Why Have The Brood Descended On Krakoa In X-Men #8?

Thanks to their escapades in space, the New Mutants accidently lure The Brood to Krakoa. Lucky for them, the island has defenders in X-Men #8 by Jonathan Hickman, Mahmud Asar, and Sunny Gho.

Chris Eddleman: Rob, the New Mutants are back and things have never been…mutantier? Spacier?…Newer? Well anyway, after the big reveals and high concepts of the last issue of X-Men, we are finally set to explore the consequences of flying through space in search of adventure. And as we know from reading lots of X-Men books, space is both fun and benevolent, and I’m sure everything is going to be a-okay.

Robert Secundus: I’ve heard in space, no one can hear you tweet. Is that right? Sounds pretty spooky to me.

The Once and Future King Egg

CE: I’m absolutely tickled that we have a very direct follow-up from New Mutants in the form of the Chekhov’s Obvious Bazooka called the King Egg. As readers will know from reading New Mutants, poor Mondo had been just kind of keeping this egg in his tummy for the entire initial storyline, instead of letting the Starjammers steal it. And we see the issue inherent with its possession early on, and get some of my favorite characters from Wolverine and the X-Men—Idie and Broo!

RS: My first X-Book was a collection of X-Factor [Ed. note: Investigations era], but I quickly dropped that due to how confusing it was. The first time I really got into X-Men was when I heard that Wolverine had become a high school principal. Idie, Broo (and Kid Gladiator, who shows up at the end of the issue) all hold a special place in my heart. I especially love that Broo is welcomed on Krakoa. One of my favorite things about Wolverine and the X-Men is how it framed being a mutant (as New Mutants did before it) as something beyond mutations in Homo Sapiens. I think Broo is such a successful evolution of the Warlock archetype too because he bridges kinds of X-stories that I used to feel were pretty disparate: stories about what it means to be a mutant, and stories where the X-Men go to space and fight copyright infringing horror monsters. (I don’t feel that they’re so disparate anymore; Nola Pfau’s article on X-Men and Harm is a Grand Unifying Theory of X-Men that made the Brood Saga finally click for me).

CE: Wolverine and the X-Men is also a very personal favorite of mine. It was really difficult for me to get into X-Men books when I first started in around 2009, but Aaron really brought it home for me. It’s a testament to the clear enjoyment and appreciation Hickman has for every era of X-Men, because I don’t think he’s left a single one untouched in terms of utilizing characters. Everyone gets a seat at the table, and Hickman doesn’t seem to have any special favorites that he must use above all else (okay, except for maybe Cyclops).

RS: What do you think of the Brood? Are they part of the wider X-Universe that you enjoy? Were you excited when you saw they’d be coming soon to DoX?

CE: The Brood at this point are certified classic bad guys in the X-line, so much so that I wouldn’t even look at their entry in the DK Marvel Encyclopedia when I was a kid because even their picture absolutely terrified me. They’re a great addition to this run, and it’s masterful how they’re brought it. We could have just gotten another “they wanna make more queens by assimilating the X-Men” story but, instead we get them insatiable in the different way in their quest for the King Egg.

RS: I’m glad you brought up assimilation, because I think it would be really easy to see this plotline as throwaway, fun, classic X-action in a new setting; all the classic mutant bad guys are on board now, so let’s bring in the Brood for some nostalgic fight scenes, etc etc. But I think they might be both thematically and narratively relevant for some of the long term stuff going on here. Moira is trying to solve the Hard Problem of Divine AI, AIs that assimilate everything with which they come into contact as they ascend to interstellar power. We’ve theorized that she’s trying to use Krakoa to create a biological equivalent, a bio-Dominion that can use organic mutation to fight back and overcome their destined predators. The Brood, which aren’t just assimilators, like the Phalanxes of the universe, but are hive minds, yet biological assimilators and hive minds, are likely of interest to her (or at least of interest to us readers who are thinking about these sorts of things, and are asking questions as we go about what makes for a just society, how power and hierarchies should function in a just society, etc etc).

CE: The Brood have always been what the X-Men are now in one specific way, which is solely utilizing biological matter in their pursuits. However, one way that they completely differ from the X-Men is that while the mutants are working in symbiosis with Krakoa, an entity very willing to help them, the Brood are purely parasitic, and they subjugate any entity that they need, including the poor Acanti, who get to look extra sad as Brood crawl all over them and pour forth from their eyes and mouths. My poor space whales.

RS: Actually, speaking of Space Whales, it’s been a while since I read the Brood Saga, but Storm, priestess of Krakoan Resurrection, resurrects herself there from the Acanti, right?

CE: That is absolutely true. I really hope that the X-Men can finally rescue the Acanti once and for all but, they make for excellent set dressing for the sinister controlling nature of the Brood so, it might just be that these poor creatures remain the way they are.

