X-Men #16 leads the pack as X-Chat pops the popcorn!

We’re a little behind but the line rolls on! Welcome back to our fourth installment of X-Chat!

In X-Men #16, Forge dives into the Vault from Gerry Duggan, Josh Cassara, Guru-eFx, and Clayton Cowles. It goes badly.

The girls get in deep in X-Terminators #2 from Leah Williams, Carlos Gomez, Bryan Valenza, and Travis Lanham.

In Wolverine #26-27,  by Ben Percy, Juan Jose Ryp, Frank D’Armata, and Cory Petit

Tony Thornley: Two columns in a row where the schedule is just beating us up!

Matt Lazorwitz: Yup, and me finally succumbing to the plague didn’t help either. But like Wolverine after his healing factor kicks in, I’m back in fighting shape, so here we go.

Well $#!+ (X-Men #16)

Tony: X-Men #16 is one hell of an issue. Probably the strongest of the volume from a writing perspective. Wrapping up the return to the Vault, Forge does some very questionable things, and makes a big discovery. Meanwhile, Scott and Alex have it out.

I’m not the biggest fan of dumbass Havok, but centering his stupidity in both his ongoing mental health issues and his inferiority complex towards Scott worked for me. Scott and Alex’s tense relationship can sometimes be overdone, but Duggan did really well at balancing it and not tripping it too far towards the strain it can be.

Matt: Summers boys drama is always something I’m down for, so this was an issue I’ve been waiting for. Alex has been doing his best to not do this with Scott since the Krakoa era started, I feel. Here, Scott’s bluntness just pushed him over the edge. This is Alex’s personal nightmare: existing and getting something not because he earned it, but because he was being used against Scott. Alex has been manipulated and used almost as much as Maddy Pryor, so I can see how this is what would set him off.

And the fact that his temper tantrum nearly screwed the entire mission isn’t going to help Alex’s mental equilibrium either.

Tony: I’m surprised this is starting to pay off so soon. I mean, it was obvious that Forge’s nomination of Havok was intended to cause problems with Scott. I expected it to be more subtle and long term.

Matt: It seems like Duggan is not playing that long a game. I had thought something similar about Forge’s secret, but we got that last issue. Of course, this might be some place setting for “Dark Web” as well, which is starting next month.

Tony: And realistically with this team only lasting a year, we’re already a third of the way into that time. Even with an annual, and the “Dark Web” tie-ins, that’s 16 or so issues max for stories to pay off. Not really a good period of time for a slow burn.

So while we get the obligatory five pages of punching (with bonus Summers angst!), Forge dives deep into the Vault. This is where the fun meat of the story lies.

We said it in the last X-Chat column, but the super-scientists in Krakoa need to get some super-ethics. Just about EVERYTHING Forge does in X-Men #16 feels super questionable. He clones and copies Caliban without consent. He copies Mystique. He makes a deal with Sinister. And all for what?

To discover that Darwin is dead and Laura is still alive, meaning we’ve got a double Wolverine situation on our hands.

Matt: We also said it last time, but it’s worth noting again: Josh Cassara kills the art in this book. The Vault under his pen is eerie and epic. I love it.

Of all the X-characters to now have a double like this, Laura has to be one of the most interesting, from a story perspective. As a genetically engineered being (I am always loathe to call Laura a clone, as she isn’t an exact copy of another being), there have been identity issues and questions that have always plagued her. Now there are two of her, both with a legitimate claim to being the “real” Laura. All the questions that have been ducked, about souls and consciousness and what it means to be unique in the Krakoan Era, are about to come home to roost. Unless the Quiet Council quietly buries it, which I wouldn’t put past them.

Tony: But, it might stick around. The cover to the upcoming Murderworld: Wolverine does show both young and old Laura. Of course, it also has feral nose-less Logan, so probably not an indication of anything.

Escalation! (X-Terminators #2)

Tony: I love this book. This issue moved the plot SO incrementally but I didn’t think it was wasted at all.

The plot in X-Terminators #2 is straightforward: Wolverine catches the other girls up on what’s happening in the arena, there’s a few revelations in the overall plot and then they face a few new obstacles. It’s relatively simple. But it allows for a lot of fun action and character interactions. I love that writer Leah Williams pairs off the girls for a good portion of the issue, which allows for establishing relationships while they punch magical monsters. It almost seemed like it ran in real time.

