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Oh Baby, That is a Sweet Multiple Man Cover
I am very excited that Multiple Man, my all-time favorite comic book character, is finally going to return to ongoing comics next month with X-Corp. The real and proper Jamie Madrox hasn’t been in comics since 2013, when X-Factor ended! Then Marvel killed him in 2016 and then replaced him with a surviving duplicate in 2018. It’s been a long, horrible road for Multiple Man fans.
But X-Corp is coming. And in July, we’re going to get this sweet cover by artist David Aja for issue #3.
Oh baby. That’s just…ooo…I’m getting chills here. David Aja is an amazing artist. He was the guy behind the Hawkeye series that I still consider to be the best comic book series of the 2010s, and some of those covers are great!
Here’s the issue blurb for X-Corp #3.
He’s everywhere you want to be. He’s never not in the office. And his direct reports always fall in line. How does X-CORP meet their nearly impossible quotas with maximum synergy and minimal bandwidth? They’ve got Dr. Jamie Madrox, and he’s the world’s best boss.
I love it! He’s a doctor now? Sounds damn good to me! I can’t wait to see this series live up to the hype of the cover art.
And that’s it! Marvel revealed this cover in their July solicitations yesterday and I just had to share. It’s choice.
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Strong Guy is Not Going to be in the X-Men, You Cowards
Strong Guy has lost the vote for membership in the X-Men. That’s garbage. It was audience choice! We voted! And you people failed him! How incredibly disappointing. Marvel let us know with this fun mini-comic ahead of the Hellfire Gala.
At least the mini-comic is funny. And it features both Strong Guy and Multiple Man! That’s a major plus in my book. Still, what a disappointment. I should probably be upset with myself most of all. I didn’t do enough campaigning and glad-handing.
Also, did Jumbo Carnation not come up with one of those gorgeous outfits for Strong Guy? Or Is that sleeveless tuxedo what Jumbo came up with? Double also, they’re using Multiple Man as a waiter but didn’t get him any sort of party outfit at all? Just his classic uniform? This is the Hellfire Gala, people!
This great little mini-comic is by Zeb Wells, Mike Henderson and Rachelle Cheri.
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The X-Corp Comic is Finally Coming!
I have been waiting for this comic since the start of Dawn of X! It’s X-Corp! Writer Tini Howard is going to use Angel, Monet and — l’gasp! — Multiple Man to explore the business side of Krakoa! This comic has been promised for a long time, and now Marvel has finally made an official announcement! X-Corp arrives in May!
Marvel had this to say to sum up the series:
The deals have been made. Mutantkind is safe on Krakoa. As the Reign of X continues, what are the wants of the mutants who have everything? Leading the charge is X-CORPORATION, headed by CXOs Monet St. Croix and Warren Worthington, a duo as cutthroat and ruthless in the boardroom as they are on a battlefield. But X-Corp needs more than just its figureheads. As Monet sets out to staff their team with some of the brightest and most deviant minds in mutantkind, Warren finds himself in a tense confrontation with one of Krakoa’s first allies who wants to know the truth: on Angel’s wings, will X-Corp crash or soar?
Tini Howard mentions in the article that the book kept getting pushed back, especially with her working on X of Swords. She says it’s gonna be worth the wait, and I believe her! Artwork will be by Alberto Foche, and you can see an upcoming page right here.
I don’t know about you, but does that look like Matt Rocks down in the corner?
Multiple Man has long been hinted at as being a part of this series, and he joined Angel and Monet in that Empyre crossover that supposedly served as a precursor to X-Corp. And who better to join a business-minded comic than the Madrox dupe that went off to Los Angeles to become a high-priced entertainment lawyer?
You don’t remember Matt Rocks? He was a supporting character in one of Charles Soule’s She-Hulk comics, circa 2014! That would be a fun cameo! And hopefully regular Jamie Madrox gets to join in as well.
I am very excited for X-Corp and very excited to finally see Multiple Man with a reoccurring role in the Krakoa-era!
