Kate Pryde is dead, long live Kate Pryde. The Captain of the Marauder, The Red Queen died, but there are no cemeteries on Krakoa. Join Gerry Duggan, Stefano Caselli, and Edgar Delgado in Marauders #11.
Christina Eddleman: It’s the issue we’ve all been waiting for. We’ve been on the edge of our seats and it’s happened. We finally meet the mysterious X-Desk employee! Okay, yes, and there’s also a small little resurrection that’s somewhat noteworthy. I definitely found myself doing a happy dance while reading this issue. Vishal, were you as energized as I was?
Vishal Gullapalli: It’s been so LONG! I had waited for such a long time since the last issue that I almost forgot how much I loved Marauders and how much I missed Kate, but right when I started to slip out I was pulled back in. This issue has been a long time coming and I can’t be happier with how it all came together.
There’s Something There
CE: Duggan honors a lot of Kate’s relationships in this issue: Kurt’s heartfelt letter, incredibly deliberate panels of Ilyanna and Rachel at Kate’s not-funeral, and Emma. Kate and Emma’s relationship has entered a new chapter in Marauders that is chalk full of subtext. Vishal, do we dare speculate on the nature of Kate and Emma’s relationship? (Because I think we definitely should.)
VG: It seems clear that not only is it a good choice to speculate on this, it’s really the only choice – we got a whole panel of Emma, Rachel, and Illyana all at Kate’s funeral. This is just the barest of subtext, and pretty impossible to ignore for anyone who pays attention to Kate’s love life. And that’s not all! There’s so many queer moments in this issue that it’s really impossible to talk about without bringing them up – Kate’s last memory being Emma kissing her (forehead), Emma guiding Kate’s husk out of the pod. I could go on and on about this! Was there anything else you noticed about how this issue portrayed the two of them?
CE: This isn’t the first time we’ve witnessed Emma grieve Kate, but her devotion to Kate is incredibly clear. Undoubtedly she carries some measure of guilt regarding Kate’s death, but this is more. But perhaps the most significant marker of the importance of their relationship isn’t actually found in an exchange between the two. Lockheed’s choice to first come to Emma rather than any other mutant is incredibly telling. This series has been built upon the relationship between Kate and Emma. The nature of the relationship has yet to be clearly defined, and naming it as romantic would likely ruffle a few feathers. I’ll admit, I’ve been on the fence about whether or not I’d endorse a relationship between two individuals that began with a mentor-mentee/teacher-student dynamic, but this issue is starting to convince me.
VG: Yeah it’s something I’ve felt very mixed feelings about for a while, but Duggan’s definitely been playing them up more as equals than as a former teacher and student. It’s something that has definitely been more in line with their interpretations since Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men back in the mid-00s, and I feel like if this is going to be the new normal I can live with it. There’s so much tension between Emma and Kate, you could cut it with a butterknife. I could easily see this as something more maternal as well, but honestly I feel like that’s a much less interesting dynamic and it doesn’t feel like what the creators here are going for. I’ll be honest, I’m not super keyed into WLW subtext and headcanons, being a straight-passing dude, but this is something that even my reading of it can’t miss. I’m incredibly excited to see Emma and Kate get their sweet revenge on Shaw soon.
CE: As someone who’s missed an embarrassing amount of WLW subtext in her own life, I would say the tension could be cut with even just a spoon. Their reunion at Kate’s resurrection is beautiful and their revenge will surely be even sweeter. I cannot wait for it.
Talkin’ ‘Bout A Resurrection
VG: There’s a lot of stuff that this issue has set up on top of this heavy heavy subtext, and it’s not just what will inevitably be Kate’s glorious revenge against Shaw [Ed. note: the teaser image on the last page has her knuckle tattoos say KILL SHAW]. There’s also a very interesting aside where Kurt seems… intrigued by the fact that there were 18 attempts to resurrect Kate. I’m curious what that number means. I’m also pretty horrified that 17 husks of Kate drowned to death in their eggs? That’s something I might’ve been happier not knowing.
CE: If it helps, Vishal, it’s not like Kate remembers? She wasn’t really Kate when she drowned either? Regardless, best not to dwell on it too long. The mystery of why there were such difficulties resurrecting Kate is so simple. I was prepared to wrap my brain around some pretty complex scenarios, but this was perfectly straightforward. I was expecting the answer to be somewhat tied to Kate’s inability to use Krakoan gateways, but I don’t know if this problem has been solved at all at this point. How did you feel about this deceptively easy solution to the resurrection problem, Vishal?
VG: It was so simple that we never could have seen it coming. I loved how it came so easily to Emma, who figured it out entirely by herself, but I also have to reiterate how genuinely horrifying the mental image of those Kate husks stuck in the eggs is. “Kate doesn’t smash barriers, she ignores them” is such a fantastic way to bring her back, especially when you view her resurrection as getting past the barrier of death itself – unlike Jean or Cyclops who smashed through that barrier and were literally brought back to life, Kate was rebirthed as she was, ignoring death. It just took her a little bit to figure it out. Speaking of the husks though, Christi, do you have any ideas what Kurt’s wry interest in the number 18 could be about?
