As the fallout from the revelation of mutant resurrection hits the Hellfire Gala, Emma Frost gets an interesting offer. A member of the council gets outed, leading to a chase across Krakoa. Written by Kieron Gillen, with art by Michele Bandini, colors by David Curiel, lettering by Clayton Cowles and design by Tom Muller & Jay Bowen.
Mark Turetsky: Greetings, Austin! As the counter ticks down toward Judgment Day, weâve got another tie in(-ish) issue. Itâs the Hellfire Gala, and everyoneâs talking about mutant resurrection!
Austin Gorton: Hi Mark! While I have a hard time believing this comic steeped in Christian imagery and constant talk of messiahs could possibly have anything interesting to say about resurrections, I guess we may as well get into it anyway.
Immortality For Me, Not For Thee
Mark: Well, as it turns out, the humans of the Marvel universe arenât happy with the âadd five years to your lifeâ pill. Not when the Mutants get full-on resurrection at will. And thatâs what Chinese âAmbassadorâ (we learned in House of X #1 that heâs actually a scientist working for the Chinese government, and not really an ambassador) is interested in helping Krakoa out with their PR problem in exchange for extending resurrection to a select few heads of state and industry.
Austin: [checks math] Yep, looks like five years < eternity. Humanity getting angry when it turns out that the whole life extender pill was just a sop when the mutants have the capability to essentially extend life even further makes sense, and their response, in the form of that offer, makes for an intriguing complication to the Krakoan status. Weâve seen situations like this before a bit, with the British recognition and whatnot circa the last Hellfire Gala and in X-Force, but this is one of the most purely political challenges the Quiet Council has had to face, and a slight turn for the series which has thus far focused on more arch and high concept challenges like Destinyâs machinations and Hopeâs status as a messiah. Which of course makes Emma Frost the perfect character to spotlight.
Mark: And it brings up some serious moral questions (also touched on recently in X-Men Red): if they extend resurrection to heads of state and industry, they become complicit in the consolidation of power toward oligarchy in the world outside Krakoa. Before now, Krakoa was happy to be isolationist, to let humans govern (and destroy) themselves (as long as they accepted Krakoa), but this is some truly questionable stuff theyâre considering. If a head of state gains functional immortality, what will they do to stay in power? And considering that itâs framed as an answer to a PR problem, it just seems like a mind-bogglingly bad idea.
Austin: Indeed. Emma makes a good point about how itâs less âwe wonât resurrect humansâ and more âweâll get to you once weâre done RESURRECTING THE MILLIONS OF MUTANTS YOU KILLEDâ but, again, itâs fundamentally a PR problem, and logic really has no place there. Curiously, the rest of the issue doesnât really deal with the ramifications of that offer (Emma pivots to the Sinister exposure, weâll get there), but presumably Gillen is holding that for later in the series.
Mark: Yes, this is the first time in this series that much of an issue has been given over to dealing with the fallout from other series (in this case, mostly from Dugganâs current X-Men run as well as this weekâs Hellfire Gala one-shot), which was part of the premise in the early promotion of this series. But, like any good tie-in, it specifically looks at âhow does whatâs happening in this other comic affect the particular story that Iâm telling over here?â And with Sinister ultimately being the villain of this comic, the Nathaniel Essex revelation in X-Men canât help but have an effect. Still, I think that the tie-in-ness of this issue makes it feel slightly less cohesive. Whereas the first three issues felt like they were much more tidy in themselves, this feels like the needs of the story are making the issue quite a bit more disjointed than the first three. The Sinister chase and personality reboot sections, while coming out of Emmaâs story, seem like theyâre a whole different thing entirely. That make sense?
Austin: 100%. Thereâs a smart bit of editorial coordination going on here, because, again, making the âHellifire Gala tie-in issueâ your Emma-focused issue is smart. So somewhere along the way, when Gillen was breaking the series, he clearly knew this was coming at this point in time, and took advantage of it. Yet itâs hard not to feel the hand of the tie-in at work, as you say. The focus Gillen brings to each issue is fractured, somewhere. In its first three issues, there was still a sense of how the Quiet Council as a whole connected to the larger X-narrative, given how central the Council is to the day-to-day happenings of Krakoa. But this is the first issue where that narrative really felt like it was wagging the dog, so to speak.
