Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Comic Books >

Astonishing X-Men #6

Page: 1(2)3

09:03 / 08.11.04

Who's Emma talking to ? Any guesses ? I like to think it might be Logan, but offhand can't remember if we see him in the last few pages.

Matthew Fluxington

11:54 / 08.11.04

It's not to tricky to figure Joss out when it comes to speculation - his writing is always pretty simple and straightforward.

I understand that he's pushing buttons re: "Is Emma evil again?" but I've been through enough Whedon in the past year to get that it's probably not an issue of black and white moral clarity. It's important to remember that grey areas are a major theme of his work, and that probably won't ever change for him. It wouldn't surprise me if Emma is being written as essentially "What if Lilah Morgan left Wolfram & Hart and stayed with Wesley Wyndam-Pryce?"

12:25 / 08.11.04

I agree everything you just wrote. You are a special fella.

13:34 / 08.11.04

For those of us waiting for the trade (maybe...) what does she say?

I'm Rick Jones, bitch

14:31 / 08.11.04

And yet, Wedon LOVES moral clarity. Everyone chooses sides in the end. James Masters gave a lovely insight into that in one of his interviews.

Emma (an ex-villan) is seen Plotting with someone who is not Cyclops, Beast, Kitty or Colossus. Wolverine has too much history with Kitty to turn on her. She's pulling a fast one behind her fella and co-headmaster's back and (I assume) talking about offing the kid. The next arc is the "X-Traitor IV" arc. My guess as to who the other party is: Apocolypse. Sublime host #2898301 or John Byrne's demonic head on a stick.

Or maybe she's planning a suprise party! How nice!

16:21 / 08.11.04

Duds, am I missing something? Where does it say that the next arc deals with an x-traitor?

16:24 / 08.11.04

I'm right in assuming you're assuming, yeah?

I'm Rick Jones, bitch

16:47 / 08.11.04

The next arc features a traitor from within (yawn, like that never happens) - I'll finish watching the warriors then dig for the solicits.

Regrettable Juvenilia

16:49 / 08.11.04

Maybe Emma is being naughty again. Maybe she isn't. Maybe she's being only slight naughty, maybe she's being very naughty. It's exciting, isn't it?

(As long as Whedon doesn't violate the sacred sacred oeuvre of Grant Morrison - so sacred! - it will all be fine.)

I'm Rick Jones, bitch

16:55 / 08.11.04

Or I could just do it now (from Marvel.com):

ASTONISHING X-MEN #7

The Story:
"DANGEROUS" PART 1 (OF 6)
A tragic death at the school reveals a powerful enemy living among the X-Men that they could never have suspected – and no, it's not Magneto. Seriously, if you're not reading this... well, you're the only one!

(I scaled the image down a bit- makes great wallpaper, if you like that kind of thing)

Matthew Fluxington

17:22 / 08.11.04

I kinda doubt that whoever Emma's secret friend is, it probab ly is someone who has already popped up in the first six issues.

It might be the Cuckoos, who have an obvious connection with Emma. We know that they are a product of the Weapon Plus program, but no one else in the comic seems to know that.

We haven't seen Ernst, but you can't rule out the return of Cassandra Nova.

Or it could be a brand new character. It's more likely a brand new character.

Matthew Fluxington

17:29 / 08.11.04

The language of that solicit is rather telling - "a powerful enemy living among the X-Men that they could never have suspected."

Well, it's probably not Emma is it's someone no one would suspect, right? Everyone is suspicious of Emma. The majority of the X-Men loathe her. So, yeah, probably misdirection with Emma.

Keeping up with the last storyline, I would assume that Tildie is going to be staying at the mansion, right? So she's a good guess, given that she's been built up for the past six issues, but her situation wasn't fully resolved at the end of the first arc. Clearly that thing with Ord and the Breakworld isn't going away, and if this is truly a 12 issue deal, it will be resolved in that time.

17:40 / 08.11.04

Yeah, I was wondering what happens with Tilde. She probably stays with the X-peeps.

And they said "probably it's an X-Man" who destroys the Beakworld, um, I mean Beanworld, I mean Breakworld. But it might not be an X-Man at all. I guess if Whedon leaves after 1 1/2 years this story will be shittily executed by Scott Lobdell or some such...

