Way of X #2: "Let Us Prey"

[alliterator]

Something has slithered into a gap in the mutant community. This evil thing has identified that if you are part of a society that has no limits then you also have no direction. Look, there's a whole heap of anthropological and sociological stuff that I could bore you with here, to hint at the big picture and foreshadow some of the fears and doubts Nightcrawler is sensing on the horizon, but this is comics! So, luckily for us, all this high-falutin’ stuff takes a very familiar, and utterly terrifying, form. It’s an individual who is lurking in the shadows, exacerbating the risks that arise when you have a society without any rudder or anchor. Especially when that society is made up of people with superpowers. It’s the sociological equivalent of a nuke, and this thing, this threat, has its finger on the button.
-- Simon Spurrier

Comments

[dcbanacek]

When Legion is the sanest guy in the room and starts making the most sense... its time to run.

[alliterator]

I wouldn't call him the "sanest," but he and Nightcrawler seem to be some of the only ones not afraid to investigate Krakoa itself as a society. There is a thing called "doxastic anxiety," where people deliberately choose not to think about something in order to remain ignorant of it, i.e. people choosing not to think about the harm that comes to animals in meat processing plants so as not to feel bad when eating meat. Most people on Krakoa are deliberating choosing not to think about all the negative things on Krakoa in order to not feel anxiety about them. We can definitely see this in New Mutants, where the New Mutants try to brush away Gabby's issues with the Council's decision not to resurrect clones.

Now, most societies have loads of people with doxastic anxiety. Krakoa isn't unique in that regard. The difference is, of course, that Krakoa is an island of mutants creating an entirely new mutant culture that has also conquered death. If the thing you are trying to be ignorant about is something as important as "what happens when a deathless society lacks morals or gets the wrong morals," then that can turn out very, very bad.

But also, Onslaught.

[deh_tommy]

Of course everything bad coming out of Moira’s manufactured culture isn’t a natural consequence of said culture, no no no, that’s all because of a supervillain making everyone nasty. Krakoa can’t be at fault in any way, nope, nuh-uh, nosiree. Human nature and flaws and whatnot is for the humans.

[rainspirit]

Is this a problem with the X-books not having nuance in its story or with you deliberately not noticing any?

[deh_tommy]

Probably me. But that feels like every time there’s even a whiff of nuance or debate or something uncomfortable, that gets swept under the rug and unconsciously glorified as being right actually, or that turns out the critics are secretly bigoted/evil the whole time.

[rainspirit]

I think that's a fair point, and I'm not sure how I'd begin to tackle that as a writer. Given that it's Hickman's magnum opus and Si Spurrier and the like are guest writers, I feel as if a lot of the problems are stemming from internal communication--how much are the writers of the X-books allowed to point out flaws and tear into Krakoa as a society without undermining what the lead writers are doing or deflating interest in the current status quo?

I feel like this is a first for Marvel, the only comparable thing being Civil War, which itself had its problems with portraying political ideology and nuance in character. I'm sure this will all make for pretty interesting post-mortem interviews when Age of X has run its course.

[alliterator]

I think the story Hickman and Spurrier are telling here is different. Neither Nightcrawler nor Legion are shown to be in the wrong at all for questioning Krakoa, while Xavier and Magneto have shown time and again how easily they keep secrets and how that can backfire.

[tinygaylaura]

None of the X-books including Hickman's have tried to claim that everything about Krakoa is perfect. They're just also not pretending that its somehow the worst thing ever like some fans are bizarrely trying to claim.

Krakoa as a whole is a good thing and a beautiful idea. It has problems both because every society has problems and also because if it didn't have any problems there would be no drama which would be a problem for superhero book

[alliterator]

Exactly. I think Hickman is trying to tell a nuanced story about the difference between the IDEA of an ideal society free from want and the reality of maintaining one.

[tinygaylaura]

Indeed

And the people who say that because Krakoa has problems that means its bad and should be gotten rid of just remind me of the people who claim that what happened to the Republic and the Jedi in the Star Wars prequels was somehow what they deserved

[mastermahan]

Not at all, actually. The idea is that the collapse of Krakoan society is inevitable because it has no meaning or limits. It's expressly stated that Orchis is only trying to accelerate what's already happening.

[alliterator]

The issue showed that they had stimulated a society without any morals or limits -- and then accelerated it using the "me without me" invasive -- but while Pixie says that it's a model of Krakoa, I don't think it's an exact one-to-one match. Orchis is trying to accelerate what's happening because the collapse might not happen for hundreds of years -- after all, even though the younger kids are embracing the new culture of Krakoa, it still seems as if everyone is keeping their morals and ethics. Even Legion points out that by following the three laws of Krakoa, most everyone is "playing fair" (or pretending to).