Matt: These are fun pairings. I like putting Tabitha and Jubilee together especially. These are two characters that, on the surface, were very similar. They were created in a similar era, have similar explodey powers, and were both sort of mall kids. But there were always differences: Jubilee came from a more affluent background, while Tabby came from a poorer one. Jubilee had a stable home life, Tabby far from it. And they have both grown in such different directions: Jubilee is a stable mom, while Tabby is the party girl of Krakoa. I hope we see this explored more as the series continues.

Tony: Good point. It’s a pairing of the goofballs with the straightmen that struck me. I didn’t think that deep. I kind of love those two as friends.

Outside of the fight, there’s two developments I liked. First, the girls are telling the Council about this incident in flashback. Then, our main antagonist is actually a Dracula: son of Xarus, son of Dracula.

Matt: Ugh, Xarus. I’m sorry, but I have a hard time dealing with these neo-vamps [Editor’s Note: agreed]. I’m a huge fan of the classic Marvel Tomb of Dracula, and thus the classic Dracula. But I think everyone has something that, the minute it appears on page, they start to tune out. For me, that’s Dracula in that red armor and Xarus. Still, Williams seems to be giving him more personality by playing him off his even shittier son, and letting Jubilee get her revenge on the guy who turned her into a vampire is a story I am all for seeing.

Tony: Yeah, definitely. It’s surprising how well this is working. I mean, it’s Williams and she has a knack for telling good stories, but something this bonkers and over the top? It’s a blast.

Also, artist Carlos Gomez deserves a high profile ongoing after this. Wow he’s good.

Matt: The energy every page of this book exudes is second to none. Give this guy a Spider-Man title, or a Nightcrawler mini. Or, if I’m being selfish, some Nightwing or Robin related project. He needs to be on something kinetic like that.

Back to that first revelation, we now have a framing narrative with our team talking to the Quiet Council. As we said last time, when it comes to superhero comics, it’s more about how the heroes make it out of their predicaments and less about the if, so adding that level of intrigue, with them having to justify their actions, raises the stakes.

Tony: Yeah, I completely agree. This continues to be a delight of a miniseries. I’m thrilled to see what’s next.

Petty Beast (Wolverine #26-27)

Tony: One of the faults of Wolverine and X-Force is how intertwined they often are. I think this arc might be an exception that proves the rule though. Tension between Logan and Hank has been building pretty much the entire run of the two series, and it comes to a head here.

We’ve said a few times that we dislike the direction Hank’s been going in. Comeuppance is long overdue, and could make for some fascinating storytelling. That said, these two issues were ROUGH. It’s not on the story side. It was solid storytelling, on the better representation of what Percy’s been doing — the espionage threads specifically.

But man, Juan Jose Ryp’s art is not a good fit. I’ve liked Ryp in the past, but there’s something about his style here that just… I think it’s over polished.

Matt: Hyper-detailed is how I’ve always described Ryp in my head. He started out at Avatar, so his love for over the top gore (which suits things there), might be something that works less well in a more mainstream superhero comic, even one like Wolverine that is known for its over the top violence.

Every time I think Hank McCoy has plumbed the depths of how awful he can become, he finds a new depth. We have reached a point where there is no going back for Hank. He absolutely enjoys being this amoral spymaster. I think the only character in an X title that more enjoys being patently crappy is Mister Sinister, and that is not the company in which one wants to be. When you make an “Alas, poor Yorick,” speech to the skull of the guy you killed, resurrected and mind controlled into a berserker? Yeah, that’s over the line.

I do have a bit of a storytelling issue here, though. It’s one Percy can answer at some point soon, but it’s bugging me now. Logan is in a romantic relationship with Jean Grey, one of the most powerful telepaths in the world, and one with a history of developing psychic rapports with her partners. How the heck has Jean not picked up on this?

Tony: I’ve always taken it that Logan’s Weapon X conditioning also means he’s able to mask his thoughts and feelings well from telepaths, intentionally and unintentionally. Maybe that’s the case here? Or maybe Jean more or less knows everything and she and Logan are working together to bring down Hank? That would fit with what we’ve seen of Jean on the X-Force side of the line.

Regardless, this storyarc sure seems to be hastening Hank’s downfall. I can only hope that’s where it goes.

X-Traneous Thoughts

• These books sure weren’t deep, but that’s not a bad thing. Sometimes popcorn comics are okay.
• That X-Men issue did leave so many dangling threads that it’s practically an unfinished medieval tapestry.

Matthew Lazorwitz

Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of five. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the creator interview podcast WMQ&A with Dan Grote.

Tony Thornley

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.