Present and Future Intrigue: Extraordinary X-men #12

The following is my review of Extraordinary X-men #12, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

A war in an apocalyptic future is like Deadpool being locked in a fireworks factory. Nobody is all that surprised when the destruction escalates. Any war is terrible, but there comes a point where people become numb to the devastation. By any measure, the X-men are operating on a foundation of devastation. They're fighting to save a dying race against the forces of bigotry, sterilization, and anger over movie rights. As a result, the impact of Apocalypse Wars is somewhat muted.

That's not to say the story doesn't have its moments. Jeff Lemire makes a considerable effort to craft an apocalyptic battleground that feels unique and distinct. He succeeds on some levels, having elevated the profiles of lesser-known mutants like Glob Herman, Anole, and Earnst. However, it's still another run-of-the-mill apocalyptic future. It's still another dire conflict that promises to make a dire situation even more dire. So how can a story like Apocalypse Wars have a meaningful impact in those circumstances?

Extraordinary X-men #12 attempts to create that impact. The setup is hardly ideal. Omega World is crumbling and yet another apocalyptic future threatens to consume the X-men once more. There are a lot of forces working against the X-men in this story. For once, none can be blamed on the Inhumans for. Despite these forces, Lemire manages to craft a solid, satisfying impact that successfully brings Apocalypse Wars to a close.

The key to this impact is ensuring the aftermath of Apocalypse Wars is not entirely muted. Lemire does this by striking an careful balance between resolving the ongoing conflict with Omega World while using this conflict to lay the foundation for the next story. By doing so, he makes it so Apocalypse Wars can't be completely forgettable. That's not to say it'll have the same impact as Secret Wars, the Dark Phoenix Saga, or the Chuck Austin run on Uncanny X-men, but the impact is there.

The impact manifests within the context of solid visuals, courtesy of Hamberto Ramos' artwork. The battles that unfold are colorful, flashy, and not overly dark, which is an accomplishment for any story taking place in a dystopian future. It's all too easy for things to get grim and gritty when dealing with a threat like Apocalypse. Lemire and Ramos resist this urge. They understand there's only so many times an X-men story can rip off Days of Future Past.

The content of those battles is fairly refined, taking on some personal dynamics along the way. We get a tense battle between Teen Jean and a Venom-powered Old Man Logan. We get a harsh, violent, flashy battle between Magik and an Apocalypse-powered Colossus. There are real personal stakes to go along with the usual takes that come with any apocalyptic future. It further ensures that the impact of Apocalypse Wars isn't as stale as every other dystopian future the X-men encounter.

However, the greatest strength of the impact in Extraordinary X-men #12, and Apocalypse Wars as a whole, comes from the intrigue it creates for future conflicts. The ending isn't going to shock anyone on the same level as a Game of Thrones season finale, but it will generate interest in the conflicts to come. Some of it is generic ominous foreboding, the kind the X-men can probably surmise without a telepath. Other elements, however, are less ominous and have more to do with how Storm chooses to lead her team through this conflict.

If there's one character that really shines though the dystopian drudgery in Apocalypse Wars, it's Storm. She is the leader of the X-men now that Cyclops and Charles Xavier are dead, discredited, and everything in between. She doesn't carry herself like a placeholder either. She's not just keeping the chair warm for Cyclops, Wolverine, or any other X-men character that might rank higher in the pecking order. She makes clear that she is the leader now, which means she must be the one that makes tough decisions.

She certainly makes one in Extraordinary X-men #12. That decision will, the X-men remain jinxed with inhuman levels of bad luck if that's not too loaded a term, come back to haunt her. Even so, she makes this decision without hesitation, as anyone expects of a strong leader. It's not a decision that her team wholly agrees with. In fact, Lemire makes it a point to show some dissention within the team. It's another element that is sure to add fuel to the X-men's hapless luck, which has already forced them to seek refuge in a demon-laden dimension for safety.

In terms of resolving the final issue of Apocalypse Wars, Extraordinary X-men #12 completes this story in a fairly concise, if not somewhat rushed manner. The personal angles are strong, but lack drama. There aren't a lot of passions beyond simply wanting to escape yet another dystopian future. Some moments have the potential to flesh out heavier emotions, but that potential goes unrealized. It's like Wolverine only drinking half-a-beer. It doesn't feel complete in terms of character moments.

