It’s an all new Giant-Sized X-Men! This time with science experiment, master thief, and fake Frenchman extraordinaire Fantomex! In this issue, we look at Fantomex’s history and borderline obsession with the extratemporal World in which he was born with Giant Size X-Men: Fantomex #1 by Rod Reis and Jonathan Hickman.
Vishal Gullapalli: I’ve been excited for this issue for a VERY long time. Fantomex is one of my favorite additions that Morrison brought to the X-Men, and Hickman’s got a clear line of inspiration from Grant Morrison, making him a great fit for the character. Plus, Rod Reis is one of the best artists currently working. Seeing him on a book entirely about this character is a dream come true. But even with all this anticipation, I legitimately did not know just how good it’d be.
Ari Bard: I also had a great time despite not knowing at all what I was getting into. Having only read New X-Men, I know the foundation of Fantomex, but not much else, so I was a little worried. It seems as though that’s where Hickman drew most of his inspiration from, however, and Rod Reis’s art really blew me away. It’s hard to even start anywhere but the beginning, and look at where Hickman picked up with Fantomex’s character.
Under The Dome
VG: And boy, did Hickman pick up from the very beginning. This is the closest we’ve gotten to an origin story for Fantomex – might I say this is an origin story for Fantomex. We know what he’s told us during Morrison and Chris Bachalo’s “Assault on Weapon Plus”, we know about the World, and we know about Ultimaton. But Hickman, in what was honestly a fantastic move, added just a little twist on top of that. Two babies were born identical in an experiment designed to have as much variation as possible, and so one of them was thrown out. One of these babies became Fantomex, the other grew up to be Ultimaton. I love this revelation, and I love how Hickman writes scientist jerks. It’s one of his best qualities as a writer.
AB: I definitely agree, although I think you can take “scientist” out of the equation, and it’s still true. Still, they threw out a live baby with such impressive nonchalance. In doing so, however, Hickman tied together a bunch of loose ends that were left dangling throughout Fantomex’s history in some spectacular ways, but I think my favorite part was how much purpose he gave the character. That’s not to say he had none before, but I always got the sense that, in the same way it took Wolverine awhile to figure out who he was other than an experiment, Fantomex had barely discovered that for himself either. The difference here is that it took Wolverine decades in some respects, and it took Fantomex about a single issue.
VG: Plus, he’s known about it his entire life! I love idea that Fantomex, spurned by his makers, attacked their fortress once a decade just to see what they were up to and whether his twin needed to leave. There’s a level of sincerity and warmth to it that’s almost out of character for him, but the way this story is told makes it work so well. Charlie [Ed. note: Cluster-7] cares about this one single thing, the rest of the world (and The World) be damned. I also am enthralled by the constant glimpses into the progression of The World that we see, it’s made it even more interesting than it already was.
AB: One of my favorite beats of the issue was, “Well, I may just never go back” … “I’m going back.” It landed so well and perfectly encapsulated his inability to stay away from the place that never gave him a chance. I think this issue is also very re-readable. On the first read through I really just wanted to soak in the new information about Fantomex, but later readings allowed me to focus more on the emotional weight too. At different points it feels purposeful, silly, and heartwarming; sometimes all three at the same time. I think it retools, not only Charlie’s physical history, but his tonal one as well.
VG: That one splash page of Fantomex deciding not to go back for a decade was great, but the beat that really stuck out to me was right before, when Ultimaton tells him not to come back – it felt incredibly painful even to me. This person that Charlie last saw as a child is grown up and telling him to leave and never come back and it’s heartbreaking. The relationship between Fantomex and Ultimaton has quickly become one of my favorite parts of Fantomex’s character, and I have an inkling that we’re going to be seeing Ultimaton sooner rather than later.
However, Fantomex and Ultimaton are not the only characters in this issue, even if they’re the most important ones.
The World In Your Eyes
AB: Alright, I am going to say it right now. I need a Humonganauts miniseries. I would say emotipool all by themselves, but I feel like that’s asking a little too much. Nevertheless, I’m not sure I’ve seen a better team of throwaway mercenaries, and bonus points if they’re actually named after the obscure Scooby Doo reference for no apparent reason.
