THE END IS NIGH! The Krakoan Age is nearly at an end … and what might be the final battle of the heroes of Krakoa. One last stop before the fall and rise come to their conclusion, and everything changes. X-Men # 34 is written by Gerry Duggan, drawn by Joshua Cassara, colored by Romulo Fajardo Jr. and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
After brushing shoulders with Dominions, Omega Sentinels and the 10 lives of Moira X over in Rise of the Powers of X, Dead X-Men and X-Men Forever, it’s easy to forget that things are still pretty rough on little old Earth for the mutants. After abandoning the Orchis ship without so much as sounding an alarm, the machines have left their human crew shipwrecked and at the mercy of an overzealous X-Men team hellbent on revenge. On top of that, the chief stewards of the Orchis behemoth — Doctor Stasis, Director Devo and Alia Gregor — have all been shown the plank, leaving those remaining on board rudderless and in desperate need of a new captain to steer them back on course.
Mental Organism Designed Only for Exposition
M.O.D.O.K. tendered his resignation from Orchis effective immediately in Fall of the House of X #2, yet has seemingly continued on at the organization, presumably at an exorbitant day rate, in the pages of Avengers #12 and #13. He arrives on the scene in this issue as if nothing has happened, which is the first indictment of the chaotic scripting in Duggan’s Fall of X work, especially considering the significant amount of other information we get in the opening scene. Between the laborious narrative caption boxes catching the reader up on recent story events and the cheesy one-liners and heavy exposition that comprise M.O.D.O.K.’s dialogue, it feels like we’ve heard this story already, and it wasn’t great the first time. Not only that though, none of this actually matters anymore. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the X-Men had already defeated Orchis on Earth and had set their sights on Sentinel City, and yet here we are again.
Anyway, the central plot of this issue involves M.O.D.O.K. turning Orchis goons into giant flesh monsters and unleashing them on the human public in a move that truly tests the bounds of the old “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” adage. The X-Men, composed of Synch, Wolverine, Ms. Marvel and Firestar, fight them off in a few scenes that allow returning artist Joshua Cassara to flex his muscles. The action sequences, consisting of twisted bodies imposing themselves onto the New York streets, are propulsive while retaining gross levels of detail that make the action and comedy sequences work when given space. The scene with Kamala fighting off two monster goons from inside a car while an innocent bystander exclaims, “Please – I’m going to be sick” is a particular highlight, as is any time Cassara draws Laura Kinney. The issue is a reminder, as if we needed it, that Cassara is one of the breakout stars of the Krakoan era and elevates any book he’s on.
Microwave meals
Cassara is at his best in the fight scene between M.O.D.O.K. and the X-Men. The depiction of the X-Men’s incremental, devastating effect on M.O.D.O.K. is visceral and so effective, as are Firestar’s feats of power. At one point Wolverine takes up the position of reader, hunched on a crate in rapt appreciation. Unfortunately, some of the dialogue in this scene detracts from Cassara’s excellent work.
Firestar’s characterization is generally odd throughout the issue. Instead of the slightly more solemn, slightly insecure Angelica we’ve seen during her time infiltrating Orchis, she goes full Rambo with choice lines such as “I joined Orchis to pretend and kick ass, and I’m all out of pretending” and “I LOVE THE SMELL OF NAPALMED MODOK IN THE MORNING!” First of all, she doesn’t talk like that. Secondly, for a character with a complicated and traumatic relationship with her own powers, having her use them to do harm so gleefully undermines the story arc that Duggan himself started when Angelica joined the X-Men.
The conclusion to Synch’s X-Men arc is equally unsatisfying. He gets to do a little more in this story than in previous issues, but he remains the plot Swiss Army knife rather than a fleshed out character. The same character beat of his relationship with Talon continues to be repeated to the point where you’re trying to remember if there was ever anything else to him (there was).
Dream’s end
The most effective portion of the issue is the conclusion of Kate Pryde’s short but extremely bloody stint as Shadowkat. On the hunt to kill Charles Xavier, she rescues Caliban from an Orchis facility intending to enlist him to her cause. He refuses on sheer principle, and as he leaves, Kate breaks down in tears and, realizing that she is as broken as her former mentor, admits to Wolverine that she can’t go through with it and that she’s quitting the X-Men. He pledges to take on this duty in her stead.
While the suddenness of the reversion slightly lessens its impact (presumably to establish her new status quo in Exceptional X-Men), it feels like a fitting conclusion to the arc that started in X-Men #25. Since the Hellfire Gala, Kate’s story has been a million-mile-an-hour and incredibly unhealthy grief management exercise. Her guilt and anger burst forth issue after issue as she almost mindlessly sets about trying to defeat Orchis one goon at a time. The fact that Charles has in one fell swoop rendered her killing meaningless by siding with the enemy is too much to bear.
Duggan’s choice of Caliban as the immovable object to Kate’s unstoppable force is spot on here. His steadfast refusal to repeat the sins of his past as a Horsemen of Death means that he is well placed to empathize with Kate, and his assertiveness stops her in her tracks. Being forced to consider the weight of her and her former mentor’s actions catalyzes an existential crisis for Kate, leaving the original symbol of mutantkind’s future questioning her purpose. What else is there after paradise falls? Maybe the gates were telling her something after all.
So, as we approach dream’s end, we have the woman who was locked out of heaven and the man who it felt at times would rather have lived in hell. Here is our eternal realist, Logan, just as he was at the end of Moira’s sixth life, ready to kill the dream so that life may go on. It’s way past time.
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Jake Murray
Jake Murray spends far too much time wondering if the New Mutants are OK. When he's not doing that, he can be found talking and writing about comics with anyone who will listen.
