What's in the box!? Scott Summers invites Emma Frost into his mind palace and shows her his special black cube, constructed with a little help from his ex. Gulp. This week, we reach the halfway point in our ScEmma Counseling Session series, discussing Dark X-Men: The Confession as well as Uncanny X-Men issues 518 and 519, which mark the height of their functionality. Yup, it's the top of their hill, and we're not ready to look on the other side.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Instead, let's revel in their achievements as they recognize each other's authentic selves while casting off their conditioned selves. Namor, Tony Stark, the X-Force kill squad. Forget about them. Scott and Emma, you're two desperate, hyper-vigilant people pleasers who can forget their shady past sins and embrace their sexy present sins.

Helping us navigate Scott and Emma's multiple psychic revelations is Dr. Nicole Lepera and her book, How to Be the Love You Seek: Break Cycles, Find Peace and Heal Your Relationships. Together, we explore the seven conditioned selves, consider which apply to Scott and Emma, and wonder whether Psylocke was the right choice for Professor X's surgical assistant.

Dark X-Men: The Confession was published by Marvel Comics in September 2009. It's written by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, penciled by Bing Cansino, inked by Roland Paris, colored by Edgar Delgado and Brian Reber, and lettered by Rob Steen.

Uncanny X-Men issues 518 and 519 were published between December of 2009 and January of 2010. They were written by Matt Fraction, penciled by Terry Dodson, inked by Rachel Dodson, colored by Justin Ponsor, and lettered by Joe Caramagna.

As always, Omnibus, the Digital Comic Store and Reader, sponsors our Referrals segment. This week, we selected two comic book titles on the site that satisfy this episode's themes. We won't spoil what they are here, but if you click the links below, you'll be immediately escorted to those books.

In addition, this episode is sponsored by Third Eye Comics, your friendly neighborhood comic shop with seven locations in the Maryland, DC, and Virginia area. They're your one-stop shop for all things comics, graphic novels, toys, games, records, movies & more!

Not local but still looking for an awesome place to meet all your comic needs? They've also got an amazing website, shop.thirdeyecomics.com, where you can browse thousands of items, pre-order your new comics, and have it all sent right to your doorstep for a flat $5 shipping rate!

Don't forget to join us for the first-ever Comic Book Couples Counseling panel on March 8th at Washington DC's Awesome Con. Room 206 at 8:30 PM!

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Scott and Emma: Dark X-Men - The Confession

Comic Book Couples Counseling Podcast