X-Men Unlimited #118 - "Red Winter Sun" Review/Spoilers

[JB]

"For the mutants of Earth, winter bites at the heels of The Fall."

We get a brief montage of panels showing us several mutants as it's now the holiday season. Kwannon, Monet, and Rogue are trying to enjoy the Rockefeller Center tree in NYC but they feel uneasy and exposed. Havok is decorating a tree inside the Limbo embassy with skulls and Christmas lights, Maddie watching. Kate is lighting a menorah candle in her bunker in the sewers. Thunderbird, Cerebra, and Somnus are at a fire in the woods.

On planet Arakko, an injured Bei approaches a camp of Storm's resistance. Sunspot and Kobak are surprised to see her and ask where she's been. The Genesis war is over and Sunspot wants to get Bei into a medical tent. She says she will heal at her own pace and that she made sure the war was indeed over.



They fought wave after wave of daemons until the battle was done. She then crossed Arakko on foot to deal with any stragglers, Wow. Sunspot says she didn't have to end the war alone and she replies that she wasn't just fighting for Storm but perhaps for a pain she could not speak aloud. "I fought for Doug, my betrothed - lost to me by unknown means." A flashback panel of them sitting together at a table.



When the call of war sounded on Arakko that's where she went, her pain remaining unquieted to date. The loss is too deep and she feels it still. We get a nice panel of the New Mutants as Roberto says he understands. He insists that Bei get her wounds tended to but she repeats that she will heal at her own pace. She asks Kobak is Arakko still intends to observe the Blood Dawn this season and he says it will. Roberto says it sounds ominous but Kobak says it's a tradition not to be feared. He explains that the Blood Dawn is a night of ritual combat. The Arakkii speak their pain aloud normally and any unspoken pain is to be bled out in combat. They don ritual masks and hoist bludgeons to honor the year's end, battling until exhaustion or until the new year dawns.

Those with the most to purge fight as Ancestral Arakkii. Those unburdened fight as Bloodletters. Bei says that some Bloodletters discover their own unspoken pains and switch sides. The Blood Dawn is not required but it's shameful to not participate year after year. Isca of course is the exception. "Her generations of grievances are her own to shoulder." Interesting.

Roberto questions if it's a good idea for the immediate aftermath of a civil war to be a symbolic war, wondering if some of those on Genesis' side will be looking for payback. Kobak says the outcome of the Genesis war will be respected and perhaps those on her side will have the most pain to be released. Bei tells Kobak to be honest in that there will be a shameful few for whom the Blood Dawn is sport. There always is.



I'm very pleased to see this look into Arakkii culture and all that will come with it. Already seeing more of Bei's thoughts and personality, trekking across Arakko to make sure every last daemon is destroyed, is a welcome surprise. I look forward to learning more about the Blood Dawn and especially what we may learn about Sunspot and how he's been feeling about everything that has happened. Arakko has had very little time to breathe so I'm glad this deeper exploration is happening.

[Jackraow21]

Thanks for these recaps. It's helpful since I haven't read any of these, but good to know what's going on.

[BobbysWorld]

FWIW, the characters with Thunderbird were Cerebra (Shakti Haddad) and Somnus sporting a new look that seems to be similar to that of Neutron, the Shi'ar Guardsman he slept with in Marauders. We know Thunderbird's got an upcoming arc in Unlimited so I wouldn't be surprised if they showed up in his story too and this was a preview glimpse of who he's been hanging out with (they're an interesting trio of Krakoan outsiders adjusting to radically new experiences since their respective resurrections) that will be expanded on in his story after this one.

Storm and Roberto are on the covers of the next couple issues though so I think we can expect Storm to partake in the Blood Dawn too, same as Roberto.

[JB]

FWIW, the characters with Thunderbird were Cerebra (Shakti Haddad) and Somnus sporting a new look that seems to be similar to that of Neutron, the Shi'ar Guardsman he slept with in Marauders. We know Thunderbird's got an upcoming arc in Unlimited so I wouldn't be surprised if they showed up in his story too and this was a preview glimpse of who he's been hanging out with (they're an interesting trio of Krakoan outsiders adjusting to radically new experiences since their respective resurrections) that will be expanded on in his story after this one.