This is striking because one of the primary strengths of Extraordinary X-men as a whole is its focus on these character moments. It's within this series that the impact of the X-men's Inhuman-fueled bad luck is explored. Moments with characters like Storm, Old Man Logan, Teen Jean, and even Glob Herman are a big part of the overarching themes in this series. They're not entirely absent from Apocalypse Wars, but they are woefully underplayed.

Even so, Extraordinary X-men #12 does feel complete in terms of tying together a cohesive narrative. That narrative is made stronger thanks to Storm's hard decisions and the inevitable consequences of those decisions. It ensures that the greater impact of Apocalypse Wars will only be clear once those consequences are explored in later issues. It's part finale and part teaser trailer. At a time when teaser trailers are 90 percent of every mass media campaign, that's entirely fitting.

Final Score: 7 out of 10

Extraordinary X-men #12: Nuff Said!

How many apocalyptic futures does anyone have to see before they just say, "Fuck it! I'm joining Skynet." If anyone is in a position to answer that question, it's the X-men. They face a new apocalyptic future every other week and on their off-weeks, they face another plague or sterility plot. They don't have good days is what I'm saying. They haven't since their last cartoon got canceled. I don't know how close they are to just throwing their hands up and sucking the dick of the nearest Inhuman, but I imagine they're close.

Apocalypse Wars promises to bring them even closer. I'm sure they're already licking their lips with Death of X coming up. Once again, the X-men are in an apocalyptic future. Once again, they have to fight one of their teammates who has been corrupted. I guess it's Tuesday for the X-men. For Extraordinary X-men #12 though, it's the end of Apocalypse Wars. Can it feel like more than a typical Tuesday? Well, that's why I'm here.

These days, before lunch on a typical Tuesday, Magik has to get caught up in some sort of demon-centric shit storms. This is no exception. She and her magic mojo is the only way the X-men have to get escape this apocalyptic future for their semi-apocalyptic present. To do that though, she has to take the express lane to the future. Along the way, that express lane has a few stops. One of them offers some disturbing hints to the next dystopian future that'll fuck over the X-men because I guess they really can't have too many.

This one is a bit more personal though. It involves Sapna, the semi-creepy girl Magik began training at the start of this series. Apparently, being trained by a mutant demon queen with a habit of killing things with a big fucking sword isn't a healthy influence. She ends up turning the entire world into a kingdom of death. It would be so dire if the X-men didn't get futures like this at least once a week, but the fact it has personal ties to Magik does add intrigue.

Intrigue is a bit less important in the other dystopian future that's currently fucking over the X-men. Storm and Nightcrawler finally managed to reach Apocalypse in the last issue. Then, Nightcrawler decides it's a good idea to kill Apocalypse in his weakened state. I don't think any mostly-sober mind would disagree with that logic. The problem is killing Apocalypse means killing Omega World. That might be a good idea too if they weren't fucking trapped in it.

Luckily for Storm, Apocalypse is almost as durable as Keith Richards and Nightcrawler kind of sucks at killing immortal mutant demigods. While he's intent on killing Apocalypse while he doesn't have Oscar Isaac's sex appeal to protect him, Storm makes clear that they need to keep him alive to save their asses and Colossus. So I guess Nightcrawler forgot about that detail too. Again, I still can't fault him for his logic in killing a mutant tyrant.

Before they can think about killing tyrants or surviving yet another dystopian future, the X-men have to stop Apocalypse's horsemen first. One of them happens to be Old Man Logan infused with a the Venom symbiote and its main target is a teenage Jean Grey. Pretty sure that's how 90 percent of tentacle porn starts out. In this case, however, it doesn't get quite that disturbing.

Iceman, fresh off kicking Deadpool's ass, helps O5 Jean connect with the mind of the symbiote. It's as disturbing as it sounds, but it works. It gives O5 Jean yet another chance to be more badass than most teenage girls dare to be. It's another step in an ongoing trend to make O5 Jean the kind of Jean Grey that doesn't need rescuing every other issue and doesn't faint the second someone breathes on her too hard. Time-displaced or not, it's definitely a step up from tentacle porn. It also frees Old Man Logan, who is old, grumpy, and pissed off. That means the fight is actually even now.

Then, the X-men remember that they have Glob fucking Herman on their team and it's not as even as they think. Nothing against Glob, but he's not exactly the kind of guy who can go multiple rounds with the horsemen of Apocalypse. There's no shame in that though. Few who aren't experienced X-men or survived dating Emma Frost are equipped for such a feat. At the very least, it serves to piss Old Man Logan off even more and just like that, the fight is even again.

