X-Men Gold #6 Review – What Just Happened? Do I Dare Ask?
I’m not going to pretend I fully understand everything that happened in this recent issue of X-Men Gold. Sure, the Nanite-made Sentinels are completely out of control, killing everyone with a slight genetic mutation. This includes baldness, irregular heartbeats, cancer, albinos, you get the picture. They’re essentially on a mass murder spree across the US. They’re almost like Hydra as well, in that if you cut one down, smaller and stronger ones take its place. I think we can most certainly all agree that this entire incident is Gambit’s fault.
If he had looked into his client, if he had researched what he was stealing, if he wasn’t so damn klutzy…the list goes on and on. But what is blame going to get you when self-replicating sentinels are on a mass murder spree? You save the blame for later and then take a trip through Rachel’s psyche.
Wait, what?
Oh you read that correctly. Let’s hang out in Rachel’s head and see how she talks about her fears of her powers with her dead mother and father. It’s not weird at all. I mean, isn’t that what you would do while witnessing mass murder?
Did Rachel need a resolution to her current existential crisis? Absolutely. And in the world of the X-Men, I can’t think of a better moment to do so than in the middle of a horrific battle. The problem in Rachel’s mind is that she’s most likely more powerful than her mother ever was, and as such, if she tapped into that, there’s a chance she’ll lose herself completely. She’s afraid of losing herself, becoming like her parents, or worse. But once she realizes that the nanites are killing her teammates, she can’t hold back. She has to reach her true potential, which yes, sounds like an episode of Ninjago.
I understood all of that, including what happened to Rachel in the end. But I have bigger questions, such as, when or where does this all take place? Squirrel Girl, Captain Marvel, and the Stepfords (Cuckoo Sisters) all make an appearance. I haven’t seen the Stepfords since the end of IvX. I assumed they were with Emma Frost or they just left. It’s not like they brought that much to the X-Men to begin with. The last I checked, Captain Marvel was sealed outside of Earth and fighting thousands of Chitauri thanks to Stevil. Not to mention, most of Manhattan is trapped in the dark dimension. So either this whole storyline takes place after Secret Empire, several months before, or on a whole other Earth. Yes, that pains me to even suggest it.
Truth be told, as soon as I saw the Stepfords, I threw up my hands and just said “whatever” as I finished reading. It was time to stop wondering where and when this takes place and just try to enjoy the ride. While the writing was stellar and the art was beautiful, I’m not sure I can, with 100% certainty, say I enjoyed the ride. I’m still scratching my head a bit.
Our Rating: Yep?
Author: Marc Guggenheim
Artists: R. B. Silva, Adriano Di Benedetto, and Frank Martin
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Publish Date: 06/21/2017
Acquired via Purchase
I was also confused by this issue; I completely agree that the fight against the nanite-Sentinels seemed awfully epic for a one-title story.
I’m also not a fan of the artwork the last few issues. Thanks a lot for not being able to keep your Indonesian political references out of your work, Syaf! >:|