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X-Terminators (2022)
X-Terminators
Enter the Grindhouse of X! When Jubilee and Boom-Boom agree to take Dazzler out for a night on the town to console her after her nasty breakup, they have no idea they're about to be kidnapped and put into elaborate death traps for their efforts! What are three young women with the power to blow things up to do? Find a fourth who is not afraid of a little blood, sweat and carnage! Laura Kinney, the Wolverine, completes the quartet of deadly X-Women fighting for their lives - and more important, fighting for vengeance on the @#$%^&*!! dead man who did this to them! But just when you thought the night couldn't get any more bonkers, would you believe: vampires?! Time to make these bloodsuckers regret they ever crossed paths with the X-Terminators! Collecting X-TERMINATORS (2022) #1-5.
144 pages, Paperback
Published April 25, 2023
23 people are currently reading
148 people want to read
About the author
Leah Williams
243 books210 followersLeah Williams is an American writer originally from Oxford, Mississippi. She has written comics for Marvel, BOOM! Studios, Vault Comics, and is working on more. Her debut novel was a YA Fantasy book titled The Alchemy of Being Fourteen and she is currently writing its sequel, The Divinity of Hitting Fifteen. Leah has nonfiction articles and essays published in The Atlantic, Oprah Magazine, and Salon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
March 26, 2023
A story completely carried by the characters and their dynamics, it's the witty banter between the core four that elevates an average story to an overall great experience.
August 6, 2025
I had high hopes for this book, and then I read "warning" before the first (and every chapter/issue). I was more interested in where this book was going to go. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a letdown.
If you are going to make a comic for mature audiences, go the whole way. Don't just let the characters call each other "sluts and bitches" and rank each other's assets then @#!* out all the swear words. There is quite a bit of action and lots of blood, but the cartoony artwork makes it look a lot less gory.
Dazzler has dumped her boyfriend and decides to call her friends for a drunken night out. When Dazzler's ex shows up, the night goes way off the rails. The girls will have to fight their way through magic mazes, vampires, and alien spacecraft.
The first thing about the book is that the girls do not even seem to like each other or be particularly close, but a chance to drink is not passed up. A lot of innuendos and a few unladylike names and immature discussions should not make this a mature book. The book is also quite confusing, jumping forward and back, and a lot of things are going on, just rushing the book along.
To be honest, I did really care about the other girls, but I wanted to see what Wolverine/X-23/Laura Kinney was up to. I really do think she would be a perfect leader for an all-girl team. If the letter is taken seriously and there are more of these books, I think there is potential under Wolverine's lead. The book finishes with a variant cover gallery.
If you are going to make a comic for mature audiences, go the whole way. Don't just let the characters call each other "sluts and bitches" and rank each other's assets then @#!* out all the swear words. There is quite a bit of action and lots of blood, but the cartoony artwork makes it look a lot less gory.
Dazzler has dumped her boyfriend and decides to call her friends for a drunken night out. When Dazzler's ex shows up, the night goes way off the rails. The girls will have to fight their way through magic mazes, vampires, and alien spacecraft.
The first thing about the book is that the girls do not even seem to like each other or be particularly close, but a chance to drink is not passed up. A lot of innuendos and a few unladylike names and immature discussions should not make this a mature book. The book is also quite confusing, jumping forward and back, and a lot of things are going on, just rushing the book along.
To be honest, I did really care about the other girls, but I wanted to see what Wolverine/X-23/Laura Kinney was up to. I really do think she would be a perfect leader for an all-girl team. If the letter is taken seriously and there are more of these books, I think there is potential under Wolverine's lead. The book finishes with a variant cover gallery.
July 7, 2023
now this... this is everything. badass girls having a blast? alison blaire my one true love? the jokes, the memes, the general banter! oh my god, i want more. perfection. absolute perfection. i love these girls!!!!!
November 1, 2024
This was fun and camp.
May 11, 2025
Let loose, be crass, enjoy not having to be on your best behaviour.
I woke the dog laughing more than once, I love how Tabitha’s a running joke (and not ashamed of it), and Alison is somehow *not* a punching bag - even though “disco queen” will never quite dispel its whiff around her.
Why is Leah Williams not writing more comics for Marvel? God help me I hope I can track her down. She really oughta be the Shallow Comics Readers muse.
I woke the dog laughing more than once, I love how Tabitha’s a running joke (and not ashamed of it), and Alison is somehow *not* a punching bag - even though “disco queen” will never quite dispel its whiff around her.
Why is Leah Williams not writing more comics for Marvel? God help me I hope I can track her down. She really oughta be the Shallow Comics Readers muse.
April 21, 2023
So, this is what the gays mean when they say 'camp' is good, iconic even.
In the past I have usually hated this concept of exploitation: all the gore and torture porn, seeking to derive joy out of cruel misery and even sexualizing these humiliating situations for the characters, writing so apparently devoid of humaneness... I could say I "shouldn't like this" or "was ready to hate this" but no, that would be a lie; I ended up completely looking forward to this book after seeing so many screenshots and conflicted guilty praise about it on X-Twitter. Yes, it commits crimes like using Tabby's alcoholism for laughs, kinkshaming, the "It's beer o'clock sluts" line, but the book wouldn't be the same without the execution of these flaws.
