WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.680 Hi, everybody. This is Chandler, and this is Chris, and this 2 00:00:02.759 --> 00:00:16.879 is Alex. You're listening too, XX Reads the Podcast. We are here 3 00:00:17.399 --> 00:00:20.280 with episode ninety nine. Oh my god, I can't believe we're one episode 4 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:23.679 away from one hundred. We're here with episode ninety nine with Alex Agura. 5 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:27.480 Welcome Alex. Hey guys, it's so good to be here. Thanks. 6 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:31.879 Would be fun pen ultimate episode leading up the episode one hundred. Wow. 7 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:36.679 You know a lot of cool subplots get resolved in this ninety nine, right 8 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:40.560 before the big one. Yes, absolutely, this is This is a pivotal 9 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:43.640 episode of X reads podcast, and we are so happy to have you here. 10 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:48.880 Alex of course the acclaimed author of Secret Identity, and you've written stories 11 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:52.920 for Spider Man, White Tiger, New Mutant, sun Spot, and many 12 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:56.920 more. I'm really excited to talk about this issue in particular. Okay, 13 00:00:56.960 --> 00:00:59.439 before we get into the issue though, in the world, evx Man, 14 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:03.599 since you're on the show, I have to do a quick tangent there with 15 00:01:03.599 --> 00:01:11.200 me audience about Archie comics because I love Archie comics. My mom used to 16 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:14.280 read them religiously, so she would have them around the house a lot. 17 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:19.359 You, sir, write Archie comics and are a fan. You are correct. 18 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:22.760 I worked at Archie off and on for about ten years as a publicity 19 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:26.439 person, marketing person, and sales and marketing editor, and my last title 20 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:30.159 was co president. But I think my quote unquote lasting legacy would will be 21 00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:34.680 having written a bunch of Archie comics, like the Archie's ongoing series, stuff 22 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:38.959 like Archie Meets Kiss, Archie Meets Ramons, and then just fun like the 23 00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:42.280 ones that were most fun were just the traditional like classic Archie is, like 24 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:47.840 Archie plans four dates for the same night that that was a neat one. 25 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:51.920 And I loved Archie growing up. I mean that was my first real, 26 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:56.599 like my first kind of own comic book that I asked to have. You 27 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:57.719 know. It taught me a lot about just a big racana and like, 28 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:01.239 comedy writing is so much harder than dramatic writing in many ways, and so 29 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:05.519 it taught me a lot of writing good comedy. And I just love those 30 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:08.759 characters. I think they're iconic. Okay, so rapid Fire from the X 31 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:14.560 Men universe? Who would you fan cast as Archie characters? Like from the 32 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:17.439 X Men? Who would be Betty? Who would be Veronica? Who would 33 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:22.919 be Archie. Who would be jug Head? Betty I think would be Jane 34 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:25.520 Gray and Vernica would probably be Emma Frost and I guess that then by who 35 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:29.879 would be Archie? I think probably someone like Doug Ramsey. Who would jug 36 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:34.479 Head be? Probably like Iceman and Reggie I could see as either mister Sinister 37 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:37.800 or well Sinister kind of gives him more brains than he's got. I think 38 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:43.560 he would be. He would be like Exodus, not a big about this. 39 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:46.159 Is there a gay Archie character? Now? I feel like they're Kevin 40 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:50.240 Keller Kevin Keller. Who's what X Men's Kevin Keller? I don't know. 41 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:53.680 Now Iceman hits Kevin Keller too. Maybe if I move ice Man over to 42 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:57.080 Kevin Keller, I'll have Who would I put as jug Head? Would it 43 00:02:57.080 --> 00:03:00.599 be a Warlock? No, Nightcrawler actually would be a chockhead. Nightcrawler would 44 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:05.240 be a great choke ahead. These are these are great fun. Yeah, 45 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:08.159 So I'm ready for I'm ready for the fan art. Everyone listening out there, 46 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:13.919 I'm ready for the Tresman Archie mash up fan art. So draw it 47 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:17.280 up. You guys are so good at this. Recently saw these really cool 48 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:23.439 Sailor Moon Sailor Scouts as X Women, and then there was a cosplay group 49 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:25.520 that just did it at Wonder Con and so I love mash up, so 50 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:29.479 I can't wait. Wow, that's like an achieve achieve it. I'm locked. 51 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:32.199 Yeah, yeah, sure, that's so cool. One more to wrap 52 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:38.120 up the Archie thing. Okay, I'm struggling. I'm not sure. Maybe 53 00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:43.479 you can give me your opinion. Should I dive into Riverdale? Is it 54 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:47.319 a good depiction of the Archie universe? Yeah, I would say if you 55 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:53.879 love the Archie characters and are into noir and kind of high drama TV, 56 00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:58.080 it's actually perfect. It's like Twin Peaks meets Archie meets nine to two one 57 00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:00.360 oh, and it's so kind of bonk, but in the best way possible. 58 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:04.280 And I think not to get into too much pr speak, but what 59 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:09.520 John Goldwater did when he took over the company was he showed that the characters 60 00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:12.759 could be in any situation and they would still be Archie, Betty and Veronica 61 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:15.319 kind of in the same way you can have X Men comics for different ages 62 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.199 and they still as long as the characters are consistent, or you know, 63 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:20.480 you can do X Men Star Trek. But you can also do like Archie 64 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:24.720 meats Shark Nado, and as long as the characters are who they are, 65 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:28.639 it could work. So I think it's actually really a blast. I just 66 00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:36.720 realized that in the Archie universe, Jean Gray is Archie and Betty is Cyclops 67 00:04:36.759 --> 00:04:44.160 and Veronica's Wolverine. Yep, that's it. There you go and lose of 68 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:46.519 it. Yeah. I think your fancasting was perfect, but I just realized 69 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:49.839 once you said that that that that archetype exists, and I'm like, oh, 70 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:51.920 it is. It's just yeah, no, it's there you went. 71 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:56.759 It's perfect. And then I guess Reggie could be like Silock or something. 