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Underground > Comic Books >

New X-Men #146 (SPOILERS)

  
  

Page: 12345(6)7891011... 14

 
 
Yotsuba & Benjamin!
14:20 / 10.09.03
I got it. It is BANANAS.

Okay. So we start of with the professor all worried and shit, as we all saw in the preview, about Logan and Scott and Fantomex. Jean comes in to reassure him that, hey, everything will be call. Professor X is all "How did you -- oh, right, The Phoenix Force." She's learning to fly a jet from a pilot staying in a hotel somewhere and she's going to get right on saving Logan. Oddly enough, Hank and Emma go to rescue Scott, who has crash landed in the ocean. Interesting. Meanwhile, Sorooya has been approched by Xorn for something, we don't know what. She indeed sneaks into the Cerebra Room but to WARN CHUCKLES ABOUT XORN. He's been asking her to do horrible things like RENOUNCE ISLAM IN DEFERENCE TO THE MUTANT SPECIES. Like I said, Bananas. She tries to tell him more but Xorn busts in and Dust goes apeshit, conveniently destroying Cerebra, and cutting Xavier off from his X-Men.

Bang.

The wing of Emma and Hank's jet explodes.

Bang.

Jean arrives at the sattelite and finds Logan beating the hell out of Weapon XV and telling her to get the fuck out of here, dipshit, don't you recognize this place? Asteriod M explodes.

Bang.

Chuckles is confronted by Xorn and the Special Class. Dust has given it one last chance, going apeshit on everyone indescriminately, but she's captured and put in a cookie jar type thing, sadly. Xorn, who has actually started dressing his classroom with Magneto Was Right posters lays it all out for Chuck. The iron prison was a joke. He explicitly complains about having to write "Zen Diaries". Everything was set up by him. There's a map of the world turned upside down in the classroom. Xorn calls it "Planet X". He disables the nanosentinels that have been holding together Chuck's spine, rendering him once again crippled. Xorn takes off his mask. It's Mag-fuckin-neeto.

Bang.

Honestly? It works. It really works. My only problems were Xorn becoming really overtly Magneto (Magneto Was Right posters?), but other than that, it's all the thrills of Imperial again.

You will love it. Especially you, Flux.
 
 
Yotsuba & Benjamin!
14:36 / 10.09.03
Re-Read Alert:

It is now quite clear that Xorn caused Sooraya (sorry about the mispelling up there, it was not alone) to dissapate and destroy Cerebra.
 
 
FinderWolf
15:35 / 10.09.03
Ok, so this is my question: what did Magneto GAIN by all this skullduggery and secret hidden stuff? What does he gain by 'becoming' Xorn, faking his death, etc. that he didn't have before?
 
 
Yotsuba & Benjamin!
15:44 / 10.09.03
Access.
The kind of access you can't get by a) storming into the place (you'll break important shit, which he is now doing because it doesn't matter anymore) or b) coming in as a "changed man" (no way Morrison's X-Men would be forgiving enough to provide him with the access he needs).

Control.
The Special Class is now his and through Quire and his manufactured death, he has become more than a despot, he's become a name brand. As Logan states: "He's trying to start a war."

The look on Chuckles' face.
 
 
diz
15:54 / 10.09.03
i can see now what he would have to gain by coming into the school as Xorn, not access to the mansion or the X-folks but access to the minds of the students. that makes more sense.

however, i'm still curious to know:

- where Cassie and the destruction of Genosha fit into this. this is kind of the big one for me. did Cassie hi-jack Magneto's Weapon Plus program for her own purposes, and just happen to nuke Genosha to get back at Charles? or was she working for/controlled/manipulated by Magneto? if so, why did Magneto trash Genosha? for the sympathy? to radicalize mutantkind? that seems to be a bit much, even for him.

- how much did Ao Jun know? he's the one who told everyone the story of the iron prison and Xorn. was he lying? telepathically manipulated? misinformed (and if so, by whom)?