This made me understand and love camp. The main theme is gleeful female catharsis from the shackles of patriarchy, from simple forms like cheating boyfriends and bad breakups to actual sex trafficking. It's raw slut positivity, with the girls showing off her bodies shamelessly and killing off any man who dares victimize them for it, always helping and rescuing each other no matter what. There's no sadness because it gets turned into rage. They refuse to ruin their makeup as they kill monsters and vampires. They're not the ideal women that men want, they're the ideal women that women want to be.
The memes and jokes (which are so dirty and lazy they should be terrible and I should hate, but don't) are surprisingly well blended into the book, the characters are surprisingly well written (the Quiet Council's reactions to the story are very in-character and I love that Emma is the only mutant who doesn't understand baseball), Gómez's hentai-ish cute art fits the tone perfectly and makes it all the more gleeful, Jubilee gets great overpowered moments.
We might hate to see it, but Williams found their voice. I would read their independent work.
In the past I have usually hated this concept of exploitation: all the gore and torture porn, seeking to derive joy out of cruel misery and even sexualizing these humiliating situations for the characters, writing so apparently devoid of humaneness... I could say I "shouldn't like this" or "was ready to hate this" but no, that would be a lie; I ended up completely looking forward to this book after seeing so many screenshots and conflicted guilty praise about it on X-Twitter. Yes, it commits crimes like using Tabby's alcoholism for laughs, kinkshaming, the "It's beer o'clock sluts" line, but the book wouldn't be the same without the execution of these flaws.
This made me understand and love camp. The main theme is gleeful female catharsis from the shackles of patriarchy, from simple forms like cheating boyfriends and bad breakups to actual sex trafficking. It's raw slut positivity, with the girls showing off her bodies shamelessly and killing off any man who dares victimize them for it, always helping and rescuing each other no matter what. There's no sadness because it gets turned into rage. They refuse to ruin their makeup as they kill monsters and vampires. They're not the ideal women that men want, they're the ideal women that women want to be.
The memes and jokes (which are so dirty and lazy they should be terrible and I should hate, but don't) are surprisingly well blended into the book, the characters are surprisingly well written (the Quiet Council's reactions to the story are very in-character and I love that Emma is the only mutant who doesn't understand baseball), Gómez's hentai-ish cute art fits the tone perfectly and makes it all the more gleeful, Jubilee gets great overpowered moments.
We might hate to see it, but Williams found their voice. I would read their independent work.
June 21, 2023
Joyfully dumb and crass. Leah Williams seems to be having the time of her life taking this side street off the main X-Men journey.
June 19, 2023
(4,5 stars) This is exactly the kind of dumb fun I need sometimes. There is nothing particularly deep about the themes or story of this comic, and there does not need to be at all. The art is gorgeous to look at, the writing is entertaining and using current slang and culture without sounding corny (which is something that tends to have a higher failure rate than success rate in most comics), and the story is self-contained without any real experience with the current X-Men comics needed to enjoy what's on offer. I picked this up mostly cause I like Laura (X-23) as a character, but I found myself having fun with every part of the comic in the end. Hard recommendation.
February 28, 2023
I’m sorry but I loved this! 4 badass mutant women kicking ass through waves and waves of vampires. What else could someone want?
July 24, 2025
Well, this was gloriously outlandish fun! Bloody, bawdy, violent, sexy — Leah Williams and Carlos Gomez bring it all. After a bad breakup, Dazzler needs a girls night out with her besties Jubiliee and Boom-Boom. Their plans to get completely obliterated at the dive bar are interrupted when they’re drugged, kidnapped, and forced to fight to the death in an insane gladiatorial arena. Chock full of sex jokes and crazy cheesecake hijinks, X-TERMINATORS rides high on its colorful characters and their interactions and banter, not to mention Williams’s ode to exploitation revenge flicks of yesteryear. It just might the be most pure, flat-out fun X-book in ages.
January 5, 2024
3.5 stars. This was a fun book that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It did feel like Deadpool was writing this comic in a way though. I like that vampires have been a somewhat consistent threat across various X books too.
June 5, 2023
Easily one of the funnest X-Men comics I’ve read in a long time. Letting the characters (especially ones I’m already a fan of in Jubilee and X-23) just hang and have fun while also adventuring was great. 100% worth it, and I wish it was an on going series.
March 23, 2024
X-Terminators is an irreverent Harley Quinnesque romp that is as much a semi-raunchy comedy about a bad break-up as it is a bridge between the Krakoan era X-Men and the upcoming Blood Hunt event.
May 17, 2024
3,5/5
Une mini série très fun, grossière et déjanté, un peu hallucinée et plein de meufs badass, c'était cool
Une mini série très fun, grossière et déjanté, un peu hallucinée et plein de meufs badass, c'était cool
May 30, 2024
So fun and unserious plus hearing someone tell professor x how to get a juicy ass is great
April 11, 2025
After THAT X-Factor, I would never imagine that one of the best Krakoa books would be X-Terminators! It's crazy, it's funny (and hot), and it's awesome! Instant mutant classic!
