X-MEN
WATCHERS
ON THE WALLS
Annotations
The following annotations are not exhaustive, because it would be impractical
to track down the exact issue numbers of every past storyline or event referenced
in the novel. For the most part, I have not included explanations for
the various references to the characters' backstories; for that information,
I recommend visiting the UncannyXmen.net Spotlight
Page, featuring detailed biographies of most of the major characters,
or looking up the characters on Wikipedia.
As usual, I recommend reading the book before reading the annotations,
for they do contain extensive spoilers.
Chapter 1
p. 5-6: The Thing, of course, is Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four, whose
hide was transformed into plates of orange rock.
Any resemblance between Charles Xavier's speech patterns here and those
of Patrick Stewart is entirely intentional. For the most part, I imagined
the X-Men's voices based on those from the '90s animated series (whose cast
and crew names provide many of the character, species and place names in
this book), but I made an exception for Xavier. (Interestingly, in Diane
Duane's 1997 X-Men novel Empire's End, Xavier also displayed a distinctly
Patrick Stewart-like speech pattern, even though Stewart had not yet been
cast as Xavier when that book was written. I think most people who
were fans of both Star Trek and X-Men had Stewart pegged as
the ideal Xavier long before it actually happened.)
Chapter 2
p. 11: For more on the Lockheed Skunk Works, see here. For more
on the real Blackbird, see here.
For the convoluted backstory of Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force, see the
entries for "Phoenix
Force," "Phoenix
II," "Phoenix
IV" (Jean herself) and "Pryor,
Madelyne" on UncannyXmen.net. (This one is confusing enough to
require a specific notation.)
p. 13: A full orchestral performance of Cage's 4'33" can be seen at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KAPDBs603Y.
p. 17: "Give me your tired, your poor...":
Jean is, of course, quoting Emma Lazarus's poem "The New Colossus," inscribed
on the base of the Statue of Liberty.
Chapter 3
p. 23: Mary Jane Watson is a Marvel-Universe supermodel and actress, the
wife of Peter (Spider-Man) Parker.
p. 25: "Sometimes he's even been on our side!":
Indeed, for a time, a temporarily reformed Magneto led the X-Men while Xavier
was offworld.
p. 29: Adamantium is supposedly a carbon-steel variant containing the
Marvel-Universe supermetal vibranium.
p. 32: Yes, Lockheed the dragon is named in honor of the aircraft company
that made the Blackbird. In a classic issue, Kitty Pryde told a fairy
story recasting the X-Men as its characters, and the Blackbird became a large
black dragon named Lockheed. When, soon thereafter, Kitty acquired
this real dragon, she gave him the same name.
p. 33: The Avengers members cited here are Captain America, the Vision,
and Thor. The Baxter Building is the home base of the Fantastic Four,
led by supergenius Reed Richards. (In retrospect, I realize that although
the book contains several references to "the FF" and its individual members,
the phrase "Fantastic Four" does not appear anywhere in the text.)
Chapter 4
p. 44: For more on the Imperial Guard, see here.
p. 48: Husk is Paige Guthrie, a young mutant who can shed her skin to
reveal various transformations underneath (e.g. a metal skin, rubber skin,
scales, etc., though in practice it often seems to be her whole body that
is transformed).
p. 51: "And immediately there fell from his eyes...":
King James Bible, Acts 9:18.
Chapter 5
The chapter title is an homage to the X-tinction Agenda storyline
from the comics. That storyline has no connection to this one, but
the title seemed appropriate.
p. 70: "We had always been migratory, but it was
a very different thing to be rendered homeless": Generally, migratory
peoples move between seasonal locations that they return to periodically,
as opposed to being entirely nomadic.
Chapter 6
p. 77: Given the implicit timeframe of the novel, Beast's experiment in
viral mutation presumably involves the Legacy Virus, which ravaged mutant
populations for several years in the comics. Beast had temporarily
retired from the X-Men at this point to research the virus full-time, which
is why it takes a while for him to join in the action of this novel (also
because the battle in Chapter 4 was easier to write with one less combatant).
