Saturday 12 January 2013

X-Factor #18-#19: No "I" in Horsemen

X-Factor #18 tries a sneaky retcon. It would have us believe that Scott and Jean never were romantically involved until the cute "I wanted to see your face, that's all" moment in Uncanny #132: the implication being that Scott and Jean had never been involved - it was only ever Scott and the Phoenix. This is clearly nonsense: they kissed on-panel in #98, which was so canon that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby actually were there in character to comment on it! And if you look back at the appropriate page of #132, Jean's immediately preceding speech calls him "Scott Summers, lover of Jean Grey". Not sure what they're trying there, other than complicating the Shag Chart.

Anyway, Scott has got very confused about the Jean/Phoenix/Madelyne/Jean thing, and frankly who can blame him. It's mostly Hodge's fault, though. Hodge, whose PR campaign - which is now pretty clearly an act of delibarate sabotage - is being treated as some kind of immutable natural order of things. The gang could try to fire him, or walk. Except for the fact that he's buggered off now he's been rumbled.

Meanwhile, Apocalypse is putting the finishing touches on his final Horseman: Death (the mutant formerly known as Angel), and sends the remaining three into action against the X-Terminators in #19 to learn the value of teamwork. This is now going very slowly and I'd like it just to get to the reveals already.

1 comment:

  1. This is clearly nonsense: they kissed on-panel in #98...

    Plus, Cyclops' flashback of the history of the X-Men and his relationship with Jean at her funeral in issue #138 made it clear they started dating/declared their feelings for one another way back in issue #32 (and for that matter, they were clearly a couple during the Drake and second Thomas' runs).

    Unless, of course, this issue is trying to suggest they were never intimate (ie had sex) until that butte scene in issue #132, which could very well be true. Claremont's new backup to the reprint of issue #98 strongly suggested that though a couple, Scott and Jean hadn't had sex yet, and subsequent events didn't exactly give them many opportunities to bump uglies until their time together in #132.

    But to say they were never romantically involved at all until #132 is pure retcon baloney.

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