Surprising perhaps no one, the site formerly known as Xavier Files has gone all in on X-Men in this week’s Panels of the Week — but that’s not all we enjoyed from this week’s offerings!
What’s It Do?
Andrea Ayres’ pick comes from the X-tremely popular X-Men #3. “It’s such a fun moment that communicates who Rogue and Lorna are nearly instantly. It’s such a fun response, and I can’t stop thinking about Lorna’s face because it is my default expression.”
Check out Andrea’s latest.
Sibling Rivalry?
Marvel may have retconned Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver to no longer be the children of Magneto, but our Lord of Perpetually Messy Continuity has ensured that Lorna always has at least one sibling to punch. The High Evolutionary’s daughter Luminous, a complicated mix of genes including ones stolen from Pietro and Wanda, and Lorna’s “sorta kinda stepsister” is Cori McCreery’s pick for this week, from X-men #3.
Read her and Tony Thornley pick this issue apart here!
Puns, Punching & Provoked Pachyderms
Terrible codenames that are also puns would have already made this my favorite panel this week, but Cyclops being hurt at the idea that the universe’s elephants don’t know the X-Men love them? Gold.
X-man vs. Nature
This was … not a fight that went well for the X-Men. Zachary Jenkins chooses this panel, “showing the futility of man fighting nature.” The X-Men may love elephants, but Cyclops may sour on gorillas a little bit after this.
Zachary has a thing or two to say about man’s struggle with nature in comics — read his and Chris Eddleman’s coverage of Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land here!
An Illuminating Farewell
The X-Men may not have gotten the win they wanted, but damned if Lorna’s not going to get in one last parting shot before they leave, leading to Nola Pfau’s favorite panel for the week, and our last pick from X-Men #3. Check out Nola’s excellent breakdown of another X-Men artist’s work here.
Moon-Klonk
As it turns out, there were other comics besides X-Men #3 that came out this week! Tony Thornley’s pick comes from Moon Knight #3, as Marc Spector gets into it with one of Khonshu’s other chosen agents.
Read Moon Knight writer Jed MacKay’s conversation with Zoe Tunnell about the series, or check out Tony’s excellent SuperChat coverage, talking all things (well, most things) Superman with some guy named Armaan.
A Stolen Moment at the End of the World
Anna Peppard’s choice comes from this week’s Guardians of the Galaxy #18. “This is Gamora, reacting to Peter Quill/Star-Lord saying he loves Richard Rider/Nova — just like Gamora does. She allows herself a moment of relief and joy. Then she saves the universe.”
Anna and Mark Turetsky said their goodbyes to the series last week as it closed out The Last Annihilation.
A Flowery Finish
We end this week’s picks with a panel from Marvel’s It’s Jeff! Infinity Comic. Jason Large just thinks he’s neat.
Jason Large is also neat — aside from keeping our site and our Primers looking as good as they do, he’s joined Liz Large here and there to talk about Titans.
Armaan is obsessed with the way stories are told. From video games to theater, TTRPGs to comics, he has written for, and about, them all. He will not stop, actually; believe us, we've tried.
