After the recent "Secret Wars" crossover, events in the Marvel Universe jumped ahead by eight months. We learned about the M-Pox. We learned that Cyclops is the most hated mutant around (again) for doing something pretty horrible to the Inhumans. And the various X-characters are scattered around the globe and in Limbo trying to survive the Terrigan Mists.
Marvel Comics just published DEATH OF X #1, which goes back eight months to the point where the X-Men realized that the Terrigan Mists are toxic to mutants. A huge cloud enveloped Muir Island and killed off dozens of unnamed mutants -- and one big name character.
Marvel Comics killed off Jamie Madrox (AKA Multiple Man) with barely a tear. He's been a mainstay of the X-Men titles since the early 1990s when he joined and later led X-Factor. But he was gassed to death in this backstory title. And the world seemingly doesn't care.
A few years back, there was "Civil War" event where the heroes rallied behind Captain America and behind Iron Man. Tony tried recruiting the X-Men and Emma Frost ended up telling him to bug off. "Where were you when terrorists were blowing up our school buses and killing our kids? Where were you when the government sent Sentinels after us and killed our kind?"
Emma Frost was right back then. The simple fact is that Marvel Comics' superheroes really don't care that much about the X-Men or the various mutants. The Inhumans blew up and bomb and spread poison throughout the planet and they're barely raising a hand to solve this crisis.
Apparently, humanity doesn't care if the mutants slowly die from a painful infection that caused their skin to boil and their bodies to shut down. One might worry that the Terrigan Mists might prove equally toxic to regular humanity -- just at a slower pace. But that's something to worry about once folks like Jamie Madrox kick the bucket.
I'm not too worried about Jamie. Colossus came back after being cremated. Nightcrawler returned from the grave after having a robotic arm burst through his chest. A man who can create clones of himself could easily be discovered hiding out in some safe house at some future date.
But I am pretty disgusted by how Marvel Comics' heroes treat their mutant heroes and comrades these days.