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Hi, everybody, This is Chandler. This is Chris, and this is
Danielle. And you're listening to X the Podcast. All right, welcome on,
and yes, we're so excited to have Danielle Silverstone with us on our
one hundred and third episode. Welcome Danielle. Hello Danielle. Hello, Hi
of all, I will I will lay the ground. You're an amazing comic
book commentator on TikTok and Instagram and we are very excited to have you on
the show. But yeah, tell us a little bit about yourself and what
you love about the X Men. Okay, so um as people on TikTok
and and Instagram and the internet know me as and I even have the sticker
here. She was dead Stephen. I started TikTok in I think twenty nineteen,
but I didn't really like post anything till twenty twenty. And the first
things I was posting about the first series that blew up was like if queer
Romance was a loud and it started with they would a fucked don't don't,
and then I have sense of bold to they would have been allowed to be
together. But starting there and then morphing into talking about why I hated Avenger's
end Game so much led me to Marvel TikTok, and that's how most people
know me. But I actually got my start with superheroes two different ways.
The first one was when I was younger and like fifth grade, I had
a Superman backpack but it was pink, so I called it Supergirl, but
it was definitely Superman and it had just had a logo on it. It
was the S and S for Silverstone. Obviously, I didn't realize that I
was right, and I didn't realize that I was like drawn to this iconography
because of like all the Jewish origins and everything, but like I just knew
I liked it right, and like the only superhero movies my mom would let
me watch was like Superman because like they were PG. And then I remember
the first PG thirteen movie I ever watched was X Men, and I still
remember so many of the scenes they lived so vividly in my head of all
three movies, the scene in the Tower before I before Storm goes off,
all the Nightcrawler stuff, and the bridge scene in the third movie that is
literally one of the most iconic things ever. Like the third movie, I
like, okay, I do, I like X three, but I just
remember it being like the first superher thing that got me into what the heroes
are and what they can because Superman was solo, and then I was like,
look at this team of heroes. It's so cool. I was obsessed
with Kitty, I was obsessed with Rogue. I was obsessed like obviously Logan
was my guy, like Hugh Jackman may not be a short Canadian, but
man, he was so funny, and I was just like, I love
Logan. It's also my daddy issues, but that's for another time. But
I just remembered how much I loved the X Men, and I didn't even
know that Marvel DC was really a thing. I didn't know that Superman was
like separate. I didn't consider it, you know, I didn't think like,
oh, everyone has their own universe. But X Men was just so
fun and like it opened, I was like when I saw it, I
was about like eight or nine or ten or something, and so it opening
on a concentration camp didn't really hit me because like, I grew up surrounded
by all that imagery and like in Hebrew school, it had been given to
us, so it didn't feel like out of place. But it also I
didn't realize the significance and how. And I'm going to use this word because
I think that we were absolutely spoiled by the X Men movies. That two
movies in the X Men series open on a concentration camp, and the MCU
can't even acknowledge characters Judaism without having a goy play them. So to have
grown up with that was a privilege that I no longer take for granted.
And it's definitely because Brian Singer. He sucks, but he is a gay
Jewish Man, and so that informed the movies that he made. He's also
disgusting, but he is a gay Jewish Man and that did influence the way
that he did things. And I didn't realize that then, but I know
it now that the reason I loved them so much is because it felt like
home. It wasn't just hey, these weirdos find each other. It's these
weirdos who are clearly queer and Jewish, and I didn't know where my home
was. And then I started discovering later like all the origins of these characters.
I got into Smallville because I was mad at my friends one day and
so I went over to my other friends and they were watching Smallville. So
I ended up watching every single episode and I was like, oh my god,
I love Clark Kent. My first tattoo is a Superman tattoo. I
was like into super into DC. Then I discovered Stucky on the internet because
I was on Tumblr, and I was like, oh, well, let
me read some fan fictions. Stucky wasn't the first fan fiction I read,
but we don't need to discuss which members of one direction. My first fan
fictions were the first time I've ever admitted that out loud anyway. So I
was drawn to Stucky. And then I discovered this character, Kate Bishop,
who was like always yelling at them, and I was like, oh my
god, be so funny if in the Avengers, I think it was just
in Just Infinity War at this point. If if Infinity War, if Kate's
the one who looks at Stephen, Bucky is like you two like each other,
right, And then I started reading all her comics. And now I've
read so many comics, but I've never, other than Children's Crusade because Wanda
isn't it, have never actually read an X Men comic till today, And
so I'm really excited because I love them. I love them so much.
I don't know why it's taken me so long, Like I just I love
the X Men, right, well, especially because you've had a conversation with
Chris Claremont, so yeah, you have a bit of inside information about kind
of Claremont and Katie and everything. Uh huh. I was at Emerald City
Comic Con and he was there, and I was like, first of all,
I love you. You are like a Jewish icon, like I hope
you realize that. And he's like, oh, I'm just a dude,
and I'm like, well, okay, I could see where this conversation is
going to go. But and the first question I asked was like, well,
because I was like the kind of questions I'll be asking, So I
wasn't even recording it. I was like, like, I'd asked, like,
how's it being a Jew named Chris? And he's like, well,
I'm a person named Chris. I'm also Jewish. And I was like,
Okay, I see where the banter's off here. But you know, it's
fine. It will just keep going. He revealed to me in this interview
that I still love and posted. He told me that he originally also wanted
to make Kitty gay and that was not allowed to happen. He I don't
remember if he told me or if I have seen this on the internet,
So do not quote Chris Claremont on this because I don't remember if this is
true. However, he apparently originally wanted to make Nightcrawler Jewish like I think
Orthodox, and that was shut down. It wasn't Daredevil, it was Nightcrawler.
He did confirm that Magneto and Charles Xavier's rivalry is based on and their
characters are based on Menachem Began and David Ben Gurion, who were prime ministers
of Israel, not MLK and Malcolm X. So that was also confirmed.
But the thing that I thought was funniest, which I think everyone's gonna love,
is that we were talking about Charles and Magneto because I was like,
you know, it's a little gay, right, and he's like, well,
I mean they're best friends and their rivals. I was like, okay.
He's like, well, there was a universe where I thought of we
could make one be a girl and they can get married. And I looked
at him and I said, but but why couldn't you just do that normally?
And he's like, what do you mean? I was like, don't
swap the genders just just to have them be married, and he's like,
what I mean? I was like, uh huh, yeah, you see,
like there's no need to swap it. He's like, but they always
had girls, and I'm like, okay, so do I That doesn't mean
I only like girls, because I don't only like girls. Kitty should and
I'm out. I will say in the issue that we read her in Colossus
are a little they're they're they're cute, right, but the way she talked,
they know for interact in in this issue, and and she's really sweet
with Ilianta, So I'm like, this the opportunity was missed, but you
know, and and and knowing that Chris wanted to originally make make Kitty gay
did help me a little bit. So yeah, well, and now that
we have a very out and proud Rachel Summers, Kitty and Rachel have a
very tight relationship as well, So maybe once she's you know, if she
breaks up with Betsy, she can get with Kitty and then everybody can have
the pairing that they want. Though I do agree that Magic and Kitty do
belong together. However, my headcanon is that Magic is asexual because and a
romantic because she grew up in Limbo and she wants nothing to do with romance
or body parts. She's just like, I'm just me and you know,
like I don't want to deal with anything else. That makes a lot of
sense. Yeah, So anyways, before we go further into the X Men
world, I just want to touch upon Barbie a little bit. Barbie she
should. She should because in every single Barbie movie she has a girlfriend.
So like, I literally every well besides besides Rapunzel and but that's just anti
semitic and the Nutcracker, So like, besides those, almost every single Barbie
movie she has a girl friend. It's like can she just yeah one or
maker Polly or whatever hand sexually like we could, we could, we could
go all over with Barbie. But no, you obviously love Barbie. You've
been doing a lot of Barbie commentary on your channels. Your big thing,
of course is that Barbie is Jewish. Yes, and so give us the
give us your your run on that. So the original Barbie is based on
a German doll as well as a different doll. But the creator Ruth Handler.
