X-Men Unlimited #123 - Fall of X #3 - Review/Spoilers

[JB]

We open in Camp Gozhoo as grandma Lozen is patching up Warpath's leg. Dani reaches out to Betsy!



She appears to be doing press to counter Orchis' propaganda. Thunderbird says he's not much for teams and tells Dani to save a chunk of Crule once they find him. Dani says teams are dropping left and right these days, that mutants are being kidnapped, children and adults. "The X-Men are busy enough with Cyclops' trial, they can't be everywhere but our kidnappers can."

In Madrid, Spain we see El Aguila approached by Orchis goons as he's cornered on a rooftop. He tries to defend himself but they shoot him off the roof. He's ok but he's now captured. As the goons carry him away one of them says, "Hate when she sends us after the grown ones."

Dani tells John that she came to recruit Jimmy and that this is bigger than John's pride. Too many lives are at stake. Jimmy is in no shape to join them due to his leg even though he protests otherwise. Dani says the Camp more than ever needs protection so it's good that he stay behind. She says Crule and his blindfolded ally were a rude surprise, and that something was strange about the Orchis troops. She doesn't think they're up against just Orchis. John then says Jimmy will mind the shop while he joins the worldwide fight with Dani. Yay!

Dani ensures Jimmy that she's not sidelining him and tells him once he's healed up he needs to find and protect mutants as well. He says he's in and as soon as she needs him to holler for him. Lozen tells John to not only bring their people home but to bring the pain to whoever took them. Just then a teleportation rift opens behind Dani...



So good to see him! John asks where the ride is cause all he sees is a clown car. Shatterstar says that's appropriate coming from ten pounds of meat in a five-pound bag. Oh the banter between these two is going to be fun. Dani thanks Lozen for what she's doing, taking in mutants. She hugs Jimmy who says he'll be out there on the front lines with them soon. Shatterstar says John is a big one. Not the biggest Shatterstar has shown up, but... Dani pulls him away telling him there's a cold shower waiting for him back at the base. This whole scene made me smile.



Great to see the floating headquarters of X-Corps again too!

Final scene. It's nighttime and we're in a Hell, Michigan as two Orchis goons are inside a truck carrying mutant children. One talks about how boring it is working for Orchis and that the transport manifest of mutants they have are half kids that can't even doing anything cool. Suddenly they crash and the children in the back, handcuffed and collared, wonder if it's the X-Men that just stopped the truck. "Gotta be! They're comin' to rescue us!" We see two hands pull back the curtains on the truck.

"Not quite."

[JB]

So good! Alright, so we have X-Corps back in operation and it seems to be an assorted team of remaining mutant heroes. Mutants across the world are being kidnapped and the X-Corps are racing to rescue them and prevent more kidnappings. Dani just recruited Thunderbird and Betsy and Shatterstar are on the team.

The Externals are heavily involved with the kidnappings and it doesn't seem like they're directly working with Orchis. They're intercepting mutants as Orchis captures them, perhaps following Orchis around? All of that is a mystery but I love the Externals as the foes in this!

I'm very curious to see who else escaped the gates during the Gala and are on the rescue team. It's a fantastic, broad premise. Not only are they dealing with Orchis but they have possibly up to 8 powerful Externals to contend with, maybe even including Selene.

[Nicoclaws]

FINALLY BETSY AND SHATTYBUNS !

Bringing back the Externals as antagonists is a surprise but a welcome one. I know almost nothing about them, but that's a loose end I'm glad they're tying up.

[JB]

FINALLY BETSY AND SHATTYBUNS !

Bringing back the Externals as antagonists is a surprise but a welcome one. I know almost nothing about them, but that's a loose end I'm glad they're tying up.

Yeah there hasn't been a ton done with them in a long time. They were old school X-Force foes, then some appeared in Cable volume 1. Gambit has some kind of history with Candra too. But they're powerful and will be difficult to deal with. I love it!

[Harasar]

This seems way more interesting than what was happening in X-Men ever since the Fall of X started. Various x-characters banding together and going on world-wide rescue; this story should've been given more time and page space!