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My Ongoing Investigation to Determine the Truth of Multiple Man on Krakoa
A man needs a mission. What else do we have in this life but the urge to accomplish a goal? Why even keep this blog going after all these years considering it never became the biggest, most interesting blog in the world? I guess I just like having stuff to do. There’s my Strong Guy Watch, chronicling every random, minor appearance of Strong Guy. And now I’m going to dub this my Multiple Man Mystery!
Multiple Man is alive and well on Krakoa…but is he the real Multiple Man? New evidence arrived this week in Empyre: X-Men #1, the tie-in to Empyre. For the first time in Dawn of X, Multiple Man has speaking lines.
He’s also wearing his modern costume, which is mostly just a jacket over a stylized T-shirt. I really like the modern costume.
So in this issue, Multiple Man joins up with Angel, Monet and Magik to investigate one of the gateways on Genosha, with the lot of them getting wrapped up in the whole Empyre thing. Multiple Man is mostly used to help clean up the gateway.
And that’s it so far! We’ll find out more as the story continues.
But here’s the big deal: not too long ago, Multiple Man was killed off. He was eventually replaced by one of this dupes, who had reduced powers and just wasn’t the same guy. This duplicate starred in an actual Multiple Man-titled comic book mini-series, the only comic to ever bear that name, so it felt like a big deal.
When all the mutants were resurrected on Krakoa as part of Dawn of X, Multiple Man came with them…but which Multiple Man? Did they resurrect the original? Or did they resurrect the replacement? I’d like to think it was the original, but considering the weird retcons and continuity flubs inherent in the replacement storyline, I wouldn’t put it past the current X-Office to just not care to get Multiple Man right.
Hence this new Multiple Man Mystery segment! I will track every appearance the character makes on Krakoa to hopefully determine, once and for all, whether or not this is the original Multiple Man back among the living. It’s important to me.
Also, he’s worn a different outfit in every appearance so far. That part is kinda weird…to the point that it’s gotta be intentional, right?
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Strong Guy Watch: Everybody’s Partying!
When it comes to comic books, one of my favorite things to do is watch for cameos from my favorite obscure characters. It’s one of the ways I built up my fandom in the 90s: searching out back issues where my favorite characters randomly showed up and had a line or two.
This is the entire basis behind my ongoing Strong Guy Watch series. I’m a big fan of the Strong Guy character, and for the past several years, he’s been making random cameos here and there. It’s fun to keep an eye out for the big lug.
Here he is at the recent Crucible
With Dawn of X bringing back every single mutant character who ever lived, the Watch has quadrupled to include every favorite mutant I’ve ever had! Multiple Man, Maggott, Stacy X, Abyss, Blob, Mimic and so many more! None of them are starring characters in any of the Dawn of X comics, so I’ve got to stay eagle-eyed for when any of them might pop up at any time!
This week’s X-Force #9 features the best yet showcase of a bunch of my favorite characters! Everybody’s hanging out at The Green Lagoon!
Click to enlarge
Obviously we’ve got Strong Guy, who seems to be macking with Selene at the top middle of the picture. We’ve also got a couple Multiple Men hanging out on the bottom. He’s still wearing his classic costume, so the ongoing debate of a new Multiple Man costume remains ongoing. Writer Benjamin Percy continues to be the only Dawn of X creator to use Multiple Man, even if it’s only for quick, wordless cameos. Also, of note: this is the first comic book panel in literal years that features Multiple Man, Strong Guy and Wolfsbane…even though none of them are hanging out together.
This image is also the first reveal of what Blob is doing in Dawn of X: bartending!
I’ve been eagerly anticipating the Blob since his star turn in Age of X-Man last year. Bartending is a fairly good use of the character and I hope to see him get some attention soon.
We’ve also got Maggott canoodling with M at the bar, so that’s neat! And the rest of the scene in the actual comic features quick appearances from Avalanche and Toad!
I love panels like this in Dawn of X. This is a smorgasbord of mutant cameos in a way we’ve never seen in comics before! I hope they keep it up every now and then.
Still no sign of Mimic…
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