I was about to say, Barbara Handler. That's her daughter, Ruth
Handler, the creator. She was in a furniture making business with her husband.
Is it Matt or is he the l One of them is Matt and
it might be the last name, and one of them is Elliott, because
I think her I don't remember her husband's name. Why do we care about
the men? No offense. But she was making a furniture business and she
noticed that like it was declining and was like, hey, let's make some
toys. Because she noticed her kids playing with paper doll and she's like,
they don't have any like physical dolls to play with, So she's like,
let's make this. And the original Barbie looks more like Marilyn Monroe. It's
very much fifties because it was made in the fifties and the sixties, and
then it has since evolved into what it became. But she named the doll
Barbie after her daughter Barbara, So not only is it a Jewish creation,
she's also based on a Jewish person. And if you watch a lot of
the Barbie media, a lot of it screams jew anyway, except Rapunzel and
Swan like, which are some of the most anti Semitic things I've ever seen.
But you know, you take, you take, which you can get,
I guess. But she's very Jewish in the new stuff with her and
Brooklyn Barbie, both of them scream jew and it's just it's well Brooklyn,
especially because she's constantly saying like schlep and like they're having bagels in the morning,
like I'm sorry, She's definitely Jewish and Malibu Barbie's always been Jewish.
Yes, they celebrate Christmas. I don't care, Like I know jewsus celebrate
Christmas. It's fine, and I do wish they lean into it more.
But it's gotten to the point in America where Christmas is a secular holidays.
It's not at all. But in the Christian normative society we live in,
it is the secular holiday. So because of that, Jews and Jewish characters
are frequently forced to celebrate it or are celebrated. Like I love Christmas,
I do, but I'm not gonna skip Chronica for it, and I'm going
to acknowledge that I'm Jewish on Christmas and all of that. So Barbie's history
started with Judaism, it should absolutely lean into it. More Brats, by
the way, bratstalls are also Jewish. They were created by a Jew as
well, and then they got in trouble for ripping off some Barbie stuff.
But Barbie has always been a Jewish icon, even though her name is Barbara
Millicent Roberts, which doesn't sound Jewish at all, but you know that's her
full name, Millicent. Yeah, and then they gave her an aunt,
Millicent as well. Wow, oh my god. And also she's from Willows,
Wisconsin. Oh really? Oh yeah, yeah, I knew you would
have all the all the t on barbeing Yeah. I want to know,
though, if Barbie were in the X Men universe, what would her mutant
powers be? Like, maybe she's a consciousness that was implanted into a living
dollm ooh, that's an interesting one because the only thing I could think of
as like the ability for her to do like seventeen thousand careers at once,
Like can she duplicate? Or like is she like because I mean, a
sense of style isn't really like a superpower, except like sometimes it is.
I guess it's like constant confidence and also being a nice person. That's really
a superpower. Okay, Like how you mean that confident and that nice?
That's that's the real superpower? Or the ability to turn people gay, because
I mean, yeah, that correct. I also feel like maybe she has
shape shifting powers, but not on her body but her clothes, so she
could just cheer out. That's like there we go. The smartness that she
can she can take on any career and succeed, you know, so she's
super intelligent. You know. My favorite Barbie media is Life in the dream
House, where she's absolutely an idiot, but I love her so much.
She and Ken together, clearly it screams compet especially because Ken has Ryan and
Barbie has Raquel. But it's just so funny because the way they are with
each other. But like, Ken, why would we Oh, it's just
so funny because like there's not a single brain cell between them, and I
love that. Yet she's still been able to be president, a doctor,
a pilot, raised three kids by herself, which is funny because she literally
has an aunt in France and grandma in Willows, Wisconsin, and in some
iterations her parents are still alive too, So it's just very interesting. In
fact, I did just learn recently Skipper, the first of her sisters,
was brought in because they didn't want to make Barbie a mom. They were
like, Okay, she can be a feminist without being a mother. Stop
this. So they brought Midge, who was pregnant, and then they brought
Skipper to be your little sister so she could babysit her. And then later
brought in Stacy and then Kelly, who then later became Chelsea. So she
just raises them even though she has people who can help her. I think
it's really interesting, but you know, self sufficient and amazing. That's why
we love her. Yes, I'm back when I was a kid. This
is a confession, but I have an older sister so and she's close in
age, so we used to play together a lot, and she was Barbie
obsessed Barbie, this Barbie that she had the Barbie Dream House Manshian, You
know the one I'm talking about about from way back when with the convertible and
everything. I used to play X Men action figures up in that mansion,
and it might as well love that the X Mansion in my childhood, Barbie's
dream house was the X Mansion. I love that I had the Barbie Dream
Hotel. It's funny because I critique the choices to make Barbie raised her sisters
now, but then I literally every single baby or child I got belonged to
my favorite Barbie. Yeah, and it was hers, and and like Ken
was there, it was sure whatever, but like I was there for Barbie.
I was like, this is my girl, like in the in the
fantasy worlds, like I played with Barbies like until we moved pretty much in
twenty eleven, so like I was still fifteen playing with Barbies, which really
helped my brain with like writing and all of that. Like I'd create these
worlds and sometimes they'd be the famous ones, and sometimes they'd be in a
world where Danielle Silverstone was the famous one. I remember begging my mom to
get me a callie girl doll because as a jew, of the wasp ones
really didn't represent me. So I was like, well, this one has
a tan, so she's probably Jewish. And that's that's how that went.
And so like I named her Brittany, and her sister was Brianna, and
it was it was just another calliegirl Barbie. It was the same goal.
It's just it was her sister. And they were raising kids. And then
I didn't like Ken. I liked Blaine because he had better hair, and
and I was I was a special kid. And then it's like I think
I remember that. It's like technically they were there kids, but Blaine was
never there. It was all about Brittany. Brittany was the one in charge.
She's the one who did everything. Like I was very much a yeah
men exist sure kind of person, and Barbie unlocked all my creativity and I
would anytime, like there was any other kind of doll, they would join
in too, and always always love it. I love it. Well,
let's go back to the X Men. We're here to talk about Kitty and
this amazing adventure that's coming up. And I'm Kenny Xman one seventy nine.
But we're gonna set the era. First, let's set the era. Yeah,
we are going back to March of nineteen eighty four, back who when
I was a wee infant. The top film at the time was a very
famous mermaid film. Not The Little Mermaid, you guys. It was Splash
with Daryl Hannah. M hmmm, did you see this movie. I have
not seen this movie, but I need to because I am obsessed with mermaids.
Oh well, yes, this is pivotal eighties mermaid you know. Fun
so yeah, Daryl Hannah and I believe Tom Hanks and yeah, it's a
it's a it's a fun comedy. Also very cute romantic movie as well.
So heray Splash top box office. I'm getting a flashback to when they threw
her the bathtub and quick in her wet. Yeah. Yes, oh my
gosh, yeah they do that in H two O two and Marine. I
see the tropes. Yes, the top song was Jump by Van Halen da
Hey, they did it on Glee too, and I knew it before Glee.
I did know it before Glee because my mom. It's funny because like
you asked me what my favorite music is, it's definitely one direction. Little
mix and Barbie. I was raised on eighties rock. I do know it,
and people are always shocked or like you like that. Yeah, I
know things might as well, Joe. That means right, perfect, awesome.
