We love democracy and apparently so do the X-Men. Marvel is giving fans a chance to vote on the final member in the first ever X-Men Election. During the epic X Of Swords, fans realized that, since the start of the Krakoan era there has been no official X-Men on the orders of Charles Xavier. This didn’t sit well with their traditional leader Cyclops, who took it upon himself to organize his own team.
While the full team will be revealed at the upcoming Hellfire Gala, Marvel is giving fans a chance to participate in choosing a member of new X-Men by voting here. To ensure we have an informed electorate, the team here at ComicsXF has put together a primer on each candidate. While we all have our favorites, ComicsXF would be happy with any of these candidates and will remain objective and impartial throughout this intense election process.
Vote here but not before you understand these candidates and their positions in the X-Men Election.
Forge
Let’s face it, Forge is living his best life on Krakoa. As we’ve seen in the pages of X-Force, Forge has embraced the organic technology of the island to make some funky living tech and he’s having a blast. He’s shed the baggage of creating a mutant nullifier device and his status as Storm’s trifling ex, and now he’s playing with flamethrowers, making organic mech suits, and developing a workout technique called “Hot Squats”. It’s giving chaotic divorced dad energy and I think Scott will need that on his new X-Men now that he has moved to a more stoic sub dad energy. Balance is the most important element to every team line up.
Boom-Boom
Every team needs a fucking wild card. And you don’t get much more wild than our favorite ticking time bomb mean girl, Tabitha Smith. Boom-Boom, Boomer, Meltdown, Timebomb, Firecracker — whatever you want to call her, Tabi knows how to have a good time. Sure her idea of a good time might be making your pants go all explodey, but that’s the price you pay for having someone so awesome on your team. In short, let Boom-Boom blow shit up. Okay? Boomer.
Cannonball
When you want a proven leader with a direct line to your interstellar allies who at his heart is just a Very Good Boy, you want Samuel Zachary Guthrie. Cannonball not only has prior experience on the X-Men, he also served as a field leader for both the New Mutants and X-Force. He’s trained under Xavier, Magneto and Cable, and has forged their conflicting philosophies into something that combines them all and yet feels nobler than all three. He’s a devoted father, and his marriage to a Shi’ar imperial Superguardian keeps the X-Men in the good graces of the majestrix, should their aid be needed. It’s past time Sam took a commanding role on mutantdom’s A-team.
Banshee
Oh, are we talking Proven Leaders? Let’s talk about the man who trained half the kids you love today. Banshee’s been an X-Man so long he was part of the team that originally went to rescue the O5 from Krakoa back when Krakoa was still a bad guy. He’s been around so long that he’s the original former bad guy! He’s former Interpol, a former Xavier School Headmaster, and a consummate professional who knows how to get the job done and make it look easy. On top of all of that, he’s a personable, affable fellow, the kind of guy who’s easy to get along with, easy to confide in. Someone’s got to be the heart and soul of a modern X-Men field team, and there’s no better candidate than gentle dad Sean Cassidy.
Sunspot
[Memo from the desk of Robert DaCosta]
Look, you know I’m going to win already. I’m the most handsome candidate. I’m immensely popular. I’m rich. This is just a formality at this point. However, since some of you are pretending not to know me, here’s my qualifications. I am a second generation Xavier student. My powers are incredibly versatile. I successfully led the Avengers. I have single handedly saved the world. And currently, I’m an intergalactic diplomat and paramour to a member of the Shi’ar Royal Family. So just make it official and vote for Sunspot.
Marrow
A vote for Marrow is a vote for grimy trash bones. The other candidates are great, of course, but Marrow is a bundle of chaotic queer (not officially but shut up) energy who has barely appeared in an X-Book for years and deserves a turn in the spotlight. The X-Men are Krakoa’s heroes. That means everyone. Marrow standing among Krakoa’s finest would be a win for every mutant dismissed as “too gross,” “potentially murderous,” or “oh god, you stabbed me,” and that matters. Vote with your heart, but more importantly: vote with your Bones.