- where do John Sublime, transpeciesism, and the U-Men fit into this?
 
 
diz
15:56 / 10.09.03
oh, and if Dust isn't the mole, it's gotta be Martha.

- she's in the Special Class
- she killed John Sublime (when he ceased to be useful?)
- she knew where the flaw in Emma's diamond form was

between Esme and Martha, Xorneto would have access to a sub rosa communication channel for plotting and such, and a way to influence the student body.
 
 
Yotsuba & Benjamin!
16:04 / 10.09.03
If he is indeed behind Genosha, it would be similar to Conspiracy Theories about 9/11. He engineered it to put mutants in the most extreme of situations and make the playing ground as volitable as he needed it to be.

I still think the mole was Esme and is now unneccessary.

Now, that begs the question: What did/does Emma really know and why did she need to be eliminated.

"I sense that my life is approaching some horrible kind of closure."
 
 
Yotsuba & Benjamin!
16:15 / 10.09.03
In retrospection, I'm finding that Xorn solo issue to be even more poignant as it's pretty much Chuck's projection of what he wants Xorn to be, manipulated by Erik.

God, think about what Chuck's been through over the course of Morrison's run. I have a feeling he'll be picking up that gun again soon.

"Get out or stay. I'm pulling the trigger regardless. This is just too fucking much."
 
 
diz
16:33 / 10.09.03
If he is indeed behind Genosha, it would be similar to Conspiracy Theories about 9/11. He engineered it to put mutants in the most extreme of situations and make the playing ground as volitable as he needed it to be.

well, if he is indeed behind Genosha, it's a bit out of character, IMHO. i could see him killing 16 million humans, honestly, but not mutants. that's always been a pretty solid distinction for him.

it would add a certain degree of tragic irony and hypocrisy to his character, since the mass murder of 16 million people puts him squarely in the league of Hitler. considering his origins and motivation...

in any case, i am curious to see how this plays out in future issues. still three hours of work til i get this issue, though... ~glares at clock~

OK, here's a question for the peanut gallery:

do you think Magneto is behind everything, or are there multiple forces operating behind the scenes with their own agendas?

i'm not suggesting Apocalypse (anymore...~sigh~), but rather NXM villains such as Cassandra Nova and Doctor Sublime/John Sublime/both/whatever...
 
 
diz
16:55 / 10.09.03
here's another series of questions: how far back do you think Magneto (retroactively) has been planning this?

how old is Weapon Plus in it's present form? when did he take control of it (presuming he's in [sole] control)?

it's all tied up with AIM and the Sentinels program (Project: Wideawake?). how long is Magneto's reach?

Wolverine went crazy when he read his Weapon Plus file. he (subsequently?) realizes he's on Asteroid M. Magneto controls metal and has possibly controlled Weapon Plus for a long time. all of which begs the question: did Magneto create Wolverine?

Fantomex obviously knew whatever was in Logan's file. is he in bed with Magneto, or fighting him, or just playing all sides against each other?

honestly, what the hell is going on?
 
 
Mike-O
17:59 / 10.09.03
Wow.... You wouldn;t think a writer I idolized so very much could just lose ALL credibility with one issue's crap, would ya? But unless something hear makes any of this a tad more.... relevant, suppose, first and foremost.... Jesus, I don't know.

... WTF????? I mean, really?????? "New" X Men? Fuck no. OLD, OLD, OLD X-Men concepts, that's whatthis fucking is, boyo.... Jeez.
 
 
Quimper
18:20 / 10.09.03
Okay. It's part ONE of a five-part series. To me, this could be shaping up to be the ultimate old vs. new battle of the run. Planet X could be the arc where "NEW" truly takes over. Xavier is stepping down, Magneto is back in what seems like his last ditch effort. And it could be time for the new leader of mutantkind to emerge...Jean Grey.
 
