Hi, X-Fans. I know I usually kick these off with a jubilant “Welcome“, but I’m not feeling very happy right now. In fact, I’m downright angry.
As you no doubt remember, in late June, I put out an X Me Anything call for questions so you could all ask X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White questions. One last X-Men Monday hurrah before the Fall of X begins. Everyone was excited. And then, Orchis entered the picture — or more specifically, Frank Allen. Maybe you’re familiar with Frank’s work — he regularly covered all things mutants for Frontline Weekly.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
I have no idea where Jordan is or whether he’s even OK. I don’t even know what the future holds for X-Men Monday. (Right now, it’s not looking good.) What I do know is Frank showed up with a few heavily armed friends, asked to see all the questions you’d submitted, and told me which ones to ask.
This is our conversation.
This… is Orchis Monday.
AIPT: Hello, Frank.
Frank Allen: Hello there, Chris — thank you for having me. And hello readers, it’s a pleasure to be here. My name is Frank Allen and I work in the Culture/Narrative division of Orchis (or petal, as we cutely refer to them). It’s our job to do outreach to the public and keep good people like you informed about what’s going on around you. Far too often, especially lately, that means my job entails making sure the truth is known about the ongoing existential threat that mutantkind poses to humanity, not just through their mere existence (which their own intellectuals have postulated will lead to them replacing us) but through their actual direct actions which are putting us in the crosshairs, so to speak.
Honestly, when Orchis recruited me back when I was writing for Frontline Weekly, I had high hopes that I would be focused on spreading the good word about the awesome works Orchis has done on behalf of mankind to make the world a better place. Krakoa, however, has soured those plans as it has so many things.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: Right. Well, you wanted me to ask you questions, so let’s get this over with. X-Fan La Vonne was wondering how it feels finally putting the Krakoa era to rest. La Vonne was curious if you’re proud of what you’ve accomplished and if there’s something you would have done differently.
Frank: Pride is definitely not the word — would a man feel pride upon saving his family from a vicious attack? Relief would be more accurate — going from the immediate threat that their renegade, mutant-supremacist nation posed to us all to a place where we can go back to focusing on a better future for everyone. That’s a huge relief and one that I think all of mankind can share in with us. We’re all finally able to exhale after holding our breath for so long, waiting for that other concussive-force-blasting, focused-totality-wielding, gene-powered shoe to drop and the mutants finally decide they are just taking the world they have already told us they think of as theirs, not ours. Maybe Orchis should feel proud, but if anything, it’s pride in the fact that mankind is able to come together and stand in the face of the kind of overt fascism that Krakoa represents.
AIPT: X-Fan JeanFrost asked how the events of Fall of X might affect the wider Marvel Universe. Iron Man has been pulled into the X-Men’s world, but can we expect to see the likes of other Marvel heroes, such as Captain Marvel, Scarlet Witch, and Black Panther?
Frank: One thing we can say for certain regarding Tony Stark is that he is no role model. The man is disgraced — he lost the company that he founded and the Stark Sentinel program that the company has launched since Feilong became CEO just proves how much he COULD have been doing for the world if he were not so focused on his own ego. Is Tony really a friend of mutantkind? A weird coincidence that he only started caring about them when his business rival has success in stopping them. He’s not pro-mutant, he’s just anti-Feilong, and that’s just petty.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
He may have fallen into bed with mutantkind, so to speak, but any bedfellows of this narcissist will soon learn he is only out for himself. We can only pray that the former Iron Man does not use his influence over his Avenger comrades to turn them against the people of Earth and get them to promote the causes of mutants. But rest assured — if he does, Orchis will be there to protect you. We won’t let anyone — even our own former champions — help the mutants throw a yolk back over us.
AIPT: While you’re sharing your very opinionated takes on Tony, X-Fan Christie wanted to know why she should even pretend to care about Tony Stark and Emma Frost’s wedding. Christie said it’s obviously a publicity stunt.