Storm and Roberto are on the covers of the next couple issues though so I think we can expect Storm to partake in the Blood Dawn too, same as Roberto.

Thanks for the info! I'll update the recap with Cerebra and Somnus. That is an interesting trio indeed and I hope we learn where they were when everything was going down at the gala.

[Braxxer]

The issue was good but also reminded me that Krakoa hid Doug somewhere no one can find him (I assume from UA and IX that he isn’t in the pit with sinister). I’m really curious about their plans for Doug.

[Kingdom X]

Yesterday I found myself wondering what the “Blood Dawn” teased in Red could be, so what a pleasant surprise that we got our answer so quickly! This was quite a fun read and I’m really glad we the Unlimited stories have become more relevant.

Props to whoever recognized that as Somnus cause he looked quite different to me.

[Nicoclaws]

I like that Arrako culture bits that show where Apocalypse initially wanted to lead Krakoa to, with thing like the Crucible and the warrior-like society. It's Krakoa pushed too far, but in another way than SoS.

FWIW, the characters with Thunderbird were Cerebra (Shakti Haddad) and Somnus sporting a new look that seems to be similar to that of Neutron, the Shi'ar Guardsman he slept with in Marauders. We know Thunderbird's got an upcoming arc in Unlimited so I wouldn't be surprised if they showed up in his story too and this was a preview glimpse of who he's been hanging out with (they're an interesting trio of Krakoan outsiders adjusting to radically new experiences since their respective resurrections) that will be expanded on in his story after this one.

Storm and Roberto are on the covers of the next couple issues though so I think we can expect Storm to partake in the Blood Dawn too, same as Roberto.

I'm very interested in the trio too.

[Master of Sound]

Any idea who the two Arakkii are that are shown on that one panel? They look familiar, but I forgot.

[CGAR]

I'm still a little confused by the custom. Is it not like their challenging custom or did I just completely misread this?

[BobbysWorld]

I'm still a little confused by the custom. Is it not like their challenging custom or did I just completely misread this?

I think the distinction is their challenging custom is more about seeking a form of actual reparations from someone you feel has wronged you, whereas this is more like society-wide group therapy aimed more at just the acknowledgment of grievances and accountability. That's how I read it anyway.

[Fokken]

FWIW, the characters with Thunderbird were Cerebra (Shakti Haddad) and Somnus sporting a new look that seems to be similar to that of Neutron, the Shi'ar Guardsman he slept with in Marauders. We know Thunderbird's got an upcoming arc in Unlimited so I wouldn't be surprised if they showed up in his story too and this was a preview glimpse of who he's been hanging out with (they're an interesting trio of Krakoan outsiders adjusting to radically new experiences since their respective resurrections) that will be expanded on in his story after this one.

Storm and Roberto are on the covers of the next couple issues though so I think we can expect Storm to partake in the Blood Dawn too, same as Roberto.

Ohhhhhh!!!!
Yes, without all the added layers, I did not recognize him.
Once you said Somnus, I looked up his design to confirm. Thanks BobbysWorld.

[BobbysWorld]

Ohhhhhh!!!!
Yes, without all the added layers, I did not recognize him.
Once you said Somnus, I looked up his design to confirm. Thanks BobbysWorld.

Tbh I mostly just recognized him by context clues lmao. It took me a second too, but given that he did the Giant-Size Thunderbird issue & the woman was clearly Shakti, I figured the third probably had to be someone Orlando also favored or had written extensively at which point I was like ohhhh that must be Carl.

[Hi-Fi]

Can someone post the Kwannon/Monet/Rogue and Somnus/Thunderbird/Cerebra panels, please? Thanks!

[CGAR]

Sorry so small

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[Hi-Fi]

Thanks, CGAR!