Marvel’s X-Men has a new immigration-breaking villain: the Kingpin

As a supervillain, Wilson Fisk – also known as the Kingpin – knows no loyalty, even to his enemies. While he was created in the pages of a Spider-Man comic book, he has no qualms about also menacing Daredevil or the Punisher or Luke Cage or pretty much any street-level superhero in Marvel’s New York City. But in the past week, he has set his sights considerably further afield by seeking asylum on Krakoa, the island paradise that exists only for mutants.

If you’re confused, there’s good reason: the Kingpin is not, and never has been, a mutant in Marvel continuity. So where does he get off claiming Krakoan citizenship and all the benefits that come with it? It is simple:

He is married to a mutant.

What else happens in the pages of our favorite comics? We’ll tell you that. Welcome to Monday Funnies, Polygon’s weekly list of the books our comics editor has enjoyed over the past few weeks. It’s part superhero life community site, part reading recommendation, part “look at this cool art.” There may be some spoilers. There may not be enough context. But there will be good comics. (And if you missed the last edition, read this.)

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Image: Gerry Duggan, Stefano Caselli/Marvel Comics

Wilson and fellow Daredevil villain Typhoid Mary bonded in 2021’s daredevil #36, a few months before they literally sailed off into the sunset at the end of Devil’s Reign event. And while it’s never been the most defining detail of her character, Mary’s psychic powers are do derived from her mutant gene.

I can only imagine how long X-Men writer Gerry Duggan has been waiting to pull this Chekhov’s gun off the wall – probably at least since Devil’s Reign: X-Men tie-in series, in which he wrote a secret and tentative past encounter between Emma Frost and Wilson Fisk.

What does this all mean for Marvel’s Merry Mutants? Does this mean Fisk gets access to the Krakoan resurrection? Hard to say when it’s all a reveal on the last page, but we’ll probably find out in the next issue.

Image: Ram V, Dexter Soy, Stefano Raffaele, Miguel Mendonça/DC Comics

We all know Batman likes to disappear while people are talking to him, especially if they’re (former) Police Commissioner James Gordon. It’s a beloved character beat — which unfortunately means it’s also completely old and expected.

So I would like to praise Ram V and Stefano Raffaele (at least I think it is Raffaele on this page; Dexter Soy and Miguel Mendonça are also credited for the issue) to deliver this melancholic variation on the old tune.

Image: Zeb Wells, John Romita Jr./Marvel Comics

Amazing Spider-Man #21 promised that we would finally find answers to the mystery set up in Amazing Spider-Man #1: What did Peter Parker do six months ago that made him a pariah among all his friends and even Mary Jane? Well… we still don’t know, except that it has something to do with Benjamin Rabin, a white guy who tried to summon a made-up Mayan god, and a supervillain who Amazing Spider-Man author Zeb Wells introduced in… 2008.

I’m exhausted. “Do you remember ASM #555-557?” Nobody!! I don’t!! Because when it came out I was still in college!

Image: Joshua Williamson, Jamal Campbell/DC Comics

It’s early to judge the story of Joshua Williams’ new Superman, but it starts with strong bones. A sneaky Lex Luthor, a sprawling super family, and of course superstar talent Jamal Campbell, who has been making the case to be put on a Superman book ever since the first splash page of his first DC title, Naomi.

A two-page portrait of Superman from birth to heroism is a big swing, and Campbell pulls it off with grace.

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