72 00:04:57.240 --> 00:05:00.319 Oh yes, Betsy Braddick, Yeah, what's what's coming up for you? 73 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:04.480 Is there any any new stories coming up? Any books you're writing? What 74 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:09.000 what can people look forward to? Yeah? My next novel came out yesterday 75 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:13.800 actually May second. It's called an Anya Spider Man twenty ninety nine Dark Tomorrow, 76 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:18.040 and it's a why a Spider Verse adventure featuring the two top LATINX Spider 77 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:23.120 heroes, Anya Corrozone and Big Gill O'Hara. It's a really heartfelt story. 78 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:26.399 I feel like it's really character driven. Obviously there's big set pieces and the 79 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:30.600 universe is saved, but it's about two people who need to learn from somebody 80 00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:33.120 else how to be a better hero. And it's Anya who's starting out her 81 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:39.439 career and Miguel who's become a little more jaded and he's retired when we pick 82 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:42.600 up with him in the novel, and they kind of help each other, 83 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:45.439 not willingly at first, you know, they butt heads because they're both really 84 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:49.160 strong willed, but they have to come together to prevent this ancient artifact from 85 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:54.920 being misused to disrupt the time stream by a very cool villain that I am 86 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:58.439 still kind of amazed that Marvel let me use as the big bad here, 87 00:05:58.519 --> 00:06:00.959 so I'm not said it in any interviews. I'm waiting for people to start 88 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:05.000 reading it and being like, what the that's the guy. And that's been 89 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:10.279 fun. And I just finished up an Avengers four part Marvel and limited story 90 00:06:10.360 --> 00:06:15.639 with my favorite Avengers Spider Woman, Shroud Moonnight and Captain America and that was 91 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:17.800 a blast. The big the Big Bad was Master Pandemonium, which was also 92 00:06:17.879 --> 00:06:20.199 a fun deep cut, and I hope to do more in that space, 93 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:26.199 and I've got my creator own stuff like You Awakened and the dust Kickstarters finally 94 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:29.839 getting fulfilled. And yeah, I'm keeping busy. I always feel like I'm 95 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:32.360 forgetting like a half dozen projects. But that's a good primer. Well, 96 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:36.279 great, so here we are. We are going to be doing Uncanny X 97 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:42.040 Men two thirty seven, but we're going to set the era. It is 98 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:47.639 November of nineteen eighty eight. The top film was Scrooged, starring Bill Murray. 99 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:53.920 Wow, this was an adult Christmas Carol, very very adult. I 100 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:58.519 saw it NonStop on repeat. It was definitely playing at my house. I 101 00:06:58.600 --> 00:07:01.959 was terrified. I remember this movie also very well. I remember my parents 102 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:06.600 loved it, and I of course loved the Christmas Carol, so I couldn't 103 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:12.199 quite latch onto it. Except Carol Kane plays I think the Ghost of Christmas 104 00:07:12.199 --> 00:07:15.759 Past. Yeah, she's this kind of drunk fairy so to speak, and 105 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:19.480 she's just completely bonkers. That is one of those movies that was like constant 106 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:24.800 in constant rotation at home, like that and the National Lampoon Vacation movies and 107 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:30.160 Pee Wee Herbert Big Adventure and yeah, so it's a classic. So good. 108 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:36.399 Well, the top song of this era is prime hair metal era and 109 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:41.720 the top song is Bad Medicine by bon Jovi. I bet if we played 110 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:45.360 it, we would all be like, oh yeah, bad Medicine something something. 111 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:46.439 I don't know. I feel like all those hair metal bands sound the 112 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:50.000 same, but bon Jovi, you know, what an icon Obviously, and 113 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:56.600 that era, I realized that what a goal is it to be a guy 114 00:07:56.680 --> 00:07:59.439 with long hair and I can play guitar. Obviously I grew up in the 115 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:03.079 nineties rather than the eighties, but I remember so many friends of mine that 116 00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:05.560 just idolized these hair metal dudes. Yeah, and no, I was there. 117 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:07.879 I was growing up in the eighties and it was it was a thing. 118 00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:11.319 You have long hair in the eighties. No, I didn't. I 119 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:15.920 think the most I got was like a little tiny tail, but no mullet. 120 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:16.920 Yeah, no party in the back. I think I'm going to try 121 00:08:16.920 --> 00:08:20.800 to go for it. We'll see, we'll see party has passed. Oh 122 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:26.399 no, well, there's always there's always ways to just keep it going somehow. 123 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:31.360 And then another kind of factoid of November of nineteen eighty eight is that 124 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:37.159 after twenty long years, the Beach Boys reached number one with their hit Kocomo 125 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:50.399 Toca more fast, then we'll take it. That swear way down in Cocoa. 126 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:54.559 It's from the movie Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise, and yeah, that 127 00:08:54.720 --> 00:09:00.799 soundtrack relaunched their careers after twenty years. It wasn't run us on drums. 128 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:05.320 I don't know. Was he yes, yes, he was. Oh, 129 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:09.080 he totally was. There's like a music video about it YouTube. I swear 130 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:13.000 he was briefly a member of the Beach Boys. I mean, it's a 131 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:18.600 whole full House supplot. Yeah, that's demos. Yeah, he's got some 132 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:22.720 ties to the Beach Boys. They kept they kept guest starting on Full House. 133 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:26.840 Speaking of the television universe, in the sitcom world, around nineteen eighty 134 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:33.399 eight, Murphy Brown also premiered That Was About a Reporter. I actually saw 135 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:37.639 the reboot. It lasted for like a season, I think, and it 136 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:41.360 made me go back and appreciate the older one. You know, I've forgotten 137 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:45.159 Brown. I totally forgot. They rebooted it too. But yeah, Candice 138 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:50.240 Bergen, her dry humor really sat with me. I loved it. Yeah, 139 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:54.840 it was a great cast too. The reboot was, um, it 140 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:56.960 was fine. It was cute. You know, she has a son who's 141 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:58.720 also a reporter and she, you know, she wants to be number one, 142 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:03.039 but the Sun wants to also be number one. He's competitive and he 143 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:07.279 ends up working for like a Fox News conservative type station. Well, she's 144 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:11.759 more on the liberals type of news, so, you know, chaos and 145 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:15.840 sus. Another fact about nineteen eighty eight, to wrap it up to setting 146 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:20.120 the era, is that Emma Stone is born. We love Emma Stone. 