Frank: I’m sorry… did you say Stark and Frost? Marrying? Ha ha ha ha… this is news to me, but if this is true… well, first of all, I am not sure who I feel more sorry for. Frost is going to finally learn what it’s like to be with someone who won’t have any room to fawn over her because he loves himself far too much to love anyone else, and Stark is about to be gelded. Why a fascist dictatrix and a ruined playboy would want to get together is completely beyond me. Sounds like a car wreck. Hopefully, both of them will be behind bars long before it can happen.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: X-Fan 1407 Greymalkin The Living Memory of the X-Men wanted to know why Krakoa has so much trouble getting on the same page but Orchis has little to no issues.
Frank: A great question and one that I think reveals the inherent corruption baked into their very society. Orchis is a group of people coming together to engage in a shared purpose — the protection of Homo Sapiens Sapiens. Krakoa, on the other hand, is a society based on the idea of mutant supremacy, an idea that falls apart once you realize that every mutant who is a part of it believes themselves to be the most supreme of the supreme, that his or her goals are the ones that most need to be followed.
Look at their governing body! A former assassin, her son, himself recently gone assassin, a religious nut, a vampire woman, a former terrorist, a teenaged gun nut, and a few who ran a sex club… and that only includes the current ones. At least THREE of their council’s former members have been openly pro-genocide. The Sinister timeline showed us clearly what happens in a world where Krakoa is ascendant — their tentative peace with one another descends into inter-council warfare on a galactic scale for literal centuries. The universe was torn to shambles. In the face of that… how could Orchis not unite in a common cause?
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: Clearly, you’re truly devoted to this cause. I’m curious, do you have a favorite member of Orchis?
Frank: You know, I would have to say it’s Nimrod. He may not look it for those who do not know him, but he is an incredibly polite individual who has impressed me both in his emotional maturity (something you don’t expect from an artificial intelligence-based robotic entity) and in his complete dedication to the furthering of humankind. When humanity reaches its final destiny, it will be in large part due to the efforts of Nimrod and, of course, his brilliant creator, Doctor Alia Gregor. It’s a tragic story, the creation of Nimrod — Doctor Gregor was only ever spurred on to complete the Nimrod project as a means to deal with her grief when a mutant strike team viciously murdered her husband, Erasmus Mendel. Had the mutants been less vicious in their pursuit of dominance, they would not have inspired what will likely be the key to their downfall. Ironic.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: What’s Nimrod like when he’s not hunting mutants?
Frank: Here’s a factoid about him — he makes a lovely pot of tea. He doesn’t partake, naturally, but his brewing is exquisite — he knows just how hot the water needs to be for peak taste. He also provides milk without judgment.
AIPT: Former mutant, current cyborg Moira MacTaggert appears all in on Orchis. But in her quieter moments, do you think Moira regrets any of her recent actions against mutantkind?
Frank: Does Moira regret turning away from the people who, after she did everything for her entire lifetime to help them find a better place in the world, cast her aside in the quest for complete selfishness? No, I think not. If anything, she regrets not seeing the light sooner, not realizing whose side her former comrades were really on when it was possible for her to take back her humanity. No offense to our AI allies here in Orchis, but as we are all united in siding with humankind, I don’t think they would disagree that she would have been better off being able to stay human rather than needing to resort to a robotic body.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: X-Fan SatYOUR9 said mutants appear to be scattered during Fall Of X. While we know where some will be, there still seem to be a lot unaccounted for. Will we still get glimpses of mutants’ locations apart from the “main” players of the event?
Frank: Have no doubt that we in Orchis will be rooting out every single mutant no matter where they may hide. The Stark Sentinels are equipped with the absolute cutting-edge in mutant-detection technology. Hiding in the sewers, running away to different countries, even using their own technology to hide their genes from us — Orchis will use everything in our power, technological, political, and yes, cultural, to find them. To that end — please make note of the phone number you see on the flyers we’ve posted: if you have contact with a mutant or even a suspected mutant, do not hesitate to text or call.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: X-Fan Emma realizes questions about Hellion are an X-Men Monday running gag (because he’s amazing), but has there been any talk lately regarding his even more amazing love interest Wind Dancer?