Another thing that happened in March of nineteen eighty four is that Andrew Lloyd
Webber and Richard still Goes musical Starlight Express premieres. Now. This is a
musical that ever became super famous, but it's iconic because all the cast are
on roller skates and they do a roller skate ring in the theater and it's
all about eighties sci fi magical roller skating, and Dazzler makes an appearance basically
she should. Yeah, it's funny because if they staged that musical today it
would be a hit. But Andrew Lloyd Webber can't because Broadway's gone woke now,
so you know, right, no more shows for him. I think
it didn't quite succeed because I didn't. I think they thought it through that
the sound of roller skates kind of is constant, and so you know,
it's harder to hear the songs as they're singing and stuff, So it didn't
quite take off. But I love I love the ambition the xanaduness of it
all. They really went for it, but unfortunately didn't land. But you
can listen to the Broadway recording if you guys want to check it out Starlight
Express. All right, well let's get into this issue unkinny Xpan One seventy
nine. This was written by Chris Claremont, art by John Remida Junior and
Dan Greene, titled what Happened to Kitty? Ooh and on the cover,
oh my gosh, we have quite a cover. There's a lot going on
here. We see a bride and it's going. Yes, they're standing in
front of an open book that's called Morlock Law Ceremony of Marriage. It is
on a podium, so this is definitely their nuptials. And this book is
big. I wonder who wrote the Morlock Law. Yes, like which one
of the Morlocks sat down to pend this out? Good calligraphy, yes,
absolutely, But yeah, we see that Kitty and Caliban are the bride and
groom to be. Caliban looks a little deer in headlights, the very kind
of shock that this is happening. He's wearing a top hat, a bow
tie and you know, traditional tuxedo, and Kitty is wearing a bridal gown
with veil but as well as her redhead band and is crying correct. Correct.
Her facial expression to me reads that she is very sad but accepting of
her fate. And I love the artist, the cover artist here with the
the see through veil effect. M That's one thing I love about comics,
the way that that that they can innovate a way that you can see everything.
And I see this in manga too, But like you can tell because
of the way that the like the white on it looks like reflections, you
can still tell it's there, but it doesn't obscure her face to the point
you can't tell who she is. Beautiful art, yes, all right.
Jumping into the issue, we see that we are down, of course,
in the depths of the Morlock Tunnels underneath New York City, and they are
gathering for a celebration. They are celebrating a new arrival to their community and
a wedding. We see Callisto and a number of Morlocks getting a brunette.
Ready. We don't know who this is just yet, but we quite know
from the cover this brunette is getting a makeover by the Morlocks, and we
see one of them combing her hair, and we see these The fashion of
these ladies that are giving her makeover is very sexy, almost stripper like.
I guess, yes, I see fishnets. I love it. But look
at that arter on one of them. I'm loving it. The higher to
Heaven or what's the saying, the higher to Heaven, the closer to God.
Yes, and I love that they don't even give her a name's just
like she's the one who's doing the hair. They have Calisto have her name,
but they don't have the hairdresser's name. Yes, I would love to
know this hairdresser's name. And I wonder if their mutant power is fierce hair
like that they always oh, well it actually says they are. Then by
all means Joe, maybe her name is Joe. Joe. Well, Joe,
you are a mutant I want to see in current day comics. So
for all those Marvel writers listening in on this podcast, please bring back Joe
the Morelock hairdresser. Hey, yes, please? Then we see an expectant
crowd. Oh, they are a gagged. They are a gag. There's
so much fashion going on, Morelock fashion. It's everywhere in this panel and
I want to give a big special shout out to the guy on the left
that's a Morlock. I'll take on a date to who he's wearing like this
green jump Suti type shorty shorts. I don't know, but it's a fun
belt to fun all the way over there. Yeah. I like his hairstyle.
It's kind of in right now. I agree, that's my Morlock boyfriend.
You guys, I like the guy with the X on his face and
the yeah, the shoulder harness. Yeah, there's a lot of like fetish
were going on down here, which you know I'm all about. And then
beaniecaps. It's beanie cap fetish wear Morlock fashion. So it's a gathering of
queer people because this is how all queer people dressed. In a group.
You get somebody with their ass out, you get somebody in a harness,
you get someone with just a beanie in a sweatshirt. This is this is
queer culture. Go to our sporting event, you're not going to see this.
You go to a Pride Press festival, you'll see this. M hmm.
On the next page, we have my favorite page of the entire issue
because it is gorgeous artwork and there's lots of garter belts going on. Oh
yes, we turned the page slash page and it says what happened to Kitty?
And the red in the background is a pocket of of danger and you
know, passion. And that's contrasting the whiteness of her dress, which symbolizes
innocence and purity. Whilst I mean she looks really sexy though, the juxtaposition
there between what she's going through and what she's supposed to be conveying here with
the it's white, she's innocent, but no, no, no, no,
no, no, she is about to go through some shit. Yes,
this kind of spells something that is uncomfortable. But she's supposed to be
fifteen or not even fifteen or something like that. I can't remember. Storm
says it in a little bit. I think so, I think, so,
yeah, she's fifteen. Yes, so that you know, I think
everybody in this era, especially the artists, wanted Kitty to be older.
And I remember Chris Clermont telling us profusely that he did not want her to
age up too fast because that he didn't want to, you know, have
her, you know, in sexual relationships with people at fifteen. But yeah,
we could see the morlocks are are dressing her up very sexy, and
but I want to just talk about these two ladies that are they're holding her
by the arm. She looks a little out of it, like she's drugged
or or some sort of something's going on. Yeah, we later learned it's
a mind trick. But yeah, let's talk about these ladies. So Joe
we see with the curly red hair on the right, wearing her fishnet gloves
and her garter belts and a chain as a belt. Oh my gosh,
who does their their nails because they're faroche they have a good man is a
good question. Those nails are just completely icon and Katie as well. Katie's
usually on the surface, so obviously one of those queer uh morelocks there.
I was going to say, quirk, like my hero Academia. Their mutation,
thank you, that's for X men. Their mutation is clearly being able
to yasify people. Yes, yeah, yes, this one on the left
with the dark skin in the purple mohawk. She's got a spike collar and
she's wearing like a cut out bathing suit number with also garters and belts and
straps and everything, and she's also looking super fierce. I'm really digging all
of the garters from the straps. I really am. Again, this is
queer culture. Thank you, John Amida Junior. I really appreciate that.
You know, we're talking about Andrew Lloyd Webber earlier, and he did this
little musical that maybe you may or may not have heard of, called Phantom
of the Opera. What's that? This is a joke, I swear to
you. Like this whole issue was giving me Phantom of the Opera vibes with
Christine Die and her white dress as she goes down into the tunnels beneath the
opera house to meet the Phantom, which is like Caliban. Yes, and
speaking of Emmy Rossum would have made a great kitty Pride. Oh yeah.
And she's Jewish and she's Jewish so and Elliot Page was not. So yes,
I love that Christine Diane was also sixteen, I believe at the time.
Yeah, that sounds about right. So yeah, that's a lot of
similarity. Indeed, and when Emmy Rossum got cast I think she was sixteen
or seventeen in jo our butler was like forty, so like perfect, right,
perfect, there's that It's basically, they just did this issue. That's
what happened. Yeah, correct, Oh my gosh. Okay. So then
the next page, we're at Bellevue Hospital and we see that we're in the
morgue with Wolverine, Storm and Rogue and they are looking at the deceased body
of Kitty Pride. I love Logan so much. He genuinely like my first
favorite superhero. Besides like Superman, which is always on the back burner,
Logan Wolverine was what got me into superheroes. I just love him. He's
just so ridiculous and like he's so like I am like not gonna, you
know, care about you. Why don't we care about No, you don't
shut up. You are everyone's favorite person and you know that you're also the
coolest one. But that's that's different story, right, Yeah, exactly.
Well, and like deep down he just wants to be a dad. He's
just absolutely energy the whole time, but trying to be cool the entire time.
But no, I also love Logan. I'm a big Wolgreen fan as
well, so high fives over the internet for that. And in this era,
we see a lot of him wearing cowboy hats and I think that they
need to resurrect the cowboy hat and Wolverine more often. I agree, looks
really good on him, giving, especially when he's with Cyclops. Because we
all know, yes, we know, we all know, we know.
So does Marvel. They do know. They just I don't know why they
don't allow, like, they don't even allow Venom and Eddie to explicitly say
we are in love and in a relationship. They have to metaphorize it,
and I like, literally have to keep showing people wrap those tentacles around me.
