Uncanny X-Men #358

Uncanny X-Men #358
Writing: Steven Seagle

Art: Chris Bachalo

What Went Down:  Bishop opens and narrates this one-off story as he and Deathbird have crash-landed on an alien planet.  Bishop internally recaps the circumstances that have led him to this point, and then rescues Deathbird from the wreckage.  They are beset by a group of alien scavengers who shoot Bishop with a harpoon, so he can’t absorb it.  They fight off the scavengers, and an alien named Karel, who speaks perfect English, offers to give them transportations.

Karel explains that the scavengers are called the Ursaa.  He also tells them that he is a freedom fighter whose world was invaded by the Chnitt, the same aliens who shot down Bishop’s ship.  The group discovers that Karel’s camp was attacked by Chnitt while he was rescuing Bishop and Deathbird, so he takes them to his friend Tu.  Karel tells Bishop that he has come to this planet to retrieve a weapon that will raze the Chnitt from his home.  The planet they are on is a trader’s planet, so Karel plans to use a warp gate to return home.  Bishop thinks he might have a chance to get back to Earth.  Deathbird internally chides him, saying that she loves him and will force him back to the Shi’ar.

Back in Alaska, the original X-Men are helping Scott and Jean pack their belongings; they are leaving Alaska because people around them know they’re mutants.  Scott tells Jean that the buyers for their house have backed out, so they don’t know what they’re going to do.  Some kids throw a brick through the window and scare everyone.  Scott tells them to let it go.  Suddenly Jean senses the psychic event from the Psi-War story (in X-Men #77-78), and is knocked into a catatonic state. 

Back on the trader planet, Deathbird is attacked by a Chnitt, which looks like a giant spider.  After killing it, Bishop realizes that Tu has sold them out, and probably died for his troubles. After acquiring a transport, the group is almost eaten by a giant monster.  Right before they reach the warp gate, the group discovers a giant ball that has been tracking them.  The ball is attacking the city, knowing that Karel has the secret weapon, nullifier charges, which eat metal.  Bishop decides he cannot allow the alien citizens to suffer on their account.  He takes one of the charges and tells Karel and Deathbird to go through the gate without him.  Bishop climbs a roof, throws a charge, and destroys the ship.

After destroying the giant ball, Bishop runs to the warp gate just in time to see it collapse for no reason.  Bishop laments his loneliness, until he discovers that Deathbird has remained on the planet to be with him. 

How It Was:  Bishop and Deathbird’s wacky space odyssey continues as they make their way to a completely generic sci-fi planet.  I don’t even think it has a name; it’s just called the trader planet.  It’s obvious that Marvel is testing the waters to see if Bishop might be able to sustain his own book—years later he would go on to receive it. 

While the designs for the Chnitt are really great, everything else is just so forgettable.  The reader knows right from the beginning that he’ll never see the bland Karel ever again, or his plot-convenient grenades.  Even the mothership at the climax of the story is just a giant ball that fires lasers. Some of the action set pieces do look pretty cool even if they don’t really drive the plot.

So why did I enjoy this issue so much more than I thought I would?  The answer lies in the Bishop/Deathbird dynamic.  It’s really not what super hero readers are used to.   Deathbird is so attracted to Bishop that she fails to pick up on how their worldviews are so different, and Bishop is so repulsed by the idea of being with a villain that he can’t see how attracted he is to her.  I like how Seagle forces Bishop to be the level-headed one of the group, while Deathbird is the wildly impulsive brawler.  Their interactions and the ways they play off each other are great.  It’s just great to see how even they can’t tell whether their feelings for one and other are genuine affection or familiar comfort. 

It’s also nice to see Seagle trying to address the problems writers have been having with Bishop since the Onslaught event.  With his purpose for existing nullified, nobody has known what to do with Bishop.  Seagle tries to play up how out of place he is, and how weird it must be to interact with people who are supposed to be dead.  It’s a bit of a stretch to say that Bishop hasn’t made friends with anyone from the team, but this might just be Bishop’s way of softening the blow of losing his teammates.  Playing up the fact that Bishop is always out of place is as good a way to go as any. 

The Scott and Jean scenes are rather abrupt; Scott’s injuries seem to have disappeared, and I can’t tell if the couple is supposed to be going back to the X-Men or leaving just to escape the townspeople.  I do appreciate that the Psi-War is tying into the greater Marvel Universe; it’s just a shame that there is only really one more issue where Jean deals with these events.  I don’t remember liking this as much when I first read it, but now I feel I can better appreciate just what Seagle was trying to do.

