Marauders #22 Spoilers and Review

[Kingdom X]

I think Shaw was supposedly assembling Shinobi, Fenris and Christian (?) as the mutants on his side, but they all were completely uninvolved, and Shaw was stupidly alone when Emma and Kate came for him. I still don't know what Christian is actually doing in this comic, and whether he actually betrayed Emma, if he's still on Shaw's side or not. Similarly, I don't know why Shinobi is currently cooperating with Emma and acting friendly, given that Sebastian told him that Kate and Emma were responsible for his death. I know there's no love lost between Sebastian and Shinobi, but it makes no sense that Shinobi had absolutely no reaction to Shaw's injuries, or that he seems to trust Emma now. Is he secretly plotting? Or is he genuinely an ally now? And Fenris has just been a dangling plot thread in this comic - they were introduced as part of Sebastian's group, and have done absolutely nothing so far. They were used more in X-Corp at this point. I'm still expecting that they'll make a move against the Marauders at get a beat-down eventually.

So I really don't know why Sebastian currently seems so isolated. He had a group that was supposedly in his corner, and now none of them seem to be, with no explanation as to why. Maybe we'll find out that he and Fenris and Shinobi are still making plans to move against Emma, and we just haven't seen it yet, but right now, Sebastian seems very alone. One of my complaints about this comic is that Sebastian seems too incompetent to be a real threat for Emma and Kate to stand against. Emma's been running circles around him the entire comic, his one triumph was killing Kate (which obviously didn't last), and he's been getting beaten down ever since. And I really don't mind Emma beating down Sebastian, because she is, frankly, better than him, and she should ultimately beat him. But he hasn't been allowed to be much of a threat, so him getting repeatedly knocked down is getting boring. I don't know if Duggan is breaking Sebastian down to put him on some vague path towards redemption, or if he will let him come back bigger and badder, but either of those things would be more interesting than "Sebastian loses again because he sucks."

You bring up a lot of great points and sometimes I feel like parts of this book happened in the wrong order. We were building up to this huge confrontation between Kitty/ Emma’s side and Shaw’s especially after Kate’s death and resurrection. Instead we have this strange back and forth with Shaw.

[Pumpkin King]

You bring up a lot of great points and sometimes I feel like parts of this book happened in the wrong order. We were building up to this huge confrontation between Kitty/ Emma’s side and Shaw’s especially after Kate’s death and resurrection. Instead we have this strange back and forth with Shaw.

Yeah, I really thought that the confrontation with Shaw would involve everyone, with Fenris and Shinobi, and maybe Emma confronting Christian about whatever he did or didn't do. Instead Sebastian has been defanged (for the moment), and I don't know what's going on with the rest of them? Duggan seems to be pushing a theme of reaching out and working with potential enemies, and maybe using soft power instead of violence when possible (as seen with the Marauders dedicating a hospital and buying up property in Madripoor, and inviting Venrendi to the ball). So I think Emma probably wants to work with Shinobi, who has gotten a relatively sympathetic portrayal in the book so far. But at the moment, there's no good reason for Shinobi to be on their side (aside from obviously hating his dad), so it feels like another shoe waiting to drop. And I really fully expect a fight with Fenris at some point, because why else introduce them to the book? (I can't imagine Duggan going for redemption or cooperation with Fenris, and he seems to go out of his way to have other characters tell them how much they suck.) Maybe it's all coming down the line eventually?

[darkalamator]

so basically Lourdes instead of going back to Madrid or to anywhere else in Spain or to anwyhere else in the European Union or Spanish America etc... (not like she doesnt have choices, she can easily blend in any Spanish related country, and they are a few... and a teleporter she is at the end of the day, isn´t she) she decides to hide in New York.. the same city where Sebastian is... ok.. right... but it is not American centric at all...

[Devaishwarya]

Going by the cover for M24 I'd say he has a change of mind and decides to work with Emma and Kate for the betterment of Krakoa and mutants...if the cover isn't a total fake-out (which it could very well be).
Sep 21 MARAUDERS 24 cov.jpg

[Devaishwarya]

I think that's a bit of an oversimplication. Raven and Shaw are rocking the system for very different reasons and angles. This new era is supposed to be like a blank slate for all, yet Shaw's first action went something didn't go his way was to act like his old self and kill a fellow mutant. Mystique on the other hand has done nothing but follow the new company line under the promise that they will ressurect Irene, which we know they won't do, and Raven was warm they wouldn't do. So it's not about which former villain is better or not, they are too different stories in the same setting.

I don't think anyone here is talking about condeming one over the other, we are just waiting to see what each will do in their own circustances. Shaw has seen that he is basically powerless here and discovered he was lied to. What is his next move? To continue to fight for power and probably get beaten again or to finally accept the new ways and compromise? Mystique on the other hand can expose Krakoa's truth and that can create a whole wave of potental storylines in the next few months. And for some, especially who feel the Hickman era has been slow, is something to anticipate.

You.
Yuh know yuh tings.

[Dipter]

she decides to hide in New York.. the same city where Sebastian is... ok.. right... but it is not American centric at all...