His experiments would ultimately pay off in a cure, but not before a number
of recurring characters died (not always permanently, this being comics,
after all).
p. 78: "...he was hopeful it would stay that way":
Hank's hopes would be dashed, because later on he would undergo a secondary
mutation into a more massive, leonine form. Being a cat-lover, I would've
liked to write about that version of Beast, but it wouldn't have fit the
timeframe of the novel.
p. 80: Beast's tale about the cataclysmic oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere
is a true story. His statement that the same has occurred on other
planets is conjecture, of course.
p. 81: "I heard the beat of centaur's hoofs...":
Beast is quoting T. S. Eliot's "Mr. Apollinax". The
"wise and gentle Cheiron" reference is not from Eliot, but is a common description
of the centaur who taught many Greek mythological heroes.
p. 85: "...she'd move someplace warm and never wear
more than a bikini": A foreshadowing of Rogue's behavior when she
did in fact lose her powers in the Xtreme X-Men comic, set sometime
after the events of this novel.
p. 86: Yes, I know it's actually Cliff's Notes. But most people
say "Cliff Notes" anyway, and Rogue would probably be one of them.
p. 87: "...they're desperate and impoverished, but
so's your average suicide bomber": Since writing this, I've learned
that it isn't strictly true; a lot of suicide bombers come from middle-class
backgrounds. But Kitty's statement does reflect a commonly held belief.
p. 88ff: Here's where my homages to the '90s animated X-Men series
kick in. Shuki Levy and Kussa Mahchi wrote its music. George
Buza played Beast (and was also the trucker who dropped off Rogue at the diner
in the first X-Men movie). Cal Dodd played Wolverine. For
other name-drops, see the full credits to the
series.
Chapter 7
p. 98: "...that major hyperspace warp in our system":
The Marvel-Universe explanation for why Earth's heroes get caught up in so
many alien invasions and interstellar wars.
p. 100: "These images depict the eleven known Chlorite
species of approximately humanoid configuration, which cannot be immediately
detected by the emission of toxic respiratory gases." Disregard
the comma after "configuration"; everything after "Chlorite species" is
meant to be a single clause. Poratine means that these eleven species
are the only ones that both look humanoid and don't give off
toxic gases, as opposed to just one or the other. There are other
humanoid Chlorite species that do give off toxic gases, such as the Shuki
from the interrogation scene.
p. 102: Ben Urich is a recurring character from Spider-Man and
Daredevil comics.
p. 104: Meena's alternate realities are mostly references to alternate
comics timelines and adaptations of the X-Men. Apocalypse took
over in the Age of Apocalypse timeline. The one where Logan
is a foot taller is the universe of the feature films starring the 6'3" Hugh
Jackman. The one where Cyclops recently died may in fact be the mainstream
comics universe shortly after the "Twelve Saga," putting this book in a slightly
alternate timeline (as discussed on the intro page). Bayside High
School was the school attended by the characters in the X-Men: Evolution
animated series.
p. 105: Papillon is the French word for butterfly. "Ms. Moonstar"
is Dani
Moonstar, a former New Mutant (second-generation student of Xavier's)
who graduated to become a teacher at the Institute.
p. 114: Project Wideawake is a clandestine US government commission formed
to deal with the mutant problem, and both Val Cooper and Henry Gyrich have
been members.
Chapter 8
p. 127: The description of how Cyclops's nervous system shunts away the
recoil energy from his eyebeams is my own extrapolation.
Chapter 9
No notes.
Chapter 10
p. 166: Jack Williamson was a prolific and influential science-fiction
author who coined or popularized many familiar terms such as "terraforming,"
"genetic engineering" and "android." Val is thinking specifically
of his "Humanoids" series of novels, in which humanoid robots with the "Prime
Directive" (another Williamson coinage) of protecting humanity from harm
end up taking it too far and coddling humanity to the point of complete
dependence.
p. 182: In Jewish folklore, Rabbi Loew was the creator of the golem of
Prague.
p. 184. Dr. Doom, aka Victor von Doom, is the dictator of the Eastern
European nation of Latveria and the principal adversary of the Fantastic
Four.
Chapter 11
p. 187: Matt Murdock is a blind attorney who, unbeknownst to the students,
is also the superhero Daredevil.
Chapter 12
This chapter was written on my laptop as I moved through the campus of
the University of Cincinnati, so the descriptions of the location are very
accurate (albeit with some editorializing). Some of the locations can
be seen by visiting this virtual
tour of the campus. The first image to appear in the virtual tour,
"McMicken Hall," depicts a 360-degree Flash panorama of the area where the
chapter opens. Pan to the left to see the glass building the Sentinel
crashes into, then further left to see the student union building the Chlorite
ducks into. An interactive campus map can be found here. The
itinerary of the chase is: past McMicken Hall and University Pavilion (the
glass building), around Tangeman University Center (the student union), through
Steger Student Life Center (the arch), into Baldwin Hall and the adjoining
Rhodes Hall (the particle lab), across Zimmer Plaza, down the steps, under
the bridge (not shown) between Rieveschl Hall and Langsam Library, left
turn around Crosley Tower, then west toward the Aronoff Center.
p. 200: "Frank Gehryesque": Gehry is a deconstructivist
architect known for designs that eschew conventional straight lines and regular
shapes. Cyke's characterization of this particular building (the Aronoff Center for Design
and Art) as Gehryesque is somewhat inaccurate, since its design is based
on straight lines and sharp angles rather than Gehry's trademark curves.
