Powers of X [01] : The Last Dream of Xavier *spoilers*

[loke13]

In Hickman's Avengers vol 6, their future in 422 years is controlled by machines

Attachment 85417

Yeah his future in Avengers do share some similarities to the one in PoX. But their not EXACTLY the same.

RCO018_1468659454.jpg

RCO019_1468659454.jpg

He actually does a really good job explaining the AUs and how they operate within his stories.

[JB]

I read this twice because I though you were being sarcastic. lmaoo

Same here! It's the first time in what seems like a long time that there's such positivity here. Well done Hickman and team.

[T'Challa Bruce Von Doom]

I'm not convinced that these are humans in the "zoo." I think there is a possibility that those are mutants (the one figure could pass for Logan IMO), and that the terrarium might be a recreation of "what worked" in the generations prior. I think Hickman might be wanting people to wonder if the Krakoa era X-Men might actually be the terrarium that the Librarian is watching over? It's a stretch, but that's the first thing my mind thought of when I read that last page.

I thought the exact same thing.

why would the librarian keep mutants in a habitat as a reminder of the mistakes of the past?
I dont understand. Doesnt fit, thematically. Humans would be more logical since theyre extinct?

I mean, obviously it wasnt explicitly stated so i'm just examining it.

It was humans on that zoo

I'm afraid I'm not understanding where the ambiguity is.

At the end, Nimrod and the Librarian are talking.

Nimrod: Homo sapiens... so good to be done with all that.
Librarian: Are we done with them? Can we ever really be done with the past? After all, that's what a legacy is... And it's why we keep dinosaur bones around. As a reminder of what this world used to be like--and to remember what we overcame. It's important to keep a record of the great sins of history. Even better, to preserve a remnant... something to point at... and hope to God they never have dominion again.

From the context, I don't see how it's possible to interpret the people as anything other than human, seeing how that entire conversation began with Nimrod expressing being glad to be done with Homo sapiens, and ending with the Librarian hoping "they" (the "they" Nimrod was glad to be done with) "never have dominion again," in a panel which is clearly alluding to the book of Genesis, in which it says God created humans in His own image, and granted them "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (Gen. 1: 26-28). I can only assume that people aren't actually familiar with what the book of Genesis says, disregarding the obvious imagery, or they'd understand why Hickman wrote the Librarian using those words in conjunction with the panel.

[JKtheMac]

On the whole Humans thing, maybe while some of us take for granted our species designation ‘Homo Sapiens’ there is some ambiguity there. If we use the correct term for our subspecies humanity is ‘Homo Sapiens Sapiens’ and the fictionalised mutants are ‘Homo Sapiens Superior’ so by that we are both the same species.

Human subspecies is a contended area, containing potential controversy as well as ambiguous scientific data on interbreeding. However it is not contentious in the MU to state that Mutants are both human and a distinct sub species, and that both subspecies can interbreed.

All in all, while not using the subspecies name I don’t think it is ambiguous that Hickman intended us to see these specific “dinosaur bones” as what is left of humanity, and that it references Genesis. What may be ambiguous is how these humans got there. I read it as a natural science museum and as such the humans in there could have been genetically recreated after or at the point of the extinction of humanity, as opposed to mutants somehow rounding humans up and putting them in a reservation.

It is worth noting that Marvel mutants have developed over the years at the same time as scientific rejection of racial classifications of human sub-species and discovery of inherited DNA from extinct subspecies such as Neanderthals, Denisovans and a number of as yet unknown and contested African sub species that left their legacy in our genes.

[HomoSuperior]

It is worth noting that Marvel mutants have developed over the years at the same time as scientific rejection of racial classifications of human sub-species and discovery of inherited DNA from extinct subspecies such as Neanderthals, Denisovans and a number of as yet unknown and contested African sub species that left their legacy in our genes.

Not sure how any of that conflicts w/X-lore. Stories always portray mutants as seeking human understanding they are children of humans, while humans fear being replaced by something they perceive as “other.” That’s allegory for many things. Race, sexual orientation, etc.

After reading Hickman’s first two issues I’ve asked myself, why would mutants obsesses over a bad relationship w/humans in order to secure a subservient day-to-day role in society (i.e. as gifted child). Instead, how would their unique capacities inspire them to envision the future? If the future is pioneering space, many mutants would be in a position to do something about that; especially after making contact w/the Shiar.

Who wouldn’t lose interest in Earth’s tedious dealings after you have been to alternate universes and met alien races and you can do things like teleport? At some point you’d feel like you were squandering your potential and slumming it. That calls to mind: Until recently, of the two, Xavier has historically advocated being a status quo slacker arguing for a slice of the pie. While Magneto has argued mutants could make the pie much bigger. With this story, Xavier is offering humanity Krakoa flowers which effectively demonstrates mutants could make the pie much bigger.

