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The Star Section: Lifestyle Ad Value: RM 47,105 6-Jul-2021 Size : 936cm2 PR Value: RM 141,315

Party of a lifetime Party of a lifetime

The recent X-Men storyline Hellfire Gala is keeping Marvel superheroes and readers on their toes.

WORLDS OF WONDER

By ANDREW A. SMITH

THE party's over. Now comes the hangover. {Warning! Many spoilers ahead for recent issues of Marvel's X-Men titles!) The party in question is the Some of the Hellfire Gala, a high-fashion, mutants who elites-only soiree hosted by helped terra­ Marvel's mutants on the sentient form Mars are island Krakoa, based on the (from left) famous Met Gala. In a stunninj； . show of Marvel's confidence in the , narrative, Hellfire Gala ran through and . all of the publisher's 12 monthly X-Men titles in June, plus the 4A中晔 Planet-Size X-Men one-shot. And in so doing, changed the sta­ tus quo of the entire Marvel super­ hero line. Before I explain that, though, I need to explain this "Krakoa" busi­ ness for those who don't read X-Men books regularly. And the story of Where We Are Now and How It Came to Be is, like all things X-Men, ridiculously complicated. The TLDR is that Earth's mutants have entered into a symbiosis with the living island Krakoa, first intro­ duced in Ciant-Size X-Men #1 in 1975. All of Earth's mutants - heroes and villains alike - have resettled on Krakoa, currently in the South Atlantic, declaring it a sovereign nation. Knikoa plants from which various amaz­ ing drugs can be made, while all I citizenry of Krakoa provide a smid­ gen of mutant energy for the The new X-Men team will feature One clever aspect of the story was in another Uncanny X-Men #1 title the creation of special outfits for island, which feeds on precisely next month. all the mutant attendees. chat. (At this point, I should explain A new team of X-Men was revealed during the Hellfire Gala. - Photos: The Nine Reincarnations of Moira For one thing, they were on you think that will 宮。over? MacTajpjert and How the X-Men Mars. The fallout over Mars/Arakko Defeated Death, but I won't over­ For another, they weren't fire* isn"( the only problem exposed by load your brain with that today. make mischief Etouble duh. Shes not the Phoenix works. They were a light show cre­ the Hellfire Sa^a. It's become obvi­ You're welcome.). Each book featured its regular any more, but she's on O.G. X-Man ated by the X-Men terraforming the ous that Amahl Farouk, the In the meantime, Krakoan won­ cast, depicting how they interacted and an Omega-level lelepath and red planet. , is using the clemen* der drugs are the island society's with the party (or didn't) These telekinetic. Actually it's not the X*Men. Not cy granted all mutant supervilla iris economic backbone. Some extend various viewpoints kept the con­ > : Triple duh, especially precisely. Several familial* faces on Krakoa to corrupt some of the human life, others cure cept fresh issue to issue. given her popularity on the car­ were involved in the project, like younger mutants. Speaking of Alzheimer's disease, and so forth. One clever aspect was the crea­ toon. Magneto (who boosted the magiie- which, it's also becoming apparent There is great demand for these tion of special outfits for all (he > : Not the one you tasphere and sped up Mars' rota­ that younger mutants - with no drugs, of course, but the Krakoans mutant attendees, fashion state- know, Logan*» clone/dau^hter tion, increasing gravity), Iceman real purpose and noihing to do - will only sell them to countries that mems (and somerintes questions) Laura Kinney is also ca向m herself (who provided, as you'd expect, a are ripe for succumbing to the recognise Krakoa's sovereignly. A which would be at home at a Wolverine these days. The original lot of ice) and Storm (who dark side. idle hands, and all that. black market has sprung up to sell catwalk (and almost nowhere else). remains the star of X-Force and his launched weather systems). But And worse, and the drugs to non-compliant , always a fashion own book. mosc of the exotic needs were filled (Professor Xaviers son, who nations, but the Hellfire plale, had no less than three ou(- > Synch: Not