X-Men #5 by writer Jed MacKay, penciler Netho Diaz, inkers Sean Parsons and Livesay, colorists Marte Gracia and Fer Sifuentes-Sujo, and letterer Clayton Cowles shows what happened on the so-called “Iron Night” in which a Sentinel attacked their new home of Merle, Alaska, leading to the founding of the new team and their new headquarters.
This answers some of the lingering questions about the team, but it also reveals a shocking secret about the aftermath of Krakoa that could change everything for the X-Men, and the rest of mutantkind.
Spoilers ahead for X-Men #7
As shown in X-Men #5, the events of the “Iron Night” unfolded “X months ago,” as Cyclops and Magneto muse over the future of the X-Men while sharing cheap beers at the Summers cabin in Merle, Alaska. Their moment of relaxation is interrupted when a Wild Sentinel core leftover in the town’s decommissioned Sentinel factory activates, causing a Sentinel body to be built around the core out of metal and materials in the area.
Cyclops and Magneto engage the Sentinel as it seeks out mutants, laying waste to Merle as it goes. But the X-Men are more than prepared, as Magneto rips open the Sentinel’s metal shell with his powers, exposing the Wild Sentinel core. Cyclops takes it out with a single blast, rendering the Sentinel inert in its position standing over the town.
However, even with the Sentinel subdued, the danger isn’t over, as Magneto suddenly begins losing control of his powers, forcing Cyclops to knock him unconscious before he can unwittingly do any damage to the town.
Back in the present day, where the X-Men now make their headquarters in the Sentinel factory, we learn that Magneto is one of the first patients of a disease identified as R-LDS, Resurrection-Linked Degenerative Sickness, which is apparently a condition that can affect any mutant who was resurrected by The Five. It’s causing Magneto’s body to degenerate, and his powers to run the risk of going out of control whenever he uses them.
And though Hank McCoy is working on a cure, any mutant who was resurrected could develop the condition.
This is not the first mutant disease to have sprung up over the years. In the ’90s, there was the Legacy Virus, a man-made virus which targeted people with X-genes with fatal results. And more recently, in 2016, there was the M-Pox, a fatal mutant disease caused by contact with the Terrigen Mists, the substance that gives the Inhumans their powers. In both cases, a cure was eventually found, but not before many mutants died.
The story continues in December 4’s X-Men #8.
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