VG: I’m honestly wondering if they’re a riff on Deadpool 2, which introduced X-Force just to kill all of them except Domino and make fun of Shatterstar. Because all they do is die. [Ed. note: Which itself was a reference to X-Force #116] But even then, I’m so hyped up on them – Fantomex calls them better than the Avengers, Defenders, Champions, and Thunderbolts (confirming this takes place after Onslaught), and even if he was lying to boost their egos before their predictable demise I choose to take his words at face value. Give me a Humonganauts book NOW Marvel. You’d basically be printing money! I also love the idea that Fantomex has ties to the Howling Commandos and the Hellfire Club – it adds to his mysterious nature in a way that reminds me of Wolverine before they decided to publish 2 miniseries and an ongoing series about his origin. Hopefully we don’t get that for Fantomex, because I’m loving these snippets and implications of a much larger backstory than we can imagine.
AB: He’s definitely the Carmen Sandiego of the X-Men universe except once a decade, the answer is always “breaking into The World.” Howling Commandos to Hellfire Club to Humonganauts is not only an alliteration, but also a hilarious escalation that demonstrates how far Fantomex is willing to go for answers. Interestingly enough, I’m not sure he even recognizes the questions he’s supposed to be asking anymore. We get hints of this towards the end, but Charlie seems to be on the verge of realizing that he doesn’t even know why he’s breaking into the World anymore, as Ultimaton barely recognizes him and vice versa. An important question moving forwards is, what does Fantomex do now? The biggest mystery of them all, however, does not have anything to do with Fantomex’s origin, but rather, who is that schmuck in the hazmat suit traveling with a bunch of X-Men. He has no idea what he’s in for.
VG: The AIM soldier person is so screwed. Cypher calls that out in hilarious fashion, and I can’t imagine he survives the horrors that The World will reveal. Something I’ve been thinking about the issue a lot is that every scene transition says that a decade has passed since the last attempt to breach, and it was confusing to me for a bit – clearly this did not all take place over 50 years. Especially since the attempt with the Humonganauts mentioned the Thunderbolts, placing it after Onslaught, which could never have taken place a decade before New X-Men! Ahem I’ll take my continuity nerd glasses off now. Basically, what I’m trying to get at is that clearly a decade did not pass in the Marvel Universe. But do you know what incredibly important location’s entire premise is about manipulating the flow of time? Yeah, while each attempt may have been only a few in-universe years apart, a decade passed in The World each time, which is a fascinating idea that I want to see more of. It reminds me of the part in Interstellar when Matthew McConaughey cries at these time capsules of his children spread out so far apart, depicting how their lives changed. Fantomex is Matthew McConaughey. Title the piece that Zack, I dare you. [Ed. note: no]
AB: This is very interesting to think about, as something very funky is going on. I’m not sure how Fantomex ages, or what that process looks like, but theoretically, a decade in the World after Fantomex was thrown out, he is an adult and tries to jump back in. It’s also why he enters and sees a kid that looks about ten years old. I’m not sure if aging and time are disjointed in The World or if there’s some reasoning behind this, but I see The World as having a big place in the future of mutantkind.
VG: I really agree. I’m remembering when one of the prevailing theories pre-HoXPoX was that the X-Men were going to live in The World. [Ed. note: as opposed to the best theory about them living on Mars] Honestly more than anything else I am fascinated to see what happens less than a decade (in The World) after Ultimaton apparently dies. What has this place become? AIM is apparently in charge of entry again, so what are they up to? I’m excited to see whatever happens in the final Giant-Size issue, although I do wish we got more of Reis drawing The World. He’s fantastic, and really what made this issue shine.
AB: I need one of those outlandish theories that makes everyone mad so here we go. The World sure does seem like a good place to hide someone important… like Moira. Anywho, AIM is definitely an organization for us to keep our eyes on, and I hope Reis will get his hands on The World again in the future. The best part of these Giant-Size issues is that Hickman lets go of a lot of what tends to bog him down and uses the Marvel method to let the artists shine.
Rod Reis, All-Star
VG: The Marvel method has been a blessing and a curse on this series as a whole, because it specifically means the issues can’t be done as tightly as Hickman tends to do them, which can work in their favor or to their detriment depending on the artist and their compatibility with Hickman. And if their work on New Mutants is to be recalled, Hickman and Reis are incredibly compatible, as their styles fit each other incredibly well. There’s a sense of dynamism and fun throughout this issue, that while it’s essentially the same scene several times in a row with slight differences, each one feels distinct and memorable from the others. Reis’s style feels reminiscent of Bill Sienkiewicz without feeling derivative, and that’s honestly the highest compliment I can give him as an artist.
