The Hellfire Gala is upon us, and as Marvel Comics reveals who has won the X-Men fan vote, the publisher has simultaneously released several mini-comics illustrating some of the X-Rejects’ reactions to their loss. Among other rejects the mutants Avalanche, Gorgon, Micromax, and Gentle all lost the fan vote and predictably are not pleased with their losses!
Starting in 2021 the X-Men of Krakoa became a democratic team of mutant representatives, probably to balance out the very un-democratic Quiet Council, with the mutants of Krakoa being allowed to psychically vote for who they want on the team’s roster at the annual Hellfire Gala. Alongside these in-story votes, fans are also able to vote annually for one mutant to join the team, with last year’s pick going to Polaris, the powerful daughter of Magneto who saw a lot of growth in the past year because of her new role on the X-Men.
The fan vote options for 2022’s new X-Men team included a whole host of beloved mutants including Monet St. Croix, Siryn, Armor, Gentle and Bling, as well as some out-of-left-field inclusions like Gorgon, Micromax, Avalanche, and the controversial mutant Firestar. Two mini-comics – written by Steve Foxe with art by Alan Robinson – were posted to Marvel Entertainment’s Twitter, showing how Avalanche, Gentle, Gorgon, and Micromax react to their losses, something that Marvel did with last year’s X-Men fan vote as well. Avalanche hilariously bemoans to Gorgon that he knew he would lose the election because he was once in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants while decrying the fact that several leaders of the terrorist Brotherhood are literally on the Quiet Council. Hilariously, Avalanche asks Gorgon what bad stuff he did before Krakoa and when Pyro tells him (perhaps referencing his high-up role in HYDRA or the Dark Avengers?) Avalanche is clearly happy that Gorgon did not make the cut, even though Gorgon sacrificed his life for Krakoa last year. Avalanche then wonders how they can stop Gorgon from ever representing mutants again.
The other comic shows Micromax discussing the vote with Gentle, both of whom are able to grow bigger and stronger due to their powers, and when it is revealed that they were rejected Micro tells Gentle they should make their own team, the “Giant-Size X-Men,” a clever reference to both their size-altering powers and the infamous issue of the X-Men that relaunched the franchise in 1975. It is honestly no surprise that Avalanche, Micromax, and Gorgon did not win the fan vote, as they have never been very popular with X-Men fans, but it will certainly be a disappointment for many that Gentle did not win. Gentle being on the X-Men would add some interesting domestic and intergalactic drama to the team as it was revealed earlier this year that he was actually a sleeper agent for T’Challa and the Empire of Wakanda stationed on Arakko to watch the mutants, something which Storm quickly figured out and resolved.
After last year’s vote the rejected mutants actually formed a team of their own led by Sunspot and Cannonball called the Secret X-Men, featured in the one-shot Secret X-Men #1, so perhaps Gorgon, Gentle, Micromax, and Avalanche will be forming a second version of the Secret X-Men in the coming months. These hilarious mini-comics by Steve Foxe are a great way for Marvel Comics to show the reactions to some of the lesser-known mutants rejection from the newest X-Men team, but fans will have to wait for the Hellfire Gala to find out which of the mutants of Krakoa did win the vote.
X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1 debuts in stores on July 13, 2022.