B

X-Men #78

X-Men #78
Writing: Joe Kelly

Art: German Garcia

What Went Down: In New York, people are going insane as the massive psionic event takes place.  Shadow King now has the power to manipulate any mind he wants, and is doing so to create chaos and destruction.  Shadow King explains to the dying Psylocke that he was defeated way back Uncanny #280, but the rise of Onslaught gave him the chance to rise again without Xavier’s noticing.  After tricking Storm into bringing Psylocke, and tricking Psylocke into giving him power, he is prepared to rule the world.  Psylocke’s astral form shatters as Shadow King disappears. 

In another dreamscape, Marrow’s bones return, causing her immense pain.  Shadow King appears in his normal form, offering the three new recruits their hearts’ desires.  Cecilia can be a doctor, Maggott can be a hero who can control his powers, and Marrow can be normal. As this is going on, Psylocke reappears in her shadowy Crimson Dawn form; not even she understands how she survived.  After finding Ainet, Betsy wraps her in the same shadows; apparently these shadows can hide them from the Shadow King. 

As Shadow King messes with the minds of the United Nations, Psylocke and Ainet rescue Storm from her nightmare.  This involves Ainet bolstering Storm’s confidence so she doesn’t blame herself for what’s happened.  Psylocke has also come up with a plan to stop Shadow King.

Later, Psylocke appears to Shadow King.  Shadow King is amused that Betsy is still alive, and offers to make her his queen.  With the villain distracted, Storm and Ainet rescue the new X-Men from the influence they were under.  Marrow wanders off, and saves Cannonball by killing a violent illusion of his father. 

Psylocke sends the other X-Men away as Shadow King reaches out to every mind in the world.  While Shadow King overextends himself, Psylocke is able to attack his “nexus point,” an area that all telepaths must guard because it defines psionic essence.  Psylocke is able to contain the Shadow King, but he warns that if she ever uses her telepathy again, she will release him from this prison. 

Back in the village, the X-Men work to help the dehydrated villagers.  Cannonball thanks Marrow for saving him, and internally she reflects happiness that Sam likes her.  Psylocke explains to Storm that she has lost the use of her telepathy, and Storm reassures her that she will always be part of the X-Men. 

How it Was:  This is a little disappointing after last issue’s set up.  Yes I know I had problems with the set up of the conflict, but the conflict itself is pretty solid—Shadow King has control everyone’s mind and nobody can stop him.  It even works pretty well as an X-Men story since telepathy has pretty much been relegated to the X-Universe.  However problems abound in the fact that the X-Men are supposed to be fighting the Shadow King, and Kelly hasn’t found any creative ways for the team to combat a disembodied psychic entity.  None of the X-Men have anything to do, aside from Psylocke.  Theoretically Storm should have something to do with this story because it’s dealing with her back story, her home, and her main villain, but no; Psylocke does everything, and it’s pretty unsatisfying.

Kelly does get to have some fun here, mostly in the scenes with the villain driving ordinary citizens insane.  These scenes are pretty absurd; it’s more goofy than unsettling, but it adequately sets up the stakes.  It’s also nice to see the recruits coming together a little; I like how Cecilia comes to Marrow’s defense, even though they still “hate” each other.  And I like how Marrow comes to Cannonball’s aid, even if the specifics of how she does it are a little off.  Seeing these bonds just starting to form makes it all the more sad that the direction of the books is going to shift after another issue. 

As for Psylocke herself, well…this is probably the best Psylocke issue I’ve read on this blog, but that really isn’t saying a lot.  The shadowy effect for her does look really cool against the astral plane background, but once again we’re going back to the well of the mysterious Crimson Dawn fixing everything, so I can’t say I’m really interested.  As for her big sacrifice at the end, I can’t say I really care.  Psylocke’s never been a favorite character, and it’s clear she’s only here because the plot needs a teleporter and a telepath.  And while her guilt for causing this big event is nice to see, the end just doesn’t feel very emotional or satisfying.  Maybe it would’ve been more effective if Betsy had been in more than four issues since the Legion Quest story.

It’s too bad this story was so anticlimactic because the art is great, and in theory a lot of the characters should have some interesting reactions to being in Africa.  Instead we get an okay Psylocke story that ends with her finding the Shadow King’s magic defeat button at the end.  This has a lot of holes in it, but at least it doesn’t overstay its welcome like most events today.