147 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:28.919 Stone's la Land easy a you name it, the Spider Man movies. Oh 148 00:10:28.039 --> 00:10:33.960 right, Gwen Stacy, Let's get to the X Men. You are here 149 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:39.200 to read Uncanny X Men. Uncanny X Men number two thirty seven, published 150 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:43.279 November of nineteen eighty eight, written by Chris Claremont's art by Rick Leonardi, 151 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:54.600 titled Who's Human Is Human? Did I say? Wh is Human? On 152 00:10:54.639 --> 00:11:01.679 the cover, we have a daring, exciting cover of Wolverine and Rogue holding 153 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:03.720 on for dear life? Though, can we really call her Rogue in this 154 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:07.879 issue? Because she's really Carol? I want to know before we can kind 155 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:11.200 of get into it. Why did you choose this issue? I mean I 156 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:13.240 should preface this obviously by being on this podcast. I love the X Men, 157 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:18.360 so that's not a surprise. But This was the first X Men comic. 158 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:22.480 This and What the Number Four were some of my first Marvel comics, 159 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:26.679 And it was a stack of comics my dad brought home that a friend had 160 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:30.360 lent him. And I knew comics from reading Archie, but I hadn't read 161 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:33.559 much superhero stuff, and so I dove into this book. And I had 162 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:37.799 no idea who the X Men were, what the X Men universe was about. 163 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:41.039 Like I kind of knew who Wolverine was, but he obviously doesn't look 164 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:43.960 like Wolverine in this comic. So and I think it's safe to say that 165 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:48.240 this issue is the least new reader friendly book of that era. Maybe it's 166 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:52.080 also even more complicated than most like Claremont issues. You know, Claremont is 167 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:56.080 relatively hard to jump into. So the fact that I still ended up getting 168 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:01.000 hooked, I felt like was a really strong and I'm amazed that I did. 169 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.759 And then I started reading it really was the doorway, And I think 170 00:12:03.799 --> 00:12:07.559 it's a testament to how comics don't have to over explain everything, like you 171 00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:11.600 can just read and enjoy the experience, and then you know, as a 172 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:13.919 kid, you just get so curious you start digging around and reading other comics 173 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:16.840 and you start kind of piecing it together and made me a Rickley an Arty 174 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:20.200 fan. I'm still like a Claremont obsessive, like I will read everything he 175 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:22.840 writes and just you know, for better or worse, Like you know, 176 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:26.080 I'm a fan, And it really just introduced me to these characters. And 177 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:31.039 thankfully Marvel Publishing wise was doing classic X Men at the same time. So 178 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:35.000 as you read the new issue of Uncanny, which was Uncanny I guess it 179 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:37.799 was Uncanny and New Mutants and I believe, yeah, Extractor was out. 180 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:41.159 At this point, you had a handful of X titles, but then you 181 00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:43.960 could also kind of catch up with the classic X stories with those backups, 182 00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:48.559 and so it was a really fun time to like tap into the X universe, 183 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:50.799 I thought, And it was. It was just such a confusing but 184 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:56.159 also really well done issue in and of itself that it kind of sticks in 185 00:12:56.279 --> 00:13:00.519 my brain lives in their rent free What else are you seeing this cover? 186 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:03.679 Alex? What jumps out to you? I? I, you know, 187 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:07.200 the title on the cover is much cooler than the actual title of the story. 188 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:09.480 You have to say, like all aboard the Mutant train. It just 189 00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:13.159 pulls you in and the you know, the characters just look really rough, 190 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.639 Like I didn't know who Rogue was when I first saw the Boy, but 191 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:20.039 Wolverine is not having a great day, and you know, just the layout 192 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:24.159 of the whole it's just dynamic. It pulls you in and you are curious 193 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:28.639 about what's going on because it's a very gritty and grounded visual. It's not 194 00:13:28.679 --> 00:13:31.840 your traditional like superhero throwdown, which was also really intriguing to me as a 195 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:37.240 kid. This is also the time when X one was coming out twice a 196 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:41.240 month, which is crazy, so it's like this is the early November issue 197 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:46.399 specifically, and just to churn out those stories and still make them engaging. 198 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:50.039 Obviously, big kudos to the teams that split this up. Yeah, and 199 00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:54.799 to think that Rick Leonardi was like the number two penciler, Like you have 200 00:13:54.840 --> 00:13:58.799 Mark Sylvester, who's amazing, legendary, and then Leonardi's kind of doing the 201 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:01.600 alternating issues, but he doesn't miss a beat, you know, having gone 202 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:05.519 back and reread all these issues, like in sequence, they flow pretty well 203 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:09.720 together, which is a testament to both of these pros. Absolutely, I 204 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:15.639 will say that I feel like Leonardi is paying tribute to Sylvestry and some of 205 00:14:15.639 --> 00:14:20.639 his pencils, because to me, Rick Leonardi makes very very clean art, 206 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:24.720 not like Paul Smith clean, but still very very good, clean lines, 207 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:30.039 and he draws people very handsome and very beautiful. And I feel like this 208 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:33.240 issue people are looking a little rough, Wolverine looking a little rough. But 209 00:14:33.399 --> 00:14:39.559 we did an issue Chris about Rick Leonardi doing this issue where Colossus was in 210 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:45.039 the desert and like Rogue was like super into him and if you remember, 211 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:48.840 he was yeah orange, like I would recall this, well, yes that's 212 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:54.200 rickle No. Yeah, that he could do super pin up style and this 213 00:14:54.279 --> 00:14:58.000 is not it. So I was like, what, I was really surprised 214 00:14:58.039 --> 00:15:01.200 to see that he was the artist on this because now that you say Mark 215 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:03.759 Selvestry of course is doing the alternate issues, I think he's just trying to 216 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:07.360 mimic it as close to his style as he can. Yeah, that kind 217 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:11.039 of is I guess the mission of the filing artists, like you don't want 218 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:16.279 readers to feel like they're short changed in any way, and so you know, 219 00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:18.559 and maybe Terry Austin, who this issue played apartment as well. This 220 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:24.200 harkens back, of course to the animated series for there is a Genosha episode, 221 00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:26.159 or actually I think there's two episodes of where they're stuck on the island 222 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:31.200 of Genosha and they the X Men are being used as slave labor on the 223 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:35.480 island. So to kind of see where that storyline was influenced from these from 224 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:41.320 these issues is really cool to see because as somebody who religiously watched every episode 225 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:46.440 of the animated series, I had not read the Genosha issues until much later. 