That Big Fight Feel

CE: This is the first issue of X-Men where we get one of those really huge battle royale style fights, and I’m thrilled that we have Mahmud Asrar on board to deliver the goods. The action in this issue is visceral and stylish, and it was a pleasure to look at. I think one of the strengths of X-Men is the family or team aspect, and we get some incredible team moves here.

RS: I love it when Magik and Cyclops get to interact. They’re characters that have ended up in extremely similar places in adulthood with wildly disparate paths. From the moment we saw that they were both captains of Krakoa, I’ve been looking forward to a fight like this. And I am: satisfied.

CE: Magik and Cyclops both have the “kid raised into doing something kids should not have to do” aspect to their background, and it was really excellent to see them having a sweet team up. They even got some fun repore with “Captain” and “Commander.”

RS: I am such a sucker for “Cyclops does Cool Thing with his Force Beam” as well as “Magik does Cool Thing with her Teleport Discs” and Chris?? BY THEIR POWERS COMBINED. WE GOT A SUPER COOL THING WITH FORCE BEAM AND TELEPORT DISC. It was like watching the X-Men equivalent of the Buckshot Lariat V-Trigger Combination. A note to our readers: now that Krakoa has been confirmed as a big time indie Pro Wrestling town [Ed. note: See Cable #1] prepare for a lot more of that sweet sweet squared circle content in this space going forward. [Ed. note: I’m thrilled…]

CE: The way the fight transitions into the chase is also well done. I felt this issue was paced incredibly well as we moved into the Summers family going on a “vacation.” Oh no, Rob, is this going to be how they get to Chandilore after all? I was hoping for a chill issue.

RS: AH!! That is how they are going to get to Chandilore! And Scott didn’t even have time to pack his speedo!

The Big Shift To Ongoing

RS: Hey, this issue didn’t introduce a new concept, but expanded on a previous plotline, and it ended on a cliffhanger that almost certainly must be picked up next issue! Is this… an ongoing superhero comic now??

CE: Rob, I attended the possibly last comic convention of 2020, C2E2, in which at one panel, Hickman explained that very soon, he was going to be ending the one-shot nature of the main title and moving onto ongoings, and I’m glad we get it in the form of having the Brood invading Krakoa. Hickman joked that X-Men readers don’t read anything else and so he could use the same technique that he had done for several other Marvel runs, most recently the one-shot intros for characters in Avengers.

RS: Foolishly, I believed I’d have time this year to reread his Fantastic Four, and you can see the same thing there, as he builds slowly a new status quo that comes crashing together in the War of Four Cities. The big difference this time is the structure is a bit more intricate. Those one shots seem to be spilling out into different titles (Giant Sized is following up on the Children of the Vault, for example) and the first major ongoing plotline here is from a different series (New Mutants). At the same time, it feels like the groundwork is being laid across titles for X of Swords, as every week now it seems a new character picks up a badass blade.

CE: I’m also pretty into him delving into deep Marvel Cosmic knowledge as well, as we get an Accuser also after the King Egg, as well as data pages exploring what happened to several characters after the Fault was opened by Black Bolt. We get a little hit of Vulcan that possibly suggests why he’s so okay with his family and the X-Men in general but, it’s definitely meat that is going to be explored later. I also wonder if Black Bolt is going to be making a return after getting super laryngitis and disappearing but, perhaps that’s just window dressing.

RS: I’m not familiar with the Annihilation Trilogy [Ed. note: Which we all can tell because no one calls it that.], but I know people absolutely love it, and so I’m excited to see that explored further. Really, I am finishing this issue, once more, excited. I’m excited for this title, for the new titles entering the line, for Eye Boy to get his Soul Eyedge. [Ed. note: I feel compelled to mention that Leah Williams has confirmed that Eye Boy does not get a sword.]

CE: I like that this seems to be slightly setting up for the Empyre tie-in, as we get the introduction of cosmic forces into the wider world of X-Men, having moved from New Mutants relative narrative isolation onto the main stage. I can see why Hickman wanted to assume direct control early on in that title, as he needed to set-up some cosmic conflicts. We’re sure to have Shi’ar and Kree in abundance on the hunt for the King Egg, and possibly even in the upcoming tie-ins with Empyre. I like this subtle moving into crossover event territory that we’re getting, as we finally get an ongoing plot of the main book.

X-Traneous Thoughts

“That’s me space booty”
Krakoan in the second data page says “Update”
Krakoan at the end says “intergalactic trouble”
Magma is really really powerful, huh?
Shooting eye beams through portals? Has Hickman been watching The Witcher?
Vulcan, very into fire. Mythical.
Will we see the Brood-created clones of the X-Men from New Mutants vol 1 #63 for the first time in three decades? Pray to Jay and Miles, patron saints of obscure continuity, that it may be so.

Chris Eddleman is a biologist and co-host of Chrises On Infinite Earths.

Robert Secundus is an amateur-angelologist-for-hire.