X-Men #32 - Review/Spoilers

[lefthanded]

Thank God Polaris showed up to save us from this nanomachine BS.

I think the end of Rise of Powers of X, Resurrection of Magneto, and all other Xbooks going forward, will have Polaris show up with coffee in hand, and dismantle Dominons / bring back Magneto to life / etc.

[Havok83]

I think the end of Rise of Powers of X, Resurrection of Magneto, and all other Xbooks going forward, will have Polaris show up with coffee in hand, and dismantle Dominons / bring back Magneto to life / etc.

Honestly, she along with Trinary have the most effective power set to take on their current threat. Can someone please Trinary in?

Is it fair to say duggans run is as bad as austen’s and milligans?

No it’s not. Duggans run from beginning to end ranks up there as one the better runs in modern X-men. It’s not perfect by any means but as a whole he accomplished a lot and is able to tie things together in a way that most writers don’t, likely bc they aren’t give the space to do so. This overall was enjoyable and a net positive for the line. The same can’t be said for Austen or Milligan. Those runs were maligned. I don’t feel that’s the case for Duggan. If anything hit or miss

[dragon1440]

First: LOVE the unexpected Polaris appearance, of course. I love the work they've been steadily doing with Polaris in understanding and shaping up the definition of her moving forward. I really like her role in this event, so far. I love the continued "Doctor" references. I will never understand machines having resistance to electromagnetism, but I get it, they need sentinels to be a threat to Polaris and Magneto, just like everyone else. That said, I'd love if this led to a project where she joins other Marvel Doctors - Stark, Banner, McCoy (a good McCoy.....) and doing some brainy cool thing. I digress...

Two notes: 1- we don't need a coffee reference every single freaking time she shows up, and 2- I REALLY worry about writers taking a non-canon interview about Polaris potentially having bipolar and forcing it on panel may end up being very very disrespectful to people with any kind of neurodivergence, and to a lesser extent, long time Polaris fans who are intimately familiar with her 55 year panel history and clearly being portrayed with severe trigger-based PTSD and never being portrayed with bipolar symptoms / chemical imbalance. If they want to explore this with Polaris, they should be extremely extremely sensitive and careful with it, moving forward. Because what they are doing is proclaiming her inconsistent portrayals over the years are symptoms of bipolar and not lazy writers - and that is a VERY ignorant thing to do.

On the X-Line at large - I do think the issues of this crossover could all stand a few more pages to give extra panels across each issue. Lately, so many of these issues feel "almost" great. They rush through parts that need some extra panels, but somehow linger on parts that don't need much time.

As a bipolar person with PTSD, I see a lot of consistencies with the diagnosis. Bipolar is not always extreme and therefore hard to identify in the every day. But certain things like her depression over the years, and then manic moments which take her out of normal thinking, being triggered by outside influence events or from chemical imbalance within it has been pretty consistent. For example her failed wedding was defentily a manic moment. Yes it was triggered by Havok and Annie, but it still become a massive manic attack considering she attacked friends that were not involved in Havok/Annie. I for one applaud her strength even with bipolar. And I love representation in comics. Just remember unless you have a psych background dont diagnose anyone fictional or nonfictional because no neurodivergence looks the same.

[GoingGreen]

As a bipolar person with PTSD, I see a lot of consistencies with the diagnosis. Bipolar is not always extreme and therefore hard to identify in the every day. But certain things like her depression over the years, and then manic moments which take her out of normal thinking, being triggered by outside influence events or from chemical imbalance within it has been pretty consistent. For example her failed wedding was defentily a manic moment. Yes it was triggered by Havok and Annie, but it still become a massive manic attack considering she attacked friends that were not involved in Havok/Annie. I for one applaud her strength even with bipolar. And I love representation in comics. Just remember unless you have a psych background dont diagnose anyone fictional or nonfictional because no neurodivergence looks the same.

Hmm, I would hope my post didn't suggest I was saying bipolar doesn't deserve representation. I'm only critiquing writers and their abilities to portray such a thing respectfully, and not introduce it as a way to cover up ill-informed decisions or chronic inconsistencies or wildly new directions with a character (any character). I'm glad you can relate to Polaris, or any character you might relate to, through similar feelings.

And that last statement I bolded is exactly the point I wanted to make.

[Agent Grayson]

This issue was just okay when it should have been awesome. Polaris, Shadowkat, and Magik teaming up is a great set-up but it fell flat for me because of dialogue that didn’t land and yet more wanton, almost gleeful killing with no sign of it actually meaning anything to these characters. I really wanted to like this, but it felt like it was ticking boxes rather than being exciting and dynamic.

Polaris in particular felt off. The coffee thing got old back in the first year of X-Men and having her casually drop “I have depression” into a conversation was clunky. It felt like an attempt to gloss over the fact that her character arc up to this point has been non-existent since she left the X-Men.

[Fantasy Free Me]

I like Noto's art on covers but he's honestly really not suited for interiors. This is my opinion of course but his action scenes really need work, they look stiff and lack "strength".

And the dialogue here was kinda cringe.

[Uncanny X-Man]

I enjoyed the issue although it's hard to shake the feeling that it's mostly filler while Duggan is writing the really meaty story in Fall of the House of X. Still, the character moments are nice although I started scratching my head at this constant killing Duggan's X-Men do nowadays.

[H-E-D]

Fall of the House of X still feels more custodial than climactic.

[HomoSuperior]

I enjoyed the issue although it's hard to shake the feeling that it's mostly filler while Duggan is writing the really meaty story in Fall of the House of X. Still, the character moments are nice although I started scratching my head at this constant killing Duggan's X-Men do nowadays.

Same. This issue's so-that-happened killing(s) followed by literal group hugs is really weird.

[Winter_fury]

Honestly, she along with Trinary have the most effective power set to take on their current threat. Can someone please Trinary in?



No it’s not. Duggans run from beginning to end ranks up there as one the better runs in modern X-men. It’s not perfect by any means but as a whole he accomplished a lot and is able to tie things together in a way that most writers don’t, likely bc they aren’t give the space to do so. This overall was enjoyable and a net positive for the line. The same can’t be said for Austen or Milligan. Those runs were maligned. I don’t feel that’s the case for Duggan. If anything hit or miss

Which modern runs?

Because for me he ranks below whendon, morrison, carey, hickman, gillen, fraction, bendis, hell i take even aaron’s mediocre watxm over this.

[kevlon]

I thought it was a dull issue. It felt so rushed. I almost cannot wait for Krakoa to end just to put us out of our misery.

And still no Firestar.

[Mutant X]

Is it fair to say duggans run is as bad as austen’s and milligans?

Good question.
Maybe it's not so bad, but it's more harmful to the franchise because it's suppose to be the flagship title.

Or Immortal X-Men is the flagship title?

[TheMaker1610]

Either ORCHIS' coffee being absolutely atrocious is Krakoa's era longest-running gag, or will be revealed as VIPlot out of know here

[lefthanded]

Either ORCHIS' coffee being absolutely atrocious is Krakoa's era longest-running gag, or will be revealed as VIPlot out of know here

It will turn out that Coffee^(R) cures mutants of Sinister genetic manipulation, and when poured onto Machines/Robots, is even more effective than Krakoan amber. It will also block any future resurrection cloning mechanism, and close access to the Waiting Room.

[JB]

Is it fair to say duggans run is as bad as austen’s and milligans?

Not in my opinion. The ending is wonky but I enjoyed much of Duggan's run especially year 1 and the first half of year 2. For me it was when the Doom-Men entered the scene that things went off the rails. Cassara's return next issue will be helpful though as there's only two issues left until the big #35.