POWERS OF X [04] : Something Sinister (SPOILERS)

[HomoSuperior]

My final take was that
1) the Librarian put a copy of himself inside of the Phalanx so that the Phalanx could evaluate if they were worthy of ascension (the sequence thing was to see if his memories were inside the collective).
2) the Phalanx cannot absorb organic life but they found them worthy both for the Nibiru thing and the Librarian's memories
3) they found a way to surpass the organic limitation that is not some kind of trick, and the Phalanx itself in that panel was testing this method to see if it worked.

But it's still hard to get the whole thing. I wonder if that's really Moira.

I see clues it’s some form of Moira and Xavier.
Xavier = Bald, librarian cataloguing mutants.
Moira = Hair scarf and apocalypse armor. Dialog sound like she’s forever seeking a path/way for evolution to succeed. Her dialog also drops the “worthy” reference, too calling to mind more Apocalypse influence. Now that I think about it... both are blue. Maybe their race are chimeras that received some portion of Apocalypse?

[RD155]

Damn if you don’t get this issue early in the day you find yourself behind 20 plus pages of reading on this forum lol.

First off the good...Sinister. His portrayal here was absolutely fantastic . Loved it. I’m hoping this is how he gets written in the future as well during dawn of x. First half of the book was so good.

The bad...the future x 1000 stuff going on. It just seems so disconnected from everything else going on and can be difficult to follow. I feel like Hickman is losing the interest of some readers with that aspect of the story. Also would have liked to have seen a bit of a follow up to the amazing house of x issues we just read.

Anyway , great issue still but Hickman is really dragging with this x1000 story.

[HomoSuperior]

The baby thing was from X^2 in timeline 9, and it was to show that there are a group of humans who will merge with machine to become something else, it is implied the blue future people of X^3 are the result of this merger. This issue reveals that although the Phalanx can absorb organic material, there consciousness' are not added to the collective, they are only interested in the machine half. So they came up with a possible solution of copying their consciousness into pure mechanical form as a work around, and they are awaiting word from the Phalanx to see if that is acceptable to them.

Thank you.

[Nick Miller]

The power to be fabulous and overthrow tyrants. Sinister is a gift

Hes a piece of crap

Working with magneto, apoc, Mr sin

Would any of you work with the trump administration. Bannon, miller, his despicable kids?


Thought so.

This issue read like twimbler . So sassy. Overall , it was ok. Not thrilled with this directionless direction.

[HomoSuperior]

I also didnt like Sinister. Found him too zany, wacky. Not as good as Gillen.

Called to mind Sinister in Hickman’s Secret Wars which was kinda freaky deeky.

[lefthanded]

Fun issue. Definitely a palate cleanser after last week's X-men deaths.

I'm really enjoying Gillen's and Hickman's use of Sinister. I never really got into him, as his design just seemed like a Colossus knock-off and he just seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with Jean Grey, and Scott Summers. Why didn't he ever go after Havok as much, who would presumably be less defended? Now, with Sinister and his clone army, we have a villain who can have charisma and different personality quirks while still being quite menacing due to his varied abilities and long term planning.

Sinister's secrets gives us a lot to puzzle over. Its unclear what time period this is from, but I presume its from everything that has happened in the X-men history so far.
#1 "red shoes" seems to refer to a female Sinister
#2 speaks of a "trendsetting mutant who was cut down in his prime", which seems to most likely refer to the death and return of Cyclops, but could also seem to refer to Wolverine, and Cable. I dunno what the 'island full of flowers to the flower that's the fullest' means (maybe flowers = mutant, so Cyclops to Jean?)
#3 speaks of a 'deceased red pretender' and a 'pack with the devil' seems to refer to Madelyne. Dunno what secrets she had though.
#4 speaks of 'current events' and something 'washed ashore' and to not 'embrace the revelry'. Dunno what that means.
#5 speaks of essentially adultery involving four mutants. Implies Wolverine involved, and thus theoretically Cyclops, Madelyne (who had a kid), and Emma. Could be another group of three, but one of them would have to be married with a kid.
#6. Speaks of a 'progerian mutant' with Sinister ties, and some 'destroyed' samples. Dunno who this refers to.
#7. Speaks of Summers brothers, and how there are possibly more out there.
#8 Speaks of Apocalypse and his four horseman, and how he prefers the originals.
#9 Speaks of 'kids are all right' and 'non-couple couple' being apart 'that when they see each other again fireworks are going to ensue.' Non-couple couple implies non-romantic pairing, and with fireworks suggests Wolverine and Jubilee. Could be wrong.
#10 Says that Sinister managed to ignore Xavier's mind wipe and so will ruin Xavier's plan.

There are also two Sinister secrets revealed - the John Proudstar DNA as Sinister's primary mutant power, and Inferno as the word that will bring everything crumbling down.