A Club That Would Have Me As A Member
Mark: A good deal of the issue is given over to the continuing Sinister/Destiny/Moira(s) plot, which starts with the revelation to the council that Dr. Stasis is the original, human Nathaniel Essex, who has a club on his head instead of a diamond. Now, I know a lot of people like to bring up the Nazi connection with Mr. Sinister, despite it being from a largely ignored and forgotten story. Correct me if Iâm wrong, but this is the guy, the one who collaborated with the Nazis, who was supposedly killed off in Powers of X #4 by the Sinister who is now on the council, right?
Austin: That is my understanding, yes (but itâs worth emphasizing that your use of âsupposedlyâ is a smart one, and that nothing was ever explicitly spelled out). And, of course, the important distinction is that this, original, Sinister is human (his extra abilities/longevity come from his own genetic tampering/Apocalypse) whereas the one on the Quiet Council is, of course, of a mutant (but, pointedly, technically a clone). Is this it, Mark? Is this the moment where the chickens finally come home to roost for Sinister? Did we get him?
Mark: Well, Destiny is keeping her cards close to the chest. She knows about the Moira clones, and, while everyone else on the council chases Sinister (after he escapes using a Nightcrawler stink bomb), Destiny hangs out by the gate to his lab/lair. She could stop him from escaping, but she pointedly doesnât. And, as is her wont, tells him exactly what he needs to hear to keep him from killing a clone and resetting the timeline. Instead of wiping out the timelines, he does a clean reinstall of his operating systâ err, personality matrix. I love the way the various layers of his personality are implemented here, with Cowlesâ lettering doing a lot of work. When it’s just the clean âbasalâ state, itâs, well, a clean font. When he installs his base personality, it’s the classic comicbook all-caps. And finally, when we get to his current personality, itâs the mixed case font thatâs been going since HoXPoX. I also love that we get an in-universe explanation for the Gillen/Hickman version of Sinisterâs personality.
Austin: The technique with the lettering was particularly neat. Sort of a comic book version of when your computer boots up and the screen resolution changes as everything loads. The sequence with Sinister parsing what Destiny letting him go meant was also fun, the whole âthat must mean she KNOWS that I KNOW that she KNOWS I KNOW, which meansâŚâ bit. Very much in keeping with the madcap way Gillen writes Sinister (which has been the default mode for Krakoa Era Sinister overall).
This concludes with the newly-rebooted Sinister prostrating himself before council, but before a final verdict can be rendered (Exodus votes death and an extended resurrection wait, Destiny votes the Pit), the larger hand of the tie-in intervenes, as Sinister is whisked away for (presumably) âA.X.E: Judgment Dayâ.
Mark: Sinister was just wondering if he could get past Judgment Day this time, so maybe this is the way it has to go for Krakoa to survive the event. Incidentally, itâs funny when comic event names are treated as their diegetic historical names within the comics themselves. Also, the added touch of Sinisterâs personality being a cross between Deadpool and Oscar Wilde just rings so true. He also alludes to (steals jokes from) Groucho Marx (âIâd never be in a club that would have me as a memberâ) and Monty Python (âIâm Brian!â) in this issue. Truly a mishmash of high and low culture. Weâre meant to believe that heâs truly thrown off by the identity of Dr. Stasis, despite Emmaâs narration seeming not to believe him. How has he missed such a key piece of the puzzle in all of these different timelines heâs exploring? I have a theory, Austin.