April 16, 2024
I cant string together the words to describe how fun stupid things are. shoutout to things u literally need to turn ur brain off to enjoy>>>>>>>
June 27, 2023
Unfortunately, it's only issue is that it's only five issues long. Cancel the X-Men ongoing and make X-Terminators the longest running comic of all time. Because really, how could a comic where Dazzler wears Praxis booty shorts be anything less than great?
July 24, 2023
This was very dumb. I usually love dumb. But…
I went into this based on my love for each of these characters, mainly Boom Boom and Laura. I’m a huge Nextwave fan, and love basically anything solo X-23 (except for NYX ugh don’t look into that).
For a book that feels so intentionally stupid and like it’s combining all four of these big personalities for a big camp explosion, it feels like we never got to see the magic happen. It’s a quick read. It’s bloody, it’s explosive, it’s rude, it’s well-paced, the art is “curvy” is all I’ll say (made me think of Amanda Conner) and has cool set-pieces with its vampire baddies, but it never felt that exciting.
It feels very lean as a story where each girl never gets to showcase their personalities beyond their quips. And it’s the personalities that feel like the biggest missed opportunity. They can fall into the Bendis problem, of character voices feeling a bit too homogenised. I really wish Dazzler was portrayed more like the older mum type of the group, given I do think her age and the youth-focused backgrounds of the others are how they’re distinguished. Or that X-23 and Jubilee got to interact more since their chemistry is so good in other books (I mean, I can’t be the only one who sees them as endgame). Or that Boom Boom got to be portrayed as more than her making tits and ass jokes and was taken a bit more seriously, since that’s been a whole issue with her in the past that I think writers miss. That she’s a valley girl archetype that uses a lot of it as a front, and doesn’t feel like she’s taken seriously. I never viewed her as this bimbo brained. I like her confidence in this a lot, but she feels very secondary, when Boom Boom’s whole deal is she’s larger than life. Also, she feels too interchangeable with Jubes here, which is a shame, since that’s been an issue with her in the past. They try to add a camaraderie between them to compensate but it doesn’t entirely land. I liked their interaction after the climax a lot tho. I don’t expect most to mind, who only know her through Nextwave. She’s just very close to my heart. One of her big fans. (There are dozens of us. DOZENS!!!)
Luckily I think Laura comes across the most like herself while fitting the style, but even then all the girls feel very filtered through this single “grindhouse” ultra violent jokey horny aesthetic. It’s pure bubblegum. It’s cheesecake. I respect it as a direction to try to take pre-established characters in these little one-off stories but it wasn’t that satisfying for me. It being so sugary can land as being more disposable, if you’re not in the mood for it. I think also because it felt both very rushed and like not a lot happened. It’s frustrating because I think a lot of it is fun. It just doesn’t feel as character-rich as I would have liked, given it’s a team of four of my favourite x-girlies who I feel don’t get their flowers. I think that’s more just a victim of this being a limited series. Marvel is lousy with those, where they find a fun team up and don’t have the time to let it fully form into something special.
I adore Nextwave, which also very much tried to play around with often ignored characters through humour (and also made Boom Boom even more bimbo-pilled), but I think the missing ingredient here is the team’s balance. There, Spectrum, Elsa, and Machine Man play some different kind of straight man, while being very distinct. Here, it feels like Laura is the only character that gets to be a bit more serious or muted, and I do feel she’s the high point for that reason. I like her interactions with the other girls. Her opening up to being more girly is really endearing. I’m not tryna demand a book like this goes for a more serious tone. I like it being dumb. But I wish the team was more dynamic. I guess check out Nextwave first if you are curious about this and haven’t read either. Or even the first half of that 2009 Power Girl run, if you want some really playful cheesecake that’s kind of dumb and meta.
I feel there’s this self-consciousness to its writing that on occasion feels a bit cloying and desperate (I’m really sorry if that sounds too mean). It can have that “aren’t we funny???” vibe that just sours me when crass confident writing doesn’t land, and that sucks. It wants to be camp. It wants to be #iconic. And sometimes it really works, when it plays the most into how these girls differ or gets more ridiculous with the new traps they’re thrown into or you see the powers used in absurd ways, and other times it feels a bit forced. It’s reaching for a style it doesn’t have the room to capture. By the time I got to the end, when the girls just got their in-joke-heavy Halloween costumes and were whooping ass, it felt like it was finding its voice, but then it was already over. :(
I wouldn’t mind seeing a more thorough take on this for a longer series, but maybe with a different team in front of or behind the scenes. I can’t tell if you’d pick either Jubilee or Boom Boom to stay, or lean more into them having that bratty younger sister vibe to Dazzler. Since there was something there. This is my first Leah Williams book, and I am curious about what she does in the future. This left me a bit neutral on her, but I respect what she was going for here. I love this so much in concept. The Krakoa era needs to let loose more and not feel so tied to a rigid continuity. This was fun but not as essential as I’d hoped. I guess I got my hopes up too much. :/
It’s a 7 for me. I’ll have to sleep on it, but I think expectation hurt this.