[JB]

This seems way more interesting than what was happening in X-Men ever since the Fall of X started. Various x-characters banding together and going on world-wide rescue; this story should've been given more time and page space!

Yeah this would have made for a great book considering the story is going until May. It's a nice broad premise to play with.

[Luckystar.]

This is going to be fun! Proper x-characters doing something for a change instead of Iron Man, Ms Marvel, Green Goblin (or whatever that is)
Love when characters just talk to each other

[danielsan52]

First Vance and now Alejandro in and X-book?!?

So cool! I think this is the first time El Aguila has been in anything X-related. I guess he might be forced to "Come Out" now.

Hope he’s in the next issue.

[JB]

This is going to be fun! Proper x-characters doing something for a change instead of Iron Man, Ms Marvel, Green Goblin (or whatever that is)
Love when characters just talk to each other

Agreed! The conversation between Dani, the brothers, and Lozen was great. Jimmy being frustrated that he has to stay behind, Dani assuring him that protecting the camp is important. John making it clear that he's not really a "team" guy. Betsy using her platform as a public figure to fight back against the narrative. It's just so good to see her interacting with other X-characters (I've been happily chewing on her brief telepathic interaction with Dani all morning lol) and part of such an important mission.

[Master of Sound]

X-Corps Island?!, I am hyped!!!

The writer must have been a fan of the original X-Force series, as he included, Warpath, Mirage, Crule, Gideon and Shatterstar. All big stars in that 90's series and I am loving it!

[Fokken]

The brutal brother banter betwixt the Proudstars is fantastic.

And I adore the exchange between James & Shatterstar.

"Where's the ride? All I see's a clown car."
"Appropriate, coming from ten pounds of meat in a five-pound bag."

And then Dani: "Shatterstar loves a duel"

Perfection.

[Jackraow21]

Damn. This is a stealth OG X-Force book! Gonna have to check this out now. Just needs OG Cable.

[JB]

The brutal brother banter betwixt the Proudstars is fantastic.

And I adore the exchange between James & Shatterstar.

"Where's the ride? All I see's a clown car."
"Appropriate, coming from ten pounds of meat in a five-pound bag."

And then Dani: "Shatterstar loves a duel"

Perfection.

The dialogue is soooo good. I can't wait for Rictor to show up!

My theory so far: We know Selene was able to get her hands on the External Gate in Immortal so she likely resurrected the 4 sacrificed Externals and I think they may be working for her. Way back at the beginning of Immortal she was working with Coven Akkaba. They siphon magic off of powerful figures to power their own magic. They lost Morgan Le Fay in Betsy's book and then they lost Genesis after the Genesis War. I think they may have struck a new deal with Selene, serving under her now. How the kidnapped mutants might play into this is that we learned in Bishop War College (and somewhere else I forget atm) that Coven was looking to obtain a large quantity of mutant blood to power some unknown spell. That could be why the Externals, by way of Selene, are collecting mutants. We shall see!

[Nicoclaws]

The brutal brother banter betwixt the Proudstars is fantastic.

And I adore the exchange between James & Shatterstar.

"Where's the ride? All I see's a clown car."
"Appropriate, coming from ten pounds of meat in a five-pound bag."

And then Dani: "Shatterstar loves a duel"

Perfection.

And Dani's "cold shower" comment too.


I love how they manage to make the Proudstars distinct.

[Nicoclaws]

The dialogue is soooo good. I can't wait for Rictor to show up!

My theory so far: We know Selene was able to get her hands on the External Gate in Immortal so she likely resurrected the 4 sacrificed Externals and I think they may be working for her. Way back at the beginning of Immortal she was working with Coven Akkaba. They siphon magic off of powerful figures to power their own magic. They lost Morgan Le Fay in Betsy's book and then they lost Genesis after the Genesis War. I think they may have struck a new deal with Selene, serving under her now. How the kidnapped mutants might play into this is that we learned in Bishop War College (and somewhere else I forget atm) that Coven was looking to obtain a large quantity of mutant blood to power some unknown spell. That could be why the Externals, by way of Selene, are collecting mutants. We shall see!

Yeah, I do hope that's where it's going.

Plus Selene was in X-corps, so that all ties in.