CE: Well this is Kurt we’re talking about, so we definitely need to look at some potential biblical implications. First, the number 18 is significant for its ties to bondage or slavery. The Isrealites were oppressed by the Philistines and the Ammonites for 18 years in Judges 10:6-8. More importantly, in Jewish numerological tradition, or gematria, the number 18 is tied to the Hebrew word “chai,” meaning living or alive. Given this meaning, I imagine Duggan is alluding to Kate’s Jewish identity. Will the number 18 have further implications? Perhaps. Regardless, there is undeniable symbolism here behind the number 18.
VG: I am absolutely fascinated by all of this and very interested to see if this is just a knowing wink to people familiar with the gematria or set up for something more down the line. This issue’s pretty light on plot because the whole thing was centered around bringing Kate back from the dead, so there’s not as much to talk about here, but we do get a great exchange between Ororo and a person who was constantly present but whose name and face we’d never seen before this issue.
Delores Stans Unite
CE: While we’re all very excited Kate is back, the highlight of this issue for me was finally meeting our X-desk writer, Delores. It is fantastic to be reminded of all of the good Krakoa is managing to do for the world. While we’ve encountered a lot of hostility to mutants across the X-titles, Krakoan efforts to distribute life-saving medication to everyone is truly their biggest impact on the world at large. Delores is a concrete reminder of the good done for the average person. It’s wholesome and heartwarming.
VG: We’ve gotten to see Delores’s perspective of the new mutant status quo in near every issue of this book, and her side of the story has constantly been an interesting experience – I’ve loved watching her grow from someone watching mutants out of distrust to someone who understands that they’re people who want to be safe. Even without knowing her name or anything about her identity other than her job, Delores was an incredibly strong character. Her interaction with Ororo was really heartwarming too – there’s a kind of coldness on the surface but you can see the genuine emotion from both of them, and it’s great to see humans and mutants getting along. Not all of them, but some. I also love the emphasis on Krakoa ensuring that underprivileged humans have equal access to their drugs – in today’s pharmaceutical landscape it’s a nice fiction.
CE: Delores closing memo also hits on a point that fans have been clamoring about for awhile: Storm is not the leader on Krakoa that she should be. Ororo turned down the opportunity to lead the Marauders, instead choosing to stay by Kate’s side in the background. She’s capable of quite a bit more. While I’ve loved seeing her as a member of the Marauders, I’m hopeful that Kate’s successful resurrection will push Ororo into a role more befitting her abilities. Delores said what we’ve all been thinking, Krakoa needs Storm as a leader.
VG: They really do. Storm’s been reserved so far on Krakoa and I have to say I’m incredibly excited for what they seem to be planning for her in X of Swords. I really hope they do something properly ambitious with her, because Storm as a character has suffered the most from writers being scared to do anything interesting with her. Duggan has a pretty good voice for Ororo, but she still doesn’t really have the presence that she deserves. I’m incredibly excited to see her maternal joy at her daughter coming back. I also really hope we get more Delores as this book goes on, the letters from the X-Desk have been some of the best data pages in all of Dawn of X. I also just reread the scene and noticed that the Cuckoos got all the passengers to get out of the car to start the scene, which I think is a neat touch to add.
CE: Their meeting could have happened anywhere, but a deserted metro car was a really neat aesthetic. I’m not sure if this is the culmination of Delores’ role in Marauders, but I hope not. I never would’ve expected such a minor character would become such a favorite of mine, but I am forever more a Delores stan. Here’s to hoping she’s never killed off for the pathos and for many more appearances.
VG: I thought this issue was a fantastic return for one of the best Dawn of X books [Ed. note: which you can’t argue against] and a great return for our favorite Captain Kate. We didn’t talk about the art at all I’m realizing, but honestly it’s because I think it’s the weakest part of the issue. Caselli does a perfectly serviceable job throughout the issue but there’s nothing that really stands out at any point. I wish we got someone like Dauterman on the resurrection, because I feel like this was something that deserved some proper standout art. With that complaint aside, I don’t think I can be any happier with the story and writing in this book, and I don’t really have anything really negative to say about the art or anything else. It’s been a long wait, but this issue was absolutely worth every second.
CE: My favorite part about the art in this issue is the return of Kate’s natural curls. Kate reborn is going to be a force to reckon with, and this issue has set us up for the next chapter of Marauders quite beautifully. As much fun as a comic full of punching can be, there’s nothing quite like an issue where the only punch thrown is from anger and grief at the loss of your all-but-textually-acknowledged girlfriend. It’s truly a feel-good, satisfying read.
X-Traneous Thoughts
- The train that Ororo and Delores are in looks like a New York City subway, but the stops listed make it clear that it’s actually the DC Metro.
- I really want to know what company Delores works for.
- Lockheed is the best, and I don’t think we truly got to acknowledge that.
- Ending Krakoan: REBIRTH
Christi Eddleman is the world’s first Captain Kate Pryde cosplayer and co-host of Chrises On Infinite Earths.
Vishal Gullapalli is highly opinionated and reads way too much.
