Uncanny X-men Annual #2 (mild spoilers)

[End of Time]

spoilers about Secret Invasion... so begone with you if you don't want to know.

Emma Frost has never been a simple person, nor has she had a simple past. The Hellfire Club. The Hellions. Generation X. Genosha. But you haven’t seen it all. Did you know about her history with Namor? With Tony Stark? With Norman Osborn? The X-Men have often operated on the outside of the Marvel Universe; that stops now and in this annual. Do not miss it.

All I can say is... aaaaahw crap! I prefer the X-titles AWAY from the rest of the Marvel Universe... last time they got involved they got screwed so hard they ended up in a ghetto and their franchise was driven to the brink of viability... they're still not able to ride a bike or sit down without flinching.

[rwsmith]

Personally I'm glad that they'll be playing a larger role in the rest of the Marvel Universe (beyond just Wolverine and Storm). I'm also glad that the idea for Emma's inclusion in the Illuminaughty came from Fraction and not Bendis. That way it will feel more organic and be dealt with in the X-books as well.

[jarrod]

I kinda agree with my nemesis... when it comes to nuMarvel, the X-Men just get screwed in the wider line. Maybe if things were different at the top, I wouldn't mind more inclusiveness, but as is I'm preparing for the worst. :/

[rwsmith]

Well, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I like Cyclops and Emma as the leaders of the X-men being these kind of "morally gray" figures. The X-men have always been outcasts, and with the Marvel Universe getting so much darker, it kind of fits that the X-men would skirt the line between good and bad a bit more.

Emma is probably involved at Scott's suggestion. After all, the guy currently has his own mutant hit squad, so I doubt he'd be against putting her on the secret cabal if he thought it might benefit mutantkind in some way. Regardless, it's cool stuff IMO.

Marvel Comics, and the X-men line in partiuclar, have gone from standard network programming to FX or HBO series in terms of tone and feel. And that's a good thing in my book. :wink:

Also, I love the thought of Daken as a villain (and not a good guy) running around with Osborne's Dark Avengers in Logan's old brown and tan costume. Good use of a character that I previously wrote-off as worthless.

[jarrod]

Oh, I honestly don't disagree on the plot points. I like Emma have wider connections (even if retconned in) and using Daken as something other than a guilt plot device. I'm just more apprehensive I guess, specifically because of how HOM turned out.

The X-line will probably always play second fiddle to the Avengers until we get a nuMarvel regime change imo. It's like twisted payback for the 90s or something (LOL).

[We R. Venom]

I like the X-men being in the Marvel U. Now more people will be exposed to them and they wont have to feel like they dont have to buy, or cant buy certain books because they are not connected, or whatever. There are some people who think Wolverine and Storm are the only X-men that matter. Dead wrong, bitches.

[Pach!]

Her history with all of them is a friends with benefits type deal.

[CMBMOOL]

I love seeing the X-men be involved with the rest of the Marvel Universe as it shows other readers that they are a part of a much larger family in the Marvel U. :tongue:

[worstblogever]

I'm not directing this statement to anyone who's yet posted this thread, but to play devil's advocate, in general.

I just want to ask, did people get all riled up when the ending of Chapter One of "Endangered Species" had Hank McCoy put out a phone call to all the villains he was willing to work with to cure the Decimation?

Because if you gave him a pass for that, and cry bloody murder at Emma for just being ON the Dark Illuminati, you'd kind of be a hypocrite. That, and I don't hear anyone decrying Namor as "evil" for being on there, either.

She's not a "white" queen, to be sure. But she is quite morally gray, to be certain. Just keep that in mind and let that play out.

[Maestro]

oh, I bet it's only Wolverine and Emma that interact with all the Avengers and such. The X-Men will continue to be secluded and unimportant. They ran to San Fransisco when everyone else is in New York! A shame

[x_goalkeeper]

I'm not directing this statement to anyone who's yet posted this thread, but to play devil's advocate, in general.

I just want to ask, did people get all riled up when the ending of Chapter One of "Endangered Species" had Hank McCoy put out a phone call to all the villains he was willing to work with to cure the Decimation?

Because if you gave him a pass for that, and cry bloody murder at Emma for just being ON the Dark Illuminati, you'd kind of be a hypocrite. That, and I don't hear anyone decrying Namor as "evil" for being on there, either.

She's not a "white" queen, to be sure. But she is quite morally gray, to be certain. Just keep that in mind and let that play out.

That is a good point. But I think the difference is that Emma has a history in being a villian herself, where Hank does not. I don't know much about Namor but I believe he also had a history as a villian? Still I agree with you that the story should be read instead of making conclusions before it.

[worstblogever]

That is a good point. But I think the difference is that Emma has a history in being a villian herself, where Hank does not. I don't know much about Namor but I believe he also had a history as a villian? Still I agree with you that the story should be read instead of making conclusions before it.

Oh, Namor has a history. He's sent Atlantean armies into New York City (covered gorgeously from Gwen Stacy's perspective during Alex Ross' "Marvels"), he was revealed to have Atlantean sleeper agents in play throughout the U.S., waiting to strike during "Civil War", and not too long ago, he had threatened to crush San Francisco under a tidal wave during "The Order".