 
Yotsuba & Benjamin!
18:23 / 10.09.03
Mike, please don't judge this issue on my no-account translation of it. Read it. Morrison's key strength, the way he sells even the wildest of ideas, is through his dialogue, which I have no interest in paraphrasing here, as it is radiant in its pure and original form.
 
 
diz
18:57 / 10.09.03
speaking of your "translation," BB, i've read another account of the issue elsewhere which makes a big deal about how the Ernst, of the Special Class, is less eager to go along with Xorneto. she points out that Martha is insisting that they follow him, and that her "voice" has gotten "all snotty." what do you think of this?
 
 
Yotsuba & Benjamin!
19:17 / 10.09.03
Yeah, definitely a critical detail, implying a connection between Sublime and Magneto and, I guess, that Martha is indeed the mole. Or a mole. That person clearly favored the whole "give information that's actually useful" method of describing an issue of a comic book...

Different strokes...

This also paves the way for another great version of the outcasts save the day, some the special class turning on their teacher, Beak v. Angel perhaps? I can see traces of the lines already:

Angel/Basilisk/Martha v. Ernst/Dust/Beak

And I love how Grant has set up their characters so it's not as if any of those three people are inherently evil or, you know, "acolytes" (well, maybe Martha, the fucking metalhead [METALHEAD! HA! IT WAS THERE ALL ALONG!]), it's just something you could "see them doing". That might be the source of a lot of the apprehension with the big Magneto reveal. Although in his best comics, he's an incredibly fleshed out and versatile character, he has become, in later years, and in the post-mortem arena, an icon, with very little perceptible room for characterization/growth.

But give Grant time. He's about to start writing the dialogue of the definitive X-Men villain. (For real, I mean, technically, he's been writing it all along but, well, you know what I mean.)
 
 
Quireboy
19:31 / 10.09.03
NXM146 spoilers by Quimper:


It starts with Xavier sending out a telepathic emergency call. It seems he sensed the goings on in space with Cyclops and Logan. Cerebra finds Logan in the near-earth orbit.

But so does Jean. The Phoenix Force told her. So she takes an X-Plane into space to find him. She is telepathically learning how to pilot (again) from a test pilot in room 221 of the westchester Hilton (lol). Xavier asks her to be headmistress when he steps down. She says tells him that whatever happens, it'll be for the best.

Beast and Emma go rescue Scott, whose plane goes down in the Pacific Ocean with Fantomex in tow. Emma is reading Scott's mind (great line about Scott..."he gives off the most bizarre and aloof psychic radiation I've ever experienced.") She learns of the Weapon Plus traitor and BOOM! Emma and Hank's plane's wing blows up.

Next, Xorn says to Dust in the special class, "So you've heard what I have to say, Sooraya. What's the answer."

Well, so much for Dust being the Weapon Plus informant. She escapes to warn Xavier in the Cererbra chamber that Xorn is up to something and that he is asking her to do bad things (like denounce Islam, as we find out later). Chuck kinda doesn't believe her. Then Xorn shows up and warns that Dust's powers are out of control. He raises his hand and her powers go nuts. So nuts, in fact, that she destroys Cerebra! Xavier laments not being able to communicate with the X-men. The Special Class join in trying to contain Dust in this weird box. They are now blindly following Xorn. The only one who expresses hesitation is Ernst. She says that MARTHA insists they do what Xorn says, but that her voice is all snotty now. Dust yells for Xavier to help her, and they all subdue her and contain her.

Jean finds Logan in space. He's got Weapon XV down for the count!!! Logan yells "Get outta here Jeannie! It's a trap! Don't you recognize this place!" And Jean says, "Oh...Oh my God! It's Asteroid M!" Classic stuff.