It's bound to get uneven again at some point, as most battles involving Apocalypse do. That's all the more reason for Magik to get her demon-loving ass in gear. However, she still has to deal with yet another horrific vision of another horrific future where someone she tried to help fucks the world over. Sapna's future daughters say it's because Magik didn't guide her properly that she took her frustrations out on the whole fucking world. They're still assuming that a demon-loving teenage girl is a healthy influence for another teenage girl with a death fetish, but I guess less shitty options are the only options the X-men get these days.

It's still a personal issue for Magik and unfortunately, we don't get much of a reaction from her. She's just like, "Oh, one of my demon pupils went crazy and killed the world? Meh. I'll fix that later." Granted, Magik isn't one for melodrama, but it's still somewhat lacking. At the very least, it sets up another intriguing conflict for the X-men down the line. Sure, it involves another dystopian future, but can we really expect anything else at this point?

We sure as shit can't expect the X-men to defeat an Apocalypse-powered Colossus with limited manpower and Glob Herman as backup. Even a pissed off Old Man Logan has his limits. It makes for some pretty intense action that allows Hamberto Ramos to really kick ass with his art. At this point, Colossus kicks more ass than Apocalypse has during this entire event. Considering how whiny and reserved he's been since Avengers vs. X-men, it's a welcome change.

It only gets uneven again when Magik arrives, this time in the X-men's favor. Colossus may have the power of a horseman. Magik has a demon sword and the strength of a pissed off teenage girl. It's not a fair fight and makes for a nice spectacle to say the least. Considering that this is a story involving Apocalypse and shitty futures, that's perfectly appropriate and downright satisfying.

Colossus is defeated. Omega World is still falling apart around them, but they still won. That counts for something, right? Moral victories are the best the X-men can hope for these days, especially in a world dominated by Fox lawyers and Inhumans. I'm sure Marvel is tempted to just let the X-men die here so they can make way for more shitty Inhumans comics, but I guess they know on some levels they can't screw themselves too much.

Storm and Nightcrawler show up again, this time with a wounded Apocalypse. Their first instinct is to kill him. That's a perfectly reasonable instinct if ever there was one. However, Storm makes clear that they need him to save Colossus. It's a tough sell, letting Apocalypse live and taking him back to the past. It doesn't matter though. She's the fucking leader of the X-men now so what she says goes. Plus, Omega World is still falling apart so arguing with Storm isn't a productive use of time.

Thanks to Magik, they go back to the past. They escape yet another dystopian future. All should be good again, right? Well, they're still stuck living in a fucking demon realm while Inhumans wave their dicks in the face of every mutant in the world so I guess it's all relative. However, there is one minor issue that fucks up the present more than the future. Colossus didn't exactly land in the same place as them.

This naturally pisses off the X-men. The problem is, they can't be pissed off enough to kill Apocalypse because he's still the key to saving Colossus. Tactically speaking, that's pretty damn smart. He just ensured that he can keep fucking with the X-men in the present and not just the future. It's hard to respect someone like Apocalypse, but even I admit that's pretty damn cunning.

So where exactly did Colossus land? Well, Apocalypse shows again that he's pretty damn cunning. Lemire also nicely sets up the next conflict on top of Magik having to stop a teenage mutant with a death fetish. Colossus, still a horseman at this point, pops right in at a Clan Akkaba rally. That's like magically dropping me into a whiskey distillery. It's wonderfully appropriate in that it's bound to lead to all sorts of crazy shit that may or may not screw a few people over. Provided Colossus keeps his pants on more than I would if I spent too much time in a whiskey distillery, it opens the door to some intriguing conflicts.

So...is it awesome?

Well there's a lot of shit going on in Extraordinary X-men #12 and for the non-sober crowd, it's hard to keep up with at times. That said, Jeff Lemire manages to keep things fairly concise. The chaos never gets too overwhelming, even for a non-sober mind. The conflict ends. The X-men save their asses, even if they can't save this fucked up future. However, they do set the stage for the next shit storm and they won't even have to time travel for it. That alone has me plenty intrigued.

Some characters really get to shine here. Storm, Nightcrawler, and Magik all do their part. Others kind of just take up space, but not in a bad way. Everyone finds a way to contribute in Extraordinary X-men #12. There's not a whole lot of drama, but there is a lot of action, a lot of intrigue, and a lot of apocalyptic shit to go around. It's refined, concise, and coherent. These days, that might as well be worth its weight in adamantium.

Final Score: 8 out of 10