Marauders #12, “The New Phase”

Marauders

My friends! We have two lessons before us to choose from today: an eye-for-an-eye, or turn-the-other-cheek! Witness our sister Kate Pryde’s dilemma in the book of Marauders, chapter 12, verses 1-32!

This is the word according to “I’d rather be writing Deadpool” Gerry Duggan!
Corroborated visually by “I also have a thing for Deadpool” Matteo Lolli!

The official plot:

“RED RECKONING! The Black King removed the Red Queen from the board…what move will the White Queen make?”

Marvel Comics

Does this solicitation feel like an afterthought to anyone else? It’s like they didn’t even try to make it sound interesting. (Full disclosure: It’s not)

Marauders
This feels wrong. They don’t throw a party for every resurrection…why Kate? It’s because she’s a Queen isn’t it? Figures!

My Impressions:

  • Marvel/Duggan spend 10 issues building on the fact that Kate is actively rejected by Krakoa. Turns out she just needed to be rebooted.
  • The whole issue is visually off-putting. I mean, it’s a party…why are some of these folks wearing their battle gear, while Kate is in a party dress?
  • Crossover Dependency: You’ll need a passing understanding of the overall X-men paradigm.
Marauders
Is it really “murder” if the victim can be resurrected at any time?

Notable Appearances/Events:

  • Black King (Sebastian Shaw)
  • Bishop (Lucas Bishop)
  • White Queen (Emma Frost)
  • Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner)
  • Storm (Ororo Munroe)
  • Katherine ‘Kitty’ Pryde
  • Magik (Illyana Rasputin)
  • Prestige (Rachael Grey)
  • Wolverine (Logan/James Howlett)

Bottom Line: 2 Stars!

I want to like Marauders. It started as an interesting concept of a team to swoop up all those folks that, for whatever reason, couldn’t use Krakoan gates. Basically an X-men search and rescue! Unfortunately this title just seems to wander around doing next to nothing. I believe we’ve had something like two missions in 10 issues? Kate and her crew deserve better.