Next, the Professor confronts "Xorn." He knows that Xorn forced Dust's powers to go out of control and destroy Cerebra. Xorn also has "Magneto Was Right" posters everywhere. Xavier tells Xorn to release Dust from the box cuz she is very scared. Xorn goes off on a long speech about how Xavier is stupid and he cannot stand this stupid charade anymore. He tells Xavier that the iron prison in Feng Tu was fake. He just built it. Then, he tells him that the nano-sentinels were holding his spine together, but...zap...not anymore. Xavier falls to the floor...and the f***ing special class laugh!

Cut to Jean and Logan in space. They realize Mags in alive and setting them up. Then, BOOM! Asteroid M blows up and they go hurdling through space.

Then, back to Xorn. He lifts his mask...and it is most definitely Magneto... "X-Men emergency indeed...the dream is over."

Great issue! The last line is genius. What is a dream, but fictional reality. Mags says the dream is over. The fictional reality the X-Men have been living in is over and Xavier's dream is over.

Best line of the issue...BASILISK (after they battle through Dust's sandstorm and contain her) "What a beach...HYUK."
 
 
Rawk'n'Roll
20:09 / 10.09.03
Just for fun: Xorn as Mags.






Is it me or does Phil's pencils not look as sleek as they usually do? I thought this when I saw the previews and I'm thinking it again now.
 
 
Mr Tricks
22:14 / 10.09.03
I was particularly fond of the Jean/Phoenix enterance scene...

Yeah, I laughed out loud at the turn of the last page.

not certain about a connection with Cassandra...

More so I doubt weapon plus knows they're dealing with Magneto... Unless the U-men are looking to survive as a "subset" to mutantkind.

Magneto has used "mutates" before...
 
 
Hieronymus
22:15 / 10.09.03
Ugh. This is pretty much indicative of the worst kind of shark-jumping to me. The Feng Tu prison was fake... gotcher nose. *yawn*

I thought Morrison promised to escape the old dynamic, abandon it behind him as cliched and archaic. Looks like the same old tapdance to me, just people changing clothes mid-waltz.

Xorn and the Special Class was far more interesting than Magneto-as-Xorn and the New and Improved Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. It's a bit played out don't you think?
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
22:19 / 10.09.03
Yes. This issue DELIVERED.

I just can't comprehend why some of you are being so damned reactionary about this (I'm looking at you, Mike O.)

Just because Magneto is an old X-Men villain does not make this story anything like any of the old X-Men comics. This is very much a NEW X-MEN kind of story. This is far more clever, the set up a lot more creative and nuanced. This is the beginning of a huge pay-off. If you seriously think that the two Fantomex stories and Germ Free Generation were more exciting X-Men stories, then hey, more power to you. I just think you're crazy, is all.

As for story stuff:

* I think that the Weapon Plus program has existed for a long time, and Magneto has been playing them for suckers over the past few years, trying to engineer this war. I think that the informant was Xorn - Magneto was feeding them inside information himself, probably. The kids aren't working for Weapon Plus, they're simply pawns of Magneto.

* I can't understand why everyone thinks Martha is so sinister. Someone may be pushing her around, but she's not a bad person, I'm very sure of that. She's just a very troubled girl who's had her entire body amputated. And c'mon, you just know those Special Class kids are going to be instrumental in Magneto's defeat.

* Ohmygod! Magneto's going to try to literally turn the world upside-down, isn't he?

* I find it somewhat troubling that Xavier has been consistently an oblivious, naive fool with terrible tunnelvision throughout the series so far. Of course, he definitely would be like that. He's idealistic, he wants to trust people. Crafty, ambitious, morally bankrupt people like Magneto exist primarily to get kick folks like Charles around in this way, don't they? It's just like real life, I suppose.
 
 
Imaginary Mongoose Solutions
22:25 / 10.09.03
Err.... Magxorno is the mole, isn't he?

"Hey Mutants! The humans are going to wipe us off the face of the Earth, like in Genosha."

"Hey Humans! The Mutants are breeding and training a fucking army at Xavier's school."