Itâs this: back in Immortal X-Men #1, everything is going according to Sinisterâs plan, everything is falling into place until Destiny does the unexpected and votes ânoâ for Hope to be accepted onto the council. We know from #3 that she doesnât know at that point about the Moira clones, but presumably she has some kind of epiphany that voting no in that moment would lead to the best outcome. From that point onward, and especially after the events of #3, Sinister is no longer truly in control of the timeline. Destiny is there at this key moment, saying precisely the right thing to keep him from resetting things. Heâs her puppet, and he doesnât realize it! And he knows precisely enough about how his timelines could progress that he doesnât need to know any more. His experiment is over, but he doesnât know it. And now itâs Destiny playing out a winning hand like itâs bridge.
Austin: I can buy that, at least at the point that Destiny figures out heâs cloning Moira. But of course, that will only be true for as long he holds off resetting things. Which is why Destiny has shifted her approach. She can press him, but she canât press him too hard for fear he goes nuclear and sets her (unknowingly) back to square one.
Mark: She beat Moira, Xavier and Magneto against similar odds, across multiple lifetimes. My moneyâs on her in this one.
The Queen of Diamonds
Austin: Bookending the Sinister reveal are a pair of sequences featuring Emma, this issueâs featured character. Via narration, she discusses how sheâs come to sleep in her diamond form, both because this protects her from telepathic intrusion, and because she doesnât age. Now, obviously, thereâs some heady character and thematic stuff built into these sequences, but also, the reveal that Kieron Gillen is very online, as we finally have Emma Frost textually responding to the Butter Rum Controversy (ie Firestarâs horse whom a more villainous Emma burned to death in order to strengthen her control over the girl in Firestarâs introductory miniseries). Is it done, Mark? Did we finally get justice for Butter Rum?
Mark: Woof (hoof?). I havenât read the Firestar story in question, but considering whatâs going on over in X-Men, maybe this is just the flame that reignites the controversy. Personally, I find it interesting that we get such a frank point of view for a character who is normally extremely guarded. She exposes a lot of vulnerability to the reader here, wondering how she measures up to Jean in Scottâs mind (and also canonically acknowledging that she and Scott are still sleeping with each other, with only the slightest sliver of editorial deniability). She maintains her personal power in remaining aloof, untouchable, perfect. Personally, I donât know how well this vulnerable side of Emma works for me as a characterization. Now, Iâll add that I havenât read a ton of pre-Krakoa Emma (her initial appearances in Claremontâs Uncanny X-Men and Morrisonâs New X-Men being the big exceptions, as well as a few issues post-Secret Wars here and there), but I know people have strong opinions about her as a character. How true did this ring for you?
Austin: I certainly donât want to become the sole arbitrator of whether or not Emma Frost is in character (even if just amongst the two of us), but while she was displaying a bit more vulnerability here than usual, it didnât seem wildly out of character to, especially in the context of this being written specifically as an examination of her character. To your point, if sheâd *said* any of this to anyone (perhaps even to Scott), that would land much closer to âout of characterâ. But as a bit of self-reflection to which we, the readers, are privy, it worked for me. Frankly, the most out-of-character thing is that she even remembers Firestarâs horseâs name.
Obviously, what Gillen is doing with this bit of soul-searching is to probe at the foundations of Krakoa (which, you know, is also a lot of what this series is about overall). By feeling the need to shield herself from telepathic intrusion while her mental defenses are down, Emma is suggesting Krakoa is less than the safe place for all mutants it’s meant to be. By admitting she also likes the idea of not aging while in that form, sheâs suggesting the concept of mutant immortality isnât as, well, immortal, as itâs presented. Circling back to the PR question at the heart of the issueâs tie-in to the Hellfire Gala, what weâre seeing is the person arguably most responsible for selling Krakoa to the rest of the world expressing some serious doubts about its most potent virtues, even if only subconsciously.
Mark: The image that stands out the most to me from this issue is Emma standing in front of the mirror, holding her gala dress up to her body. Itâs a flat, empty garment. Itâs a gorgeous piece of fashion, but itâs lifeless. The next panel is that same dress hanging on the dress form, where it has real presence, but itâs not a person at all. Itâs this interplay of the inert presence of an object seeming more alive than when itâs being held by a real person. The dress form as the image that Emma projects of herself. That image is not her, or at least not the entirety of her. Meanwhile, we see her sleeping clothes, clothes that she wouldnât allow herself to be seen in in public. But theyâre comfortable. Theyâre not schlubby, sheâs still the White Queen after all. And itâs still entirely Emma, just not the public Emma.