Baby. I'm like, that's not platonic. Stop it, like Marvel,
just say it, just say it. It's fine. I know we
did a thing with Marvel and we were calling Wolverine, Geene and Cyclops a
throuble and they said, we can't use that word, but we could say
that they're in a relationship. So it's like they know, they know.
Anyways, Yes, So they are there at the Morgue to identify the body
of Key Pride. This is a body that they discovered on the streets that
fell from the Baxter building. So in the issue prior there's a big battle
with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. All the X Men are distracted. Kitty
is going through the Baxter building to try to get a cure for Colossus,
who is frozen, which we'll get into later, and she falls off the
top of the Baxter building and then cut to this body on the ground.
So the last page we see in the issue prior as her dead Dotty on
the ground. So this is them going to the morgue. Yeah, and
they meet up with the doctor who lets them in, and the doctor's all
like, yep, this is the girl that we found. And Wolverine's all
like, yo, bub, I want to spend a little alone time here.
You need to skid down and go to the roof or something. And
he's like, wait a minute, that's like illegal. Oh you know what,
y'all look like nice people. You're like, you look fine, Okay,
you know what. I'm just going to be gone for five minutes.
Oh my god. I hope I'm gone for more than like ten minutes,
so that when I get back, they're gone. I really hope they're gone
when I get back. I'm scared. Yes, it's so funny, but
he's just that intimidating because like, there are plenty of X men who would
be able to get him to do that, Like even Charles, he could
probably do it from the freaking X mansion. He could do it from there.
But no, it's just Logan being like I need a minute, and
he's like okay, yeah, doesn't even know he has claws, and the
short Canadian still manages to do it. Yep. One moment that I love
in this issue is when Storm look at all regal with her leather. She
has her hand up and she's kind of lamenting over the body of the supposed
kitty Pride, and it says storm Space is a stoic mask, the depth
of her grief, betrayed only by a trembling hand and a bolt of lightning
that turns the night sky to day fall by a boom, a thunder that
shatters windows and shakes buildings to their very cars. Yeah, like she's just
her hands shaking, and also there's a giant storm going on outside and everything's
exploding, but like she's fine, it's fine, totally fine. I just
want her powers to have dramatic effects because can you imagine like instead of having
an argument and going well fine and then like leaving and slamming the door behind
you, you get to be like well fine, and then the summoning of
the reins and the thunders and the lightning shadows and shakes everything in the howls.
Again. That was one of my favorite parts of the X Men movies,
with seeing storms powers. I was like, they're just so cool.
I love. She probably could do without even saying words. You could do
with the look and you know what she's thinking. You'd be like, oh,
oh, I see the sky is darkening. Okay, I said something
wrong. Yeah, one raised eyebrow and it's a lightning crack and a thunder.
Oh my gosh. Well, anyway, so Wolverine talks the guy out
of the room and with one sniff he tells everybody that this is not Kitty.
He's like, looks like her. You know, we cool anybody,
even down to the fingerprint. However, this is not her. This is
such an iconic frame that they do this kind of thing into so many different
forms of media, and it's always one of my favorite things. And I
love exit lines, that's what I call them. And I've been criticized for
like making exit line choices and they get the most laughs, you know,
but it's like sense wrong, smoke, This conversation's over, I'm done,
like I just He's like, yeah, no coin argument with me? Sense
wrong, and it's exactly. I love him. I love him. Yes.
Oh, and then Storm puts the pieces together and she goes, oh,
you know, uh, finding her body after the battle made it would
have made us like chase down the brotherhood. She goes, but clearly this
is a diversion tactic, and I have an idea of who caused this diversion.
And then we cut to the mansion, Barbie's dream house, Barbie's dreamhouse
exactly. I mean everybody in there is a friend of Barbie, so essentially,
yes, aren't we all? And yeah, she uh sorry now she
Barbie's not there. We see Nightcrawler working on a frozen colossus. He was
he was heated to the point of almost melting point from Pyro and then Avalanche
caused liquid nitrogen to explode on his body and it froze him solid. Solo.
Yeah, he's solo. Oh my god. We go, Jew,
Jew there you go. Well, you know, obviously we know we are
eighty four. I don't know when Empire strikes. Yeah, let's look this
up because we know that X men in Claremont nineteen eighty Yeah, so so
yeah, obviously, so it came out before and Claremont generously borrowed and I
think he got yeah Frozen earlier in eighty four. So anyway, obviously the
Brood are the alien movies. You know, it's like, we can see
this is definitely a Hanselo moment. So tell me why is Nightcrawler the de
facto doctor of the group? See, you know, I don't know what
a question? Yeah, because he is. He is often utilized as medic
medici and then and then interestingly enough, Beast is usually like he's the smart
one. He's the liaison with like normal people, but like I say normal,
because mutants are more than normal. They're better. It's interesting because it's
like you wouldn't expect Nightcrawler. It doesn't he like teleportation is not also growing
up in the circus, I don't know when he had time to go to
medical school. But right, wait, wait what about monkey ears? Monkey
ears? Right, he was a monk? Wasn't he a monk? Ears?
Like when he was a monkey? Oh yeah, maybe that was maybe
maybe we'll have to look at it this through faith. Well, here's here's
something that and I think I think I did mention this earlier? I don't
remember that. Originally Nightcrawler was supposed to be Jewish, which means obviously he's
a doctor. There you go. That explains that this is just his Jewish
ruts showing mystery salved so um. We have Eliana and Professor Xavier and another
blonde lady in the background who I didn't recognize at first, but then I
realized, Oh my gosh, that's a Manda Sefty. Look at that hair.
Oh she is glorious. Yes, that is so eighties. We got
a lot of feathered Look. Can you remind me what was the big bombshell
about Amanda sef did we discovered on a past episode of X ray, Yes,
the big reveal. Right, well, so we should point out that
Nightcrawler and Amanda are in a relationship, and then we find out later that
Amanda is the adoptive sister of Nightcrawler that he was not aware of. What
the fuck she Louise they this is how you know that that the Comics Code
Authority and literally every single thing that was like don't allow queerness is so messed
up. You end up getting relationships with people who get revealed as half siblings.
Instead like what, Like, the one good thing about the Comics Code
Authority is that they were like, we're going to stop with the child sidekicks,
let's age them up. And that's that's good because then when Bucky came
back later, wonderful, he's an adult. But it's it's in the what
yes, I know, So as you're reading along in the issue, just
know that that about a mad accept in our background character. Wow. And
the look on Nightcrawler's face when he finds up this information in this issue we're
referring to is priceless, where he's just like, ah, so it isn't
just an anime thing where siblings are ridiculously close. It's an everything thing,
corat, it's an all media wait a voil right, and queer romance is
a problem, right, literally they can have like I'm watching Dragon ball Z
right now, and apparently in super there's a character that's like forty or fifty
who makes a wish and gets d aged and ends up with a character who's
seventeen when well, this version of the character doesn't really have goten, but
he's best friends with a dude, and it's like they'd rather do that than
queerness but okay, sure. Something that bothers me about this whole background seeing
going on with Amanda and Iliana is the fact that she seems like she's wounded
and that she needs comforting and care from Amanda, like Amanda is taking on
a maternal role over her in this moment of intense grief, and I just
don't see Aleana post Limbo needing that comfort. I think she's playing because this
isn't this is when she was hiding the fact that she was a demon sorceress.
Oh, she was a secret. I think she's playing like I'm I'm
ingenue. Oh that brings a whole layer to this. Yeah, because we
also, Yeah, I also really like that she's worried more about Kurt and
his feelings, So I think that may also play into that that it's not
really that she needs comfort because she's like poor him. I know he and
Peter were close, which definitely screams roommates, But you know that's I think
that may be partial to it, not just because she's hiding it, but
also like she's like I'm fine, yeah, well why don't you read that
bubble whereas she says it's easier for me because it's kind of like, it's
great, it's easier for me. Death and I are old friends. I
saw the other incarnations of the X Men slain in Blasco's demonic limbo when I
was a child and killed the two I cared for most to myself. So
she's like, oh, help me, Amanda, I've been here people.