226 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:48.759 I feel like I just read them maybe a year or two ago, 227 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:50.600 and then you picked one. I was like, good, they're kind of 228 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:54.080 fresh, so good, so fresh in your mind. That's awesome. On 229 00:15:54.120 --> 00:15:58.159 the cover, they are holding on for dear life onto a train, And 230 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:02.840 I gotta say, back in the eighties, there was some things that I 231 00:16:02.919 --> 00:16:07.360 used to believe fullheartedly as a child. One of them was that I was 232 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:11.279 going to die by quicksand, and the other one was that if I'm ever 233 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:15.039 going to ride a train and I peek my head up, there's gonna be 234 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.960 people up there holding offered your life, fighting each other in a deadly battle, 235 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:23.360 and there's gonna be somebody that's gonna get decapitated with a train tunnel. 236 00:16:23.720 --> 00:16:27.159 You guys, have you ridden the train before? Is this true? It's 237 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:33.759 twenty twenty. Yeah, somebody will hijack the train, but the horse they'd 238 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:36.919 be riding next to the training course. It's entirely too, Chris, because 239 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:41.679 there's always fights on the roof. And just don't look up because otherwise you're 240 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:47.559 gonna get get capitated the second you stick your head out. So just okay, 241 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:48.600 if I ride the trade and I look up there and I said, 242 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:52.639 and I don't see anybody, I'm gonna call you Chandler. I'm gonna say 243 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:56.840 you'll be capitated because you're not supposed to stick your head out. Oh no, 244 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:00.480 So don't stick your head out. Just believe that they're up there. 245 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:06.119 Okay, all right, Okay, now let's get into it. Who is 246 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:11.720 human? Who's human? We are in an epic air battle. We've got 247 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:15.400 these kind of jet skis in the air that are zipping around and they're trying 248 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:21.799 to figure out why there's nobody. They can't see anybody in this vehicle. 249 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:25.400 They're not picked up on any scanners. And at this time we know that 250 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:30.519 the X Men cannot be scanned by mechanical devices because of the siege peralless as 251 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:33.799 readers were like, oh, of course they can't see them because they are 252 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:38.240 not seeable. Excuse me, editor, Can somebody explain to the siege peralless 253 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:45.640 footnote? The siege peralless is unexplainable. It is a thing that Grant's wishes, 254 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:48.960 tada like. I don't know how to how to describe it. But 255 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:53.319 basically, the X Men decided that they wanted to fake their death to better 256 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.400 society. And so that's why the Outback x Men exists is because they moved 257 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:03.519 to the outback to be away from civilization, and everybody thinks they're dead. 258 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:08.839 And the way that they stay is hidden is because radars, mechanical things cannot 259 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:14.039 pick up their presence. Only the visual I can see them. Also worth 260 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:18.599 moaning on this page if you are a Rickley an Ardi fan, this is 261 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:22.839 basically the design for the Flyboys in Spider Man ninety nine, which are the 262 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:27.440 future kind of like air police, like almost identical, like the bikes, 263 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:30.880 the head gear. It's really kind of cool to see. Didn't Leonardi do 264 00:18:32.039 --> 00:18:33.920 Spider Man twenty ninety nine? Yeah, he did the first twenty or so 265 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:37.640 issues. Yeah, what, I didn't even realize that. It's a great 266 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:41.440 run. Yeah, we are in the control center and we have the head 267 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:48.640 honcho of the state, the gene engineer, talking with the commander about how 268 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:52.640 he's got to take care of these runaway mutants, and they are trying to 269 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:57.920 delicately balance the matter because they don't want to do a full out fight because 270 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:02.920 they need to take them a lot, so they're trying to delicately try to 271 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:07.640 get them to land their craft by shooting warning shots and everything. It doesn't 272 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:11.799 work, and one of the soldiers climbs aboard, or i should say jumps 273 00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:15.799 aboard, barely holds on for his life, and then the whole machine explodes, 274 00:19:15.880 --> 00:19:18.519 but he survived, and we learned that the machine was empty. It 275 00:19:18.599 --> 00:19:22.519 was a ploy nice spy craft by our protagonists who we will meet shortly. 276 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:27.000 So ge engineers not happy about this. He wants those mutants that were supposed 277 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:33.240 to be on that craft found and dealt with. But he gets a medical 278 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:38.519 report and he realizes that the vital signs of Wolverine are not looking good, 279 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:45.599 so him and Rogue are depowered, and without the healing factor, his hemoglobin 280 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:51.000 count it's abnormally low. That he's only going to live in another of days. 281 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.480 Now when I reread this issue, I reread it singularly. I didn't 282 00:19:53.480 --> 00:19:56.640 like read the previous for the later issues just to kind of have the same 283 00:19:57.079 --> 00:20:00.480 experiences when I first read it. Claremont such a great job of just giving 284 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:03.759 you exactly what you need to know, like just enough so you're like, 285 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:07.319 even if you haven't tapped in, you you can continue. And I think 286 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:12.160 the setup is really compelling. Let me cut to the commercial about Genosha, 287 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:17.319 Chris, what is this lady saying about Genosha? Like, what is it 288 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:21.920 all about? Actually? Is this April O'Neal? Like that was at first 289 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:23.880 glance, I'm all, like, April, you're making a cameo from Ninja 290 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:30.839 Turtles. Maybe she says Genosha, Our green and pleasant land and inform a 291 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.680 tape brought to you by the Ministry of Public Information. Ours is an island 292 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:40.000 located off the East African Coast, used