And why no Colossus on the cover of #7, I wonder???

I'm Rick Jones, bitch

17:41 / 08.11.04

I forget where I heard it, but someone at Marvel said this is a new take on an old enemy. Who I'm guessing has Emma under control for a while.

Matthew Fluxington

18:04 / 08.11.04

That cover was making the rounds before #4 came out, so that explains why he's not there.

Pooky Is Just My Pornstar Name

00:19 / 09.11.04

Whedon loved Grant Morrison's version of Emma and he won't just make her evil again. That's more something Chris Claremont would do. So don't worry, Emma is safe, I feel certain.

She's going evil again, get over it. At least for a while. Sublimely.

It looks like you're both a little bit right. Check out this link: Emma Possessed

I think that's an upcoming cover of Uncanny X-Men, by Chris Claremont and Sal Larocca. It looks like Emma's possessed not by Sublime but by Bogan, an evil telepathic entity that once owned/possessed her back in her Hellfire Club days (this backstory was told in Xtreme X-Men where it's revealed that Sage at Shaw's behest rescued Emma from Bogan's clutches).

Incidentally, Claremont, overall, has honored Morrison's version of Emma. In his X-Men: The End, Scott and Emma are still together and the parents of 4 kids. And recently, in the latest issue of Uncanny, Emma and Rachael got into a psychic catfight, and Emma was the clear winner. Interestingly enough, there's a scene where Emma tells Rachael that Scott loves her (Emma), despite the darkness in her soul and her past evil deeds. In Morrison's NXM run, two characters, Jean and Emma, openly state that Emma loves Scott. In Whedon's Astonishing, the Cuckoos and Emma once again reiterate that. Thus far, we've had a lot of declarations of love from Emma for Scott, but none from Scott for Emma. I'm not counting the one in Uncanny because a) Emma could be lying to Rachael (and herself) and b) it didn't take place in Astonishing, where it could at least be considered canon.

I'm Rick Jones, bitch

02:27 / 09.11.04

Oh god Claremont, JUST STOP IT WITH THE PSYCHIC S+M, OK???

05:09 / 09.11.04

Correct me if I'm wrong, Pooky, but I'm fairly certain that cover is from the upcoming Milligan/Larroca "X-Men" title, featuring an original villian and not Bogan. Nor does Claremont have any involvement.

As for Emma's virtue: Flux is right in saying that one of Whedon's cornerstones is his character misdirection (Amoungst the myriad of examples: see season four Angel, with Cordelia/Jasmine, Angelus, and the Beast). No one can really be sure at this point, however I'd count on the situation not being quite what it seems by the time this next arc gets running.

Pooky Is Just My Pornstar Name

16:47 / 09.11.04

Correct me if I'm wrong, Pooky, but I'm fairly certain that cover is from the upcoming Milligan/Larroca "X-Men" title, featuring an original villian and not Bogan. Nor does Claremont have any involvement.

Hmm. That's certainly possible. Comics Continuum didn't state which X-Men cover was associated to which title. Emma's featured quite a bit in Uncanny right now, so I presumed that the Sal Larroca cover was for an upcoming ish of that.

As for Emma's virtue: Flux is right in saying that one of Whedon's cornerstones is his character misdirection (Amoungst the myriad of examples: see season four Angel, with Cordelia/Jasmine, Angelus, and the Beast). No one can really be sure at this point, however I'd count on the situation not being quite what it seems by the time this next arc gets running.

I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I'm fairly certain that Emma is Evol again is a red herring/misdirection maneuver by Whedon too.

17:52 / 09.11.04

Oh no worries Pooky I wasn't tryin' to dog you on that, it's up for speculation right? That's just my thoughts on the matter. Fuck, evil or not evil who the hell knows right now I'm trying to work with what I can recognize about Whedon's tendancies within his work to make a reasonable assumption. But Annnnnnnnnnnnnnyways...