She just wants to hug a pretty girl. That's what it is. She
wants to be held by a pretty woman. And there you go. That's
okay. But yeah, they have discussed that lossus. They cannot reach him
psychically, they cannot figure out medically, they don't know what's going on.
He's in this you know, stasis mode. Iliana is unbothered because she's like,
listen, I've killed these people in my limbo held dimension, so I'm
just going to take care of Amanda over here and worry about Kurt. Anyways,
Storm pops into Xavier's brain, explains everything what's going on and how Kitty
is not Kitty. Yeah, I love this art. Right here, we
just see Storms like the top of her head appearing on top of Xavier's forehead
in shadow, So artist, I love you. Yeah, and then we
get this moment that's happened so often in comics, especially with Xaviers, that
he gets a mental attack, psychic psychic attack and all the magneto could make
if magneto could make a helmet. Why hasn't Charles learned how to do something
like that yet? Like I'm I get that it's because they need plot devices,
right, like when like this happens short, but also like practically you
should have something, right, was just a headband? Yeah? Yeah,
this is not the first time that he's been psychic, right, So it's
like you would think he would know. Does cerebro protect against psychic attack?
No? No, at least not in the movies. I know for a
fact, because like while he's wearing it, he gets like controlled while wearing
it, and then it like seeps into him walllet's on him. So yeah,
no, But like Chris, if you're listening, I don't know how
much Xavier you're writing right now, but an idea, yes, that would
help well. And in current day comics he wears a perma cerebral kind of
on his head. He might have seen this artwork, right copers up,
you know, everything but his mouth and he recently was corrupted by sinister so
we know even now to this day, he has not learned how to protect
I think it's because he's so confident, because he's like, I'm the most
powerful mutant brain on earth. Why would I ever need anything to protect myself
the ship, that's definitely what it is. He walks around with a big,
a big freaking thing on his head and can't even be like because like,
I get it if he's like, I don't want to wear headgear,
like people who like ride scooters don't want to wear headgear shore whatever, but
like you already look like a dorkman, Like, oh my gosh. So
yes, this psychic attack, it causes psychic bolts to shoot out of his
hand yard. Yes, and if any one of those bolts would have touched
anybody, they would have fried their brain to a crisp. But Nightcrawler teleports
to him to his rescue. Amanda and Eleana go to the floor and yeah.
Xavier says that there's a scanning wave of extraterrestrial origin encountered it before,
yet still hasn't made the head gear to protect himself, unable to pinpoint its
source, focuses on me. Don't know why won't respond to my attempts to
make contact, its force increasing with each encounter, effects more debilitating, unable
to defend myself, and then he passes up. There was a lot to
say in the pain. I wouldn't yeah, but like I'm in a lot
of pain. Get me some ivy profen exactly Well. Elsewhere, the bride
to be enjoys the evening of her life, and her fellow, Mora Locks,
is happy to welcome her as she is to be welcomed. We see
kitty pride in address and it looks like a fantasy scene because those aren't moralocks.
These are handsome gentlemen in topped hats and in suits. And she is
a untattered wedding dress. Oh yes, she's got laurel leaves in her hair.
Now, from a Jewish wedding perspective, how are you feeling about this?
Love? Well, knowing after reading it that this isn't like and also
seeing in the first page, knowing that this isn't something like that she actively
wanted. It's it's not a Jewish wedding at all. There's no glass,
there's no cup. Those are kind of like the necessary parts the veil.
The veil is important too. But this isn't really a Jewish wedding, but
that's okay because it's not supposed to because it's not Kitty's actual wedding, but
it's not not Jewish. Yeah, no one's inn a keepa, right,
I was gonna say, because well, this is her mind, this is
her vision that is being controlled through. I don't know. They call it
mine tricks, so I don't know who's actually doing the mind trick. But
yeah, I was wondering if there was any sort of Jewish wedding element because
because of I mean, maybe the long sleeves, because like in some Orthox
Jewish weddings, like like you'd have to wear long sleeves because like modesty and
all of that. So maybe the gown itself. But the fact that no
one's in a keepa is an interesting choice. Indeed, maybe they aren't having
her control what she wants to see, but rather they're just like, let
me just put a wedding in your mind, perhaps a secular wedding. Yeah,
we see that some of the Morlocks are also dressed up. Callisto is
in like an officer uniform with a bullets and a hat. We have Sunder
back there with his big top hat on and mask with always looking like mask.
And then her handsome heroic prince comes down the stairs. He's wearing a
I'm gonna be so honest. Yes, seeing that outfit, even just the
back, the silhouette in shadow and all of that, my first thought was
not so uniform. Absolutely, that kind of through me. It is very
though. Do you think it's a conscious choice. It is German militaristic uniform,
Germanic Austrian, which is funny because Kurt's the German here. Thank you
agreed? So yeah, she is bowing to her groom and we look at
her face flushed with excitement, eyes a light with joy. Kitty looks up
to behold the man who's won her heart, only to have the words of
greetings gagged in her throat as the last vestiges of a Morlock mind spell.
Drop away and see Morlocks. I'm sorry. Caliban's true face, yes,
transforming fantasy into reality, and she's like, get away from it, and
he's like, Kitty pride. Don't I feel that for Caliban? Because Caliban
is a sweet, sweet boy. He just wants to do what's best.
There's nothing malicious about his maneuvers, you know, he is under the impression
that Kitty actually likes him, because she played up to that to help her
friends. And so I really, I really feel for Caliban in this moment.
And it's like almost a very in this specific moment. Obviously, because
Kitty turns drumpat in this specific moment. It's a very unex men thing to
do, to turn someone away of how they're born, you know, that's
their whole thing, is that they are want to be accepted in society as
they are. And this is Caliban and Kitty is shoving him literally over the
edge of a stage. You know, I think this whole concept is still
relevant today. I mean, look at the X Men elections, and who
are the nominees to be in the X Men? Are they physically nutated?
Who won? Well, it's usually obvious, Yeah, the most popular,
like the one who's been around the longest. But yeah, yeah, they're
humanic, pretty people that win. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, like even
within the X Men, and that actually is very true for a lot of
marginalized groups. Within these marginalized groups, there's still a hierarchy, and whoever
assimilates the most usually ends up winning. Again, Magneto was right Magneto is
always right. So she's awake from her mind spell. She shoves Caliban off
the stage, get away from me, and she starts realizing that she is
in the Morlock Tunnel. She she she didn't even know she was down there,
because you know, the last thing that happened to her is she was
up in the Baxter building. So she's realizing what's going on. So I'm
giving her a pass because she literally doesn't know what's happening. So she gets
captured by Sunder. She cannot phase. She is forced onto her knees and
she is confronting Callisto, and Callisto is reminding her of all of her receipts
of what she said to Calibam, and she goes, did you not say
this? And did he not do what you agreed to? And now are
you going to fulfill your end of the agreement? M. She's like,
oh crap, well yes, yeah, yes, yes, Callisto trapped her
with logic, I know, M. And the thing is is it's so
important, like like then, Callisto talks about over and over the deal we
have with the X Men that we won't attack if these treaties are honored,
right, and then it turns out, m technically, we did nothing wrong,
so we are just bringing you to court too. I got to go
through the whole process of what you agreed to. And then when she realizes
that, you know, she has a moment of like, I need to
go rescue Colossus, like that's what I was doing. You don't underst stand,
Like the key to his survival is with me. You need to let
me go. And even Callisto says, absolutely, as long as you promised
to return and fulfill your end of the bargain. Yeah, we're seeing Kitty
to marry because a quote unquote would it be proper to have them living in
zin Oh right, it's correct because she didn't agree to marry him. She
just agreed to be with him, to return to him. That was the
agreement, not marriage. So Callisto was pushing the whole marriage. Yeah.
