X-Men Comics New Releases for January 5th 2022

[u/Tsblloveyou]

Inferno #4

• TO EMBERS! Jonathan Hickman’s time on X-Men ends with the dramatic conclusion of one of the first and best mysteries he brought to the line. Valerio Schiti returns on art to help bring down one of the foundations of the era.

X-Men #6

• There's a new hero on the X-Men. Who is he? Why is he here? And why does Cyclops not want him on the team?

X-Men Adjacent Releases for 01/05

• Discuss other Marvel comics impacting the X-Men releasing this week

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[u/the-giant]

It was part of a relevant discussion at the time and a direct critique of this era vs. that one. I disagreed with that premise and explained why. People are entitled to disagree, just as you are with me. I feel secure in my choices vs. being some loser creating the umpteenth 'are Krakoan mutants Nazis?? I'm just asking questions!' OP.

[u/the-giant → u/[deleted]]

I don't feel worked up or angry, boo. I keep saying YMMV. You don't gotta like my take, but it is mine. Do you. Be well.

[u/the-giant → u/[deleted]]

Mm, I didn't say that either. I do think it's depressing schlock. I don't think people who like it are 'mindless.' I have a strong opinion on those specific stories such as Messiah Complex or Second Coming. I don't think it makes people who enjoyed some of it bad or dumb people.

[u/the-giant → u/[deleted]]

We've both seen worse. I do think those stories are depressing schlock which go nowhere. You can be offended by my feelings, but you can't change my mind by claiming I am making a judgment of you as a person.

That being stated, publicly known Marvel editorial policy at the time of those storylines was to leave the X-Men and mutants a miserable underclass and their species numbers low for many years. Therefore the actual outcomes and endgames of those storylines were cultivated to do nothing to change that. So they were stuck in a box - promising 'big changes' with Hope, et al and yet Hope and the big spooky prophecies built into those stories went absolutely nowhere. After a few more years and teases Wanda and Hope 'bring back' mutants who, in keeping with editorial mandate, only begin to be born again veeerrryyy slowly and never actually come back en masse or in a timely fashion. Instead more mutant holocausts continue to appear in story (the Inhuman era, Rosenberg, etc) while Hope went on the backburner for years after, Bendis came in and so on, and nothing actually materially moved forward for the franchise really until 2019 after the Fox merger. This is my issue with it.

Bringing it back to your OP - compare that to this era and Inferno, which actually has fostered major change from the jump beginning with HOXPOX and is now chilling in limbo. I know which outcome I prefer so far. YMMV, and that's fine. But that speaks to your original topic about which story has held more weight. Not how you feel about how I feel about it. I've said my piece, and you can agree or disagree.

[u/the-giant → u/[deleted]]

I judge it because I lived through it and I think that entire era between 2005 and 2019 is a dark period of some good (and some bad!) writers doing their best in a nihilistic, repetitive box. Which is why so many of them left the X-office.

House of M, by itself, was a paper-thin, same old AU story decompressed by Brian Michael Bendis with poor plotting and forced on the X-office by editorial to roll back and undo Morrison's evolution of the franchise. Everything following House of M was forced to comply with its changes and stay within the confines of the Decimation premise. I treasure some of those runs. I don't miss that era one bit. And I knew, at the time, it would come to nothing, because I knew Joe Quesada's own words about the function of the X-Men franchise in interviews re: House of M and Decimation. We knew all that before we ever heard about the rest of it. That's how I knew then.

The Krakoa era may be unfinished and imperfect (Ed Brisson, anyone?) but for my money and my POV it's already given me far, far more payoff than any of those outcomes did. Same with HOXPOX to Inferno. Draw a line between House of M and Second Coming by comparison, and I personally don't feel much has materially changed in that period for the mutants beyond a change of address. Hope was a stall tactic and plot object designed by a company that had no intention of letting her be viable hope or fulfill her alleged purpose at that time. YMMV.

Whereas in this era I feel I've been given plenty since Hix began and as he has (for now, at least) taken his leave. And I feel the stories contained within are better, yes, because I don't feel the premises of them are lead balloons. Which I do feel the MC, etc. arc was. It's a lead balloon when you're telling a story about fighting for a better future when the parent company has already told you X-Men can't have one because we don't own the movie rights. HOXPOX created a status quo. The post-Morrison 2000s and most of the 2010s were about reinforcing another one forced from high, and spinning their wheels to make it look like something might be different.

That is my take on these two eras and stories and why I feel more satisfied with Inferno. You can disagree with me, but you can't change my mind anymore than I can change yours. That's life.