originally and for centuries as a haven 293 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:42.799 for Indian ocean corsairs, and rumored to be the destination of one Sindbad the 294 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:48.519 sailors legendary voyages. It was settled during the Great Ages of Exploration. The 295 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:52.240 suburb natural Anchorage at Hamburg Bay formed the foundation of our commerce and trade was 296 00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:57.039 our initial source of wealth until the discovery of iron ore and other precious metals 297 00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:02.279 in the ridge Back Mountains, iron which is process into the fine he's still 298 00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:06.039 available on Earth with an absolute minimum a pollution, and at a cost that 299 00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:10.640 cannot be beat over. The year's Duenosha has built an economy in society that 300 00:21:10.839 --> 00:21:14.279 is the envy of the world. There is no poverty here, no hardship, 301 00:21:14.759 --> 00:21:19.200 with unparalleled opportunities for education and employment. Ours is a free land where 302 00:21:19.240 --> 00:21:23.720 people are judged by deed and character, not the color of the skin. 303 00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:30.200 Oh yes, such a beautiful place full of prosperity and glory. But Wolverine 304 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:33.480 has other thoughts on that. He basically is coughing up a lung, just 305 00:21:33.559 --> 00:21:37.799 being like, you know, it's a crock, That's what he says, 306 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:44.720 because we all know that it is all maintained due to mutant labor, mutant 307 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:48.559 slave labor. And we get a scene of what this is like with our 308 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:53.039 trash man. We get little stretchy armed and stretchy foot mutant, unnamed mutant, 309 00:21:53.400 --> 00:21:56.519 not plastic man. You guys, would you eastrag this mutant into a 310 00:21:56.559 --> 00:22:02.000 story? I totally would and I think he and I created this comic book 311 00:22:02.359 --> 00:22:06.200 in middle school called X Teams like Me and an artist friend. Like it 312 00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:10.160 was just like it was basically New Mutants now in retrospect, but there was 313 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:12.759 a character called Plasmoid, and I think he was probably inspired by this character. 314 00:22:12.839 --> 00:22:17.519 He's very mister fantastic yeah, plastic man like, but it's kind of 315 00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:21.440 ambiguous. We keep on saying he, but it could just be yeah, 316 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:26.640 they them a non binary person. But either way, they are picking up 317 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:32.440 trash and we have one of our officers who is like, oh, do 318 00:22:32.599 --> 00:22:34.720 your job and clean this up too, And he takes a cigarette and he 319 00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:38.759 breaks it apart onto the street and he's just like, it's a mess here. 320 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:42.480 Just the layout of the panel, the particular specific panel where he's like 321 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:47.599 ripping up the cigarette in the foreground and you see the mutake kind of looking 322 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:53.720 back and just it's really intense well done. Upon closer inspection, I'm kind 323 00:22:53.720 --> 00:23:00.200 of feeling like this is a character cameo from somebody from the Sausage Finger's universe, 324 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:06.599 from everything everywhere, all at once, because look how talented this driver 325 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:11.079 is with their feet. Yes, they are driving with their feet. This 326 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:15.759 mutant is very ambredexterous, everywhere a green. While this is all happening, 327 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:19.640 Wolverine is watching in disgust, but there's nothing he can do. He's trying 328 00:23:19.640 --> 00:23:26.160 to lay low, keep a low profile because him and Rogue are secret agents. 329 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:29.799 They're in the uniform of the officers, so they're trying to be undercover. 330 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:33.240 Except Rogue has found a new outfit. Yes, Alex, what is 331 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:37.680 she wearing? She is wearing a mini skirt and what looks like a leather 332 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:42.519 jacket and very short top, all on the same kind of awkwall green, 333 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:45.599 so she looks like she's ready for a night on the town. I guess. 334 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:48.599 Jelsa has a big Duffel bag, which I guess is all right, 335 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:52.720 yeah, soldier uniform. But I don't know if I said this earlier in 336 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:57.279 casual conversation or whatnot. But Rogue, it should be pointed out, is 337 00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:00.680 being controlled by Carol Danvers and the moment, So there was a period of 338 00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:07.119 time where Carol and Rogue would switch personas in Rogue's body depending on the mood 339 00:24:07.160 --> 00:24:11.400 swing of what was going on, and due to the fact of Rogue losing 340 00:24:11.400 --> 00:24:17.839 her powers and having a very bragic scene in the previous issue with guards being 341 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:21.880 able to touch her. She kind of retreats into her mind and Carol is 342 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:26.279 able to come full force and just control the situation. So Rogue is taking 343 00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:30.160 a back seat, almost voluntarily in the sense that she needs to repair what 344 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:34.640 happened to her, and Carol and Wolverine are taking on the entire island by 345 00:24:34.680 --> 00:24:38.160 themselves, and they guess they used to work together. I don't know the 346 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:44.759 stories of Carol and Logan being partners other than I guess that was the benefit 347 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:47.759 of Wolverine of that era, Like you know, once he got more defined 348 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:51.319 and his origin was established in the early two thousands, but before and there 349 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:53.240 was this big nebulous period where you could just go say, yeah, Wolverine 350 00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:56.160 was there. Yeah, Wolverine teamed up with cap he teamed up with the 351 00:24:56.200 --> 00:25:00.240 World War Two heroes. He was also in Maderport doing Sure, he teamed 352 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:03.200 up with Carol when she was a spy. But it's actually an inter really 353 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:07.039 interesting twist. It was confusing to me at the time, but it works 354 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:11.160 so well and their interplay is really fun to experience. She's putting on this 355 00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:15.160 outfit, this new sexy outfit, because she says that she wants everybody to 356 00:25:15.160 --> 00:25:18.920 pay attention to her, but not her face. So she's drawing all the 357 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:22.480 attention to her chest area, so to speak. And just that way, 358 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:26.279 all of the soldiers will not look at her face and remember who she is. 359 00:25:26.359 --> 00:25:30.759 They'll just be looking at her body. And Wolverine is admiring the tact 360 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:34.079 because he's just like, that's a smart move, and she's a smart girl, 361 00:25:34.119 --> 00:25:37.880 and she knows exactly what she's doing. She's a pro. And then 362 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:41.359 there is a ruckus at the bar, because there is, because we're at 363 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:45.799 a bar, of course there's going to be a fight, a fight. 