M hmmm, straight people. So anyways, Kitty was just like, no,
I can't, I've got to run it. So she tries to make
run for it. She's lost in the tunnels. This is the phantom moment
where I was like, and she's running through the tunnels. But then Christine
agree like it was her decision to go with him into the tunnels. Like
she wasn't captured and woke up. Wasn't it Kitty's decision to agree to return.
No, she agreed to return, but she was captured, drugged and
brought back. Yeah, but she still like made the agreement the lie.
She lied about it. But the point is is that Christine, he says,
follow me, and then and then they go down the stairs and then
they're on the boat and everything like that. Anyways, because so Kitty wakes
up in the morl like town. So she's running. Yeah, close ups
on the shots. You know, this is snow white running in the running
in the forest, betting, caught by the you know, all of the
horrors that are in there in case we see rats. I did just look
it up, because of course I did. Phantom's first performance was in eighty
six, so he definitely writes the Shoe then writing Phantom and was like found
it all, especially the creepyge thing. M yes, yes, there we
go done. Yes, what he means, this is what Andrew Webber means
when it's like it's too woke to write more media because they won't allow me
put a sixteen year old with a forty year old anymore, I know.
I mean, I really feel bad for Lloyd Webber. I mean, in
all of his millions. I'm really like. The next thing is the grossest,
absolute grossest thing that ever happens in the entirety of the X Men.
She falls into the water. You guys, she ripped face first into the
sewage water. I am grossed out, so yucky. I would simply jump
off the Baxter Building for real. Yea, that happened, because you don't
even know what's swimming in your body at this moment. Anyway, So she
is defeated. She's like, what's some X Men? I am? I
can't even leave these tunnels. I can't face I can't do anything. And
the Leech shows up and says lost, lonely, scared. Leech looks like
a kid alien, like you know, the ones with the elongated football heads
and kind of have the gray green skin. So think that in your head.
And he is actually a really good card in Marvel Snap, because if
you play Marvel Snap and you put him down, he takes away the powers
of every mutant or you know, superhero or villain that is in your hand.
So I love to have Leach on my team in Marvel. Snap.
Yes, that's why you play against Kate Bishop. She doesn't need powers.
She'll just kick your butt anyway. Yeah. Yeah, yes, So Leech
grabs her by the hand and she agrees to return. So now she is
making the conscious decision to agree to her word, go back, fulfill what
she promised. She's back with the Morlocks, and we'd get this group shot
with more fashion statements here, and I want to give us special stat shout
out to the shorter guy in the front with the yellow and the yellow harness
and the foot rats. You know, I mean, he's he looks like
he loves his life. Yeah, ever since he said queer culture. Yeah,
ever since you said Morlocks are queer culture, I'm here for it.
I like, I don't know if you saw that meme where it said Pride
month and then it distills down to demon and somebody made it like a rainbow.
Yes, so yes, I love it. I bought it as a
T shirt because I want to accept all gay demons into this household. So
if it's yeah, it's like I've always said, the real winners always have
been and always will be the Jews, the gays and the monster fluckers.
Let's put that on a bumper sticker, right, Oh my gosh. Yeah,
so I'm all about the Morlocks. I love their counterculture life, and
yeah they're queer culture like I love it. But yeah, so more fashion.
I'm trying to see if there's anybody that really jumps out to me.
This really tall, I want to say. I hope it's a woman in
the back with the white shag hair, because I feel like tall women never
get their time in the sun. So let's give a shout out to this
tall woman in the back with her white shag dude and her black pink top,
because I'm all about her, beautiful, I love her. Anyways,
kitting got roughed up when she was running away, and Callisto says, oh,
sweetheart, you know we take care of our own. So she fetches
healer to heal her cuts and wounds, and then she summons Mask to help
her get ready. I can't I don't even want to turn the page.
You guys like Mask before because so gross. He could be the one thing
I want to point out though, the the red dude and then the dude
next to them with basically a harness and a chalk strap and nothing else.
I am obsessed with this, Like they really said, let's make them all
leather daddies. I love. I love this so much, wholesome, street
fair realness, and I love it. I love the more locks, the
more and more that I'm like, now I'm now into them, except for
Mask guy, so I can't. I just know with Mask I'm getting chills.
Yeah. So, masks power is to change other people except himself.
So like a shape shifter can shape shift their body, he can shape shift
other people but never himself. And he is permanently scarred kind of you know,
God has a quote unquote ugly face. Yeah, he's like reverse clay
Face from Batman, one of the Batman villains, you know, because he
can kind of exactly like morph his face, but this is opposite. He
moreph other people. Oh yes, and so um you know a little bit
of backstory. He's the one that more a body of the of a dead
girl into Kitty. And the dead girl they found as a homeless, like
overdosed person in the streets and they're like, she's perfect. Make her kitty.
Anyways, that poor girl is dead. Anyways, Mask is working on
Kitty's face to get her ready for the wedding, and he says, let
me help you, presto, you can look like me, And so he
uses her fist face on her and that's like a melty face with like veins
that are popping out over the left eye. And then he says, what
about or callisto and makes Kitty's face into Callisto. I like how he can
also make an eye patch. Yes, you know, like it's not just
the face. He can actually, you know, transform your face into clothing
though, you can transform into anything, as we're about to see or caliban
hah, real cute. This is pretty kitty face suits you, and so
it makes you know, the face that she's scared of. He puts it
right on her face now or would you prefer storm and makes her into store
where she screams, no, oh my god, it's ultural appropriation. No,
yes, I know, I love that. No, I can't be
storm ooh. And then he got on the next one. He goes bothers
you huff, thought you or her were real lovey dovey little girl and her
mom No problem, you can always look like nothing at all. And then
she just has a thumb face. Yes, and you know. This is
actually a trope that I see a lot in comic books, and it's very
dangerous. If y'all have seen Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Awanda
does this to black Bolts, and it has deadly consequences. Yes, indeed,
yes, She screams, stop it, and her face reverts back to
normal. Leave me alone. I'm not some toy, a doll for you
to play with. I'm a human being. What's that make me something different?
It's it's so gross. Emorphs her into like her face becomes like bubbles
and like blipsters, and like, I it's funny because I can say that
because I have a disease where I have subcutaneous life homeless right under my skin
and so like I have like bubbles and lumps all over me, but not
on my face like that. And he turns her into and in thankfully Collisto
steps and it's like, yo, she needs to breathe, man like,
let her go for a second. But OIV a void. That is,
they don't do body horror in comics the way they used to. Oh no
kidding, no kidding, Yeah, he's like, I like her better this
way. Closto says it wasn't a request. She can't Breathe fix her before
she chokes. This is also a cool early dynamic of how Mask eventually takes
over the Morlocks, how he stands up to Callisto and like challenges her,
So you can kind of see his early early leader tendencies or whatever his his
way that I want to stick over. Okay, back to this crowd shot
and all of the leather and all of the piercings, all of it,
all the studs. I'm liking the one on the right with the yellow skirt
very Mortal Kombat. M oh my god, the one with the red mohawk.
There's a lot of the mohawks here, a lot of mohawks, red
mohawk or red just singular ponytail as also in a harness. Yes, everybody
is literally just and then the one with the long hair and the mini dress
and those huge boots, that is that is wow. Yes, this is
literally a crowd you would see in a ballroom like legitimately, yes, well
these people are fashion is not a mullet insight. Yeah. So yeah,
So Callisto is ready to go on with the ceremony. She's got her Morlock
law book in front of her, and she is about to read the the
ceremony Rites of Marriage, and then off panel we hear at Callisto and everybody's
like, oh shit, here they are, you know, because Callisto,
what's the line if I hear any objections to the pretty kitty and this wedding,
speak now or forever hold your piece. I always feel like that is
the trope of all wedding scenes. Mmmmmm do you brace yourself at weddings when
that line happens? Because I do. Sometimes I feel like this is the
moment somebody's going to turn around and like, did come running down the eisle?
