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my last x-men rec, i promise. victor lavalle, writer of the award-winning ballad of black tom and professor at columbia university, explores the question of incarceration in the mutant nation-state of krakoa and of course in our real world. krakoa is meant to be an island without a prison. however, if you break one of its three laws, you are put in The Pit, which was only meant as a temporary measure but had stayed longer than intended. enter sabretooth. sabretooth has committed the most heinous acts a person can commit. he is unrepentant, bloodthirsty and sadistic. however, he broke one of the three krakoan laws (kill no human) when the nation was founded but before the laws were founded. the ruling council of krakoa still chose to imprison him in The Pit. he killed a man before it was considered illegal, and he considers his imprisonment therefore unjust. victor lavalle said on the cerebro podcast "the whole point is he is irredeemable, AND the system we have is also irredeemable." it's a book about prison abolition. so how does lavalle explore this? a prison break comic. lavalle also wrote the direct sequel, sabretooth and the exiles, which deals with racism in medical history. he's a great writer.
May 4, 2024
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over the past few years, the mutants of marvel have had their own nation-state, krakoa. it's been the best period for x-men since the 90s. unfortunately, it's ending now, and on a bit of a whimper too, but at its peak it tackled morally difficult questions about nation-building and what a hero looks like in this new world for the x-men. i think it would be a wonderful project for anyone to look up the reading order of all the books and just read them, and i could give a half dozen recs from this era, but my favorite of all the books is hellions.
krakoa is a nation without a prison. it is also a nation that has, through immense political favors, granted criminal forgiveness and immunity for all mutants around the globe. even the mutants who have committed heinous crimes against humanity are allowed to live on krakoa as long as they abide by its laws, a chance at rehabilitation not offered by the human world. but can the most despicable mutants be redeemed by being given this once-in-a-lifetime chance? enter the hellions, a rehabilitation program for mutants whose powers make them inherently violent and destructive. can being sent on black-ops missions where they are allowed to let loose their powers for good make them productive members of society? or were they always doomed? this comic about a group of d-list x-men villains outsold the avengers. nanny outsold the avengers! it's not just a great story about redemption, but also it's really fun.
May 4, 2024
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i grew up reading this comic and recently reread it it rocked. this comic by joe quesada and joshua middleton, which was tragically discontinued, follows the lives of young mutants who reside on the lower east side. i wont spoil it but i will say that they do molly and work as dominatrixes. i think marvel should let harmony korine direct a movie of this series and cast me as x23.
Jul 21, 2022
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i know who all of you are and i've diagnosed what's wrong with you
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