364 00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:51.680 There is a young man who is causing a fuss. He is the Jenineer 365 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:53.240 son. They don't know this though in the bar. They just see him 366 00:25:53.319 --> 00:26:00.519 as a yuppie white boy in the soldier bar, causing drama making to man's 367 00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:03.960 and they want nothing to do with it. So he's been cut off at 368 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:06.960 the bar and he is not happy about it. And so it's it's I 369 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:11.720 guess what are they called the Magistrate's bar mainly, and they're they're just kind 370 00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:14.119 of getting into it with him. I guess. Well, he's also drinking 371 00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:15.839 himself silly because he found out that his girlfriend is a mutant, which we'll 372 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:19.960 get into in later pages. But he's causing drama. He throws the first 373 00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:23.319 punch and that gets everybody going, and Wolverine is like, whoo, this 374 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:26.799 is a great opportunity to steal a bunch of IDs, And in all the 375 00:26:26.920 --> 00:26:32.759 chaos he dips through the crowd and pulls many, many wallets and IDs out 376 00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:37.599 of people's pockets. He also yells fight like just to keep things going right, 377 00:26:40.359 --> 00:26:44.279 Rabble Rouser Wolverine. Yeah, there's a great panel where he's crouching and 378 00:26:44.440 --> 00:26:48.160 just pickpocketing everyone around him. And then they're like him in Rogue Slash Carol 379 00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:52.319 are like, good night everybody, and they just head out into the street 380 00:26:52.400 --> 00:26:56.960 and they see that they're beating up this poor young man and they decide to 381 00:26:57.119 --> 00:27:02.799 play a trick on him and they put him on the mutant train, or 382 00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:07.799 they go to take a train. Ooh, And therefore our cover title all 383 00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:11.359 Aboard the Mutant Train kind of comes to light. So one thing worth I 384 00:27:11.400 --> 00:27:17.359 think mentioning is it's not that Genosha just directly enslaves mutants, which is terrible 385 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:22.359 enough, it's that they basically reprogram them genetically and give them these suits that 386 00:27:22.440 --> 00:27:27.119 become their second skin and kind of their own singular ecosystem and wipe their personality 387 00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:33.079 so they become more subservient and complacent, and so putting the gene engineer's son 388 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:37.480 on this train is basically a death sentence form. Even though I think at 389 00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:40.839 some point they say, oh, well, he'll get caught, they'll catch 390 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:44.359 him before he gets processed, but he doesn't seem very certain when he says 391 00:27:44.359 --> 00:27:48.359 that. So it's it's definitely a bad situation overall, and a very bad 392 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:52.599 situation for our young drunk friend. Talk about the second skin. I was 393 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:55.119 telling Chris about it and he was like, wait, what what what? 394 00:27:55.799 --> 00:27:59.039 Yeah, because why don't take it off. Yeah, there's a moment later 395 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:02.319 on in this issue where one of the telepath that kind of wipes your brain 396 00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:07.000 explains to the daughter, the daughter in law of the engineer what happens and 397 00:28:07.079 --> 00:28:10.960 how the suit is its own kind of functional ecosystem. You never even have 398 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:14.799 to like shower or do anything. It just takes care of everything, which 399 00:28:14.839 --> 00:28:18.960 is insane, including getting rid of your waist. You just go to the 400 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:22.759 bathroom. And yeah, I just have to say that everybody gets different colors 401 00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:26.920 apparently, And do you get to choose your colors before you're enslaved in this 402 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:30.599 suit? Or is it just given to you, just give them to you. 403 00:28:30.680 --> 00:28:33.200 Yeah, yeah, I don't think you get to choose. Oh my 404 00:28:33.319 --> 00:28:36.839 gosh, they better not give If I had to do this, they better 405 00:28:36.839 --> 00:28:40.759 not give me like a yellow or a magenta. Hopefully they would give me 406 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:48.880 a blue. It probably gets like purple and green. Oh, Wolverine and 407 00:28:48.119 --> 00:28:53.440 Rogue, they are able to track the engineer's son being put on the train 408 00:28:53.920 --> 00:29:00.480 and they are jumping from the rafters onto the roof and get your eighties movie 409 00:29:00.519 --> 00:29:07.400 moment Chris of landing on the roof, almost falling off, grabbing Wolverine by 410 00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:08.559 the hand, pulling him up onto the room. You know, a very 411 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:11.720 cinematic moment. I was just gonna say that we get another like very clear 412 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:15.160 reminder that Wolverine does not have a lot of time left, like he can 413 00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:18.279 you know, this is a move that traditionally Wolverine and full power could do 414 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:21.960 in his sleep, like hop from a railing onto the train and you know, 415 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:25.839 stab his claws and just do his thing. But he barely holds on 416 00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:30.160 and Carol slash Rogue has to kind of hold him in place to keep him 417 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:33.680 from falling off, and it's a it's a very somber moment if you're a 418 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:37.200 Wolverine fan to see him this low, especially with the knowledge at the beginning 419 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:38.480 of the issue that he only has like a day or two left of his 420 00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:42.200 life. So right, things are very very bad for him, not great 421 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:48.319 for Wolveee. Meanwhile, at the Citadel, we have one of those looks, 422 00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:51.720 Chris, this is an orange and yellow look on. This is the 423 00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:56.480 one I don't want. It is like Faull iron Man, fire Star vibes. 424 00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:00.559 Obviously, Yeah, she's crying. She didn't get to choose this. 425 00:30:00.920 --> 00:30:03.440 I didn't even refer to her by name anymore. She's now mute. In 426 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:07.720 nine eight one seven, this is Jennifer, by the way. She is 427 00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:12.319 the Jean engineer's son's girlfriend, and she is now discovering late in life that 428 00:30:12.359 --> 00:30:15.519 she's actually a mutant. She had no idea, so this is kind of 429 00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:22.200 catching her blindsided. She's completely bamboozled, and he's trying to assure her that 430 00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:25.880 she'll be well taken care of and that another everything will be fine. But 431 00:30:25.960 --> 00:30:27.839 of course we know that her memory is gonna be wiped. Of course, 432 00:30:27.880 --> 00:30:32.079 she won't remember anything, so it doesn't matter. She's going to be reprogrammed 433 00:30:32.119 --> 00:30:34.960 to better suit the island. She was under the impression that she was negative 434 00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:38.079 on her quote unquote Jean scam, meaning she wasn't a mutant. But I 435 00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:44.759 guess her dad really abused his powered government and switched her tests with another girl, 436 00:30:44.839 --> 00:30:47.559 and so she's paid for that action with her life. He says, 437 00:30:47.640 --> 00:30:48.680 he's trying to explain to her what a great thing it's going to be to 438 00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:55.200 serve Genosha, and she's very reasonably straught. And then we cut to the 439 00:30:55.240 --> 00:30:59.480 sonics examination lab. She's changed outfits. So, Chris, are you okay 440 00:30:59.480 --> 00:31:03.400 with this one? This kind of purple and yellow. Look, it's not 441 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:07.039 my favorite, but it's definitely better