I respect baseball mum Emma Frost with her clone daughters. This was a massive highlight. And the team going out for drinks. That’s the shit I crave for now that we have a big mutant island and there’s no stress about dying. Let my girls live!
Also, Rachel and Betsy with arms around each other in that one panel? My heart! I like that we’ve gotten to an era where Marvel has some level of queer oversight between X-books, when a character is very gay in one and gets to be that in the other. No more umm erring my X-gays. Woooo. (until that’s written out or retconned later ffs)
Edit: Also, just realised something. I think there was an opportunity here to have a fun focus on music, given Dazzler is the team leader here. Since they could all work as types of female musicians throughout the ages. Where Dazzler is your 70s disco queen, Boom Boom is your 80s radio pop diva (I mean, her original look was practically Cyndi Lauper), Jubilee is your 90s bubblegum pop (yeah yeah she’s late 80s but her relevancy is the 90s imo), and Laura is your edgy 2000s pop punk princess. Idk I feel there’s something there. 100% in support of the X-ladies having more girl friends (in more ways than one).
I went into this based on my love for each of these characters, mainly Boom Boom and Laura. I’m a huge Nextwave fan, and love basically anything solo X-23 (except for NYX ugh don’t look into that).
For a book that feels so intentionally stupid and like it’s combining all four of these big personalities for a big camp explosion, it feels like we never got to see the magic happen. It’s a quick read. It’s bloody, it’s explosive, it’s rude, it’s well-paced, the art is “curvy” is all I’ll say (made me think of Amanda Conner) and has cool set-pieces with its vampire baddies, but it never felt that exciting.
It feels very lean as a story where each girl never gets to showcase their personalities beyond their quips. And it’s the personalities that feel like the biggest missed opportunity. They can fall into the Bendis problem, of character voices feeling a bit too homogenised. I really wish Dazzler was portrayed more like the older mum type of the group, given I do think her age and the youth-focused backgrounds of the others are how they’re distinguished. Or that X-23 and Jubilee got to interact more since their chemistry is so good in other books (I mean, I can’t be the only one who sees them as endgame). Or that Boom Boom got to be portrayed as more than her making tits and ass jokes and was taken a bit more seriously, since that’s been a whole issue with her in the past that I think writers miss. That she’s a valley girl archetype that uses a lot of it as a front, and doesn’t feel like she’s taken seriously. I never viewed her as this bimbo brained. I like her confidence in this a lot, but she feels very secondary, when Boom Boom’s whole deal is she’s larger than life. Also, she feels too interchangeable with Jubes here, which is a shame, since that’s been an issue with her in the past. They try to add a camaraderie between them to compensate but it doesn’t entirely land. I liked their interaction after the climax a lot tho. I don’t expect most to mind, who only know her through Nextwave. She’s just very close to my heart. One of her big fans. (There are dozens of us. DOZENS!!!)
Luckily I think Laura comes across the most like herself while fitting the style, but even then all the girls feel very filtered through this single “grindhouse” ultra violent jokey horny aesthetic. It’s pure bubblegum. It’s cheesecake. I respect it as a direction to try to take pre-established characters in these little one-off stories but it wasn’t that satisfying for me. It being so sugary can land as being more disposable, if you’re not in the mood for it. I think also because it felt both very rushed and like not a lot happened. It’s frustrating because I think a lot of it is fun. It just doesn’t feel as character-rich as I would have liked, given it’s a team of four of my favourite x-girlies who I feel don’t get their flowers. I think that’s more just a victim of this being a limited series. Marvel is lousy with those, where they find a fun team up and don’t have the time to let it fully form into something special.
I adore Nextwave, which also very much tried to play around with often ignored characters through humour (and also made Boom Boom even more bimbo-pilled), but I think the missing ingredient here is the team’s balance. There, Spectrum, Elsa, and Machine Man play some different kind of straight man, while being very distinct. Here, it feels like Laura is the only character that gets to be a bit more serious or muted, and I do feel she’s the high point for that reason. I like her interactions with the other girls. Her opening up to being more girly is really endearing. I’m not tryna demand a book like this goes for a more serious tone. I like it being dumb. But I wish the team was more dynamic. I guess check out Nextwave first if you are curious about this and haven’t read either. Or even the first half of that 2009 Power Girl run, if you want some really playful cheesecake that’s kind of dumb and meta.
I feel there’s this self-consciousness to its writing that on occasion feels a bit cloying and desperate (I’m really sorry if that sounds too mean). It can have that “aren’t we funny???” vibe that just sours me when crass confident writing doesn’t land, and that sucks. It wants to be camp. It wants to be #iconic. And sometimes it really works, when it plays the most into how these girls differ or gets more ridiculous with the new traps they’re thrown into or you see the powers used in absurd ways, and other times it feels a bit forced. It’s reaching for a style it doesn’t have the room to capture. By the time I got to the end, when the girls just got their in-joke-heavy Halloween costumes and were whooping ass, it felt like it was finding its voice, but then it was already over. :(
I wouldn’t mind seeing a more thorough take on this for a longer series, but maybe with a different team in front of or behind the scenes. I can’t tell if you’d pick either Jubilee or Boom Boom to stay, or lean more into them having that bratty younger sister vibe to Dazzler. Since there was something there. This is my first Leah Williams book, and I am curious about what she does in the future. This left me a bit neutral on her, but I respect what she was going for here. I love this so much in concept. The Krakoa era needs to let loose more and not feel so tied to a rigid continuity. This was fun but not as essential as I’d hoped. I guess I got my hopes up too much. :/
It’s a 7 for me. I’ll have to sleep on it, but I think expectation hurt this.