Polaris
While my peers and their respective candidates have dazzled you and spun a lot of fancy yarns about accolades and titles and heroic exploits, I would like to simply talk to you about life. Specifically about the kind of life Lorna Dane has led. Not only has she experienced just about every which way of mutant life, be it a hero, a villain, an anti-hero, and even a stint as an Acolyte of Apocalypse and one of The Twelve. But she also lived through the tragedy of M-Day, walked the Earth unpowered, AND YET still survived long enough to reinstate X-Factor and serve lewks the entire time. Does Lorna want to be a leader? Of course not. Does she CHOOSE to be a survivor, serving as the living embodiment of mutant scrappiness and the will to live on her terms and her terms alone? No. It is simply Who. She. Is. And who she will continue to be for herself and mutantkind on the Council. Isn’t that the kind of mutant you want working for you? I know it’s the kind of mutant I want working for me. A vote for Lorna Dane is a vote for working mutants everywhere.
Armor
Folks, we’ve heard a lot of kind words and big talk about a lot of mutants here. Love them all and think they are great. But I want to talk to you about one, key aspect that all these admirable candidates lack. Legacy. Hisako Ichiki is built on legacy. Her armor, her mutant gift, is powered by the legacy of those who came before her. And like that armor, Hisako follows in a long and illustrious line of being Wolverine’s teenage sidekick. Let her finally, in this, the most prestigious era of Mutantkind, graduate to be a core member of the X-Men. Let her live up to that proud legacy she was born to inherit.
Unless Joss Whedon gets like, royalties or whatever. Fuck that guy.
Tempo
Not only is Tempo an established team player, comfortable working with a group of mutants towards a common goal, she has also displayed the moral fortitude necessary to be one of the X-Men, speaking up when her team crossed the line and stepping out rather than compromise her morals when they didn’t listen. It’s easy to fight a foe; it’s much harder to fight your friends.
On top of that, Tempo’s mutant ability let’s her control time. Slow things down to give everyone extra time to think? Check. Speed things up to send opponents careening foolishly into walls? Check. Deflect bullets, divert blades, defuse bombs with lackadaisical ease? Check, check, & check; Tempo can make it happen.
Quite simply, a vote for Tempo is a vote for more time. Who couldn’t use that?
Strong Guy
Alright listen. I know what you are all saying? Strong Guy? For the X-Men? Maybe it seems like a wild leap to you, but I will have you know that there is no more down to earth candidate than Guido Carosella. What you see is what you get. Guido is a Strong.Guy. Absolutely straight forward mutant ability. I don’t see any other real bruisers up for nomination, so this one is really simple: Down to earth candidate: check. Proven muscle in bad situations: check. Guarded both Lila Cheney and J. Jonah Jameson that one time: check. Died protecting the mission and friends: check. There is a lot of upside here, but unlike others I won’t hide the unsavory bits. Everyone has skeletons in their closet so to speak…but what’s a little murder when it’s in the name saving the whole planet from literal Hell on Earth?
Alright, alright I know it’s a stretch but Guido deserves SOMETHING. ANYTHING for the rough time he’s had over the past several years. Dying and becoming a Warlock? Rough, very rough. And if my ploy for those empathy votes don’t sway you, I do think that Guido is the only one qualified to be elected because he has very genuine leadership experience.
Wait…what’s that? Being the soulless King of Hell for years doesn’t count as leadership experience? But the application said…
damnit…
Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.
Nola Pfau is Editor-in-Chief of WWAC and generally a bad influence.
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.
Kenneth Laster is a critic, cartoonist, and cryptid with a movie degree.
Yes, it's Cori McCreery—strange visitor from DC fandom who came to Xavier Files with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal critics. Cori, who can leap tall buildings in a single bound, race a speeding bullet to its target, bend steel in her bare hands, and who, also works as an editor for a great Eisner winning website, Women Write About Comics, fights a never-ending battle for truth and justice.
Austin Gorton also reviews older issues of X-Men at the Real Gentlemen of Leisure website, co-hosts the A Very Special episode podcast, and likes Star Wars. He lives outside Minneapolis, where sometimes, it is not cold. Follow him on Twitter @AustinGorton
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
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.
Charlie Davis is the world’s premier Shatterstarologist, writer and co-host of The Match Club.
Zoe Tunnell is a 29-year old trans woman who has read comics for most of her adult life and can't stop now. Follow her on Twitter @Blankzilla.
