Knights of X #5: Overall, I liked the story that Howard tells here, as Betsy and company resurrect Gambit and, in so doing, somehow connect the Siege Perilous with Krakoa. But the execution was terrible. She spends the entire issue telling, and not showing, us the story. For example, the climactic battle - where the entirety of Krakoa takes on King Arthur's army - is reduced to a splash page. Overall, it's sufficiently anticlimactic to make it hard for me to recommend this miniseries unless you're really committed to Betsy's story.
Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood #4: Man, this series was terrible.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi #4: Cantwell continues to use this series as a way of exploring the darker sides of the galaxy far, far away. It's exactly the type of stories that I wish we'd see more often.
The issue begins with Obi-Wan recalling the final days of the war, where "victories" like the one he describes on Atraken still resulting in millions of dead and the planet left uninhabitable. He recalls that he and Anakin were the closest during this period, perhaps due to the need to help each other "purge the shrouds of shadow that threatened to fall across [them]." Hello, foreshadowing.
Anakin and Obi-Wan arrive for a briefing from Admiral Yularen who asks if Obi-Wan remembers Commander Mekedrix from the Battle of Abrion Bridge. (He does.) Mekedrix apparently continued serving the Republic after Abrion Bridge, including at the Battles of Ryloth, of Saleucami, and at the Temple of Eedit (battles from the first, second, and third seasons of "Star Wars: Clone Wars," respectively). Yularen informs the pair that Mekedrix went rogue after the Temple of Eedit and formed an execution squad called the Death Wind.
The Death Wind apparently has no allegiance, striking both Clone Trooper detachments as well as Commerce Guild and Confederacy of Independent Systems high-ranking officials. Yularen and the Republic's military leadership worry Mekedrix is irrevocably broken given the lack of coherence to the Death Wind's targets, and Yularen essentially orders Anakin and Obi-Wan to assassinate him. Despite the earlier foreshadowing, Anakin is outraged in a way that Obi-Wan isn't. Cantwell does a great job here, showing how Obi-Wan and Yularen's lack of shock of the Republic getting into the assassination business is only a few steps from Mekedrix's brokenness.
As Anakin and Obi-Wan's journey through Ando's swamps, Cantwell is clearly miming "Apocalypse Now," particularly when they discover Clone Trooper effigies before arriving at the Sith temple Mekedrix has taken as his own. When they find Mekedrix bearing a sword made from a Clone Trooper's bones, it isn't exactly a surprise. Mekedrix believes he "freed" his victims by showing them the truth, that annihilation is our existence's goal. Obi-Wan tries to get him to see that life exists outside death, but it's too late: he attacks Obi-Wan with the sword, resulting in Anakin impaling him with his light saber. With his dying words, Mekedrix admits he used Anakin as "suicide by Jedi," if you will.
Cantwell's use of Anakin is the most interesting here, and I'd love to see Marvel put him on a series that explored Anakin's fall. Anakin is the most morally grounded character in this issue, and Cantwell hints that it's because he's the one still struggling with his demons. Mekedrix, Obi-Wan, and Yularen have all resigned themselves to the war that dominates their lives, though obviously with different outcomes. Anakin's struggle with the violence and how it fits his moral code is unresolved, opening the door to the Emperor's manipulation later.
I feel like this series is a must for any fan of the "Star Wars: Clone Wars." I can't recommend it enough.
X-Men #14: This issue is weird for a tie-in issue, since the X-Men basically treat the Eternals' invasion of Krakoa as an inconvenience. In a way, they're not wrong, as some gamblers who don't know Gameworld isn't in business anymore dump a flare torpedo in the Sun to take out Earth. It doesn't help the mutants if they survive the Eternals only to die with Earth.
Bobby creates an ice shield around the planet, and the rest of the X-Men take care of the falling ice after the shield holds. Unfortunately, Duggan decides to use Bobby's heroism as a way to have Bobby come out publicly in the media. His speech is shunted to one of this era's beloved interstitial pages, which makes it feel awkward and obligatory. The subsequent Norma Rae speech the journalist delivers to her editor at the end after he tries to take out the gay part is particularly cringe.
In fact, the most interesting part of the issue is that Scott declares that Jean is his wife when he arrives at the Progenitor for judgment. The Hickman era has never really address Jean and Scott's relationship, and I'm hoping this hint is a sign that we're going to get the back story soon. Also, is everyone just wandering up the Progenitor's way? Is that how it works?
In other words, Duggan makes the odd decision to use a tie-in issue as a way to address two pretty emotional and significant developments in Bobby, Jean, and Scott's lives. It's a shame, in my book. I wish Marvel would find a way to get back to some of the great character moments that Hickman managed to include during the early days of his era.
Also Read: Amazing Fantasy #1,000
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