Frank: My sources indicate that the last time Wind Dancer was seen, she was working for X-Corp under the wing of Monet St. Croix. A while before that, she had been in the dimension sometimes referred to as the “Mojoverse” where she’d voluntarily been killed for the purposes of obtaining ratings. While that speaks incredibly lowly of the morals of both her herself and that other dimension, if she knows what is good for her, she will return there — Earth is not going to be a welcoming place to people like her for much longer.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: X-Fan PolarIceHavok said could you PLEASE give some non-spoilery but *encouraging* words on the Fall of X (and beyond?) futures of Polaris, Iceman, and Havok?
Frank: Yes — I can say with complete confidence that we will be able to keep you safe from all of these terrorists.
Polaris has, I know, been missing following what I have heard is a depression she entered after the death of her father, the infamous terrorist and human-hater, Magneto — we may not know her whereabouts right now, but rest assured that we’d been preparing for needing to face Magneto, which is why the Stark Sentinels are fully magnet resistant — when she reappears, she will be no threat to them.
Iceman is a special target — as one of the so-called “Omega-Level Mutants” (a name they give themselves to show, yet again, their focus on who is better than who), we have specific plans in place for going up against him and preventing him from enacting Mutantkind’s terrible agenda.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Havok… well, Havok is a unique case as he is currently a resident of the Limbo Embassy, a fully recognized nation (to the extent another dimension can be called a nation) with which relations are currently stable. As long as they continue to offer this fugitive sanctuary, there is little we can do. If, however, he were to encroach on U.S. soil we would of course proceed to take him down with extreme prejudice as someone as dangerous as he is would demand.
AIPT: Very encouraging words. X-Fan Wiccan said that with all the new X-titles being mini-series, it seems like Fall of X is a transitional period. What can you tease about what’s coming next without spoilers?
Frank: I think the branding “Fall of X” is not necessarily the one I would want to use. A Fall could imply being followed by a rise. Or by the cyclical winter and then rebirth. These are not things that Orchis is planning to allow to happen. To the extent that this is a fall, it’s the kind where you reach terminal velocity because it’s so far and so long, and there is no recovery possible. Sorry — that sounded a bit grim when I say it like that. It’s important to remember we’re talking about a species of people whose plan is to eradicate us and our way of life entirely. It’s important that there be no coming back from this.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: Finally, Frank, this is a column for X-Fans. It’s no secret X-Fans don’t care for Orchis very much. What are they missing? What do you think is the public’s biggest misconception about your organization?
Frank: For some reason, there is a perception out there — spread, I think, by mutants and mutant sympathizers — that we at Orchis are an anti-mutant organization. We’re not — if it were up to us, humans and mutants would live peacefully side by side as we had for many years in the time before Krakoa. We’re not anti-mutant at all, we’re just pro-human… and with Krakoa making mutants so violently ANTI-human, we have no choice but to step up and meet the challenge head-on. As I said — if not for the choices mutants made, if not for that fateful day when Charles Xavier reached into every mind on Earth without our permission and told us that they had changed our world on their own whims, Orchis would be able to focus on climate change, or world poverty, or one of the other numerous dangers out there. But until the mutant threat is dealt with, the threat is too pressing. I think we can all hope that someday soon, we can move past this and onto the other problems around us.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: OK. And readers, here are a few eXclusive preview images Frank wanted me to share of… sigh, “the heroes of Orchis.”
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
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I’m sorry for all this, X-Fans. And… I think I see Judas Traveller coming this way. This is normally where I’d say, “Until next time, stay exceptional,” but I’m not sure there’ll be a next time. No matter what happens, don’t just stay exceptional — be more than exceptional. It’s what we need right now.
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