Warning: Contains spoilers forUncanny X-Men #5!!
Mutantkind has never had it easy, and theX-Menare back to square one afterthe fall of Krakoa. Any reprieve from persecution and hardship over the years has been short-lived.As Jubilee gears up to join her friends in yet another battle, she perfectly encapsulates the endless bleak reality for mutants: there’s no room for fun when you’re forced to be a soldier.
Uncanny X-Men #5, by Gail Simone, David Marquez, Matthew Wilson, and Clayton Cowles, picks up with theX-Men’s battle against Sarah Gauntand her followers. Jubilee arrives to help her friends and the young mutants newly under their protection, but she doesn’t enter the scene with a bang so much as tired resolve.
That’s the battle cry for all mutantkind after Krakoa, as they try yet again to overcome the odds that have been stacked against them their whole lives.Jubilee admits that all she wants to do is dance, sing, and be with her friends.Yet such small joys remain out of the X-Men’s reach, perhaps more than ever, as their fight is never-ending.
The X-Men Can’t Escape Having To Be Soldiers, & That Endless Cycle Feels Hopeless
Uncanny X-Men#5 – Written By Gail Simone; Art By David Marquez; Color By Matthew Wilson; Lettering By Clayton Cowles
Jubilation Lee debuted as a self-proclaimed “mall rat” inUncanny X-Men#244, using her energy plasmoids to entertain fellow mall goers. It was juvenile rule-breaking, but it put a target on her back. She founda home among the X-Men, but that meant training to become just like the ones who’d saved her life. It’s a common story among young mutants. To survive, they look after one another, and that means fighting. Jubilee’s lament that none of them can have “rainbows in the sky"fully encompasses the mutant struggle, as there’s no choice but to trade dancing for combat.
Krakoa’s destruction plunged Jubilee and her fellow X-Men back into their ceaseless war, continuing the cycle that traps the whole franchise and every mutant within it.
Krakoa was the peak of mutant achievement. After lifetimes of being rejected, ostracized, and attacked by humanity, they created a world apart from them. Though the mutant nation certainly had its drawbacks, it still gave anyone with the X-Gene a chance to experience peace and safety in a way the human world didn’t offer. There were still battles to fight, but there was also time to be together, create, and have fun. Krakoa’s destruction plunged Jubileeand her fellow X-Menback into their ceaseless war, continuing the cycle that traps the whole franchise and every mutant within it.
Every Member Of The X-Men Wants A Life They’ll Never Be Able To Achieve
To be born with the X-Gene is to be locked, automatically, into a war for your own survival; that Krakoa could rise and fall to such devastating effect should be proof enough, but the very issue Jubilee made her first appearance offers even further evidence. Before the team saves Jubilation,Allison Blaire, the heroic pop star Dazzler, questions where in the “loop” mutants actually get to live their lives. Decades later, the answer seems to be never. There is always another mutant to save, and Jubilee and theX-Menhave no choice but to stage the rescue at the expense of themselves.
“He’s Jealous I Got Jubilee”: X-Men’s Writers Go to War Over Which of the New Era’s Teams Is Most Powerful
A playful war of words between X-Men writers Gail Simone & Jed MacKay kickoff a spirited debate over which new X-title has the stronger roster.
Uncanny X-Men#5is available now from Marvel Comics.
X-Men
The X-Men franchise, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, centers on mutants with extraordinary abilities. Led by the powerful telepath Professor Charles Xavier, they battle discrimination and villainous mutants threatening humanity. The series explores themes of diversity and acceptance through a blend of action, drama, and complex characters, spanning comics, animated series, and blockbuster films.
