X-Men Leaves Generation X’s Monet Bitter About the New Team - CBR - Comic Book Resources

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WARNING: The following contains spoilers for X-Men #21 by Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta, Russell Dauterman, Lucas Werneck, Sara Pichelli, Frank Martin, Matthew Wilson, Sunny Gho, Nolan Woodard & VC's Clayton Cowles, on sale now.

The X-Men's election finally took place at the Hellfire Gala, where the assembled heroes, leaders and dignitaries of the Marvel Universe gathered. When the results were announced, a former member of '90s teen mutant team Generation X was among the heroes who won a spot on Cyclops and Jean Grey's X-team.

In X-Men #21, Synch took his place on the team alongside X-Men veterans like Rogue and fan-vote winner Polaris. While two of his old Generation X teammates, Skin and Mondo, could be seen enthusiastically congratulating him on his promotion. Another Gen X alumnus, Monet, was less enthusiastic about his accomplishment.

Monet St. Croix, better known by her codenames M or Penance, is clearly side-eyeing Synch after his X-Men membership is announced. As surprising as it might be to see a crack in the facade of Krakoan solidarity, it's completely in character for M.

M has many impressive qualities, with a power-set that includes flight, invulnerability and telepathy. Beyond that, she has a genius-level intellect, including an eidetic memory. She recently put that intelligence to use saving Storm's life after she was infected with a techno-organic virus and is currently using her business acumen to lead X-Corp.

M might consider Synch joining the team instead of her a snub, given her experience with X-teams. After Generation X disbanded following Synch's death, M went on to serve on a number of mutant squads, including the original X-Corporation, and the Sabretooth-led Weapon X-Force.

OUtside of Generation X, M might best be remembered as an indispensable member of Jamie Madrox's X-Factor Investigations, where she stood toe-to-toe with the Hulk and She-Hulk. She has also served on two different X-Men teams. An all-female team, where she served as the muscle after Rogue left to join the Avengers, and the edgy Magneto-led team where she developed a doomed romance with Sabretooth.

In addition to her powers and experience, M comes from a life of privilege. Her grandfather was a French aristocrat and her father was Monaco's ambassador to France. She was her father's favorite child and had a privileged upbringing. Although she's suffered her share of adversity -- primarily at the hands of her brother Emplate -- she's retained her haughty exterior. She's admitted to Doc Samson that it was a coping mechanism after Emplate's abuse, she's rarely let her teammates see her as anything but a snotty socialite.

Monet's reaction to Synch's promotion could stem from her sense of genuine entitlement or just keeping up appearances. It could also be due to the fact that Generation X isn't as tight-knit as their predecessors, the New Mutants. The fact that their last pre-Krakoa reunion involved the active Gen X alumni fighting an Emplate-possessed M probably didn't help matters. After everything she's been through, even her relationship with Synch during their Generation X days probably doesn't elicit much nostalgia.

No matter how M feels about it, Synch has earned his place on the X-Men. He was part of a small group that infiltrated the Children of the Vault's base, where he learned that his powers had been amplified following his resurrection. Instead of only being able to mimic mutants powers, he could now copy the abilities of other superhumans like the Children. Synch escaped the vault before the Children killed him, meaning he's the only member of the group to retain their memories of the century they spent there. That gives him additional decades of experience and insight into one of the biggest threats against Krakoa.

While M wasn't selected to join the new, "fearless" incarnation of the X-Men, she's not sitting on the sidelines on Krakoa. She'll still be running the X-Corp alongside Angel and her hand-picked board of directors. Given her vast skill set, it's hard to believe she won't be called upon to contribute to a different kind of team-building by the X-Men in the future.

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Robert Curran (333 Articles Published)

Robert Curran lives in Deep South Texas. He is a life long fan of comic books, video games, and pro wrestling. He spent five years in the trenches of his local comic book shop. His work has appeared in WWE Magazine (when WWE had a magazine), Comics Should Be Good, and Inside Pulse.