Pooky Is Just My Pornstar Name

23:28 / 09.11.04

S'okay, Mike-O, I didn't take any offense. If I came off as terse in my previous reply it was because a) I was posting from work and trying to post fast (it wouldn't do to be caught using the company's computer for personal use) and b) I couldn't concentrate on my reply due to my cubicle mate coughing out her lung - silly bint is sick with a terrible throat cold, but she insists on coming in to work, disrupting our peace and spreading her germs everywhere.

Anyway, getting back to the X-Men...I've been thinking, and if you're right, and the Emma cover by Sal Larocca is for the upcoming Milligan run, why is Emma so heavily featured? Aside from the obvious reason that she's hot and sells merchandise/books for Marvel. Wouldn't Milligan concentrate more on his core cast of Havok, Polaris et al. rather than focusing on a character that isn't even a part of his book?

03:12 / 10.11.04

Hmmmf... you'd think so wouldn't you? Though I'd imagine the "marketing" points you make could certainly qualify her appearance in that regard. Not to mention I'm sure as Milligan sees it he'll use anyone on a core team as he pleases to further his plot in that sense. Maybe an attack on the Institute? That'd explain her presence fairly easily, and even if she wasn't featured heavily within the book, her face (and othersuch supersexy physical features) sell issues. Hey, if it were up to me, Wolverine would be in ONE book, same with everyone else. Lord KNOWS there's more than enough of these kids to go 'round. But unfortunately, looks like continuity ain't much of an issue so we just need to work around it in our own heads.

Matthew Fluxington

13:24 / 10.11.04

It makes sense that Emma would be appearing in so many X-comics (Astonishing, Uncanny, New, adjectiveless) - she's in charge of the school, so she's a central character. She's also very popular.

Also, it seems weird to do a big Hellfire Club story without Emma being involved somehow, y'know?

21:10 / 10.11.04

I wouldn't trust a Marvel solicit as far as I could throw it, even were it on a bit of paper and I were Gambit.

No, that doesn't work.

Regrettable Juvenilia

06:52 / 11.11.04

I just hope Emma isn't talking to the Scarlet Witch.

Oh god Claremont, JUST STOP IT WITH THE PSYCHIC S+M, OK???

Emma Frost turns her pseudo-stepdaughter into a baby and feeds her a bottle - what could possibly be kinky about that? It's not as if Claremont wears adult diap - oh. Right.

14:10 / 11.11.04

Nice one.

14:43 / 11.11.04

Count on Scarlet Witch being the scapegoat for EVERYTHING in the next year. Magneto died 4 times in the past year but keeps coming back? Wacked out Hex Magic. Xorn wasn't real but somehow has a brother? Fuckin' Hex Magic. Claremont somehow still actually gets paid to write (loose term there) comics? Gad damn Hex Magic.

Ughh.

17:23 / 12.11.04

The cover of #6 is totally Buffy/Angel meets Kitty/Peter.

Anyone else besides me a bit weirded out at Emma saying "that'll do sweet F.A." back in issue 5? Seemed kind of out of character, esp. knowing that Whedon really gets Emma's character -- plus, who says "sweet F.A." anyway?? (I guess it means 'sweet effing-A'?)

18:21 / 12.11.04

British people, or people who know 'the Briddish slang' use it.

It means 'sweet fuck all'.

Nietzsch E. Coyote

20:28 / 12.11.04

British people, or people who know 'the Briddish slang' use it.

It means 'sweet fuck all'.

So is Emma using pretentious faux british accent/mannerisms?

21:13 / 12.11.04

I always read Emma that way anyway - maybe it was the Hellfire club link, but she always seemed the type.

Haus of Mystery

21:43 / 12.11.04

A bit like Madonna when she started knocking around with Guy Ritchie (who is himself faux british).

Liking Cassady's rendition of Beast more and more (still nothing on Quitely's stately beast), but much as I enjoyed the moment, the 'fastball special' panel was kind of stilted and lame.

10:32 / 13.11.04

Yeah-- Emma said "berk" this issue, too.

19:56 / 13.11.04

I imagine Emma as speaking not unlike Madonna.

But she's done this for ages. S'not new.

19:58 / 13.11.04

Oh. Forgot to read MacGyver's post first.

Page: 1(2)3