They are there to break up the wedding. But well, Kitty Pride
is like, no, stay out of this. I'm not being forced.
I'm doing this my own free will. But Storm has like some beef to
pick with Callisto. Yeah, she says a girl is dead because of you,
Callisto, deny the simple decency of her own face. And it looks
like she's zapping her with lightning, but really she's lifting her in the air.
Yeah, this is not good for Storm because she is going on autopilot
doing the thing that she does. Thus but Callisto already knows this play.
This is something that Callisto keeps in mind and says, Okay, this is
her style. I'm gonna have seventeen different ways to get out of this because
now I know she ain't gonna keep me in off guard again. Yeah.
So she summons Leech to drop from the ceiling, negating her powers, and
Kitty is like screaming at them, no, no, don't come any closer,
even the proximity within Leech, You'll lose your powers. And Rogue and
Wolverine, trying to charge into battle, loses her flight. They dropped to
the ground and Wolverine is like, yo, my claws are not my superpower.
SI gave these. I love rogues line though, Oh being invulnerable spoiled
me. I'd forgotten what it was like to hurt myself. So the fact
that she's written in an accident is just so peak, and like, I
just just picture Kekey Palmer doing this, and like I do declare, I
do talk like this. I'll leave in this out because Rogue is definitely a
Southern accent, but as one hundred percent exaggerated on purpose to be a caricature,
and it's written that way on purpose, and I just I love it.
I love it too. And then Storm and Closto are like tossling,
and Clisto is just like, oh, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna
get this leadership back. And Storm was like, I needed no powers to
beat you before Calisto and I was a gentler woman. Then this is when
she had all of her hair. This is when she was, you know,
in her classic cockroom uniform. This is before the mohawk transition which she
is in now, which I would never want to go up against Storm.
We say this all the time, all the time. You never go against
Storm. The crowd is getting rowdy, and Katie Pride is just like,
all right, y'all, you better calm down, like we need to.
Just She's like, I'm ready to join the gays and be a part of
this counterculture society. Did you ever consider asking if I want it to be
rescued or is this just a convenient excuse to bash in some skulls. This
mess is my fault, my responsibility, and it's up to me alone to
resolve it. I've brought enough people pain. I won't be party to causing
anymore. Colossus is what's important. With the Morlock's help, we might have
a way to save him. But if he doesn't matter, if you'd rather
rip each other's hearts out, what the heck? Go right ahead? Oh
yeah, and storms are like, Oh Katy, forgive me I calissos all
like your temper last. Your temper happens to the best of us, dear
hearts. We have an agreement with the kid x men. We mean to
keep it so so because Katy Pride is one of them and Morlock take care
of their own, she is willing to send Healer up to the mansion to
see if they can revive Colossus, and so through the power of rogues ability
to absorb make him deep power down from metallic form and hopefully that their skin
underneath. We see that he is covered in cracks because of the heat and
chill effect, and so he would have died instantly if not for Healer's effect
to seal his wounds and kind of help him recover so that he can have
a little healing factor of his own. I've shied away from people whose powers
involve major physical transformations, like Angel or not Crawler, because I wasn't sure
what they have changed due to me, I like my looks the way they
are. I'll deal with you every step of the way, Rogue, monitoring
and if necessary, augmenting your abilities with my own, says Professor. I
appreciate that, prof I wonder will I wand up looking like this boy's supposed
to be all shiny steel or like he is, And then she touches him
and we get this cool art effect of her absorbing all of his metallicness and
she takes it on into her own body and then yeah, we see him
deep power into normal skin form. You know, this is very This is
kind of like another example of what we're talking about earlier, about the pretty
mutants versus the quote unquote ugly mutants like Rogue has this fear inside of her
that she will turn into an ugly mutant. You know, do you feel
as if we've grown from that in the in the world of the X Men,
well, Rogue, especially because she has taken on physical mutation powers and
comics multiple times and she actually does it later in this run, you know,
with this team, So yeah, I would say it's gone beyond that.
Yeah, the Rogue, I don't know, as a society like therehen
society that's a good question. Yes, well, crect Cohen Society. It's
so fascinating because as readers, as a business of Marvel comics, you get
all the pretty mutants all the time on the teams, and you get all
the face mutants that you recognize. But if you look in the backgrounds and
Crackoa, everybody's mutated. Everybody looks like a squid or a green person or
somebody with wings or whatever. It's it's like they really are realizing that the
core team that we all know are very human looking, and they're like,
we need to bring in some sort of you know, physically mutatedness to the
mutants again, and they're trying that. Funny. It's funny because they do
that, but then decide that Nazis are okay having a seat at the table
instead of a physically mutated mutant. Yeah, but you know, but steps
bit by bit, I guess. So that scene concludes, Colossus's healed and
Kitty is getting ready to say goodbye to her family and her friends and go
join the Morlocks and the Tunnels, and she has a very sweet scene with
Ileana the next day on the corner of seventy second Street and Central Park West.
They're outside of the subway stop and Iliana says to Kitty, do you
have to go? I gave my word, Iliana, What am I if
that means nothing? Wolved to understand. It's a matter of honor. These
are for Peter and my folks. I try to explain. He won't like
it. He'll try to come after me. You mustn't even let him,
Miliana, even when he's better. The heck with him. I want to
This isn't fair. And she's handing Iliana letters, one to mom and dad
and one to Peter, and Kitty goes down the subway stairs. No,
but it's right. I gotta go. You're my best friend, Iliana.
I miss you already. I'll always remember you again. Feels very saphic to
me, but you know, she's still wearing her wedding her beat up wedding
dress, by the way, She's not changed since the whole time. And
Caliban comes around the corner from the tunnel area. She made it all the
way down and he basically it feels bad, and he's just like, you
really shouldn't feel pressured to stay with me. I love you, but I
can tell you don't love me. The same. This isn't going to be
a great dynamic, and I relieve you of your obligations and you should go
be with the people that you want to be with. And it's so sweet.
And I love Caliban because he is the sweetest boy ever, and yeah,
just because he looks all crazy, it's just kind of kind of funny
because he's all like, I want you to return to me with of love
of your own free will. And she's like, yeah, that probably won't
happen, but we'd call your friend. We're friends friend. Yeah, in
Caliban's like, Caliban is glad. This keepsake was his wedding gift. When
you look at it, remember him kindly, not as the Morlock monster,
but as the prince. And she opens her hand and it's a beautiful rose
and he goes off. That's really sweet. It's super this This turned me
into a Caliban fan. I'm gonna be honest. Yeah, I was like,
that's actually really really sweet. It's super sweet. Yeah, So UM's
a keeper. He is a keeper him over Claus is any day, kitty,
I don't know. Yeah, literally, yeah, anyways, well that's
the issue. And then it says next, next we have whose life,
is it anyway? And then I get it? Yes, okay, So
next we have X mail. We were people writing letters, of course,
and but this time it's a little different, Yes, because this time I
guess who's answering it. It's a rogue herself answering X mail. My name's
rogue. And I never should have, like Katie talked me into this is
y'all probably know she's been corraling various X Men answer our fan mail. I
figured, being a new member, I was safe at least for a while.
No so much. Look there I in mine, in my own business,
when all of a sudden, the stack of mail as tall as the
Peachtree Plaza that gets a dumped in the lap, and there's Katy grinning at
me and saying, it's my turn. What better story for me to answer,
she says, than the one telling how I came to join the X
Men. Our first letter is from Tom Long from Illinois, and he writes
Louise, Danny, and Chris. So the plot thickens, the tail unfolds.
It is so refreshing to have a character like Aurora who feels compelled by
internal and external emotions, and then to have her enter into a monologue to
discuss these feelings. It is true, though, that she will never again
be what she was. The serenity that she held has been tainted, her
peace shattered, and that is the greatest tragedy. It's becomes sort of like
a corruption of innocence after the fact, it can never be regained. Obviously,
you have big things planned for virtually every major character in the book.
I can only question the wisdom of continuing so many subplots on a continue basis.