Namor's no boy scout, to be sure. He's as morally grey as they come, and I like that about him, same way I do Emma.

[End of Time]

I like Cyclops and Emma as the leaders of the X-men being these kind of "morally gray" figures.

At this point, can you still call them morally gray figures? Emma's a bitch ninety percent of her screen time these days, and Cyclops has his own death squad running around slaughtering people by the truckloads.

Right now they're making Xavier look like a saint, and that's quite a feat, since Chuck has been wrangled and mangled and gotten one deep dark secret stuck on him after the other.

The X-men have always been outcasts, and with the Marvel Universe getting so much darker, it kind of fits that the X-men would skirt the line between good and bad a bit more.

At this point in time I think it's just weird for the X-men to be lost in limbo.

How many years ago did HoM hit the stands? We're still reeling from those events, and that's pretty impressive for a story that basically started out as an Avengers-event.

Ever since HoM writers have been trying to work around the notion of there being 198 mutants left. They've either ignored the set up, sneaking in new mutants or repowering mutants through other devices, or they've spend most of their time trying to escape the ghetto to tell a story that's pretty much hollow at the core because Mutants have been effectively wiped out as far as the Marvel Universe is concerned.

The X-men have been quite bleak for a time now... except that they're pretty much a non-factor the last couple of years, and remain so for the foreseeable future. It's not like mutants are threatening the world or anything, they're a statistical anomaly, and the majority is known by the government.

Emma is probably involved at Scott's suggestion. After all, the guy currently has his own mutant hit squad, so I doubt he'd be against putting her on the secret cabal if he thought it might benefit mutantkind in some way. Regardless, it's cool stuff IMO.

It's not the plot that I disagree with, it's mostly everything surrounding it that sends chills down my spine... for the past five years or so, every time the X-men got involved in a big event... they got dealt the short end of the stick.

Also, I love the thought of Daken as a villain (and not a good guy) running around with Osborne's Dark Avengers in Logan's old brown and tan costume. Good use of a character that I previously wrote-off as worthless.

I'm still going to write him off as worthless. Now we've got X-23 and Daken running around, with Daken filling up the position of Dark Wolverine... while Logan can still be regular Wolverine.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the idea of Emma being in the illuminaughty, but the prospect of the X-men being dragged back into the greater MU just doesn't seem right...

There's a reason why they got shipped off to the other side of the continent...

[worstblogever]

I don't think Emma's been the b-word 90% of the time. She's spent at least 25% of the time in bed with Cyclops. Mathmathically, she could only be the b-word 75% of the time, by default.

[Novaya Havoc]

OMMMMMGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!1!

AN EMMA FROST STORY!!!11

I am SO EXCITED! I really wanted to see Emma get some spotlight for once!!!1 I AM SO HAPPY OMG EMMA OMG SHE ACTUALLY GETS SOME FOCUS SOMEWHERE IN THE MU!

This will be so totally razor! And gnarly! And freakin' 1094839853967 shades of AWESOME!

An EMMA STORY!

OMG I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!! XDDDDDDDDDDDD

[Brett P]

I actually think this sounds pretty great...

[Omega Alpha]

Well, part of this solicit doesn't make much sense, since the previews for Dark Reign clearly shows (spoilers only of the preview below)



that Namor doesn't even remember meeting Emma, so they have no "history".

Oh, and Emma wasn't sent by Scott, nor she got there through machinations. Osborn simply sent a message arranging a meeting with her and the other guys (and Loki).

[AZPolaris]

I hate that Emma is being retconned as such an important player in MU's history. It is so forced. I would rather it all be a con, and Emma has been playing the X-Men the whole time. I could handle Emmafest more if she were a villain. She is not a likable enough character for me to have to read/see her this much. And if she is just trying to ensure Mutantkind's place in the new world order, then shame on her for not sharing with her teamates. Scott having a secret strikeforce of killers is nothing compared to Emma "getting into bed" with a madman, and his evil secret cabal, taking over the country instead of helping the situation. All of which is speculation since her true intentions have not yet been revealed. I'll read the cliff notes.

[MNM]

I hate that Emma is being retconned as such an important player in MU's history. It is so forced. I would rather it all be a con, and Emma has been playing the X-Men the whole time. I could handle Emmafest more if she were a villain.

That would be a terrible idea.

Emma hasnt been a villain in a very long time. I do wish writer upon writer wouldnt keep going back to hints of "is she bad or not?".

[gorthon616]

I'm not directing this statement to anyone who's yet posted this thread, but to play devil's advocate, in general.

I just want to ask, did people get all riled up when the ending of Chapter One of "Endangered Species" had Hank McCoy put out a phone call to all the villains he was willing to work with to cure the Decimation?

Because if you gave him a pass for that, and cry bloody murder at Emma for just being ON the Dark Illuminati, you'd kind of be a hypocrite. That, and I don't hear anyone decrying Namor as "evil" for being on there, either.

