X-Men Red #18 - Review/Spoilers

[BobbysWorld]

My latest theory!

Given Ewing's overall work in Immortal Hulk and other cosmic stuff, specifically in terms of the One Below All, the counterpart to the One Above All, who is essentially the prime mover/creator of everything that is....and the fact that he typically portrays the One Above All in a meta sense, living in the House of Ideas, encompassing all narratives & manifesting in the form of narratives and creative ideas....

And given that Ewing very deliberately used word choices like adversarial when talking about Annihilation and its origins, drawing connections between it and The Adversary, as well as the solicits that show Resurrection of Magneto will be including the Shadow, the primordial force/entity that possessed the Shadow King for centuries....

I'm positing that all three are connected, and are actually three out of seven entities who serve as the chief manifestations or agents of the One Below All....

Embodying the seven fundamental narrative conflicts that drive storytelling in general.

The Shadow, who pits people against their own worst natures....is Man vs Self.

The Adversary, who pits people against a higher power, an entity beyond the natural order....is Man vs Supernatural.

Annihilation, who pits people against each other, turning sister against sister, husband against wife, army against army....is Man vs Man.

With the other four fundamental conflicts being Man vs Technology, Man vs Society, Man vs Nature and Man vs Fate.

[Sutekh]

Yeah I liked Ironfire in the SoS mini, but I don’t think he landed as well in his present day appearances. I was thoroughly missing Thunderbird and Whiz Kid in this arc.

Yes please! Thunderbird, Wiz Kid and Frenzy, in particular, but hell, even some of the older SWORD drive-bys like Peepers would have been welcome!

And definitely more of the Arakki, more of what makes Kobak an Omega (he can throw quills that somehow compare with what Storm, Iceman or Jean can do? Show me some receipts to back that up, buddy!), and not just the Great Ring members.

Embodying the seven fundamental narrative conflicts that drive storytelling in general.

The Shadow, who pits people against their own worst natures....is Man vs Self.

The Adversary, who pits people against a higher power, an entity beyond the natural order....is Man vs Supernatural.

Annihilation, who pits people against each other, turning sister against sister, husband against wife, army against army....is Man vs Man.

With the other four fundamental conflicts being Man vs Technology, Man vs Society, Man vs Nature and Man vs Fate.

Wow, another great notion!

Man vs. Technology. Sounds like Technarch / Omega Sentinel / Nimrod in that slot. Having a Nimrod or Omega Sentinel being the entity that achieved Dominion status, and flatly wanting nothing to do with what the un-Dominion-status Nimrods / Omega Sentinels want, would be kind of an interesting twist...

Man vs. Society. Orchis and it's PR hate campaign, but also the increasingly toxic reputation of mutants among (other) humans, since beating Orchis is just bonking the head of the latest gopher to pop up and doesn't address the source of groups like Orchis and the Reavers and Genoshan Magistrates and the Church of Humanity and blah, blah, do they never end?

Man vs. Nature? High Evolutionary and his inconsistent pograms to purify the human genome by wiping out mutants / deviants / etc. might go here? Hard to say, this one could go all cosmic and get silly and irrelevant, IMO. Or not, and get up close and creepy and personal and perhaps a bit too thinky and deep for a comic book.

Man vs. Fate? Moira X and time reboot shenanigans? Destiny would likely be up to her blind eyeballs in this sub-plot.

[Wind Rider]

I enjoyed this final issue. It was always going to be bittersweet, though I wanted a bigger bang for the ending of this run. But I really enjoyed what we got. I am hoping that Ironfire and White Sword will continue to appear as Fox, FotX, and Rox moves forward. And while the war still resulted in various areas of the planet fracturing into their own unique territories, which really leaves so much room for more stories for Arakko, I am happy to see the Great Ring is still intact.

Genesis & Aniihilation are very good antagonists for Ororo. I definitely don’t think we have seen the last of either of them (or War + Famine). We definitely need to get some panels of them decimating Orchis on Phobos. Genesis’s powers are interesting. Not just her magic but I like what we’ve seen so far. I can see them going a Poison Ivy-esque route with her (creating toxins, regeneration, her own unique connection to nature, etc). And with her still holding the melted staff I can see her finding a way to restore Annihilation’s access to the plane of 616. I also wonder if this will also leave room for a father/son relationship build story for Revelation & Death, and where they fit into the fabric of Arakko. I don’t see the Interested in governing but I also don’t see the being idle for too long.