than the garish red and yellow that I 442 00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:11.160 wouldn't be able to look into the mirror every day. This purple is a 443 00:31:11.200 --> 00:31:15.000 little bit more regal, a little bit more tolerable to the eye. But 444 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:18.960 to each his own, Alex, do you have an opinion? It was 445 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:22.400 a little confusing to me because we meet her in that red and yellow and 446 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:26.759 suddenly she's she's in this lab in the new costume, and so it took 447 00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:30.319 me a second even on reread, like because it's the same character. And 448 00:31:30.359 --> 00:31:34.200 I know this character Jennifer shows up again, right I think so in her 449 00:31:34.279 --> 00:31:37.599 mutant form, Yeah, yeah, she becomes like she's not like an X 450 00:31:37.640 --> 00:31:41.720 Men member, but she shows up in later issues. And this is you 451 00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:45.279 know, this is the initial Genosha storyline, which is then followed up in 452 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:48.960 Extinction Agenda and obviously many more times. But these are those are the two 453 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:52.160 big initial beats in terms of Genosha. So yeah, I like the purple 454 00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:56.920 and yellow. I have to say to answer your question, if it's the 455 00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:00.799 same character, maybe it just changes color, it's the same suit. Maybe 456 00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:02.839 it's like a mood ring. Yeah, yeah, okay, I want to 457 00:32:02.839 --> 00:32:06.880 talk about her. So Jenny Ransom, that's right as her name. Yeah. 458 00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:10.839 And her powers, she's able to increase her size with corresponding increase in 459 00:32:10.920 --> 00:32:15.119 strength, your ability, and weight. We don't know this in this issue. 460 00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:16.599 We don't see this, but she shows up an X Factor, right, 461 00:32:16.759 --> 00:32:21.480 she has appeared. It seems she seems like an X Factor person. 462 00:32:21.799 --> 00:32:24.039 Yeah, I feel like that's where she showed up. Maybe I'm just imagining 463 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:29.519 that she was somehow in the in the Peter David run well either way, 464 00:32:29.640 --> 00:32:34.000 would love to see Jenny Ransom also have a resurgent. Why not. Yeah, 465 00:32:34.200 --> 00:32:37.640 she is being processed about to have her mind wiped clean. We're getting 466 00:32:37.640 --> 00:32:40.519 the scene where they're explaining what the suit does. How she's not able to 467 00:32:40.519 --> 00:32:45.279 have children traditionally anymore because the suit never comes off. So therefore, how 468 00:32:45.319 --> 00:32:50.200 you're going to have a baby. The psychic who is trying to wipe her 469 00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:53.640 mind says, don't resist because otherwise it will be pain, and she screams, 470 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:58.160 I don't care, I'm morning. You leave me alone, and we 471 00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:01.480 get this scene that seems pretty intense. But then we cut to elsewhere on 472 00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:07.519 the island. Guess who's finally arrived there? The X Men. Finally they 473 00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:10.920 show up midway through the book, and here we have a storm flying in 474 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:17.279 with a long shot Colossus and Dazzler and Havoc and in the back. It 475 00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:22.599 took me a half a second because I always forget that Siloc had all these 476 00:33:22.599 --> 00:33:29.799 different various looks throughout the time periods, and here we have her in this 477 00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:35.119 kind of like hood. She kind of reminds me of Huntress from the Batman 478 00:33:35.240 --> 00:33:38.839 universe. One thing Claremont does really well is like, over the next page 479 00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:43.680 and a half, he just introduces kind of soft introduces each of the characters 480 00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:46.640 and their powers just through the action, like Storm with the gusts of wind, 481 00:33:46.920 --> 00:33:52.279 Colossus lifting a jeep, Havoc blasting it, and then Ciloc disabling the 482 00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:55.880 magistrates with their mental powers. It's really very crafty. He just like kind 483 00:33:55.920 --> 00:34:00.680 of does it almost without even doing it. Except poor long Shot. He's 484 00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:01.839 like, I don't know what yah. I mean, I don't know what 485 00:34:01.880 --> 00:34:06.680 he does. I don't know if that was just dumped on him. I 486 00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:08.920 know it's an a Senti creation, but I don't know how long Shot came 487 00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:13.280 to be in the X Men books. I feel like it was something where 488 00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:16.440 and ASCENTI did the miniseries and they just didn't want to lose I guess ownership 489 00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:21.920 of the character, and so they kept him in the X Men so Chris 490 00:34:21.920 --> 00:34:24.880 and Anne could have some saying what he was doing. I could be wrong. 491 00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:28.159 I could have made that up. Just now. Chris and I both 492 00:34:28.199 --> 00:34:30.880 like him very much, so it's no dig on him. But yeah, 493 00:34:30.880 --> 00:34:35.840 he I do feel like in these quick moments where everybody gets introduced, he 494 00:34:35.880 --> 00:34:38.360 doesn't have a visual power, so it's really hard to explain kind of what 495 00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:42.840 he does. And we even get a dazzler moment, of course the best. 496 00:34:43.079 --> 00:34:46.360 She gets a big spark of light in one panel while long Shot is 497 00:34:46.440 --> 00:34:52.400 kicking somebody in the face. As far as background fodder, the soldiers, 498 00:34:52.039 --> 00:34:55.519 they kind of remind me like they could be extras in a Britney Spears music 499 00:34:55.599 --> 00:35:00.559 video, like the male backup dancers, because they're able to shorts. Yeah, 500 00:35:00.599 --> 00:35:07.320 short sleeves and short shorts, big boots. Yeah. This is like 501 00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:12.440 a military force that is not accustomed to action, right, not a lot 502 00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:16.760 of invaders in Genotia, And so Siloc is going to do like a sonic 503 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:22.559 read on these soldiers. She says that they have some rudimentary defenses, but 504 00:35:22.599 --> 00:35:27.360 she'll work right around them. But then suddenly, ah, and she flies 505 00:35:27.480 --> 00:35:31.159 backward like this is a big backlash, her backbend right there, her brain 506 00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:36.239 cracked and her back cracked. There has been a big disturbance, and there's 507 00:35:36.280 --> 00:35:39.559 a clank clank clanklin clanging noise going on. All the soldiers running around. 508 00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:44.320 They're going to find out what has happened. And it's not because of Siloc. 509 00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:47.280 It's because of Jenny Ransom. Did you say she had mental she had 510 00:35:47.320 --> 00:35:52.719 telepathic powers later or is this no? She only had only listed the size. 511 00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:55.519 I think maybe it was because the sonic one that was trying to erase 512 00:35:55.599 --> 00:36:00.079 her. Something happened when that one died. You're to think that it's a 513 00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:06.079 sonic she's a sonic mutant. I feel that interesting. Okay, yeah, 514 00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:09.440 but you can see in this kind of capacity that if her body size and 515 00:36:09.519 --> 00:36:15.800 strengthened mass increased rapidly, really fast, she would smush everything. It kind 516 00:36:15.840 --> 00:36:19.400 of it kind of works. If they didn't know this at the time, 517 00:36:20.320 --> 00:36:22.880 I don't know. I guess they didn't. Yeah, it almost felt like 518 00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:25.320 they were setting her up to be a telepath. That's a great panel too. 519 00:36:25.400 --> 00:36:30.480 The way Leonardius uses shadows and you see, you know, the engineer's 520 00:36:30.519 --> 00:36:35.599 glasses reflecting and standing out, and the coloring is really magnificent, just how 521 00:36:35.599 --> 00:36:39.760 the darker reds and pinks denote the bodies and just yeah, it's great. 