I think Marvel wants a book that stands out, and they don't care if they lose some of the classic X-Men readers, they want new readers, and new readers want a story that is theirs. A publication needs to exist to attract as many readers as possible and have a mandate in order to do so and sometimes that means reinventing what the concept is. While I strongly feel that what Hickman is doing is not for me, I do think this has the potential to make the X-Men title be something that excites a new generation.
I just realized that this could mean we could be getting the Hellions back at some point if any writer remembers them. That would actually kind of be something if it does happen
Emma is the opposite of a devourer
She's A Lifebringer
Exactly. There is no longer the dream of peace existence amongst mutants. Mutants are done fantasizing about assimilation. They clearly don't care about intergeneration. They certainly don't care about whether or not they're bargain is taken as a threat. This is the next logical step. The X-men have literally been screaming "mutant lives matter" for decades now. Protest is not the end goal. Steps have to taken. Progress is going to come one way or another. Human supremacy as it's been practiced un the MU is all but extinct. Thos is bound to scare those in power. Shit just got really real and most don't grasp the implications of it all. Hickman locked and loaded. He came to put mutant haters to shame. I love it!
Hickman said something prior to the release of HoX/PoX about if the new status quo he was building was poorly received, he had a plan in place for correcting it. I think that is what that line about a possible 11th life was about, and I don't think we'll be seeing it.
Fantastic stuff. Exposition/dialogue heavy, but it was done in an organic and fitting manner.
The resurrection machine is glorious. It's a way of making less popular characters useful and it works on a narrative sense. They can come back, but there are numerical limits and if one of the five is gone, it all goes down. And not recurring to stuff like alien tech and Phoenix is a plus, because it's valid in terms of politics. Mutants have to be self-sufficient in such things and it's minus one vulnerability to be exploited. Magneto's talk with Lorna goes well with this. Now that mutants are settled, they can use their powers to evolve their society.
The presentation ritual was amazing, even if kind of scary. But I guess if you went to some churches like the ones I did, it's not too far from protestantism in general. That whole thing is part of Krakoa's culture and it's important that Hickman builds up these aspects.
The UN scene is to illustrate that we're on the realpolitik stuff now. If they have to use telepathy to guarantee their standing, I say do it. If they want to protect their nation, they have to be ready to get their hands dirty a bit. Even if all that Emma did was make sure the ambassador abstained instead of changing her vote.
The scene with the villains is a bomb minutes from going off. Loved Apocalypse in this and can't wait to see more of him.
9,5/10