Jonathan Hickman and Rod Reis bring us the space adventures of the space New Mutants as they escape space jail and hang out with their space friends in New Mutants #2. They get a chance to meet up with their old friends Cannonball and Smasher before getting conscripted into Shi’ar Imperial business involving Deathbird and Xandra, the daughter of Charles Xavier and the late Majestrix Lilandra Neramani.
Zach Rabiroff: It’s been two whole weeks since we last joined our gang of plucky young idiots, as they were captured and taken into custody by Shi’ar authorities when those dastardly Starjammers left them holding the bag for the theft of an extremely Brood-y King Egg. I’ve been waiting on space tenterhooks to see if Berto’s high-priced lizard lawyer has the smarts to get them out of this jam, and whether the New Mutants will ever see good old Sam Guthrie after all these years. Allison, how’s your cotton thread count this week?
Allison Senecal: Can’t be any higher than a 400 because I’m cranky, but then again there is Deathbirb [Ed. note: Allison wanted to call her this for the whole article and I say no.] content this week, so good enough for some beauty sleep. Let us take this issue before K’ythri and Sharra for the final judgment.
One Hell of a Dad Bod
ZR: Last issue ended on a splash-page reveal that Roberto’s extremely high-priced space lawyer was none other than preposterous reptilian Daredevil spoof Murd Blurdock. It was a delightful surprise that promised all manner of off-the-wall hilarity to come. And so, after some extended recap from Berto, we open with a trial scene that is…well, kind of a missed opportunity, to tell you the truth. The only legal shenanigans on display here are a measly two pages that proceed with all the comedic panache of a post-Sam Waterston Law and Order episode. It’s a far cry from the absurd burlesque of the character’s last appearance in Al Ewing & Adam Gorham’s Rocket, and it makes me wonder why the creators invested so much time in a setup without a punchline. I guess comedy is the one Checkhov’s gun Hickman doesn’t fire.
On the other hand, I’ll tell you one gun that does come loaded and ready to fire: Sam Guthrie’s biceps. What did you think of our long-awaited family reunion, Allison?
AS: What? Is “Is this Shi’ar space?!” not a good running joke?
ZR: I do appreciate the deadpan stylings of Hardass McBirdJudge [Ed. note: Please update the Marvel Wikia appropriately folks], a character whose ongoing solo series I will happily pay cash money for.
AS: Where is his accent? Seriously, I got so excited after we got Rahne’s in the first issue. I miss Sam’s luscious locks a little, but really appreciate Reis’s callback to Sienkiewicz’s funky spiky ‘do for him. I also admit I barely remember Hickman’s Sam and Bobby in his Avengers run (it’s quite possible I didn’t read all of it), so I have no clue if this is a worthy follow-up to that dynamic or not, but I love their banter here.
I do think it ran a bit long (overboard, a wee bit) and we could have had more plot beats in this issue, but it’s so difficult to be a scrooge about good New Mutants team moments (or that Lila Cheney hologram). *dry sob* I loved that the opening issue was a slam-bam fun, charming dialogue, ten-funnies-a-second issue, but after this one I do hope Hickman can strike a better balance down the line with these kids.
ZR: You can’t see it on the page, but Sam actually speaks with an extremely thick Shi’ar accent now. It’s a bit squawky, but not in a Bird Boy sort of way.
Honestly, though, I almost feel like these character moments are a monkey’s paw wish come true. For so long, I’ve said that the fight scenes in X-Men comics are largely superfluous, when all we really want are our gang of mutants hanging out on couches and watching Magnum P.I. And here we have a full half of this comic devoted to nothing more than old pals from high school enjoying each other’s company. I should love it!
And yet. And yet. I just wish there was a little more visible depth beyond the lighthearted banter and poker game hijinks. True, perennial Hickman favorite Berto has hints of pathos underneath the confident surface: his visible disappointment on seeing that Sam is actually doing great without him is actually kind of poignant, as is his obvious desire to impress his friends with his (as it turns out entirely fictitious) business and legal acumen. But for most of these characters, their personalities are essentially sketch-comedy bullet points: Dani is tough. Mondo is baffled. Illyana really, really wanted to punch Sunspot in the nose.
AS: I’ve been pleasantly surprised that the ladies haven’t disappeared for pages and pages yet, I have worried about this becoming the Sam and Bobby Show. It would be nice to get some more meaningful moments from and between them, a la that early Rahne and Xi’an scene.
