Marjorie Liu says goodbye to the mutants this week in Astonishing X-Men #68. From a milestone marriage to twisted sisters to a multidimensional apocalypse to a really big Iceman – Liu crafted some astonishing tales of mutants in love and war.
Fan favorite bad boys Wolverine and Gambit were on the team but I applaud Liu for letting some forgotten favorites take the lead. It was a joy to see New Mutant Karma and Cecilia Reyes back in action. Xi’an was the center of the first arc that saw her turned against her friends in bitter family feud from stretched from New York to Madripoor. Reyes and Gambit had great chemistry that I hope we’ll see explored again.
The story Liu may most be remembered for is the wedding of Jean-Paul Baubier and Kyle Jinadu. The gay wedding inspired some X-fans to have a comic book shop wedding and garnered a huge amount of mainstream media attention. Northstar’s wedding was not just a stunt as Liu continued to explore Northstar and Kyle’s relationship and how Jean-Paul balanced his martial commitments with his superhero duties.
I’m sad to see this Astonishing lineup exit so soon after The End of X-Factor. These books were great showcases for missed mutants who may not sell as many issues as Logan or other A-team mutants or have hit the big screen but still have devoted fans. Northstar will join Jason Aaron’s Amazing X-Men. Wolverine and Iceman will keeping starring in multiple books. Gambit is bound to turn up again. I’d love to see Karma, Cecelia and Warbird join Brian Wood’s all-female X-Men book or have have Xi’an reunite with Dani Moonstar on Fearless Defenders by Cullen Bunn.
X-fans can’t live on Wolverine alone but the power to keep great characters like Karma, Cecelia and Jean-Paul off the back burner lies in you. Again, I commend Liu and the X-Editor team for giving some great characters the spotlight on this run. Here’s hoping one of those many New York City Comic Con teasers will end up being a new project for Liu in the Marvel Universe.
Here are some essential stories:
Northstar collects how the eclectic team met up in New York against a mystery enemy using one of their own against them. This collection includes the history making wedding of Jean-Paul and Kyle.
In Weaponized the honeymoon is over quickly for Northstar as he must accept a deadly mission for the team’s newest enemy. Exploding mutants, sibling rivalry and a violent showdown in Madripoor.
With X-Termination Liu teamed up with writers Greg Pak and David Lapham on a cross-dimensional tale of 3 teams trying to save the multiverse from Nightcrawler from the Age of Apocalypse.
By Editor