a blue background... very iconic looking. I could see that as a T-shirt in a comic shop for sure. And when I do see it, because eventually someone will make it (especially if Cable keeps this look for awhile), I'm buying it.

I hope he sticks around too. A friend of mine said they'd love to see him continue with Cable and Bishop while throwing in Sage to make an awesome trio. I love that idea. Cable telepathically turning those Orchis soldiers into defenders of mutantkind was amazing.

The panel of Omega Sentinel and Devo noting the Children's activities but putting them on the back-burner to focus on mutantkind was an interesting moment. I'm curious if they'll get involved in a later issue.

[Jackraow21]

I hope he sticks around too. A friend of mine said they'd love to see him continue with Cable and Bishop while throwing in Sage to make an awesome trio. I love that idea. Cable telepathically turning those Orchis soldiers into defenders of mutantkind was amazing.

Oh God yes. Cable + Bishop + Sage + Domino is a solid "core four" for an X-Force lineup IMO.

[Fokken]

Ahhh this sounds baller. And it's getting both Jackrawo21 and Jbenito's applause? Definitely checking this out.

I'm inclined to agree about the minor quibble: The boys are lean. Needs more meat. Just my preference for these boys. I like 'em yolked AF.

[Ra-El]

Agreed. I feel confident it will get mentioned. The question is will it be followed up on here or in Duggan's X-men book? Wouldn't be surprised to see Kid Cable as part of his Resistance X-men team, alongside Kitty, Ms. Marvel, Logan, Talon, Synch, Forge, Juggernaut. After all, it's not like Gerry minds having duplicates of the same characters running around, just different ages. See Laura/Talon.



It's 'our' Cable. Meaning the older one who was resurrected in Duggan's Cable series around issue #10 or 11 if memory serves. Kid Cable and his capture by Orchis is not mentioned.

Orchis want to make Cyclops "confess" and public back their narrative, they probably will use Kid Cable to force him.

[NewMutant]

I can't remember. Was Bishop at the Gala? Does this recount his perspective?

[Alex_Of_X]

Y'all, I must've gotten the thought virus, cause this issue was baller!

Love the Krakoan parallel in what the Children are doing. Love the planetary scale. The gun bois will have to think BIG to counter that.

Juicy, juicy stuff...I gotta read me Camp's 20th Century Men

[Jackraow21]

I'm inclined to agree about the minor quibble: The boys are lean. Needs more meat. Just my preference for these boys. I like 'em yolked AF.

Same, man. Same...

Orchis want to make Cyclops "confess" and public back their narrative, they probably will use Kid Cable to force him.

Oooh... good theory. I hadn't thought of that.

[JB]

Orchis want to make Cyclops "confess" and public back their narrative, they probably will use Kid Cable to force him.

Ahhh. That is a very good and very frightening idea.

I can't remember. Was Bishop at the Gala? Does this recount his perspective?

Yeah he was there but this doesn't go into his perspective of it. It tells us more about the badass stuff he's been doing since the gala.

Y'all, I must've gotten the thought virus, cause this issue was baller!

Love the Krakoan parallel in what the Children are doing. Love the planetary scale. The gun bois will have to think BIG to counter that.

Juicy, juicy stuff...I gotta read me Camp's 20th Century Men

It's sooo good. I found myself smiling halfway through because I was just enjoying the smooth ride.