ZR: It’s a fair point! Still, I don’t want to sound too harsh. These scenes really are undeniably fun to read, and they give this team a real and believable feeling of friendship that I think has largely disappeared from most X-Men titles over the past couple of decades. I just wish there was a little more dramatic depth at this point underneath the fun. But things are building here, and maybe this is just the warmup.
AS: Exactly. I appreciate the new Krakoan status quo and Hickman stating this is a positive phase of his era, so I won’t push for things to get, like, bleak. Plus, it’s space, so we know we’ll get there eventually.
ZR: Yeah, this story has been engaging enough (and funny enough) that I definitely want to give it time to develop. And to some extent, we’re just seeing the consequence of a normal-sized issue that can’t be as deep or eventful as the double-sized debut. Still: as charming as these characters are, I do feel like they’ve been de-aged a bit from some of their previous appearances. Dani, Sam, and Doug, for instance, all went through quite a number of character developments during the mid-2000s New Mutants revival, and I don’t think we see much evidence of that here. This is very much a “classic” team in terms of personality and relationships, as if the Krakoan era reset continuity to its Platonic, Claremontian ideal, for better or worse.
But enough about these crazy kids. Let’s talk about some space wars.
Deathbirds of a Feather
AS: Let’s skip to the end first. Dessert before dinner. Deathbird! She’s on the cover of #5 so we may as well talk about her. Cal’syee is one of my all-time faves. She’s suffered from an all-too-common-to-comics problem, where a woman is actually ultra-competent and cool, but oh hey she has powers (or in Deathbird’s case, rare genetics that make her go berserk) she can’t control and oh no, she’s unpredictable! Anyways, I love her and what she’s competent at is usurping her sister’s throne and killing stuff. And also getting pregnant with a half-mutant, half-Shi’ar, Kree-infused baby. Which I am absolutely positive will not be important going forward into a potential Shi’ar-Kree-Skrull War. If it’s still alive. Or if she even had it. Or if anyone remembered that. I’m sure Hickman 100% remembered that. [Ed. note: We remember her love affair with Vulcan!]
ZR: It is honestly great to see Deathbird here again, especially as the chosen mentor and political tutor of young Xandra, who seems to be stepping into her own as ruler of the Shi’ar Empire sooner than she would have intended.
AS: When Deathbird has been Empress, she’s actually proven a pretty good one as Shi’ar things go, so Gladiator isn’t just talking out his butt or implying she’s only there for teaching the bloody bits. [Ed. note: Debatable…]
ZR: These political intrigue scenes are exactly what I tune into Marvel space stories for, and it’s exciting to see so much developing right away. In contrast to the laid-back action of the New Mutants scenes, this portion of the comic starts with A New Hope-style in medias res. We see that Gladiator has balanced his rule in a delicate triumvirate with Imperial Guard colleagues Mentor and Oracle. For another, we learn that the Shi’ar are presently engulfed in a large and dangerous war against a revived Skrull force. Allison, you’re the resident expert on Cosmic Marvel here. How does all of this compare to the status quo in space we’ve seen in the past?
AS: The Shi’ar are pretty much always embroiled in civil war or war with the other major cosmic races, so I’m shocked to see their government relatively stable, but utterly unsurprised to see them fighting the Skrulls. Looks like the rebellion from Mr. and Mrs. X is water under the bridge and Xandra is no longer on the run, or was that just quietly swept under the rug?
In the last decade alone the Shi’ar have fought Asgard, the Kree, and the Inhumans, launched an attack on Earth, and saw Emperor D’Ken usurped by Vulcan [Ed. note: yes, “oh I singed Wolverine’s steak!” Vulcan] and Deathbirb, and Empress Lilandra murdered.If you haven’t read the excellent War of Kings event, please do.
ZR: Strongly seconded! Mind you, that’s the 2009 crossover War of Kings, not to be confused with the 2010 crossover Realm of Kings, the 2019 crossover War of the Realms, the 2023 crossover King of the Wars which I just made up this second, or the 1983 Martin Scorsese cult favorite The King of Comedy. [Ed. note: Which was remade this year under the title Joker.]
