Writing: Larry Hama
Art: Val Semeiks
What Went Down: Troll Wolverine starts off the issue climbing up the side of the Massachusetts Xavier School—home of Generation X. They’re not around, but it doesn’t matter because Wolverine is here to see Gateway. He thinks that Gateway can show him how Xavier became Onslaught. Gateway shows Logan his bullroarer, the stone on a string that he spins to use his powers, before using it to show Wolverine the memory of when he had to kill his love Mariko from back in Wolverine #57. Wolverine is overcome by the scene and falls off the roof, but Elektra saves him.
Wolverine claims this isn’t her business, but Elektra insists that he is her responsibility. They both climb to the roof again and ask Gateway to show them the truth about Xavier. Instead, Gateway shows Elektra a repressed memory of hell from back when Bullseye killed her. She sees her father and a number of dead Hand Ninjas rise out of the lava to attack her. Elektra is overcome with emotion, but Wolverine steadies her. Then Wolverine asks Gateway to show him more.
This time Gateway transports all three of them to Xavier’s mansion. Wolverine reflects on what has transpired in the last couple of months before the world becomes distorted, and Wolverine and Elektra are sucked into Gateway’s eye molecularly. Here they are shown the scene from X-Men #25 right after Wolverine had his adamantium sucked from his bones. At the moment Xavier shuts off Magneto’s mind, the two heroes’ level of perception changes. They watch as part of Magneto’s “dark essence” is transported from Magneto to Xavier. Wolverine tries to call out to Charles that Magneto planted something in him, but it’s too late and the heroes are transported back to the Massachusetts Academy.
Outside Wolverine broods because he blames himself for Xavier being pushed to destroy Magneto and getting infected as a result. Elektra brings up that at least he has an important piece of the Onslaught puzzle. Wolverine also mentions that when he saw himself lying there in the memory, it made him realize how much he missed being a normal man. Elektra tells him he still is one (Awwww).
How It Was: As with many stories in the Onslaught crossover, this issue feels like it should be more significant to the overall story, but ultimately it doesn’t really affect anything. Plus, the main revelation of the story has already been completely ruined by previous issues in the crossover where the X-Men already alluded to Magneto’s persona somehow corrupting Xavier, because of the character design obviously influenced by Magneto. Since the whole Onslaught story has been so poorly organized from the start, this issue never pays off as an important contribution plot wise.
Well, there’s still the chance that it could stand on its own merits as just a one-off story, but no, it’s pretty bad as far as that goes as well. Gateway, who is more a plot device than a character since he never talks, is wheeled out as an easy means of discovering the “mystery.” And really, there is no logic behind Wolverine thinking that Gateway would have the answer he would need in the first place. Also, it’s odd that there is no mention of Gateway’s appearance in X-Men #50, or for that matter, what the heck he was doing in that issue.
Unfortunately there are twenty-two pages to fill, so Gateway can’t just give Wolverine a straight answer to the question of “What the heck happened to Xavier.” Instead we have to sit through a number of unrelated flashbacks to once again establish that being a super hero is hard. There’s a weak attempt to set up the flashbacks as being necessary as a means of building up Wolverine and Elektra’s tolerance for pain and misery, so that they won’t be overwhelmed by the “horrifying” scene of Wolverine’s ultimate loss and Xavier’s corruption. But really most of this issue is just padding.
Worst of all, we’re still dealing with Angsty Monkey Wolverine. I like that Wolverine shares the responsibility for Onslaught since it was his injury that pushed Xavier over the edge, but nothing really ever comes from this. Furthermore, Elektra seems to have no purpose in this issue other than to give Wolverine someone to talk to and encourage him. This characterization of her as a nurturing friend never seemed quite right to me since she is normally more of a reckless thrillseeker/vicious assassin.
Most disappointing of all is the discovery that Onslaught isn’t just Xavier’s fears, dark desires, and doubts manifested; instead, Marvel had to make it clear that Xavier is a victim by having him become infected with evil by Magneto. This doesn’t work at all because Magneto isn’t really evil; he just sees coexistence between humans and mutants as impossible, and quite frankly there is a good chance that he might be right. Plus it just undercuts the impact that Onslaught has; instead of showing that Xavier, with all his power, is susceptible to the same disappointments and frustrations as anyone else, it just forces him back into the benevolent saint category by making him entirely free from blame. And really, as I’ve said before, this particular story has no effect on the larger narrative; it doesn’t play any part in the progression or resolution of the story. So it is largely disappointing.
D+
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