AB: I wholeheartedly agree, and that praise, while high, is definitely accurate. Reis is able to mix Fantomex’s inherent sense of dynamic action with his mysterious and impressive style. Is it weird that whenever I think of the character, he’s either pulling off unreasonable high leaps from left to right across multiple panels like a video-game character in a side-scrolling platformer or ostentatiously opening double doors way too big for anyone? These are very specific images but I feel like Reis is able to show why they are inherent to Fantomex. He moves too fast to be contained in a conventional panel and has too much ego to not stand out. Just like Fantomex, Reis knows when to be clean and when to get messy, and the more I talk about these visual choices, the more I’m convinced that this is the best Giant-Size issue by far.
VG: I wholeheartedly agree, with everything you’ve said here. Fantomex is constantly moving between panels in a way that just makes him feel like he’s more than the story being told. I want to specifically point out the colors, too – Reis makes The World look wild and wacky but still a real threat. I also love how Fantomex stands out in his white suit – in the first bit with the Howling Commandos, he commands your attention in nearly every panel as his all white suit looks like someone took an eraser to the page. I also want to point out that he’s wearing a slightly different outfit in every attempt – while the last one looks similar to what he wore with the Hellfire Club, there’s an X-belt buckle that distinguishes it. That’s not even getting into how Reis lays out the story, though – his layouts are incredible and each page looks different from the last. I love the 9 panel grids that exist just for the pages where Fantomex recruits suckers new sidekicks for his mission.
AB: There is so much turquoise and aquamarine used when portraying elements of The World, and I love it more than anything. Odd color choices that are meaningful and really stand out are a great way to get me to instantly love a book, and that’s exactly what this felt like. Both The World and Fantomex feel distinctly alien in different ways. Obviously The World stands apart from Earth, but Fantomex appears to have been bleached from that and never took the time to let pieces of Earth rub off on him. He’s exactly what you said Vishal, a blank page trying to figure out that which was erased. As more color is added to each uniform, you realize that he is slowly picking up pieces of community, even if he doesn’t consciously recognize it. The other very interesting page for me is the 12-panel grid that, to me, demonstrated that the Humongonauts needed a bit of extra convincing.
VG: Both of those are such good points! After he takes a decade off, Fantomex goes back to his blank canvas – he’s lost any sense of community he’s had, leaving his twin behind. It takes him working with the X-Men to ultimately find that sense of community – and explains just a bit more why he’s continued to work with them. I’m also wondering what’s up with how the Humonganauts enter The World – it’s just a miniature dome that Fantomex seemingly has the remote to. How’d he get that remote? I’m sure the answer is “He picked it up in between excursions” but I’m also wondering if that means Hickman’s setting something up….
AB: Alright so maybe my brain is just too connected to DC, but I think that’s where Hickman and Reis might be pulling from here. Ultimaton being Fantomex’s twin never seemed right to me until I realized that they were not twins but negatives. The entire book is built around that concept down to the color choices. We often alternate between a palette of earthy tans and browns and these turquoise and aquamarines, which are photo negatives of each other. Fantomex lives the life of an obsessed thief. He steals what he wants and continues to pursue a singular objective with planning and precision between the walls of these neat, white panel gutters. Ultimaton lives in a world of chaos and creation. He seems to plan nothing and generate everything and let it get as wild and out of control as he can. The borders in The World are haphazard black lines which could have been drawn by Ultimaton himself. Was Fantomex never welcome or did Ultimaton simply lose control of his creations? If Fantomex was not welcome, could it be because Ultimaton wanted to create unrestrained? Either way Ultimaton broke his world, and now Fantomex’s, in some ways, seems to be crumbling around him as well. If Hickman goes anywhere with this, I think Fantomex and Ultimaton will be brought together in some interesting ways, and now I’m more excited than ever.
X-Traneous Thoughts
- Hickman’s mad scientist dialogue really made me miss Manhattan Projects
- Can’t believe no one brought up the fact that baby Fantomex had a Sinister diamond drawn on his head
- I really need to ask Fantomex for laundry tips. How does he get those stains out of an all white costume?
- Fantomex mentions to the AIM scientist that he has no idea where the lies stop and where the truth begins – does this throw into question everything that we’ve learned about and from The World until now? Like, was everything Logan saw a lie?
- Krakoan teaser: Storm
- If you look closely you can see Wolverine making a
face:
Ari Bard is a huge comic fan studying Mechanical Engineering so he can finally figure out how the Batmobile works.
Vishal Gullapalli is highly opinionated and reads way too much.
