The Kingpin is exploiting immigration law to become a citizen of the X-Men’s paradise

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

If you’re confused, there’s good reason for that: the Kingpin is and has never been a mutant in Marvel continuity. So where does he come from to claim Krakoan citizenship and all its benefits? It’s easy:

He is married to a mutant.

What else is happening in the pages of our favorite comics? We’ll tell you. Welcome to Monday Funnies, Polygon’s weekly list of the books our comics editor has loved over the past few weeks. It’s part society pages about superhero lives, part reading advice, part “check out this cool art.” There may be some spoilers. There may not be enough context. But there will be great comics. (And if you missed the latest edition, read this.)

Wilson and fellow Daredevil villain Typhoid Mary were married in 2021 Daredevil #36, a few months before they literally sailed off into the sunset at the end of the Devil’s rule event. And while it’s never been the most defining detail of her character, Mary’s psychic powers Doing come from her mutated gene.

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

What does all this mean for Marvel’s Merry Mutants? Does this mean Fisk will get access to the Krakow Resurrection? Hard to say when this whole thing is a last page reveal, 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 that’s (former) Police Commissioner James Gordon. It’s a beloved character beat – which unfortunately means it’s also totally old school and expected.

So I want Ram V and Stefano Raffaele (at least me think it’s Raffaele on this page; Dexter Soy and Miguel Mendonça are also credited on the issue) for delivering this melancholic twist on the old tune.

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

Awesome Spider-Man #21 promised that we would finally find answers to the mystery that had been set up Awesome 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 man who tried to summon a made-up Mayan god, and a supervillain who Awesome Spider-Man writer Zeb Wells introduced in… 2008.

I’m exhausted. “Do you remember ASM #555-557?” No!! Not me!! 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 superfamily and, of course, the superstar talent of Jamal Campbell, who’s been arguing for a place in a Superman book since the first splash page of his first DC title. Naomi.

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