Austin: Emma is a character we traditionally think of as having little in the way of a filter, someone whose outward appearance matches her internality. But while she certainly isnât afraid to speak her mind, she is very much someone who projects an outward image of herself as a shield, someone for whom the exterior isnât necessarily a reflection of her inner self but a shield for it. For as much as Grant Morrison developed the whole âturns into diamondâ thing as a workaround for the fact that they couldnât use Colossus, itâs also a really elegant representation of that bit of characterization (something Morrison would explore in detail during their run). The contrast between Emmaâs (comfy, ordinary) sleeping clothes and her (high end, over-the-top) gala gown is a similarly simple but effective depiction of that characteristic.
Mark: She allows very little to get through to her (the whole, âyou donât touch meâ line in this issue). But the moment where someone calls her by name and douses her in sheepâs blood takes Emma by surprise, it leaves her âdoused, inside and out.â You see the grief from this womanâs life that Emma has let in reflected on Emmaâs face. Itâs a smaller grief, the grief of someone whoâs lost their spouse, itâs not on the same scale as Emmaâs grief being a survivor of the mutant genocide in Genosha, but thatâs a grief that Emma prefers to let out as anger. We get another great triptych of images: Emma truly empathizing with the womanâs grief, Emma composing herself in the mirror, wiping away the blood, and Emma finally turned to untouchable, immovable diamond.
Austin: To that end, Michelle Bandini proves a capable fill-in for Lucas Werneck, continuing Werneckâs knack for depicting characterization through facial expressions and body language despite the unmoving static images.
Mark: And she also has some fabulous layouts. My favorite just might be the three panel page with a fourth panel of light beaming down from heaven and Sinister being transported away overlaid on top. The issue closes with Emma trusting in Destinyâs powers and motives. Sheâs been burned trusting others, and quite recently at that. How do you take her line, âIâm acting like Iâm going to get old.â Is it because sheâs lost faith in Krakoa and no longer believes sheâll be afforded resurrection (and the attendant eternal youth that comes with it) or does she think that perhaps sheâll die before she has a chance to get old?
Austin: Yeah, I read it very much as being indicative of a loss of faith: the problem sheâs dealing with in this issue is the PR fallout from the world learning mutants are immortal. Theoretically, Emma wouldnât need to worry about aging: at some point, she could end it all and be resurrected in her preferred form. Yet nevertheless, she is sleeping in her unaging diamond form. That tells me sheâs worried mutant immortality isnât guaranteed to last forever.
Mark: I know weâve got a mutant on the council literally called Exodus, but all of Emmaâs talk of âthe childrenâ really puts one in mind of Moses leading the Children of Israel to the promised land, a land he never got to enter himself.
X-Traneous Thoughts
- âGalapogosian layaboutâ is a top-notch insult.
- Immortal X-Men #1 cover allusion for this issue: the spilled wine/blood.
- Ambassador Mingyuâs response as Emma tears into him about the millions of dead mutants is to look away while wearing an embarrassed smirk. Tells you all you need to know about how he feels about atrocities committed against Mutants.
- In addition to the Nightcrawler-sourced stinky bamf bombs, Sinister also deploys Multiple Man Multiple Pills during his escape from the council.
- Next month: Exodus! Or, as Sinister Secrets summarizes it: âItâs Judgment Day. Letâs hope weâre not being judged for our spelling choices. Itâs Judgement, you ruffians.â
Mark Turetsky
Austin Gorton also reviews older issues of X-Men at the Real Gentlemen of Leisure website, co-hosts the A Very Special episode podcast, and likes Star Wars. He lives outside Minneapolis, where sometimes, it is not cold. Follow him on Twitter @AustinGorton
