All-New X-Factor #18 Spoilers

[Neko]

It was your standard start off the next arc issue. Harrison Snow's friend who helped him form Serval - dead daughter has been taken.

Sunfire joins the team on this mission and apologizes for his behavior due to the Red Skull and a wrap up of what happened to the football. The missing dead girl is needed for a ritual to summon a goddess.

Cypher helps Danger with her exploration of her sexuality. There is the awkwardness of not telling Warlock who finds out anyway. The awkwardness and all of the surrounding conversation is done very well, believable.

The banter between Gambit and Quicksilver was enjoyable as has always been in this series. Though, QS didn't go on the mission.

Gambit's attitude about being Horsemen seemed a bit cavalier, I'm not sure he would joke about it. It just read odd. Or perhaps I'm missing something.

The art was nice as always CdG's work is always eye appealing.

Must be the holidaze if everyone is busy and this thread hasn't been started yet.

[IdaqiBeauty]

Must be the holidaze if everyone is busy and this thread hasn't been started yet.

I think it's that people were uncomfortable with what Danger did to Cypher in his sleep.

[Neko]

I think it's that people were uncomfortable with what Danger did to Cypher in his sleep.

That could be as well. Because it was an odd scene and while the dialogue cleaned it up a little bit, it may have not been the best way to handle her exploration.

And since it was Danger who came on to Cypher while he slept. He was a willing participant. Still it was awkward.

[just another user]

Yeah I'm pretty dubious he was in any position to give consent there

[Shai-Hulud]

The boy whose power lets him talk to machines has his first physically intimate experience with a robot....

Further on that score, I can't see how having sex with Danger is any different than getting your precious caught in a slamming car door, but hey, maybe Doug is more techno-organic than we realize.

[Neko]

I also thought that Danger was a bit cold, almost too much of a machine. I get it, she is a machine but it almost didn't work for the issue. I did feel for Warlock though.

[ComicGirl]

*shakes head in distress*reminding myself: if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all.

[worstblogever]

So now she's kind of Stranger-Danger?

[ExodusCloak]

I'm quite sure that wasn't consent. Danger is now a sex offender.

[Neko]

I get the whole machine thing. I do - and that she's asked everybody - but why not have had Warlock try again with her. He was so infatuated, she was awfully cold about all of it. Or perhaps her exploration and her handling it needed just a bit more detail. This book is more character driven than the others.

[salarta]

I think Peter David brought his A-game this time in terms of character dynamics. All the interactions were enjoyable, and felt like they really fit everyone on the team, especially in context of what they've been going through lately.

The situation between Danger, Doug and Warlock is something you don't see very often. With few pages to work with, I think Peter David did an excellent job of getting across the idea of differing opinions on sex and intimacy between the three characters. Warlock took on an incredibly personalized, largely male-oriented view of sex and how women have it, while Danger came across as decidedly free and feminist: she's her own woman, who she has sex with and when and why are hers to decide and she's not beholden exclusively to Warlock just because Warlock fancies her. I don't think I'm describing it quite right for how it really is, there, and a more accurate description may be exclusive intimacy vs personal autonomy and thrill.

I'm also glad Peter David made it clear that Doug was willing, not forced, here. That might seem silly to say, but it's important because in a previous case where he meant for a tryst to be entirely willing and harmless, ambiguity in what appeared on the page allowed for someone to claim said tryst was coerced.

Gambit trying to find out from Doug about said sex was an amusing moment, but I personally got an impression he was subtly gauging how Doug was doing there and trying to show some support. Gambit seems like the type that's savvy enough to understand how these things work.

It really stood out to me that nothing was said in ANXF about the "reveal" of Axis #7, regarding Lorna and Pietro. To be honest, I hope Peter David doesn't acknowledge what Axis #7 did within ANXF, simply because it'll allow the book to stand on its own on the relationship between Lorna and her siblings. After Axis #7, I can understand why Peter David might not want to get involved in company crossover events; Marvel pulls stupid stunts during those events that might hurt stories that are actually good and actually worth reading.

Obviously, I also liked the amount of attention and use Lorna had here. I was glad to see Lorna get to invite Sunfire to come along to Egypt, given the complaints I had when ANXF started about Lorna not getting to build her own team.

The only criticism that comes to mind at the moment is that several points in the issue come across as political, but more in terms of religion politics rather than the familiar X-Men territory akin to gender or minority issues.

Oh, there is one more criticism: isn't the "72 virgins" thing false? Last I heard, it was some urban legend that doesn't really have much fact to it but gets trotted out regularly in pop culture anyway.

All in all, good issue. I really don't get why some people say it wasn't good, but maybe I'll understand once I read the other posts in this thread.

I think it's that people were uncomfortable with what Danger did to Cypher in his sleep.

I'm quite sure that wasn't consent. Danger is now a sex offender.

I thought Peter David went out of his way to emphasize that the tryst between Danger and Doug was consensual.

Here's where there might be an issue of interpretation due to ambiguity. Doug says "I was sleeping in and then I woke up and you were..." followed by Danger saying "You responded very well, Doug." Notice no particulars are given there about what happened. I think people calling Danger a sex offender are assuming Doug woke up to find Danger having sex with him, but nothing in the script confirms or denies that interpretation. It's just as likely that Doug woke up to find Danger entering his room, perhaps trying to look appealing to him, and she approached and took initiative because Doug did not respond in ways that suggested he was against it.

[Neko]

The nuance that is missing - is Doug's calling into question his memory, fact is he mentions his memory twice. That is the shade of grey that is hard to bypass. Doug says he's willing, I'm fine but the grey area is his memory.

And yes, I took Gambit as checking on Doug because he is aware of Danger's bluntness. While amusing, he was checking on him as well.

[Technarchy]

I felt that it was dub-con at best, rape at worst. We want to see enthusiastic consent BEFORE it happens, not a begrudging "okay sure, I was into it" after. Doug barely has time to process what has happened to him before Danger reveals it very blasé-ly to Warlock, getting Doug accused of all sorts of things he isn't guilty of.

Would you read it as funny if Doug was a woman, and Danger was a male-looking robot? Does it make a difference that Doug was canonically a virgin before this???? I'm extremely upset by it.

[Mattarchy]

you are extremely upset by a fictional encounter between a robot and a mutant?

it's meant to be thought provoking. the emotions you are experiencing about it, that is the goal of the writing. Some of you build things into your own minds that don't actually exist on the pages. Others see it for what it is, enjoy it or not, and move on.

As for gambit, I agree about him checking on Doug because if you remember from ANXF #5, she approaches Gambit in his sleep as well. Was this how the thing with Doug went down? We will probably never know and can only speculate, but I would say it's a safe bet that Doug woke up to a robot that was pleasing itself. JK, now I am creating things in my own mind.

[Mattarchy]

friendzone.jpg ???? :d