The building was designed by architect Peter Eisenman.
p. 202: "We were almost finished": So I thought
when I wrote this, but I recently discovered that at least one of three old
dorm buildings on the northeast corner of campus is being demolished. "Under
Construction" continues.
Chapter 13
p. 208: "Sperrmull" is German for bulk garbage or junk such as
old appliances and furniture.
p. 209: Why didn't Kurt teleport just a few meters straight upward to
the surface instead of hundreds of meters down the track? Mainly because
it didn't occur to me. But I suppose he didn't know exactly how far
up the ground was, and if he teleported too high, the fall could be dangerous.
p. 210ff: The portions of the Down Street Station visited herein can be
seen at http://underground-history.co.uk/downtour2.php.
p. 213: Spiny Norman is a giant cartoon hedgehog immortalized in a Monty
Python sketch, the bete noire of gangster Dinsdale Piranha.
Chapter 14
For more on Mutant Force, see here.
I was hoping to arrange a cameo by some less lame supervillains, but
there are few inhuman-looking mutants among the major supervillain teams
still alive at this point, and the ones that do look inhuman are too major
for a small cameo.
Chapter 15
p. 225: Bollywood is the nickname for the Indian film industry based in
Mumbai (Bombay).
Chapter 16
p. 235: Any resemblance between the protest leader and X-Men co-creator
Stan Lee is purely intentional. I was told to approach this novel like
a movie, and Stan the Man has had cameos in most of the recent Marvel movies,
so naturally....
p. 236: The sign legends in the second paragraph should be "Don't Let
Alcala Happen Again!" and "Do You Know What Your Neighbors Are?" The
capitalization of the "And" is a typo; it's not all one sign.
p. 242: "Gal Fawkes": A pun on Jean's (implicit)
code name Phoenix, Fawkes the phoenix from Harry Potter, and Guy Fawkes,
who tried to blow up Parliament in 1605. This, like many of Rogue's
lines and actions in this part of the scene, was originally written for
Spider-Man, but the decision was made to focus the scene more tightly on
Jean vs. Rogue. A pun this multilayered is more up Spidey's alley than
Rogue's, but I couldn't bear to part with it.
Chapter 17
p. 253: Madripoor is a fictional Southeast Asian nation from the X-Men
comics. "Madriporean" as the possessive form is my own extrapolation.
p. 254ff: Quicksilver is Pietro Maximoff, the son of Magneto, who shares
much of his father's outrage at the abuse of mutants by normal humans, though
generally pursues less extreme tactics. He is a sometime member of
the Avengers.
Chapter 18
No notes.
Chapter 19
p. 271: "With apologies to Donne": Beast
is paraphrasing John Donne's poem "No Man is an Island."
See also p. 303.
p. 273: Sue Richards is the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four. Aside
from her invisibility, she also can project forcefields, which presumably
would be valuable in detaining a Chlorite.
p. 275: "Creed" is Graydon Creed, a mutant-hating politician who founded
the anti-mutant terrorist group the Friends of Humanity.
Chapter 20
p. 292: Yes, I know it's called a Ouija board, but once again I'm using
vernacular while writing in Rogue's voice.
Chapter 21
p. 311: The song "I Surrender, Dear" is often associated with Ray
Charles, though it was written by Harry Barris and Gordon Clifford and originally
recorded by Bing Crosby. The line "...to surrender
to the call of his elementary instincts" is a paraphrase of Albert Einstein.
p. 316: The second sentence in the third paragraph should read "I really didn't need to see my own skeleton today,
she reflected, before her capacity to reflect in anything became nil."
I.e. before she became invisible and would no longer be reflected
in a mirror.
Chapter 22
p. 332: "Given worlds enough and time": A
common misquote of the first line of Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress":
"Had we but world enough, and time."
p. 334, bottom paragraph: In the course of two sentences, Beast manages
to reference both Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady and Thurston Howell
III from Gilligan's Island.
Chapter 23
p. 344: Harry's quip in the first paragraph is a reference to the Vision
and the Scarlet Witch, a married couple formerly belonging to the Avengers.
p. 350: "Frost's poem" is, of course, "Mending
Wall," which was also excerpted as an epigraph for the novel.
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