He's playing both sides. Quire was right, Xavier has been four steps behind everyone all this time. Quire saw it, Mags sees it and Jean sees it.

Planet X, an upside down world... one with the poles reversed?

Jean and Logan in Space... Jean is about to make an unprotected rentry into earth's atmosphere. Again.

Their world is being destroyed around them, ther enemies are their allies and their allies are their greatest enemies and The Phoenix warned them this would happen.

Everything old is so very new again, and surprisingly it works.

Wow. If morrison pulls this off, it will be quite the ride.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
22:26 / 10.09.03
Can someone tell me why an elaborate Machiavellian scheme involving the faked death of the archvillain and his return is more ridiculous than the villain of the first year being Charles's evil twin? And what about the Murder At The Mansion - are you trying to say that wasn't more campy than this Magneto thing?

It's a soap opera about superheroes. What do you think you've been reading?
 
 
Mike-O
00:15 / 11.09.03
Flux, keep it real man.... you're very excited.



Look, my point is Magneto was taken out in a very respectable way.... the way he deserved to be taken out, as a martyr, an icon, and without the silliness of his "unkillable" mutation, as it would seem after all his "deaths".

Whatever. I found this to be utter shite. If u disagree, good for u. I think this is more Austen's style, but hey, that's me.

But Magneto did not need a resurrection, no matter WHAT anyone says, man. "The dream is dead".... how content reflects form, eh?
 
 
diz
00:44 / 11.09.03
finally got the damn issue.

first off, i would like to say that i [heart] Basilisk, the kid who turned Dummy's death into a fart joke. the beach line was great, but the one that got me for some reason was:

"My strobe eye is crap compared to this."

i've got to say that, overall, one of my favorite little things about GM's run is his willingness to create lame characters with crap powers who know they're lame characters with crap powers.

speaking of which, i've gone back and re-read some of the past arcs recently, and man, the Special Class just breaks my heart. poor Beak. poor fucking Beak. he looks like a goddamn chicken and he just totally falls for anyone who throws him a bone, and i can totally see him falling for the Xorn spiel, and even if he had second thoughts, he's in love with Angel and he'd want to belong to a team... ~sigh~

anyway, i think everyone who thinks that Magneto is going to use his powers to actually flip the Earth (or the poles) upside down is right on target.

i'm of mixed minds about the whole Xorneto thing. i'm in the "wait and see" category.
 
 
gergsnickle
00:52 / 11.09.03
Flux says:

Khaologan23ris, I did think it was Apocalypse. So did a bunch of other folks. But he faked me out too. He faked everyone out

Well, actually I suggested this idea in the post for New X-Men 141
and you told me it wasn't going to happen.

Just because Magneto is an old X-Men villain does not make this story anything like any of the old X-Men comics.

I don't know; that fantastic ending, right down to the full page image of Magneto gloating at his enemies, is pretty reminiscent The All-New All Different X-Men #111. But that doesn't change the fact that this was the best issue yet!
 
 
quinine92001
01:08 / 11.09.03
I for one liked the issue a lot. Magxorneto has always been my favorite and finally has created a way to totally defeat Xavier once and for all. Who else would endure the writing of the " Zen Diaires" just to crush Xavier once more. Applause to Morrison for the nanosentinel technology that cured Charles, only to be removed by Erick. Extra points for turning the world upside down. Jeez I wish I had teachers like Xornetomag. I know the heroes will save he day but until then I will bask in the "special class" ruling. Logan and Jean drifting in the atmosphere plummeting toward the Earth how more "exciting" could this get? We know that Phoenix will save Logan in the end, but die in the process watch the telegraphed moves of Morrison -like a kick to the head by Bruce Lee. Welcome to satori fanboys/girls. I can't wait for the Nightclopes' to fight the Shi'ar sentiniels. Magneto won't make it to the future, he will fall into the same fate as Charles.
 