Back to the point, Marvel seems focused on space in the last decade w/GOtG, MCU. I prefer X-men’s strange underdog superhero team antics (sans the militarized vigilantes trope). I’m a little turned off by X-men as space explorers. However, it does make sense that mutants as an organism would pretty much embrace their capacities, in some ways literally forget about Earth, and set out for frontiers beyond this planet. In that way, mutants are just like humans who grow up knowing they are different and move away from home.

Coda: Cardinal planted a black Krakoan flower, which is tied to Krakoa’s tumor. Tumors are the result of cancerous mutations which overwhelm the host. We tend to think of mutation as something that empowers the host to survive through evolution. However, per the Krakoa tumor — not all mutants serve a beneficial purpose?

[JKtheMac]

In that way, mutants are just like humans who grow up knowing they are different and move away from home.

Indeed, it seems likely to me that Hickman is making a bid towards what many X-Fans said they didn’t want previously. A mutant colony on another planet and mostly separated from humans. Placing flowers on the Moon and Mars is a clear statement of intent, as is ‘gifting’ Earth to humans, and a future Satellite K could potentially be the remnant of their moon base.

Which makes me reflect on the fact that gifting the planet to Humans is thematically akin to the biome at the end of this comic. A place set aside for the evolutionary losers.

The choice of planting spot on Mars is also telling. The edge of Ex Nihilo’s terraformed garden. Another of Hickman’s Edens. Humanity rejected Ex Nihilo’s gift of evolution. It is by their own actions that they will loose the genetic game. Which asserts a truism that Humanity, by its embrace of technology is resistant to evolution. Just as humanity could embrace a technological singularity but are seen to reject it in favour of an alliance with machines, they have equally rejected biological evolution.

How likely is the “surprising end of the human-machine-mutant war” a turning upon humanity by the machines?

It can’t be a coincidence that we see the beginning of the human-machine alliance with Karima and we see a similar character called Omega 90 years later.

[Mutant X]

Pointing what I found reading a second time:

1 - Everything in Krakoa should've be organic, but Xavier's helmet clearly is not.
2 - Cardinal and Rasputin escaped using a black seed that I think is the No-place tumor seeds listed in HOX #1.
3 - They stole information of a human/machine facility and lost a member escaping. Just like Mystique last issue.
4 - 8 people live in Asteroid K, we know 6 and the 7th is an old man -- Probably Xavier. The one left could be Franklin Richards, right?
5 - Talking about it, Green Magneto and Xorn seems like second generation Chimeras -- Magneto+Polaris and Xorn+Zorn. The plant one is Black Tom Cassidy + ????? Is Wolverine our Wolverine?
6 - Cardinal is clearly a generation three outlier. He has 5 not offensive powers. So despite it looks like, he has not Gambit powers.

[ISnowNothin]

Pointing what I found reading a second time:

1 - Everything in Krakoa should've be organic, but Xavier's helmet clearly is not.
2 - Cardinal and Rasputin escaped using a black seed that I think is the No-place tumor seeds listed in HOX #1.
3 - They stole information of a human/machine facility and lost a member escaping. Just like Mystique last issue.
4 - 8 people live in Asteroid K, we know 6 and the 7th is an old man -- Probably Xavier. The one left could be Franklin Richards, right?
5 - Talking about it, Green Magneto and Xorn seems like second generation Chimeras -- Magneto+Polaris and Xorn+Zorn. The plant one is Black Tom Cassidy + ????? Is Wolverine our Wolverine?
6 - Cardinal is clearly a generation three outlier. He has 5 not offensive powers. So despite it looks like, he has not Gambit powers.

I disagree about a couple details, because the Xorn brothers' powers combined make no real sense (both a star and a black hole brain together is weird and contradictory) and Magneto and Polaris have the same power set, from the same genetic information, so combining them makes absolutely no sense.

I think those are senior X-Men, not Chimeras, as like Wolverine, a plant-based "Black Tom could potentially keep regenerating from some planty remains, and a sun-brained Mutant like Xorn could easily be immortal.

Magneto makes less sense to me, but if that's a chimera, Polaris and Magneto is a combination that yields nothing from combining them.

[loke13]

I disagree about a couple details, because the Xorn brothers' powers combined make no real sense (both a star and a black hole brain together is weird and contradictory) and Magneto and Polaris have the same power set, from the same genetic information, so combining them makes absolutely no sense.