This goes with what we learned in the previous issues - Xavier got Sinister to create mutants from multiple sources, and some generations had pre-programmed code by Sinister to ruin everything. #10 partly explains why Xavier 'trusted' Sinister not to betray him, thinking that his telepathy could prevent Sinister from consciously knowing the plan.

With the story of Cypher speaking the Krakoa and creating a language, the revelation that Black Tom Cassidy is essentially a part of the island defense, and Sinister Secret reveal of 'Inferno', it makes me worried that Sinister will burn down Krakoa.

As others have said, not really caring about the future storyline with the Phalanx. It seems this story is just about finding a way to assimilate with the Phalanx. Dunno how this is affected with what happens in the previous eras (X^0, X^1, X^2). Only possible link would be how Cypher is able to understand and create language, so potentially he came up with a way for language of assimilation?

[HeartofTheStoriesWeTell]

Overall I enjoyed the issue. My favorite part was Xavier and Doug Ramsey. Doug is a great character and I love characters with simple powers (simple as in opposite of Storm, Jean Grey, or Magneto). Characters like Doug, Sage, and ShadowCat are cool because writers can get creative with the use of their abilities (and I like characters who do not just blast things).

I like the data page with Doug, Trinary, Sage, Black Tom Cassidy, Forge, and Beast. I want to know more about what they are doing.

Wait you think sage has a simple power...she is way more complex then storm

[Jalysia]

I keep thinking more and more about it and I really don't like how Sinister was written here. He came across like a slapstick, Deadpool kind of villain.

As characterized by both Claremont and Gillen, arguably the premier Sinister writers, Essex should be maudlin, Machiavellian, practically Shakespearean. Sure, he can be a ham, but here he is written like a Saturday morning cartoon. I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I'm falling out of love with Hox/Pox more and more with each issue, and it's draining my enthusiasm for X-Men and the first arc of New Mutants.

Yeah, Hickman's Sinister is too goofy and over the top. I was rolling my eyes and expecting Deadpool to pop out and say, "Surprise! It was me all along!"

[Tazpocalapse]

Interesting part to this story it feels kinda off on it's own with the absence of Moira. I'm starting to think over a period of time was Sinister able to replace X-men with "copies" that could have contributed to the Betrayal that was mentioned.Those Sinister notes are good tidbits of what he knows.

[Harpsikord]

Kind of tired of Hickman writing characters out of character just because, tbh.

[SiegePerilous02]

Excellent issue. I usually don't care for Sinister that much, but he was a delight here. I hope his "gossip column" turns out to be more than just a gag, and I'm particularly interested in the Madelyn and possible Scott/Jean/Logan/Emma poly stuff (f***ing pull the trigger, Hickman).

I keep thinking more and more about it and I really don't like how Sinister was written here. He came across like a slapstick, Deadpool kind of villain.

As characterized by both Claremont and Gillen, arguably the premier Sinister writers, Essex should be maudlin, Machiavellian, practically Shakespearean. Sure, he can be a ham, but here he is written like a Saturday morning cartoon. I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I'm falling out of love with Hox/Pox more and more with each issue, and it's draining my enthusiasm for X-Men and the first arc of New Mutants.

Claremont's original planned origin for Sinister was for him to actually be Nathan, the boy who bullied Scott at the orphanage. He was an immortal mutant perpetually trapped in a 12 year old state despite having an advanced mind, and he ran the whole place. "Mr. Sinister" was his OTT villainous projection because that's what a kid would find scary and cool, so his being an OTT ham is actually fitting. He actually becomes less scary and more difficult to take seriously without that origin. Retcons be damned, I hope Hickman does something with it.

Gambit I believe was originally going to be his creation, using Scott's DNA, a similarly OTT action hero who developed his own identity. Hickman may finally pull the trigger on Gambit being a Summers brother.

[H-E-D]

Hickman wrote Sinister as camp gay back in Secret Wars, so none of this should be surprising.

[Harpsikord]

He actually becomes less scary and more difficult to take seriously without that origin. Retcons be damned, I hope Hickman does something with it.

Hard disagree. Sinister is more interesting because of his connections to Apocalypse and his ability to stand on his own as a villain - especially after Gillen got his hands on the character and redefined him into an actual threat. There's just something so attractive about a character like Essex being so Machiavellian, so Victorian which is also fitting due to his actual origin. Claremont portrayed him as a great threat, a great creator, and a wonderful villain but literally making him a child in the body of a man or what have you would have been so frustrating for a character of this caliber.

[Maestroneto]

Hickman wrote Sinister as camp gay back in Secret Wars, so none of this should be surprising.

And so did Gillen in UXM. Not sure where this revisionist history is coming from. Dude literally took over a woman’s body and then did a curtsey towards Cyclops lmao.

[Vegan Daddy]

Magneto defending his boyfriend <3