an especially well- by a new group of mutants from recendy had his own TV show) Corporation, run by Eiruna wWhi(e Qts, all of them as daring as her known character. He can ape the Arakko, who have taken up resi­ have discovered 山at the spirit of Queen” Frost, secretly runs that, usual cleavage-baring costuines. powers of any nearby mutant, and dence. is alive and well on too. The muiants. in addition to While not outsiders, the Hellions spent hundreds of years in a paral­ OR 1 叫ess I have to explain Krakoa, resurrected by unknown having their own country, are now also crashed the party. If you're not lel universe with Laura where time Arakko now. Here% the short ver­ means and up to no good. crazy rich. a regular X-Men reader, you mi^ht passes differently and the two fell sion: Arakko is formerly four-fifths Gah! Now I have to explain So, to celebrate their success, not know most of these characters in love. He remembers it; she of Krakoa, lang exiled to magical Onslaught! MarveFs mutants threw a party. -outside of , who at least doesn't. Long story. "Otherwarld," where its mutant OK, he's a bad guy who stirred Diplomatic representatives of appeared in the cartoons, and > ： A Japanese pyrokinet- population has grown to millions up some trouble in the 1990s. But friendly nations were invited, as , who showed up briefly in ic with a prickly personality. He and formed an aggressive warrior more than that, he's sort of a well as some from nations who are X-Men: , played by was an X-Man for, like, 30 seconds culture. Arakko and its millions Xavier/Magneto combo pkile. not so friendly, but may be per­ Olivia Munn. But it was fun seeing in 1975. He'll probably last about returned to Earth in the recent X of Dr. Nemesis, selMescribed Man suaded. Some , like Iron them all get embarrassingly as long this lime, because nobody Swords crossover. The/ll be the of Science, said Onslaught is "a Man and , attend­ smashed, because what's funnier likes him. ones living on Mars (thankfully not unique etheric chimera created ed. Actual IRL celebrities like than drunk superheroes? The team will consist of seven here), which the/ve renamed from the combined psychic profiles Eminem, Conan O'Brien and Well, monkeys. I guess. Stephen members, and Marvel allowed the “Planet ArakkoM. of and Magneto. It is Megan Rapinoe can be seen in Colbert. Mon。Python and the Holy fans to pick the seventh slot. Got all that? Moving on. one of the most potent adversaries crowd scenes, and Marvel Grail. And abouT 100 other things. (In-srory U was rhe murams them­ So now the Arakko mutants have mutantkind has ever faced. It Cinematic Universe inastennind But still, it was funny. selves who held an election.) The declared their planet the capital of seems driven most pointedly by Kevin Feige even had some speak­ Meanwhile, in X-Men proper, a winner was: the solar system. They*ve estab­ whatever unconscious desire the ing lines. new team was announced. (There > : Ma仲eto® magnetic lished to all the major powers in two men had, or have, for domuna- Krakoa's ruling body, the Quiet hasn't been a team with that name daughter and Havok's ex-girlfriend. the galaxy — the K^ee府krull unity tion. And its boundless power is Council, expected some party since the move to Krakoa in 2019, while they would be the climax empire, the Kymellians, the Shi'Ar restricted only by its access to sus­ crashers, and enlisted X-Force an absence now corrected.) for most superhero-oriented par­ and more — to deal only with tenance." (especially Wolverine) as bouncers. Marvel announced that the team ties, the new team announcement Planet Arakko for all things involv­ Well, that doesn't sound at all They weren't disappointed, as would indude： was just the warm-up. For the cli­ ing the Sol system. good. So drink up, X-Men. Ilie and Fenris (broth- > : Duh. Mr. X-Man him­ max, the promised So, at a stroke, Earth and ail Hellfire Gala may be the last party er-and-sister team Andrea and self. “fireworks." But they weren't just humans have been relegated to you have for a while. - Tribune Andreas von Strucker) tried to > Jean "Marvel Girl" Grey: ordinary fireworks. second-class status. How well do News Service