I think those are senior X-Men, not Chimeras, as like Wolverine, a plant-based "Black Tom could potentially keep regenerating from some planty remains, and a sun-brained Mutant like Xorn could easily be immortal.

Magneto makes less sense to me, but if that's a chimera, Polaris and Magneto is a combination that yields nothing from combining them.

I mean not really Chimera's are usually mutants with 5 different powers so even if this person has power over magnetism there is still 4 other powers that distinguish him from Magneto. One case is Rasputin take away the soul sword and the Metal skin and she looks like Dani Moonstar but doesn't share any of her powers.

[ISnowNothin]

I mean not really Chimera's are usually mutants with 5 different powers so even if this person has power over magnetism there is still 4 other powers that distinguish him from Magneto. One case is Rasputin take away the soul sword and the Metal skin and she looks like Dani Moonstar but doesn't share any of her powers.

But none of those 4 other powers would come from Polaris's DNA, since she doesn't have other powers, and Polaris's DNA is largely the same as Magneto's anyway. 4 other powers from 4 other Mutants wouldn't include Polaris, because she has no other powers to distinguish herself from Magneto.
Also, there's also nothing to indicate that she has any of Dani's DNA, that was just fan speculation from her hair style, and not confirmed in the issue, and in fact most likely debunked since they identified the Mutants Rasputin get's her powers from on the page.

[stillanerd]

Okay, while I did think House of X #1 was the better of the two Jonathan Hickman X-Men series (at least so far), Powers of X #1 is still a very good read. But it's also not a simple read either, so pure vintage Hickman. Also, I can't express enough just how blown away I am by the detailed worldbuilding Hickman has done here.

Stillanerd Reads: Powers of X #1

[loke13]

Okay, while I did think House of X #1 was the better of the two Jonathan Hickman X-Men series (at least so far), Powers of X #1 is still a very good read. But it's also not a simple read either, so pure vintage Hickman. Also, I can't express enough just how blown away I am by the detailed worldbuilding Hickman has done here.

Stillanerd Reads: Powers of X #1

Most superhero comics never take the time of care in developing their fictional settings, particularly possible futures. Hickman is the rare exception.

And that's why I can't take the complaints seriously when people call this a rehash or lazy. It's just ridiculously reductive and ignores the actual depth he brings in PoX and the future settings instead of just making them bland backdrops like 99% of other X-writers of dystopian futures do.

[Devaishwarya]

In addition to the unpredictability...Because its so layered, I LOVE that I have to re-read and re-re-read to really get into the stories being told...no 'simple-straight forward-by the numbers-spell it out for those who can't read' story-telling here (that hasn't happened for me with an X-Book in...forever...probably since Morrison).
Then I re-re-re-re-read just to submerge myself in the beauty-full art.
With both HoX and PoX...I feel as though I'm getting my money's worth and then some.

[salarta]

Magneto makes less sense to me, but if that's a chimera, Polaris and Magneto is a combination that yields nothing from combining them.

A random theory that popped into my head that I will leave for others to consider if they want, is that perhaps chimeras' abilities are diluted from previous iterations, requiring blends over time. As such, what is gained from Magneto might have weakened, and pairing with Lorna boosts it.

Note that this is merely a theory among theories, and it doesn't even go with what I anticipate.

[stillanerd]

Here's something that occured to me. The so-called most pivotal moment in X-Men history? What if there was some Days of Future Past style mental time travel going on in that scene, in which "Moira" had her consciousness sent back in time to her younger body? And what if "Moira" wasn't actually Moira?

And that's why I can't take the complaints seriously when people call this a rehash or lazy. It's just ridiculously reductive and ignores the actual depth he brings in PoX and the future settings instead of just making them bland backdrops like 99% of other X-writers of dystopian futures do.

Exactly! We fans of science fiction and fantasy--comics included--love the fictional settings and history behind them. The more effort a creator puts into them, the more connected we feel towards the story and the people in them. Hickman certainly didn't have to add extra details about how the Chimeras are created and the future history of the mutant-human/machine war. But the fact that he did makes you that much more invested in the comic.

In addition to the unpredictability...Because its so layered, I LOVE that I have to re-read and re-re-read to really get into the stories being told...no 'simple-straight forward-by the numbers-spell it out for those who can't read' story-telling here (that hasn't happened for me with an X-Book in...forever...probably since Morrison).
Then I re-re-re-re-read just to submerge myself in the beauty-full art.
With both HoX and PoX...I feel as though I'm getting my money's worth and then some.

100% Agreed! Between both books, Hickman has made the X-Men feel like you're reading the first chapters of this epic science fiction novel. And it's great!