I respect baseball mum Emma Frost with her clone daughters. This was a massive highlight. And the team going out for drinks. That’s the shit I crave for now that we have a big mutant island and there’s no stress about dying. Let my girls live!
Also, Rachel and Betsy with arms around each other in that one panel? My heart! I like that we’ve gotten to an era where Marvel has some level of queer oversight between X-books, when a character is very gay in one and gets to be that in the other. No more umm erring my X-gays. Woooo. (until that’s written out or retconned later ffs)
Edit: Also, just realised something. I think there was an opportunity here to have a fun focus on music, given Dazzler is the team leader here. Since they could all work as types of female musicians throughout the ages. Where Dazzler is your 70s disco queen, Boom Boom is your 80s radio pop diva (I mean, her original look was practically Cyndi Lauper), Jubilee is your 90s bubblegum pop (yeah yeah she’s late 80s but her relevancy is the 90s imo), and Laura is your edgy 2000s pop punk princess. Idk I feel there’s something there. 100% in support of the X-ladies having more girl friends (in more ways than one).
June 19, 2023
Fan-Tas-TIC
Got Dazzler who broke up with her cheating boyfriend not having a great night. She calls her main girl Jubilee who is all like "Hey girl, I got you" and they go out drinking. But then Boom Boom, that big titty goddess comes over and it becomes a threesome of happiness with drinks and dancing and...wait! VAMPIRES? That's right. Vampires come into the picture and, oh shit, is that Wolverine!? Yep Laura also shows up to make this sexy threesome into a fucking FOURSOME of love. Now these girls fight back with their wits, tits, and asses.
This is freaking fun as hell. Got boom boom using her tits as weapons to shoot out boom boom attacks. Got Laura slicing motherfuckers up. You got everyone complimenting Dazzler's dump truck booty. I mean this is what I can hope for when having a fun time with a comic. Not everything needs to be so serious and this was the break I needed.
Got Dazzler who broke up with her cheating boyfriend not having a great night. She calls her main girl Jubilee who is all like "Hey girl, I got you" and they go out drinking. But then Boom Boom, that big titty goddess comes over and it becomes a threesome of happiness with drinks and dancing and...wait! VAMPIRES? That's right. Vampires come into the picture and, oh shit, is that Wolverine!? Yep Laura also shows up to make this sexy threesome into a fucking FOURSOME of love. Now these girls fight back with their wits, tits, and asses.
This is freaking fun as hell. Got boom boom using her tits as weapons to shoot out boom boom attacks. Got Laura slicing motherfuckers up. You got everyone complimenting Dazzler's dump truck booty. I mean this is what I can hope for when having a fun time with a comic. Not everything needs to be so serious and this was the break I needed.
June 21, 2024
X-Terminators is nothing short of a fun and messy romp. I didn't go in with a lot of expectations because I'm so disconnected from all of this but it did exactly what I had hoped. The book focuses on just a few characters without all the larger trappings that make up both Marvel and mutantdom in particular. This comic knows how silly its being and wants the reader to know it knows. Its particular brand of violence and humor may not be for everyone. The series coasts into a smooth, satisfying finale. There aren't any big surprises here, but it maintains its high standards for ridiculous humor and artistic quality. Putting this team on the shelf ready to be reactivated as soon as someone has a sufficiently silly idea is a big plus, too.
September 1, 2023
X-Terminators offers a goofy, frenetic comic adventure for some of the most explosive gals of the X-Verse. The book awkwardly alternates between female empowerment and 90s-style male gaze sex appeal (oof, that boob-focused artwork), but it's otherwise a pretty fun ride.
Essentially, Dazzler dumps a vampire prince, who then kidnaps her and a few others to one of the Collector's space prisons. Nonsense! An explosive breakout sequence follows, including some interludes where the gang explains themselves to the Krakoan council. Does any of it matter for Krakoa? Probably not. Is it effervescent fun while it lasts? Sure!
Essentially, Dazzler dumps a vampire prince, who then kidnaps her and a few others to one of the Collector's space prisons. Nonsense! An explosive breakout sequence follows, including some interludes where the gang explains themselves to the Krakoan council. Does any of it matter for Krakoa? Probably not. Is it effervescent fun while it lasts? Sure!
August 30, 2023
Art is gorgeous. The writing is absolute garbage. I can’t even begin to describe this.
January 1, 2024
Listen, I honestly went into this expecting to give it 2-3 stars. I finished the first issue expecting to give it 2-3 stars. But by the end of the fourth issue, I was planning to give it 4 stars. On page 4 of the fifth issue, I decided this book is perfect for what it is and what it set out to be. Unfortunately, I’m not rating in a vacuum, but if I was, this would be 5 stars.