This issue alone alluded to several On the other hand, at least things
don't get boring. Walt's artwork was terrific as always, This filling issue is
the most compatible I've seen, looking very similar to previous issues, which is
nice considering the difference in artistic style between him and Paul Smith. All in
all, X Men has come back to the top of the heap without a
doubt. From Tom Long, Tom Sugar, how can any book with me
and it be anywhere but on top? Kitty is a rogue? Is the
top confirmed? But just to set the record strate, Aurora isn't the only
one going through some heavy changes. I never imagine I'd be an X Men
or that I'd like it last phone to throwing new curves almost always just when
you think you've got it figured out and everything's going peach akin. Some people
can handle that kind of disruption, others can. I am to be one
of those who can, and so I'll bet the storm next letter to the
editor, I just finished reading X Men one seventy one for the twenty fifth
time, and I'm a little puzzle. Perhaps you can straighten me out.
First of all, where did Storm get that jacket from? Did she take
it from Calisto? Does the jacket somehow represent power like a mantle of a
queen? Second, by all appearances, this story occurs shortly after one sixty
nine to one seventy. Kitty seemed to recover from her illness rather quickly.
Is it within plagues capabilities to withdraw disease as well as transmitted? And what
about the Angel? Are we never to find out how he's coping with the
awful trauma of having his wings clipped? Third? What is happening to Storm?
Why has she suddenly begun acting more toward her dark side? Fourth?
What is Kitty's problem? Ever since the X Men returned from space, she's
been throwing temper tantrums, and why does she hate the new Mutants so much?
Fifth? Where's lockeed? I thought the kid and her dragon were fairly
inseparable. Sixth, why is Rogue getting such a raw deal? Kitty and
Coloss has never met her directly, so all they have is secondhand knowledge,
yet they hate her. Peter, who is normally so understanding, isn't even
willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. I can't fathom Nightcrawler's extreme
feeling against Rogue either. She only fought him for a few minutes. The
only X men truly justifying and hating Rogue are Storm and Wolverine. And like
the Professor told Storm, the potential for good is what's important, is it
not? And if Rogue is willing to help, willing to ask for help,
doesn't that mean she's willing to try it for the good guys? Doesn't
forgive and forget mean anything anymore? Only Binary should harbor deep hatred for Rogue
from roxand Caldwell's from New Rochelle, New York. This, I guess,
is where the bullet gets bitten. But first I'll byance through the earlier easier
questions. One the jacket was Collissos, who evidently evidently has more than one
and does convey an element of leadership status among the Morlocks, or also liked
its looks. Two plague, I'm told cannot cure those she infects, but
the X Mansion's hospital is equipped to handle any disease in almost any injury.
Once Katie reached there, she was cured fairly quickly. Angel meanwhile, is
convalescent in New Mexico. That store be told in the upcoming issues of Marvel,
Fay and Fair by Chris Claremont, Bill Mantlow and Rett Bloodin's three,
I don't know what's happening in a storm, and considering her mood lately and
how she feels about me to begin with, ain't about to ask for Kitty's
a teenager a teenager stor Tantrum's fact alife. I certainly did when I was
her age, and Misty had no compunctions about paddling mom butt when I stepped
too far out of line five. Lockkeids around fix the Biggie. It's easy
for an outsider to look at this story and think I got a raw reception
from the X Men, but I understand I possessed Carol Danver's memories, including
her feelings fool of Vereen, and they were pretty strong. I destroyed her
as a person. I stole her identity. I didn't need to, but
I did it, just the same with Professor Xavier and the other X Men's
health. Carol came back a long way, but she could never be the
woman she was. That's my fault. And they thought I'd done it on
purpose. Add to that, Add to that the fact that as far as
the X Men knew, I was still part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
I could have been sent to learn their secrets so the Brotherhood could more
easily destroy them. But given forget means a lot to them as well as
me. But it isn't to be had simply for the asking. I have
to earn it in my place on the team. I really like how they
made her answer that, so it's she's taking responsibility, even if it's in
the X mail. And then it's like, I'm going to explain why this
is the right choice for rogue through her own voice. I like that choice.
M yeah. And the next letter says this is from Chuck from New
Jersey, who writes dear people in charge, are you whackle? There is
no way that you can possibly make Rogue into an X Man. The X
Men hate her, Buyinary hates her. Half of the Free world hates her.
I hate her. Don't do it to us suffering X Men fans,
to which there was no response for Rogue. She's like, I'm not even
going to respond to that. So the next letter is from dj Ought and
right from Las Vegas, Nevada, who writes, Dear X writers, I
think you people are great. I'm thoroughly glad that Locke he'd is still there.
He's great too. There's only one thing I regret. I think that
when Binary hit Rogue, Rogue should have kept on going. All I ask
readers is that you give me the same chance the X Men or oh my
gosh. And then this is from Delroy Lewin, Dear Marvel, I just
finished reading X Men one seventy one, and I have a few things to
say. The story was great. I also have to say that while I
was reading the book, I thought Storm was becoming more savage and murderous.
I hope she doesn't do anything she will regret in the future. Before I
go, I would like to ask a question, when will Paul Simon be
back whenever our golf uncle, let's him Delroy Sugar and then rogue as a
closer. She goes, ooh, I think I'd sooner go another few rounds
of binary. Some of you people can be very harsh on the girl,
but others were as generous as the summer day is warm, and I appreciate
it from the bottom of my heart. I hope to prove myself worthy of
your faith and trust and Pixie Dust, it doesn't say that. I added
that because I'm annoying. Thanks for your time, pay and Cinelettuce. It
was fun reading them. Let's do it again sometime. Yeah. Well,
I love how at the beginning she was like, I can't believe I was
rolled into this, and at the end she's like, okay, yeah,
cool, Well that's the issue and that was a lot of fun. Thank
you so much for being a part of the show. Course, thank you
so much for having me. It was so much fun. I got to
talk about my girl and my superhero history ish yeah, yes, and Barbie
and do you think all that stuff? I love it. Yeah. What
was your favorite part of the issue. My favorite was the splash page of
Hittie being getting ready and all the garter belts everywhere. My favorite, oh,
I think it was one Wolverine. Yeah, it was just like sense
different. I had two favorite parts. My first favorite part was when we
got to see the entire group of everyone being queer, like, it's just
clearly queer culture, Like every group shot, it's just clearly that. But
my second favorite part was at the end when Caliban is like and ignoring the
implications of I don't even know how old Caliban is saying this to a sixty
and fifteen year old, but like the fact that he's like, I am
not going to take your life away from you, and I shouldn't have even
thought that that was right because my favorite thing ever in fiction is when people
take responsibility for their actions and their behavior and they apologize and they work to
make things better. And that's how you know it's fiction because people don't actually
do that in the real world. So yeah, right, right, So
tell us where can we find you on social media? On Twitter? Which
I it's definitely a thing Danielle ag st One that is complicated because it spells
silverstone. It's just in like, ag is silver st one O n E.
So yeah. Anyway, So that's Twitter, and then everywhere else is
Daniel Silverstone at Daniel Silverstone on TikTok, on Instagram, AM, and those
are pretty much the platforms that I use. Um, the easiest way to
get my attention is commenting on something on TikTok because I have notifications off on
Twitter. Don't get notifications correctly on Instagram and so you know, so go
to TikTok. Watch some of her gay commentary on Venom, which is how
I first discovered we're just like gay. And here's some reasons why. In
fact, Sony, I'm the reason people went to see let their be parnage
in theaters. You're welcome. I would appreciate acknowledgement and like working together for
the three nom it'd be nice. Yes, gets you into the Craven the
Hunter promo. M hmm have you seen that poster seen? Oh yeah,
all right, well, thanks again for joining us and we cannot wait to
see what you review next online. Thank you so much. X Reads is
recorded in the United States. Our theme music is written by Austin Wintry.
Please make sure to follow our podcast to be updated on when new episodes appear.
Every first and third Wednesdays of the month. Follow us on social media
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