X-Men #19

[icon_uk]

So I am, I hope, a big enough person to admit that I was wrong.

As might have been obvious, I have been concerned at seeing Cypher, one of my favourite characters ever, who was defined by the low key nature of his powers, get chosen to be the Heir of Apocalypse.

But if Jed Mackay and Netho Diaz X-Men #19 is any indication of where we're going though, I'm not just interested, I'm invested...



First off, this still feels and sounds like Doug Ramsey as he wakes up from a nightmare about his transformation next to his wife, Bei the Blood Moon (Who he is STILL shorter than, though not by as much as before). And of course, the important stuff still matters... like his hair. Okay, I'm shallow, I've never pretended otherwise.




and he's still a snarky little shit (well, not so little) who co-habits with his wife AND his selfsoulfriend.

He also has ethical concerns about his newly upgraded powers, based on his own past experience with other, similar, powers.



And he engages in disussion about that with the people he considers his heart and his soul



Oh, and despite the upgrade, Doug still cannot understand Bei's psionic language.

The military group stalking them is a black ops spin out of O*N*E, named, creatively, Z*E*R*O.

They soon find out that Bei was a legend on Arrako for a damned good reason, and that their mission reports on Doug Ramsey need an update.



But we also find Doug still has limits on what he will allow himself to do, but I'm at page limit here (since I did post a page from the preview) so if you want to know how that ends up, you'll need to buy the issue!

Comments

[numeronone]

I do enjoy the ambiguity of this issue's ending, re: how Doug may or may not have changed.

Considering Godzilla is in town these days, O*N*E's offshoot couldn't call themselves "Minus O*N*E"?

[cainofdreaming]

Or O.N.E. Minus O.N.E. They'd consist of Sentinels that aren't there.

[icon_uk]

Well, the mutants would certainly never see them coming....

[cainofdreaming]

But they would. I mean, that's the joke. Like Jon does in Garfield Minus Garfield.

[blues32]

So...instead of understanding his wife's language, Doug can now FORCE her to speak a language he DOES understand?

[icon_uk]

If he tried to, it would be pretty much suicide.

She doesn't speak any verbal language because any sound she speaks aloud is a whole Black Bolt/Black Canary type sonic blast which would probably liquefy him, upgrades or no.

Her means of communication is the broadcast psionic ability which works with absolutely everyone except Doug.

A sign language would work I suspect, though "Throwing my husband out of a second storey window because of his awful jokes" probably counts as one of those.

[numeronone]

You could call that a sign...

[onsokumaru]

Molecule Man called, he wants his face lightnings back.

I like that Doug seems to still be benevolent. I hope Warlock will show some autonomy and agency, though.

[mastermahan]

He also wants a hamburger if you've got one.

[cainofdreaming]

One three week old pocket burger coming right up! And then coming right up, surely.

[mastermahan]

Wait, what pocket? Where the hell were you keeping that?

[blues32]

Pfft. Doug's bolts look like a poser's trying to imitate the real deal. Molecule Man's are scarred into his face. Doug's look painted on.

[scorntx]

... why is it that on hearing about a black-ops spin-off of O*N*E first thoughts were "oh, great. What stupid decision did Val Cooper make this time?"

[cainofdreaming]

Because it's Val Cooper and it's a day on a week on a month on a year?

[mastermahan]

That how it works. Val Cooper makes stupid decisions based on good intentions, whereas Henry Gyrich made stupid decisions based on small-minded bigotry (until he got airlocked). Meanwhile, Maria Hill only makes stupid decisions a mere 95% of the time.

[icon_uk]

I think what annoyed me most about Gyrich was what he became, because when he was introduced he was an annoying ass, but even more annoyingly, he made relevant points in line with his job of "person who raises relevant points with powerful people".

The Avengers first meet him when they come back from fighting Count Nefaria just outside the mansion, to find him just sitting in the middle of their meeting room. And he points out that he just... walked in through one of the many, MANY new holes in the walls. None of the security measures were working so ANYONE could have walked into a place packed to capacity with top secret data AND super-tech and walked out again with whatever they liked.

And he was right to call them out on that, albeit he did it with all the charm of a feral wharf rat.

He was, as Jay and Miles regularly reference, the Walter Peck of the Marvel Universe. What he says makes sense, even if you loathe his personality and his spoiling the fun by pointing the obvious issues out.

[zylly]

Gyrich as “worst person you know just made an excellent point” is so much better a characterization than the just straight up bigot many writers would run with.

[zachbeacon]

I think Icon covered my thoughts on Henry Gyrich; he's an asshole (who became an outright monster) but he has a point.

Maria Hill has a knack for making the worst possible decision in any given situation.

Val Cooper just needs to stop trying to "help" ... especially since that help always seems to take the form of murderbots, death squads, and "reformed" villains.

[icon_uk]

It's Maria's casual assumption that she can dictate reality beyond her control which tends to grate on me.

Like her refusing to pay Spider-Man for work done (as if it were some sort of "Gotcha!" moment) and then. when Iron Fist offers Spider-Man his paychque because he doesn't need it. Maria jumps in saying, "No, Iron Fist, you can't do that"

Like... it's his money now Maria, that's how recompense works, and he can do with it as he sees fit.

[zachbeacon]

I know she's a Bendis character but Civil War was her introduction for most and trying to arrest Captain America over a law that hadn't passed yet really feels like peak Hill.

[cainofdreaming]

Maria Hill -- also known for having her stormtroopers shoot missiles at kids.

[zachbeacon]

Don't forget the secret prison town where everyone is brainwashed.

[scorntx]

Or the complicity in war crimes.

[icon_uk]

Look, if they had to consider little things like "complicity in war crimes", groups like SHIELD or SWORD would never get anything done.

[petermilley]

I want Revelation!Doug's new powers to be a bit more than this; I was hoping for "understanding languages" to expand to something like "understanding systems", like Forge but for societies. (There's a potential for that here, I admit.)

[icon_uk]

Since his return in 2009, Doug's powers have expanded to include something like that, covering areas of semiotics it hadn't before. ALL systems are communication and he can read them all.

This led to some... odd story choices, like the time he inteprets where suicide bombers are planted in a city by the way he reads foot traffic being altered from the norm.

As for full blown Asimov like psychohistorian, who knows.

[cainofdreaming]

And the less said about the time he interpreted the system called social media the better.

[icon_uk]

Rocks backwards and forwards: I-DO-NOT-KNOW-WHAT-YOU-COULD-POSSIBLLY-BE-TALKING-ABOUT-SUCH-A-STORY-DOES-NOT-EXIST.

There was the possibility of an interesting story there I grant you, but as presented... just... no.

[numeronone]

Given that this is apparently on the way, I choose to believe Doug will spend 9 years of careful negotiation, power plays and 4D chess, and then --A-- will weigh in with "You could always try crucifying the hot boys", to which an exasperated Doug will say "I did try not crucifying the hot boys and it hasn't worked so far"

[icon_uk]

Yeah, I saw that this evening and, in conjunction with the flashforward in Timeslide I was trying to forget, my happy thoughts were slightly... diluted.

I'm really hoping it doesn't involve Doug going dark after something happens to Bei (I'd say Warlock, but we saw him repurposed into battle units called War-Locks in the flashforward)

[scorntx]

Marvel: "Don't worry about something dark happening to Warlock. Something dark is definitely going to happen to him."
Fans: "Buh?!"