522 00:36:40.280 --> 00:36:44.760 The more you look at it, the more details you see, the more 523 00:36:44.920 --> 00:36:50.559 horror pops out. Yea beautiful, No, it's spooky. But back on 524 00:36:50.639 --> 00:36:52.239 the mute train. I don't know why they call it mute and that mute 525 00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:58.320 train, but the mute train, it is barreling along the island, and 526 00:36:58.840 --> 00:37:01.880 Rogue and Wolverine are still on the rooftop, but they are sneaking their way 527 00:37:01.960 --> 00:37:06.800 in. Wolverine gets a little snicked and he pops out a claw to open 528 00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:09.679 the door, and we see that it causes his hand to bleed because he 529 00:37:09.719 --> 00:37:14.559 doesn't have his healing factor anymore to steal the wound when the blades go back 530 00:37:14.599 --> 00:37:16.719 in out. Yeah, that was pretty traumatizing to see early. You know, 531 00:37:16.719 --> 00:37:20.400 as a young reader, I was like, oh, man, Wolverine 532 00:37:20.480 --> 00:37:23.079 is really messed up right now. Yes, I don't know if that had 533 00:37:23.119 --> 00:37:28.159 been established pre this issue, but I feel like we didn't think about it 534 00:37:28.199 --> 00:37:30.320 that way for the longest time. Well, I know, for when he 535 00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:34.559 was first introduced, we didn't nobody realized it came out of his actual hand. 536 00:37:34.840 --> 00:37:37.760 They thought it was attached to his gloves, right. Yeah, So 537 00:37:37.800 --> 00:37:40.480 the kind of evolution of Wolverine's claws and the effect that they have on his 538 00:37:40.519 --> 00:37:45.320 body, I think we've uncovered over time for sure. Yeah. And then 539 00:37:45.400 --> 00:37:47.760 later we much later after this, we learned that he had bone claws that 540 00:37:47.800 --> 00:37:52.320 were covered in Adamantium. Oh, yes, we have an issue. I'm 541 00:37:52.360 --> 00:37:54.440 sorry we haven't. We have an episode with Larry Hama where we talk about 542 00:37:54.440 --> 00:38:00.079 the bone awesome of Wolverine seventy five. So the audience listeners, if you 543 00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:02.519 haven't listened to that, go back. I think it's just like six episodes 544 00:38:02.599 --> 00:38:07.519 or so. Last December is when it came out. So it's a lot 545 00:38:07.559 --> 00:38:12.519 of fun. And he talks about how the discussion in the Marvel Rider camp 546 00:38:12.639 --> 00:38:15.400 retreat where they all go and talk about what's going to happen in the issues, 547 00:38:15.800 --> 00:38:20.519 the whole debate over bone clause. That's how people were like, no, 548 00:38:20.800 --> 00:38:24.119 you can't. How dare you? They did? I kind of made 549 00:38:24.159 --> 00:38:28.000 sense. I mean I remember as a kid just thinking of that made perfect 550 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:30.400 sense. Like why would remember thinking it was the coolest thing ever. I 551 00:38:30.440 --> 00:38:35.280 was just like, there are bones. This whole time, I was like, 552 00:38:35.320 --> 00:38:38.039 oh man, Manedo ripped out the adamantium, Like that is so messed 553 00:38:38.119 --> 00:38:43.360 up. Anyway, Okay, back on the train, rope changed back. 554 00:38:43.480 --> 00:38:47.559 She's looking all Indiana Jones and very identical to Wolverine. But now that they're 555 00:38:47.639 --> 00:38:52.639 inside of the train, they are amongst the mutants. When was there time 556 00:38:52.679 --> 00:38:57.519 to change. She changed before they jumped on the train. Her outfit is 557 00:38:57.519 --> 00:39:00.760 different when they're at the train station. They probably changed on the way to 558 00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:04.760 the station. That makes sense. We get the no prize, Yes, 559 00:39:05.079 --> 00:39:08.079 no proble. You can send us the no prize, thank you. Yeah, 560 00:39:08.079 --> 00:39:14.880 they find that jensineer Son. Now his outfit is blue with red and 561 00:39:15.119 --> 00:39:17.599 yellow features. What do we This is the one I want? I want 562 00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:22.880 this one. I mean I don't want any of them because obviously that's bad, 563 00:39:22.960 --> 00:39:25.880 it's not good. But if I had to have one and I were 564 00:39:25.920 --> 00:39:29.920 forced to have one, I'd be okay with being forced with that one. 565 00:39:30.119 --> 00:39:31.920 Out of the other ones. It's got a big eternals vibe. The weird 566 00:39:31.960 --> 00:39:37.559 thing that happens here is that Rogan Wolverine are here to save this poor boy 567 00:39:37.719 --> 00:39:42.199 from whatever future he holds, and they go to grab him, but of 568 00:39:42.199 --> 00:39:45.000 course they're on a train full mutants, and the mutants are like, look 569 00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:46.880 at them like soldiers, and they're like, you are not welcome here, 570 00:39:46.920 --> 00:39:51.719 You're not one of us. Little do they know that? Of course they 571 00:39:51.760 --> 00:39:54.119 are that they are mutants, but they can't reveal their secret identities. But 572 00:39:54.199 --> 00:39:59.559 they don't have to because there's a big bright light that shines into the train. 573 00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:04.079 It says, mutant, stand where you are, and the train stops, 574 00:40:04.079 --> 00:40:07.400 and guess what happens? The doors open and in comes flooding the soldiers, 575 00:40:07.920 --> 00:40:12.960 yes, on both sides, surrounding the mountains. Oh, and then 576 00:40:13.079 --> 00:40:15.599 Wolverine and Rouge they think they're in trouble and the guy points at them and 577 00:40:15.639 --> 00:40:20.559 he says, you know that I've got my eyes on you, and how 578 00:40:20.639 --> 00:40:24.360 dare you be here? And any less than a squad strength? Like, 579 00:40:24.760 --> 00:40:30.280 it's not that not that they're undercover, but they were. They were not 580 00:40:30.519 --> 00:40:34.280 fully enforced with a full squadron of soldiers, and so they should not have 581 00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:37.360 been on that train alone. And then they reveal that they've got the engineer 582 00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:42.800 son, which they're like, let's just leave them here. They don't. 583 00:40:42.880 --> 00:40:45.039 They don't really be like, oh shoot, we gotta take them back. 584 00:40:45.039 --> 00:40:46.320 They're like, oh no, we got to kind of hide at this happened. 585 00:40:46.400 --> 00:40:51.519 Yeah, take him through the camp what upper echelon peel Ooh, and 586 00:40:51.519 --> 00:40:54.800 then we get this great ending line from Wolverine. He says, before I 587 00:40:55.039 --> 00:41:00.559 die, Ace, I'm gonna make some changes here. By all I hold 588 00:41:00.599 --> 00:41:06.239 holy I swear I'm gonna bring this flaming country down a great closer. Oh 589 00:41:06.320 --> 00:41:10.079 yeah, that grimace in his face, he means it. He means business. 590 00:41:10.199 --> 00:41:14.159 You guys going to be a revolution in two weeks. So this was 591 00:41:14.199 --> 00:41:16.360 super fun. This was in the era where two issues are coming out a 592 00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:20.159 month, so you didn't have to wait long as a reader. In this 593 00:41:20.199 --> 00:41:23.920 era, you're just like two weeks boom another issue. Yeah, so I 594 00:41:23.960 --> 00:41:30.000 can't even imagine what that's like to have the story continue to resolve that fast 595 00:41:30.800 --> 00:41:34.039 and to have one drawn by Silvestrian one drawn by Leonardi, Like, what 596 00:41:34.119 --> 00:41:37.639 a time to be an X Men fan? No kidding, Thank you so 597 00:41:37.719 --> 00:41:40.159 much for bringing this issue. This was so much fun. Oh it's a 598 00:41:40.159 --> 00:41:43.599 blast. So I get to reread it with you guys. Where can people 599 00:41:43.599 --> 00:41:46.000 find you online if they want to follow what you're doing? Yeah, my 600 00:41:46.119 --> 00:41:52.079 social handles. I'm most active on Twitter, where I'm at alex Underscore Sigura, 601 00:41:52.239 --> 00:41:57.000 on Instagram Alex Segura Junior. And my website Alexega dot com, which 602 00:41:57.039 --> 00:42:00.519 has my newsletter and pretty much all the inform my book and where you can 603 00:42:00.599 --> 00:42:02.719 order them and order or sign copies and things like that. This is so 604 00:42:02.840 --> 00:42:07.719 much fun. X reads is recorded in the United States. Our theme music 605 00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:10.159 is written by Austin Wintry. Please make sure to follow our podcast to be 606 00:42:10.239 --> 00:42:14.880 updated on when new episodes appear every first and third Wednesdays of the month. 607 00:42:15.199 --> 00:42:17.840 Follow us on social media at x reads podcasts, That's the Letter, x 608 00:42:19.280 --> 00:42:22.159 r ads podcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Thanks so much for 609 00:42:22.239 --> 00:42:23.280 listening. Bye.