C+

X-Men #77

X-Men #77
Writing: Joe Kelly

Art: German Garcia

What Went Down:  We open on a quick flashforward of Storm buried alive with the corpses of her teammates.  That’s a solid attention grabber.  The book then flashes back to Storm explaining the set up to the story.  A village elder named Ainet helped Storm in her past escape her life of thievery and develop her powers to help people.  She’s also a village priestess with magic powers, hence the talking sand statue from last issue.  Storm insists that this is her problem, but the other X-Men decide they want to help her.

Psylocke shows up randomly, along with her recently acquired plot convenient teleportation powers; Marrow also gets pulled along by Wolverine.  Psylocke allows the X-Men to travel to Africa.  When they come out the other side of the portal, Psylocke and Wolverine have been separated from the others, and they are being attacked by tribesman made out of sand with web patterns on their bodies.  Wolverine vanishes in the middle of the fight.

The rest of the X-Men discover Storm’s village.  Cannonball gets sucked in the ground, while the rest find that the villagers are all in catatonic trances.  Ainet appears, but she is under the influence of Anansi, the spider/trickster god. 

Meanwhile, Cannonball has found himself in a mine from his childhood in Kentucky.  Sam also finds the zombified corpse of his father waiting to kill him.  Back in the real world, Storm and the new recruits face Anansi.  Anansi knocks Maggott, Cecilia, and marrow into comas, causing Storm to attack him.  In another dream world, the group is shocked to find Marrow without any bones coming out of her.  Anansi appears to offer them their desires; he also shows that Wolverine has been devolved into a dog.

Psylocke catches up with Storm and attacks Anansi.  She tells Storm that Anansi is a high level telepath, and he is using his powers to control Ainet, and in turn the sand that she controls.  Anansi taunts Psylocke for her nature as second stringer and a haunted, broken character.  Betsy takes Storm to the astral plane to do battle with Anansi.  As Psylocke and Anansi battle, Ainet warns Storm that Anansi is not what he seems.  Storm starts to realize the plan and warn Psylocke, but Anansi banishes Storm as well.  Taunting Psylocke for her continual failures, Psylocke loses it and lashes out. 

At the last moment, Anansi disappears and is replaced by a cage.  For some reason, this act sets off a huge psychic backlash that destroys Psylocke’s astral form.  We are also told through exposition that the feedback of this chain reaction is unlike any other ever experienced, and it affects telepaths and intuitives all across the world.  The final page reveals that Anansi is actually the Shadow King, and this has all been part of his master plan. 

How It Was:  This is part one of an “event” called Psi-War that is meant to shake the foundations of the X-Men.  Right away I like it a heck of a lot more than most modern events because it’s only two issues long.  So it doesn’t drag out and it goes at a pretty decent pace.  Plus it’s got a relatively small cast, so it doesn’t feel too crowded.

That said, the mechanics of this story are a little wonky.  I think it’s pretty ambitious to create an event that effectively dampens telepaths.  After all when you think about it, telepaths are super powerful and can pretty much take out any hero or villain by thinking at them.  The problem comes in that I can’t really tell you how Shadow King brings about this psychic event that leaves him the uncontested ruler of the astral plane; it just sort of happens.  There is some vague explaining about Shadow King arranging synapses to focus and amplify power, but really the plot doesn’t make sense.  Shadow King gets Psylocke to stab something, and all psychics lose their powers while Shadow King can now control everyone’s mind.

Even more strange, Psylocke shows up for this story out of nowhere, and unlike Archangel, nobody is accusing her of ignoring the team and abandoning her responsibilities.  She just shows up like nothing is wrong and uses her plot-convenient powers to forward the story.  What’s really strange is that Shadow King’s plan has focused on Storm for the last couple of issues as the package has traveled to the mansion.  All of a sudden the plot shifts to focus on Psylocke, which couldn’t have been the initial plan since Psylocke isn’t even around that much.  This story has been promoted as a Storm story, but it’s really a Psylocke story that comes out of nowhere.  It just doesn’t seem like the plan makes a lot of sense.

All right, let’s push the plot nitpicking aside.  This book has some great visuals; the design for Anansi is superb, as is the scene with Storm buried alive.  And while it’s clear that nobody but Storm and Psylocke has a purpose in this story, there are one or two nice moments for the other characters, like Marrow’s reaction to life without her bones. 

This is a great idea for how to use continuity; having stories affect the Marvel Universe as a whole, without reader understanding being dependent on knowledge of the set up stories.  And while I like a lot of the visuals here, you can’t escape the fact that this is a Storm story that Psylocke has been shoe horned into, with absolutely no purpose for the rest of the X-Men.  It’s nice to see more classic villains wheeled out, but it’s just really odd to see so much emphasis on Psylocke after she’s been gone or in the background for so long.  

B-