 
El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt
01:11 / 11.09.03
I took a cursory glance at a couple key Xorn issues. Forgive me if I'm wrong (even though this thread seems pretty unforgiving lately), but in Xorn's first appearance, Emma picked up some memories off of the key to Xorn's prison. Must have been some psychic intervention at some point. What psychic with mole potential was with them in China?

In another later issue, in which Xorn tries to save a giant red mutant kid, there are a few lines that we are meant to believe are Xorn's internal dialogue. Must have been the "Zen diaries." Very tricky, Mr. Morrison.

I have a feeling I'm going to be giving some of the back issues a good read.
 
 
bio k9
01:56 / 11.09.03
Yeah gergsnickle, you made up the thing about Apocolypse... four posts after I did. And three posts after Flux said I might be right. The old thread is here.

If you wanna talk shit try to stick to the facts. Thanks.
 
 
Mike-O
02:00 / 11.09.03
How about explaining how the hell Magneto was able to pull off completely setting up the entire Chinese government, or even more nonsensical, HAVING THEM DO HIS BIDDING, by fooling John Sublime into believing the mutant known as Xorn was real, and powering cities for their government with his power. Or perhaps how Magneto faked his power by killing those kids at the beginnning of the Annual??? Have Magneto's powers adapted to the point where he is now able to mimic having a star for a brain when that mask was off several times during the Annual issue?????

And Jeez, a speedy fucking recovery for Mags to be setting all this up after being blown to shit by a Mega Sentinal in 115.... or maybe (could it be?!?!?!?) Magneto was IN ON THE WHOLE GENOSHA THING!!! As part of his "masterful" ruse (which was COMPLETELY out of character for an egotistical megalomaniac such as Erik), he was able to justify the killing of 16 million mutants... he stood by and did NOTHING. Oh fuck yeah, I buy that.... This, as part of his plan to make mutants the DOMINANT SPECIES. Mmm hmmm. But let's not forget the neccessity in fake-healing Xavier's spine. What does this accomplish??? Giving the Prof a false sense of hope??? If he wanted him out of the picture, he'd have KILLED him. Wait, u say hedoesn't want to risk making him into a martyr...? But what of the countless other times Magnus has made attempts on Xavier's life, up to and including that little Lobdell crossover right before Morrison came on???

Bottom line: Magneto needs NO DISGUISE. He is, in his eyes, completely justified in his actions and beyond being denied in his crusade.... he needs not hide from anyone, let alone act as his own "sting" operation at Xavier's....... Fucking stupid.
 
 
diz
02:17 / 11.09.03
and powering cities for their government with his power.

to be fair, go back and read the Annual again. Ao Jun specifically says that Xorn is not being used to power cities. He says he wanted to use Xorn to power cities, but instead the party bosses decided to keep him in Feng Tu in case they needed him for a war in the future.
 
 
Imaginary Mongoose Solutions
02:22 / 11.09.03
The big question is: Was there ever a Xorn?

And if he was just a false identity/fictionsuit, will there be a Xorn. (As fictionsuits in Morrison's work tend to take on their own existences.)
 
 
Mike-O
03:34 / 11.09.03
U got answers for any of the rest, Diz...?

(Been a while since I rad the Annual, sorry)
 
 
Jack Denfeld
05:31 / 11.09.03
I suspect Morrison will try to provide some of the answers with the 4 remaining parts of his story.
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
07:33 / 11.09.03
I just can't comprehend why some of you are being so damned reactionary about this (I'm looking at you, Mike O.)

Because it's a reactonary fucking issue, man. All the new shit (even Cerebra!) has been blown to crap. Not to say this doesn't sound entertainng to me but a ton of cool shit I like has been retconed out of ever existing. It never even existed!

* Ohmygod! Magneto's going to try to literally turn the world upside-down, isn't he?

Sounds like it.
 
 
Quireboy
10:18 / 11.09.03
Yes when I saw that inverted map that's the first thing I thought.
 
  

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