The Unstoppable Juggernaut takes his next steps in the future but needs to shatter one obstacle first in the miniseries’ conclusion, from Fabian Nicieza, Ron Garney, Matt Milla, and Joe Sabino!
Justin Partridge: It is the end of the line here for Team Big Juggs.
It is bittersweet for sure as this was technically my first beat here at XF (now regenerated into CXF) and I got to meet all these lovely and wonderful and super smart people for the first time. And then we got to talk about our favorite Not-a-Mutant Cain Marko! As David Tennant so famously said once, “I don’t want to go.”
Tony Thornley: I know! At least you and I are still covering Doctor Who together! But here we go…
JP: BUT go we shall, but not before we get a chance to talk about the finale of Juggernaut, yet another solid issue in a miniseries people didn’t expect much out of. A bit like Cain if you think about it…Let’s crack on. One last time.
The Unstoppable Krakoa
TT: So I think the issue opens with the scene that you and I have been waiting for. Just because Cain is unwelcome on Krakoa apparently doesn’t mean that Cain is actually unwelcome on Krakoa. How’s that?
Well astral Juggernaut, Charles and Black Tom go for a walk through Krakoa while Cain asks Charles for help. He needs Charles to protect D-Cel and from here, it’s pretty loaded. Justin, for a two page scene, I think this was the most loaded scene in the series. Garney just makes sure there was so much happening here and Fabian loads the story at this point. Though it’s no-action, it might be my favorite spread that Garney and Milla did across all five issues. What did you think of what we saw here?
JP: OVER THE MOON ABOUT IT, TONY.
Like Tony just said, this has been a scene we have been pushing for for a bit now and for the most part, I think it really delivers. Not only does this finally get Cain at least touching on the further development of Krakoa, but it finally gets him back within the full orbit of those characters, which is something that I think is incredibly important beyond the Krakoa is only for mutant rule. We’ve heard that a few times by now, but this seems to be the first real “diplomatic relationship” they have extended to a character on the “main land” aside from some random contacts in event comics, so I am happy to see it
TT: It’s kind of like an olive branch- “look, you have relationships here and former teammates, but also you’ve caused real harm to some of these folks.” We’re not going to see Cain rejoining the team any time soon, but he’s not cut off. And I like that.
JP: More than that, it’s a far more warm and affecting scene than the first Xavier appearance we got, one that shows that Fabes is at least trying to engage with Xavier as more of a head of state and less as a “team leader” now, which is fantastic to see.
ALSO BLACK TOM FINALLY! CAIN GOT TO SEE HIS BOYFRIEND FINALLY!
TT: As soon as I saw Tom, I know you’d be hyped! I mean, I am too.
JP: But even beyond that, finally getting to the bottom of D-Cel’s mutantdom, complete with a very mutation is Hell origin scene as the blossoming of her powers cost her the lives of her family, leading to her to blame herself and reject her X-Gene as it mean she would admit guilt, is a welcome (and somewhat overdo) catharsis that I was happy we got on the backend of this mini.
TT: I didn’t expect that as the reason why she was hiding being a mutant, but it made so much sense!!
Super-Prisons: Threat Or Menace?
TT: So here’s where the bulk of the issue happens and I have to say while it’s the highest page count- plot-wise- it’s mostly punching. However, I feel like there’s still a lot to like. Juggernaut and D-Cel punch their way into the Dungeon… only to find out it’s a portal to the Dungeon. And once Cain busts through that we get… probably my favorite super prison in Marvel History.
Justin.
The prison?
It’s on a helicarrier.
Even if these guys are unambiguously evil (and way to go Fabian for satirically condemning the prison system), I have to admire their flair.
JP: ONCE AGAIN, REAL GREAT!
And not only is this a super fun exploration of the wildly overbearing and frankly hilarious lengths the Marvel universe will go to in order to imprison it’s powered populace, but I really love that this mini kinda backed into being a stealthy piss-take of the prison industrial complex?
TT: Absolutely! And I loved that there weren’t shades of grey here. The Dungeon isn’t immoral or unethical but doing a good thing in the end. They are BAD GUYS taking advantage of the situation to make money, not just from the private incarceration of supervillains, but also experiments to weaponize or exploit their powers for sale.
They’re evil capitalist and I’m here for it. It’s about time Marvel did with with more than Alchemax or Roxxon.
JP: Obviously I would have loved for the aspect to be more front and center throughout or maybe a bit more strengthened in the mix of the narrative for sure. But it just being about anything AT ALL, just around the edges of this “hangout comic” with Cain and D-Cel I think gives it a little extra power on the backswing storywise. Something, I hope, that will just give it a little extra appreciation the further away we get from it.
THE FUTURE!
TT: And then comes our epilogue. I love this and if nothing comes of it, I’ll be extremely disappointed. After saying his goodbyes to D-Cel, Cain forces Zola to reconstitute Quicksand. And what is the first thing he does with that? Hey folks- we’re going to make a new super team.
But not you Nazi scientist. You can go to hell
JP: That final button of “A New Beginning!…(Except for The Nazi Scientist) is probably the hardest I’ve laughed this week aside from the shrug emoticon in Eternals.
But you are totally right! That scene in itself is a wonderful team up setup that I hope at least someone picks up in the future. I will say, however, as much as I loved the scene and the fact that the “big showdown” of the comic was essentially just a conversation (engineered so D-Cel could formally request asylum on Krakoa), I didn’t love how the story just seemed to…end with little to no fanfare.
TT: That’s very true. It hit the climax of the arc, then we got like a page of denouement. It was GOOD but it was quick.
JP: Obviously I don’t need a big blinking sign to tell me the ending is approaching, but the jarring nature of the transition from the prison to the ending beat was a tad abrupt for me. Had it had just like some bridging narration or maybe even an extra transitional panel, I might have not even noticed it as much. But as it stands the issue just kinda stops which is…odd for sure.
TT: I think that might have been a problem of length, not storytelling though. If this were an issue longer or a maxi series, it would have crossed that line though. It didn’t feel like a pacing problem or anything like that though. This series was jam packed.
JP: BUT EVEN WITH THAT, the whole of this miniseries has been so fun and so rewarding to get to talk about here with Tony and the rest of y’all. I know things are terrible now but even just having something as small as coming here and getting to make jokes about Black Tom and how much Juggs sounds like Bewbs is just the best (and has kept me more balanced than I would care to admit to y’all). I truly appreciate being included and I want to thank everyone at CXF upstairs and my wonderful writing partner Tony for putting up with me and making this experience so amazing.
TT: Our story is ending, but the Juggs? The Juggs LIVE FOREVER!
X-Traneous Thoughts
- Black Tom Watch: 2. Came in under the wire.
- READER, Justin SCREAMED. He gets a wonderful almost modular look here too that suits him and his Doctor Strange ass costume.
- We wonder now if Fabes will try to do some main roster DOX stuff or just keep doing these side stories?
- Is Legends going to be any good? Our magic 8-ball says “Odds Look Grim” Eyooboyeee…
Justin Partridge has loved comics all his life. He hasn't quite gotten them to love him back just yet. But that hasn't stopped him from trying as he has been writing about them now for a little over a decade. With bylines at Newsarama, Shelfdust, PanelXPanel, and more, Justin has been doing the work and putting in the time! Comics have yet to return his calls. Usually he can be found on Twitter screaming about Doctor Who.
Tony Thornley is a geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, X-Men guru, autism daddy, amateur novelist, and all around awesome guy. He’s also very humble.