Know this going in: the book was pitched as “grindhouse of X,” in the long tradition of those overly violent and sexual movies. The art style is deliberately cheesecakey and pin-up-y. The jokes are crass and the violence is over the top. I’m not always a fan of that style of story, but this whole book is delightful.
I’ve been enjoying Leah Williams as a writer since her work in Age of X-Man, and her X-Factor run is one of my favorite Krakoa era books. She nails the differences between these characters, who have often been compared to each other as reasons one or the other fell from prominence at various times. Everyone is slightly dumber and funnier than they ought to be, but they’re unique and likable and fun.
Everyone gets to be a favorite for a different reason. My gut was Boom Boom, because she’s the silliest, and her gag in issue five’s text message thread was the funniest part of the book for me. She gives Laura consistent shit for her costume and is just great. But Laura is an excellent stoic figure for all the zaniness to bounce off of. She’s herself and clever and fun, and has genuinely funny moments herself. Jubilee gets to be a genuine badass in the end, is an amazing foil for Boom Boom, and helps to keep things moving forward. Then there’s Dazzler who is a great leading woman for the book and gives it a nice central character arc and catharsis.
Like I said, the art is pretty cheesecakey, but it’s clearly on purpose and to be funny. There’s a whole couple pages of jokes about Dazzler’s ass and Boom Booms boobs. It’s all done for laughs in a way that feels very pro woman (in my cis male opinion). Marco Gomez keeps the girls looking unique (particularly notable for Boom Boom and Dazzler, though it’s accomplished more through wardrobe than features). The action is dynamic and fun. And Bryan Valenza adds lurid bright color to every page and makes it pop.
The best part of this book is the comedy. Once it found its footing, I was giggling to myself every few pages and laughing out loud more than once. This is a joyful revenge fantasy that also brings together some great X-Women. I can’t wait to read more from Williams.
Edit: I’m revisiting a couple of review scores that I kept from 5 stars for arbitrary reasons, and this was one of them. No book is perfect, but this was amazing and I loved it.
Know this going in: the book was pitched as “grindhouse of X,” in the long tradition of those overly violent and sexual movies. The art style is deliberately cheesecakey and pin-up-y. The jokes are crass and the violence is over the top. I’m not always a fan of that style of story, but this whole book is delightful.
I’ve been enjoying Leah Williams as a writer since her work in Age of X-Man, and her X-Factor run is one of my favorite Krakoa era books. She nails the differences between these characters, who have often been compared to each other as reasons one or the other fell from prominence at various times. Everyone is slightly dumber and funnier than they ought to be, but they’re unique and likable and fun.
Everyone gets to be a favorite for a different reason. My gut was Boom Boom, because she’s the silliest, and her gag in issue five’s text message thread was the funniest part of the book for me. She gives Laura consistent shit for her costume and is just great. But Laura is an excellent stoic figure for all the zaniness to bounce off of. She’s herself and clever and fun, and has genuinely funny moments herself. Jubilee gets to be a genuine badass in the end, is an amazing foil for Boom Boom, and helps to keep things moving forward. Then there’s Dazzler who is a great leading woman for the book and gives it a nice central character arc and catharsis.
Like I said, the art is pretty cheesecakey, but it’s clearly on purpose and to be funny. There’s a whole couple pages of jokes about Dazzler’s ass and Boom Booms boobs. It’s all done for laughs in a way that feels very pro woman (in my cis male opinion). Marco Gomez keeps the girls looking unique (particularly notable for Boom Boom and Dazzler, though it’s accomplished more through wardrobe than features). The action is dynamic and fun. And Bryan Valenza adds lurid bright color to every page and makes it pop.
The best part of this book is the comedy. Once it found its footing, I was giggling to myself every few pages and laughing out loud more than once. This is a joyful revenge fantasy that also brings together some great X-Women. I can’t wait to read more from Williams.
Edit: I’m revisiting a couple of review scores that I kept from 5 stars for arbitrary reasons, and this was one of them. No book is perfect, but this was amazing and I loved it.
December 10, 2023
A lot of really really winceworthy moments, that feel like they could plausibly be blamed on some clueless suit’s intervention, including a mature readers warning for a comic with entirely censored swearing and no nudity, and issue headings that are declarative guesses at what ‘da youth’ talk like: “this book is gleefully transgressive” (it’s not, which makes the called shot all the more conspicuous), or the fifth chapter’s “ The Book is Ending :C “
There’s a lot of moments where this tone is strived for and it falls flat and distracts.
Boom-Boom mishears hubris as bris and makes a circumstance egg-corn / malapropism / whatever you’d like to call it, and there’s a lot of jokes like that that don’t work, until there’s finally an intentionally playful dialogue turn from Dracula and Boom-Boom has to ask for clarification on prosecute / persecute, knowing for once that someone was using the wrong word (here: intentionally).
When the gags work, it’s great, but much of the staging is forced; Jubilee insisting captors put a witch hat back on X-23’s begrudgingly accepted sexy witch cosplay, while she’s cuffed and can’t resist, feels like a metaphor for a lot of the gags the superladies are subjected to throughout the whole collection, as in these jokes are for the pleasure of the unfunny few (the cost = discomfort of the many).