NYC is a pretty crowded place, it wouldn’t be so hard to keep a low profile. Shaw is not the type to wander the streets and grab a snack at the local bodega or anything.

[JB]

Going by the cover for M24 I'd say he has a change of mind and decides to work with Emma and Kate for the betterment of Krakoa and mutants...if the cover isn't a total fake-out (which it could very well be).

I'd be interested in seeing this for sure. Shaw is a powerhouse.

[Hulkout42]

Yupp.
He will either love them for saving her and keeping her alive.
Or...
He will loathe them even more for not telling him she was alive all this time.

My money's on the latter.

I would take that bet as well.

[rcaguy]

Anything previously involving Banshee and Ireland (when it’s not mixing us up with the North) has involved faith and begorah and his family castle full of James Joyce reading leprechauns. Not that the British writers have been much better, considering Scarlet Witch’s solo had her express surprise we didn’t still live in mud huts

You mean you don't?

[Sutekh]

I think Shaw was supposedly assembling Shinobi, Fenris and Christian (?) as the mutants on his side, but they all were completely uninvolved, and Shaw was stupidly alone when Emma and Kate came for him.

Yeah, there was a slow (too slow!) boiling story here, it seemed, and then, pfft, fat lot of nothing. I have no idea if some of the events (X of Swords, Hellfire Gala) took up more room than the writer expected and they never got around to it, and then suddenly it was too late, or it was just some poor planning, but it feels like there was a story here, that got set up, the first pieces moved into position, and then ended up dying in the editing room.

And that kind of sums up a lot of this Age of Krakoa. New Mutants and Excalibur have similarly seemed to fart around with some ideas, for far too long, and then kind of breeze past them as their sell-by date expired before they even got to the halfway point. It feels like nothing is plotted out in advance, even breezily, and just ideas are dropped and then next issue doesn't necessarily touch back on those dropped seeds and six months later, they are forgotten entirely, or the intended storyline suddenly is 'mature' and there's been no development in the last six months and it seems to spring out of nowhere (and been utterly ignored by the people hip deep in it, whose job it was to pay attention to it, and they're all like 'where did this come from?' and it's hard to blame the fictional characters for all the ball-dropping when it's the writers, or perhaps more specifically, the editors, who are dropping balls).

But I'm extra salty because the flashback art was not up to snuff, so it wasn't just a bunch of beautifully-illustrated flashy nonsense this month, but more garden-variety nonsense.

[Marvel Wars]

And that kind of sums up a lot of this Age of Krakoa. New Mutants and Excalibur have similarly seemed to fart around with some ideas, for far too long, and then kind of breeze past them as their sell-by date expired before they even got to the halfway point. It feels like nothing is plotted out in advance, even breezily, and just ideas are dropped and then next issue doesn't necessarily touch back on those dropped seeds and six months later, they are forgotten entirely, or the intended storyline suddenly is 'mature' and there's been no development in the last six months and it seems to spring out of nowhere (and been utterly ignored by the people hip deep in it, whose job it was to pay attention to it, and they're all like 'where did this come from?' and it's hard to blame the fictional characters for all the ball-dropping when it's the writers, or perhaps more specifically, the editors, who are dropping balls).

Yeah we still don't know why Kitty can't go through the gates for example...

[ExodusCloak]

Yeah we still don't know why Kitty can't go through the gates for example...

I thought her death and resurrection explained that she can now use the gates

[Devaishwarya]

I'd be interested in seeing this for sure. Shaw is a powerhouse.

I still think he's a PoS but...I agree. It would be interesting to see him actually fight alongside the heroes, and not against them, for once.

[loke13]

Yeah, there was a slow (too slow!) boiling story here, it seemed, and then, pfft, fat lot of nothing. I have no idea if some of the events (X of Swords, Hellfire Gala) took up more room than the writer expected and they never got around to it, and then suddenly it was too late, or it was just some poor planning, but it feels like there was a story here, that got set up, the first pieces moved into position, and then ended up dying in the editing room.

And that kind of sums up a lot of this Age of Krakoa. New Mutants and Excalibur have similarly seemed to fart around with some ideas, for far too long, and then kind of breeze past them as their sell-by date expired before they even got to the halfway point. It feels like nothing is plotted out in advance, even breezily, and just ideas are dropped and then next issue doesn't necessarily touch back on those dropped seeds and six months later, they are forgotten entirely, or the intended storyline suddenly is 'mature' and there's been no development in the last six months and it seems to spring out of nowhere (and been utterly ignored by the people hip deep in it, whose job it was to pay attention to it, and they're all like 'where did this come from?' and it's hard to blame the fictional characters for all the ball-dropping when it's the writers, or perhaps more specifically, the editors, who are dropping balls).

But I'm extra salty because the flashback art was not up to snuff, so it wasn't just a bunch of beautifully-illustrated flashy nonsense this month, but more garden-variety nonsense.

Outside of X-Force what are some other examples of this?

[Kingdom X]

I thought her death and resurrection explained that she can now use the gates

If I remember correctly in X of Swords, Scott was like “we’re using the gates to get to Otherworld,” and Kate was like, “Damn i can’t come.” That took place right after her resurrection so either it was an editing mistake or that mystery still has to be resolved.