Shi’arpolitik
AS: The Kree have also become entangled in a civil war of their own, and the militaristic-conservative arm of the Skrull Empire is back in power, so yikes! Thanks to Gladiator, the Shi’ar may have the most even-handed cosmic government at the moment, which is just wild. I’m so curious as to how the New Mutants will throw a wrench in this or become more deeply involved, because damn. I also can’t help but think: Krakoa is technically a space territory at this point, no? It’s on the moon. Xandra is Xavier’s child with Lilandra. It’s bound to get gnarly, and Krakoa is almost surely about to get entrenched in cosmic politics.
ZR: Oh, I certainly hope so. Indeed, one intriguing development on that front is Berto’s instant, and completely understandable, attraction to Her Royal Highness Deathbird. Now, considering Cal’syee’s previous consorts include both Bishop and the aforementioned Vulcan, I think we can agree that Roberto would be shredded like a tub of KFC coleslaw within minutes of entering that relationship. Still, that face is a work of art, and we have seen hints already that Berto might have a bright future as bird king ahead of him…so what course this true love might run remains to be seen.
AS: If Hickman means to make good on his plot shake-ups, then I hope another Deathbird bid for the throne isn’t on the table at the expense of her niece, but she’s not a mutant so maybe she doesn’t fall under that umbrella…
ZR: Another intriguing development in these scenes is Oracle’s statement to Xandra that “Titans are assembling for war.” There are at least a couple of ways we can read this sentence. It could be a reference to the planet Titan, home to, among others, Thanos and his extended family. Or it could be a reference to the universal-level intelligences that, as we learned in Powers of X, are advanced enough to have collapsed into a singularity – though how such beings would assemble for war is something of a mystery. Or it could just be one of those words that Hickman likes to repeat because it sounds so pretty and makes every fan and critic spend dozens of paragraphs attempting to parse it out for no good reason at all. But whatever the case may be, this certainly sounds serious. [Ed. note: Hickman wants you to remember the Titans.]
AS: I can see either of those making sense here. The intelligences, just because it’s Hickman, and we’ve seen them recently. The Eternals branch, since hey, the rest of the cosmos is feeling a bit aggressive nowadays. Fun, no matter what.
ZR: I think what might excite me most about this space plot is just how long it’s been brewing. Way back in 2011, when Hickman was still writing Fantastic Four, he was asked about Marvel series he dreamed of writing, and mentioned a big story about the Imperial Guard this his editor always laughed at. This shows every indication of being that story eight years in the making, and it’s thrilling to wonder what it has in store.
But we won’t find out quite yet, because next issue we get our first issue with the other New Mutants creative team of Ed Brisson and Flaviano, and an earthbound cast that includes a full 100% more Glob Herman, Sharra and K’ythri help us. So it should certainly be interesting to see how this goes. [Ed. note: The official editorial position of the Xavier Files Media Empire is that more Glob Herman is never a bad thing.]
But I’ve enjoyed this series so far (I gripe because I love!), and I’m here for the ride.
AS: I am very grumbly about being taken away from the space plot for two issues (and more than a month). I’m obviously not a professional creative here, but I wish the Brisson/Flaviano/Failla issues were…back-ups instead? Or even if they swapped back and forth with that format. I think I could jive with it much better if that were the case. Instead we seem to be dumping this story entirely for way too long. Anywho. I’ll try to let the upcoming issues stand on their own, instead of judging them based on how much I’ll miss the more OG New Mutants team. Snips at pacing and tone aside, I really did love this issue almost as much as the first!
X-Traneous Thoughts
- What’s that, Berto? X-Corp, you say? Why, that almost sounds like setup for a future ongoing series, if I didn’t know better. Say, what’s Carmen Carnero doing these days?
- “He was, quite literally, the worst space lawyer money can buy.”
- “I know who won. Me.” You should always let Dani, like the Wookie, win.
- What game is it, actually? I want to know. What if it’s just Shi’ar Go Bird or something entirely tame.
- Do you think that’s a vintage clip of Lila Cheney, or is she still big in Shi’ar space? Did her career cross trajectories with former backup singer Dazzler at some point? There is a lot about the Krakoan/intergalactic music industry I still want to know.
- The Krakoan reads: Have you heard the good news?
- Make sure to check out this week’s coverage of X-Force & Fallen Angels #2
Allison Senecal buys books professionally and comics unprofessionally.
Zach Rabiroff works daily at a charity, and is also a freelance writer and editor. He reads a lot of comics.
Zach Rabiroff edits articles at Comicsxf.com.