She's not a "white" queen, to be sure. But she is quite morally gray, to be certain. Just keep that in mind and let that play out.

I didn't get riled up because I hated the story thought it was boring and imagined that none of the villains would bring it up nor would Hank, so I ignored it.

But yes, Beast was wrong (and Namor is wrong, but that's not really new for him... at least in my view) for what looking to buddy up with villains.

[worstblogever]

I didn't get riled up because I hated the story thought it was boring and imagined that none of the villains would bring it up nor would Hank, so I ignored it.

But yes, Beast was wrong (and Namor is wrong, but that's not really new for him... at least in my view) for what looking to buddy up with villains.

Upon watching Quantum of Solace, there seemed to be a recurring theme through it, that a lot of the MI6 and CIA agents were saying.

"If we refused to do business with villains, who would be left that we'd actually be able to do business with?"

Since Civil War, that seems to be what's going on in the Marvel Universe, as well.



And, just to put it out there, it's plausible that Emma Frost and Norman Osborn have some history. After all, Norman was revealed to be a member of the Hellfire Club back in the 90s when he got invited to a HC Party down in Rio, hosted by Sebastian Shaw. Mind you, this was after Emma had left, but I doubt that was Norman's first time at a club function.

The two of them having some sort of history isn't completely implausible, though. It might be a few deals between Osborn Industries and Frost's own business holdings. Who knows? But this might clear it up.

[The Black Guardian]

Upon watching Quantum of Solace, there seemed to be a recurring theme through it, that a lot of the MI6 and CIA agents were saying.

"If we refused to do business with villains, who would be left that we'd actually be able to do business with?"
Yeah, but the CIA and MI6 are villains.:biggrin:

[worstblogever]

Yeah, but the CIA and MI6 are villains.:biggrin:

To the anti-establishment, certainly. But you get the idea.

The heroes don't wear white hats anymore. In Emma's case, they wear white negligee.

[darknessatnoon]

that Namor doesn't even remember meeting Emma, so they have no "history".


Obviously, Xavier mind-wiped him.

[worstblogever]

Obviously, Xavier mind-wiped him.

Wait, do you think Namor realizes Emma sicced him on Magneto after she kidnapped the New Mutants?

And does he care? I mean, he always is looking for an excuse to slap around Magnus...

[Twisted Bliss]

Obviously, Xavier mind-wiped him.

After he enslaved him and kept in the Mansion swimming pool as a pet and then as a training tool for Angel.

Namor had to swim around underwater. When he surfaced Angel swooped down and caught the little fishy. A very satisfying training tool by all accounts.

But Danger, enslaved, Shi'ar tech...etc etc. All good things come to an end. Xavier mind-wiped him and flushed him down the Westchester sewers.

[ExodusCloak]

Wait, do you think Namor realizes Emma sicced him on Magneto after she kidnapped the New Mutants?

And does he care? I mean, he always is looking for an excuse to slap around Magnus...

I think she's refering to their meeting in Fractions Annual.

flushed him down the Westchester sewers.

There's nothing wrong with that. Cassandra Nova thrived in those sewers after getting flushed.

[darknessatnoon]

Wait, do you think Namor realizes Emma sicced him on Magneto after she kidnapped the New Mutants?

And does he care? I mean, he always is looking for an excuse to slap around Magnus...

Possibly, but I'm just grateful that Magneto wasn't invited to this little shindig. How are the Magneto fans handling this major diss?

[worstblogever]

Possibly, but I'm just grateful that Magneto wasn't invited to this little shindig. How are the Magneto fans handling this major diss?

True enough. Christopher Priest showed Magneto, Namor, Dr. Doom, and T'Challa used to "power conference" over world issues, as the leaders of their individual nations. Out of all those players, Magnus is the only one left on the outside looking in when it comes to the Illuminati and Dark Illuminati.

Doom and Namor being in this bunch. Then Emma steals Magneto's "token morally-askew mutant" seat. Which, when you think about some of the history Von Doom and Namor have with Magnus, and that he's without his powers, and without a real power base, I can understand the oversight.

[KiplingKat]

Wait....how can this be Uncanny Annual #2 when they were up to Uncanny Annual #15 in 1991?

[ExodusCloak]

Moving on...

Emma in a Hellfire Club days should be interesting. They were supposed to shed some light during her ongoing but they decided to stretch out her early days.

[dotdotdot]

i don't understand the use of the word spoilers in the thread title

[ExodusCloak]

i don't understand the use of the word spoilers in the thread title

I'm guessing it has something to do with the solicits being kept under wraps before the release of SI: 8.

[Eye in the Sky]

i don't understand the use of the word spoilers in the thread title

Not everyone has read SI#8. Just a precaution.

[gorthon616]

Upon watching Quantum of Solace, there seemed to be a recurring theme through it, that a lot of the MI6 and CIA agents were saying.

"If we refused to do business with villains, who would be left that we'd actually be able to do business with?"

Since Civil War, that seems to be what's going on in the Marvel Universe, as well.

Conspiracy and co-operation are two different things. Though I haven't seen Quantum.