The art is tremendously horny in a conventional way but without any transgression / in the paradoxically sexless Marvel house style.
But still, it was fun. It would be nice to see this particular group of young, often cringe (but thankfully unapologetic) superheroes get into and out of trouble. What would make the work truly shine would be to scrub all the framing, the para-comic inserts, and to let the comic be actually sexually charged and uncensored (not asking for nudity here, but to throw a peach emoji in instead of just saying ass? how twee can we get?!); maybe something akin to the DC Black Label titles at their outset, designated singular stories that aren’t required to plug into the labyrinthian sprawling cobble-canon that is contemporary hero comics.
I hear a lot of divisive criticism about Williams, but I think I’d be willing to look into more work she’s helmed. This has a lot of great seeds, and it may fail simply for the impossible task of doing good work within the burden of Marvel’s nonsense.
There’s a lot of moments where this tone is strived for and it falls flat and distracts.
Boom-Boom mishears hubris as bris and makes a circumstance egg-corn / malapropism / whatever you’d like to call it, and there’s a lot of jokes like that that don’t work, until there’s finally an intentionally playful dialogue turn from Dracula and Boom-Boom has to ask for clarification on prosecute / persecute, knowing for once that someone was using the wrong word (here: intentionally).
When the gags work, it’s great, but much of the staging is forced; Jubilee insisting captors put a witch hat back on X-23’s begrudgingly accepted sexy witch cosplay, while she’s cuffed and can’t resist, feels like a metaphor for a lot of the gags the superladies are subjected to throughout the whole collection, as in these jokes are for the pleasure of the unfunny few (the cost = discomfort of the many).
The art is tremendously horny in a conventional way but without any transgression / in the paradoxically sexless Marvel house style.
But still, it was fun. It would be nice to see this particular group of young, often cringe (but thankfully unapologetic) superheroes get into and out of trouble. What would make the work truly shine would be to scrub all the framing, the para-comic inserts, and to let the comic be actually sexually charged and uncensored (not asking for nudity here, but to throw a peach emoji in instead of just saying ass? how twee can we get?!); maybe something akin to the DC Black Label titles at their outset, designated singular stories that aren’t required to plug into the labyrinthian sprawling cobble-canon that is contemporary hero comics.
I hear a lot of divisive criticism about Williams, but I think I’d be willing to look into more work she’s helmed. This has a lot of great seeds, and it may fail simply for the impossible task of doing good work within the burden of Marvel’s nonsense.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2023
'I could be free of these cuffs and kill just about everyone under this field in thirty seconds if I wanted to, Logan.'
I'm always excited to have more Laura Kinney in my life but to have her star in such a mind-blowingly good comic is just un-fucking-believably out of this world amazing. I basically screamed and squealed my way through it. It's just something about knowing a book is gonna be a favorite from virtually the first page and the book knows it. Leah Williams, I'm a fan
This was my first time reading a comic book starring Dazzler and Boom-Boom, but it was so good to see Jubilee back and her rapport with Laura is just as good as I remembered. 🥲 (Getting to know that Jubilee's name is Jubilation Lee had me shook, though aljdkd). Dazzler's power and overall personality are just iconic and Boom-Boom's powers, personality and dressing style are a treat to behold.
The art is so good, I have no notes. From their wardrobe to the vivid use of colors, everything is so visually appealing. I LOVE.
Ugh, I just want there to be more X-Terminators adventures and preferably have Leah Williams write all of them, obvs.
Favorite quotes:
'Jubilee, what are you doing right now?'
'My best, Alison! Okay?! My fucking %&$#@ best!'
'Get in loser! We're going to therapy!'
'It's beer o'clock sluts! Felt gross as soon as I said that. You are all terrible influences.'
I'm always excited to have more Laura Kinney in my life but to have her star in such a mind-blowingly good comic is just un-fucking-believably out of this world amazing. I basically screamed and squealed my way through it. It's just something about knowing a book is gonna be a favorite from virtually the first page and the book knows it. Leah Williams, I'm a fan
This was my first time reading a comic book starring Dazzler and Boom-Boom, but it was so good to see Jubilee back and her rapport with Laura is just as good as I remembered. 🥲 (Getting to know that Jubilee's name is Jubilation Lee had me shook, though aljdkd). Dazzler's power and overall personality are just iconic and Boom-Boom's powers, personality and dressing style are a treat to behold.
The art is so good, I have no notes. From their wardrobe to the vivid use of colors, everything is so visually appealing. I LOVE.
Ugh, I just want there to be more X-Terminators adventures and preferably have Leah Williams write all of them, obvs.
Favorite quotes:
'Jubilee, what are you doing right now?'
'My best, Alison! Okay?! My fucking %&$#@ best!'
'Get in loser! We're going to therapy!'
'It's beer o'clock sluts! Felt gross as soon as I said that. You are all terrible influences.'
September 22, 2024
I actually read this about five times in the months I've had it on my "currently reading" list lol I just loved this. I loved it so much, the cover is my phone case.