This has been a great journey for the cast of this book, and especially for Storm (the Krakoan era has been such a revival for her). I’ve enjoyed seeing her having her own agency and how that is having a significant impact on the X-verse over the course of SWORD, SATB, & RED. It would be hard/weird to see her go back to an X-team, and I would rather she forge her own team for the Blood Dawn (w/ Magneto, Sunspot, Sunfire, Ironfire, Khora, & maybe Mystique as the core cast).

A big thank you to Ewing & his team for the work on this book. Solid 8.5/10 for me for this issue but an over all 11/10 for the while run.

[davetvs]

This has been one of the best X-books ever.

[jwatson]

This has been one of the best X-books ever.

This right here. If SWORD and RED aren't collected in a hardcover it will be a travesty.

[Sutekh]

This right here. If SWORD and RED aren't collected in a hardcover it will be a travesty.

Several books have attempted to run with new stuff introduced with this Krakoan stuff, but really this has been the one that really has felt like it has teeth and just dove headfirst into the new possibilities (and characters, and settings) of the premise.

[davetvs]

Marauders v2 did as well but y'all let it flop.

[Technopriest]

Yeah I liked Ironfire in the SoS mini, but I don’t think he landed as well in his present day appearances. I was thoroughly missing Thunderbird and Whiz Kid in this arc.

I completely agree with you. In fact, I found the characters in SWORD ultimately more interesting than the a lot of the ones introduced later in Red. Thunderbird and Whiz Kid were great in the earlier issues of Red and I had hoped that that particular team had continued to be featured. I also agree with Ironfire, I don't think that he is memorable enough to continue to be featured post Ewin, in fact I found him the least interesting of the Arakki. Khora and Kobak on the other hand I hope continue to be featured.

[Technopriest]

Yes please! Thunderbird, Wiz Kid and Frenzy, in particular, but hell, even some of the older SWORD drive-bys like Peepers would have been welcome!

And definitely more of the Arakki, more of what makes Kobak an Omega (he can throw quills that somehow compare with what Storm, Iceman or Jean can do? Show me some receipts to back that up, buddy!), and not just the Great Ring members.

Yup, I miss those two, and I really like that team under Cable. I really wished we have seen more of them instead of the unending parade of Arakki that just kept popping up. And don't get me wrong, I want more of Khora, Zsen and Kobak as well, I just feel they haven't been developed well enough to ensure they continuing to appear.

[Micabe]

Two things here...

1. I keep looking and reading this page and is it me or is Krakoa (Karorak?!?) spelled wrong?
2. Is the takeaway here supposed to be that Karorak and Arakko have merged to become one island again or are they now mutant island lovers?

[Cyclone_Ablaze]

Two things here...

1. I keep looking and reading this page and is it me or is Krakoa (Karorak?!?) spelled wrong?
2. Is the takeaway here supposed to be that Karorak and Arakko have merged to become one island again or are they now mutant island lovers?

The takeaway is that the Island Kaorak and Arakko have become Okkarra. Hence the conversation Apocalypse and Storm have at the End of the Issue.

[Micabe]

I'm behind on my reading and relying on CBR to keep up until I can afford to buy the physical issue, thanks

[Jackraow21]

Yup, I miss those two, and I really like that team under Cable. I really wished we have seen more of them instead of the unending parade of Arakki that just kept popping up. And don't get me wrong, I want more of Khora, Zsen and Kobak as well, I just feel they haven't been developed well enough to ensure they continuing to appear.

Same. Feels like they could’ve easily spun out into their own book. But, had Ewing kept them in Red, I know I would’ve enjoyed the title far more.

[numberthirty]

One fan's (minor...)grumble -

The title comes to a close without Thunderbird turning up.

Not the end of the world, but it would have been nice to see him again.

[Master of Sound]

If you all think X-Men Red was the Best Ongoing X-Book of the year, then do not forget to vote for her on the annual X-Books Awards voting thread of this very same forum.

It is the Sticky thread on top of the thread list, or just follow the link in my signature.