Raid on Graymalkin is a 2024 X-Men storyline. It is the first major storyline event following Fall of the House of X. A crossover between X-Men (2024) and Uncanny X-Men (2024), the crossover involves X-Men #8-9 and Uncanny X-Men #7-8.
Following the fall of Krakoa, the X-Men have splintered, with Scott leading a team in Alaska and Rogue leading a team in Louisiana. However, on the background a new organization has co-opted Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and turned it into a for-profit prison housing mutants called Graymalkin Prison.
Since then they've been blatantly kidnapping and torturing mutants in the name of "safety", but when they kidnap mutants from both teams of X-Men, they decide enough is enough and launch a raid on the compound to liberate all the captive mutants.
Raid on Graymalkin provides examples of:
- All for Nothing: The X-Men succeed in getting back Beast, Jubilee and Calico, but have to leave the rest behind, due to the threat of Ellis' powerful space weapons.
- Bad Boss: Dr. Ellis isn't much better to her own men than she is to mutants; when told that her Sentinels aren't ready and are likely to maul their own troops, her response is "Do we not have a sick bay, Captain?"
- The Bad Guy Wins: Ellis only loses out on Calico, Beast and Jubilee, but she keeps everyone else, including the immensely powerful Sarah Gaunt and Scurvy.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Unhappy with the new Sentinels, Dr. Ellis decides to create her own by turning stray dogs into cyborgs, with her first attempt violently killing itself. We later see a missing poster for that very same dog.
- Bait-and-Switch: When the two teams gather in front of the cell for 'Prisoner X', they only learn after the door has been opened that it doesn't hold Charles Xavier, but someone else...
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Some mutants that are captured are brainwashed and turned into "Trustees", which are eerily similar to Ahab's Hounds. They are mutant hunters and so far Ellis has Blob, Siryn and Wild Child filling the posts.
- Broken Pedestal: Cyclops writes Professor X off as a Manipulative Bastard and asserts that mutantkind will never be free with him loose, flat-out telling Rogue that he'd rather die than let her free Xavier.
- Cast from Lifespan: How Scurvy's powers work. He is a telepath on the level of Xavier, but using his powers steadily erodes his health.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Kid Omega gets knocked out by a sonic device and is completely removed from the story, seemingly left behind as they all leave only to suddenly reappear with the others in the next issue of X-Men (2024).
- Evil Counterpart: Scurvy is a powerful telepath who wanted to convince people that mutants were a force for good, through appearing on Ellis' podcast. She convinced him to turn against his people instead. He is basically what Xavier could have become if Sarah Gaunt got her claws in him.
- Fantastic Racism: Corina Ellis dismisses the X-Men as "genetic freaks" simply because they're mutants, ignoring their skills and power compared to the average mutant.
- Great Escape: Both teams launch an attack on the prison to free their teammates and the rest of the captive mutants.
- It's Personal: President Lopez of Terra Verde is very interested in acquiring Hank McCoy from Graymalkin after what the original Beast did to the island nation during the Krakoan Age.
- Misplaced Retribution: While Terra Verde's grudge against Beast is understandable after what happened during the Krakoan Age, this also isn't the Hank responsible for those crimes. Beast Prime died at the end of Benjamin Percy's X-Force and the current Hank's a Krakoan duplicate with pre-Krakoan memories (and who's equally horrified by his predecessor's moral and ethical decay).
- Oh, Crap!: The look on Beast's face in the first issue upon learning he's not only in prison, but he's going to be sold to Terra Verde — i.e. the Central American island nation the original Hank McCoy royally screwed over during the Krakoan Age.
- Out-of-Character Moment: Rogue criticizing Cyclops for harboring Magneto doesn't make any sense for multiple reasons. The first is that Rogue herself used to be one of the bad guys. The second is that Magneto reformed, just like she did and the third is that she is fully aware there is nobility in him, because they used to be a couple and his nobility was what drew her to him. To make matters worse, Magneto is currently a sick, dying old man, which makes Rogue look like an incredibly petty person.
- Poor Communication Kills: Predictably, the much-publicized fight between the two teams is the result of this (in addition to an Emotion Bomb attack). Things are tense and Rogue ends up Tempting Fate in the narration by pointing out that peace hinges on Wolverine and Hot-Blooded new recruit Ransom staying cool. Ransom asks Logan if they should rush Cyclops, with Logan responding to wait for him to reach for his temple. Scott then does an Obligatory Earpiece Touch to call Juggernaut, Ransom pulls a Leeroy Jenkins, and all hell breaks loose. Thankfully, it ends as quickly as it began when they all discover Charles Xavier's cell.
- The Reveal: According to Scurvy, he and Xavier are two of five Professor X level telepaths, of which Harvey X would have grown into had he lived. This is due to a tumor on their spinal cords. So not only is Xavier dying, there are at least three extremely powerful mutants who have managed to avoid his detection his entire life.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Basically defied when Corinna Ellis, the head of the Greymalkin Prison, offers to have Calico released from the prison as her parents have made a generous donation and provided "proof" that she isn't a mutant; Calico rejects the opportunity to sign a document agreeing with that statement and declares that she will remain in prison with her fellow mutants.
- Storming the Castle: With their teammates captured, the X-Men decide a head-on approach is needed to break them out.Cyclops: Hank's in Graymalkin Prison. It's time we broke it.Psylocke: Don't you mean in?Cyclops: No.
- The Unfought: In a case of Covers Always Lie, the X-Men leave without confronting Inmate X with Dr. Ellis keeping him as a trump card for their inevitable return.
- The Un-Reveal: We don't actually learn who Inmate X is, but he's apparently The Dreaded and an Avian like Xavier.
- The Vamp: Ellis used seduction and sex to convince Scurvy to turn on his own people. They met when she was a podcaster and he came on to convince her that not all mutants were bad. It didn't work out in his favour.
- Wardens Are Evil: Dr. Corina Ellis is the warden of the prison, and takes great delight in torturing the prisoners.