This limited comic series (hopefully we'll get more someday!) features a team of, basically, a bunch of my favorite mutants: Jubilee, Dazzler, Boom Boom (who shares my name hehe), and my #1 fav, X-23. We get a little bit of the other mutants too, and a tease of Magik, who would be a great addition to the team in a part 2.
Fun, sassy, sarcastic, unapologetically girly in an almost toxic but definitely amusing sort of way. It leans into Deadpool-esque humor a little too hard at times, but these are the mutants you'd expect some of that from, including the straight-man of X-23.
The art is cartoony in a really fun way as well and but the coloring is where this book's art shines - and this is a fun group of mutants so I love they let them be so bright and colorful!
If you love sassy women getting one up on the men who wrong them, you will love this. This is Deadpool & Wolverine meets The First Wives Club, in outer space. It's so wonderful, I'm obsessed, it's a huge favorite and I am so glad to have this on my shelves. I'll definitely be re-reading it again but I figured it was time to finally take this off my reading list at the very least lmao
This limited comic series (hopefully we'll get more someday!) features a team of, basically, a bunch of my favorite mutants: Jubilee, Dazzler, Boom Boom (who shares my name hehe), and my #1 fav, X-23. We get a little bit of the other mutants too, and a tease of Magik, who would be a great addition to the team in a part 2.
Fun, sassy, sarcastic, unapologetically girly in an almost toxic but definitely amusing sort of way. It leans into Deadpool-esque humor a little too hard at times, but these are the mutants you'd expect some of that from, including the straight-man of X-23.
The art is cartoony in a really fun way as well and but the coloring is where this book's art shines - and this is a fun group of mutants so I love they let them be so bright and colorful!
If you love sassy women getting one up on the men who wrong them, you will love this. This is Deadpool & Wolverine meets The First Wives Club, in outer space. It's so wonderful, I'm obsessed, it's a huge favorite and I am so glad to have this on my shelves. I'll definitely be re-reading it again but I figured it was time to finally take this off my reading list at the very least lmao
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March 4, 2024Krakoa hasn't been shy of sex and violence, but I think this is the first book they've billed as mature readers. And yes, on the one hand, as so often, that could almost be swapped with immature readers - after all, we open on a close-up of the butt of Dazzler, back in her disco finery. Except now the booty shorts have PRAXIS across said backside, and the first issue is titled 'This Book is Gleefully Transgressive', so maybe it's more about the level of jaded appetites one needs to be amused by this degree of self-awareness. Sure, I'm not claiming that a book where Boom-Boom is told "You look like if Barbie was a sex addict" and takes it as a compliment, before blowing up vampires with her tits, is going to be for everyone, but honestly, this at least does it very wittily and with a firm girl gang mentality. I'm not even going to complain that it didn't get more than five issues, because at this pitch of joyous nonsense, that's probably about right. As such, my only objections are that the rating didn't allow for real swearing (or failing that, at least Nextwave-styled redaction), and that I'm of the particular demographic where calling the local karaoke bar Mr B's set up some expectations that really weren't fulfilled.
September 22, 2023
I’ve read a fair number of comics now involving Boom Boom, Laura, and Jubilee in the last two years and so for that reason, I feel like this comic puts some awful weird language into their mouths alongside some very sexual behavior. But to not sound like a prude, I would also note I’m fine with all that…it just seems a bit odd for these characters without some more context (that maybe centers how their stepping outside their traumas and responsibilities in this arc). Had this been a new set of characters, or different ones even, I think it might have landed better. I also didn’t really care a ton about the antagonists or the wrong that happened to Dazzler because it was all pretty rushed and in service to the gag of these very sexy, dirty talking heroines. That latter concept seems compelling for a bunch of x-heroes who are, thanks to Krakoa, evolving into their peak selves. Just felt like the premise was overall flat. The opposite of, as Jubilee put it, a “juicy dumper”.
July 20, 2025
Jeez did these ladies make a splash, or should I say had a blast...? Boom-Boom look so much like Harley Quinn, I can't unsee it now.
The story was there, the characters were interesting enough - oddly it kind of reminded me of Birds of Prey (the comic not the movie, although yes the movie as well). But the humor wasn't there for me, hence the three stars.
Also the fact that any one has to give verbal reports when there's at least two psychics on the useless Quiet Council is hilarious. I get it, respecting autonomy and all but if they really want to get the full, immediate picture....I mean...? They sacrifice their bodies and lives for The Cause once they have resurrection technology, wholly ignoring the trauma that comes with dying, but like they can't just have Xavier just softly glance at their minds? I know, it's part of the narrative, it's a device for convenient for the plot, blah, blah.
The story was there, the characters were interesting enough - oddly it kind of reminded me of Birds of Prey (the comic not the movie, although yes the movie as well). But the humor wasn't there for me, hence the three stars.
Also the fact that any one has to give verbal reports when there's at least two psychics on the useless Quiet Council is hilarious. I get it, respecting autonomy and all but if they really want to get the full, immediate picture....I mean...? They sacrifice their bodies and lives for The Cause once they have resurrection technology, wholly ignoring the trauma that comes with dying, but like they can't just have Xavier just softly glance at their minds? I know, it's part of the narrative, it's a device for convenient for the plot, blah, blah.
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