Mind Control Is Anything But X-Tinct part I: The Gone'dilock Syndrome

So, it's come to this...

X-Tinction Agenda, the late 1990 crossover that would prove to be Chris Claremont's penultimate major story arc during his initial X-universe run. Let's get some preliminaries out of the way before we delve into the mind control heavy story at hand....

After disbanding the X-men at the end of their Australian era, Claremont had reunited the team and moved them back to where it all started: Professor Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters in Westchester, New York... Or rather, the school's sub basements considering the building itself had been decimated at the end of Inferno.

However, just like that fairytale about goldilocks and the three bears... they came home to find someone had been sleeping in their beds and sampling their proverbial porridge. The recently rebellious New Mutants and their equally new mentor Cable had been using it as their base of operations for a while and weren't too happy to share with the, from their perspective, fresh from the dead X-men...

Yes, that preteen girl *IS* Storm... Y'see, a good two years before Uncanny X-men # 270, the X-men faced the Louise Simonson creations Nanny and the Orphan Maker in Uncanny X-men 248. The villains faked their own deaths at the end of that tale, but not before escaping with Storm... who they turned into a little girl, as covered HERE.

Minor or not, Storm dealt with the New Mutants' obnoxious attitude head on, chiding them for their immature and petty behaviour. Still, it isn't hard to understand the root of their resentment. They were young children who came to Xavier's school to learn how to control their powers. Unfortunately, being enrolled at a school that doubles as a base for the world's premiere mutant heroes means you have to grow up fast.

Maybe a little too fast... And while the X-men served as a calming, guiding force for a while... they consciously chose to abandon them when they decided to fake their own deaths, that source of stability disappeared as well. Add to that the fact by then Xavier had left and his replacement  Magneto fully reverted back to his old evil self, forcing the young team to fend for themselves... until they ran into Cable who took them under his wing.

And now the X-men show up and start making demands. It makes sense the New Mutants weren't exactly feeling cooperative. However, they were soon forced to join forces when Xavier's was overrun by Genoshan forces... Beating them back, Storm spotted one particulary familiar Magistrate...

Unbeknownst to Storm (she had died by then) and the other X-men present, Psylocke had used her mental powers to force herself and fellow X-men Dazzler, Colossus and Havok to enter the Siege Perilous to escape the X-men's cyborg foes the Reavers. As covered here, the Siege gives you a new lease on life... apparently Havok's second chance turned him into a mutant using his powers to surpress and enslave his fellow mutants.

Still, as surprised as Storm was, she didn't waste any time ordering the New Mutants to keep firing....

Yeah, the Genoshan magistrates weren't there to simply fight some mutants, they had specific orders... In fact, they only seemed interested in the New Mutants' non mutant, techno-organic member Warlock. He was the first to be taken to Genosha, courtesy of the mutant teleporter Pipeline, followed by Wolfsbane, Boom-Boom, Rictor and Storm. It goes without saying the remaining X-men and New Mutants vowed to rescue their team mates. 

The story, co-written by Claremont, continued in New Mutants # 95, in which Louise Simonson showed how the Genoshans treated their prisoners. First, they had the mutant Wipeout cancel their powers, then they shoved them into the same skintight outfits Genoshan mutates wear. And how did everyone respond to that? You guessed it...Mainly by whining and complaining.

However, soon after this sulk ridden tantrum, they got another shock when the main villain revealed himself: Cameron Hodge. A human childhood friend of Warren 'Archangel' Worthington who turned out to be a right wing mutant zealot until he was decapitated by Warren himself 

Unfortunately, he didn't stay dead thanks to a deal he'd struck with the demon N'astirh during Inferno, a deal that guaranteed him eternal life. This meant his head was still alive and well when his followers connected it to a gigantic, spider-like robotic form.

Long story short: Hodge missed having a more conventional form and figured Warlock's techno-organic virus was the key. His big plan was to have Warlock infect him with the transmode virus so he could use it to reshape his form. Sounds good, if you ignore the fact that Lock's virus usually drains its victims dry.

Hodge also needed a little help from Genosha's genengineer, who was still up to his old tricks... converting innocent Genoshan teens who tested positive for mutagenic genes into willing, mindless mutates in service of the state.

"But I want to remember... my... mother... my dad... They love me! I don't want to forget. But you'll shave my head, I'll have a number on my forehead. I'll be bonded forever to a mutate suit! My... my friends... my family... will see."

No, that's not Wolfsbane cutting the breeze with the hunchback of the Notre Dame, it's Rob Liefeld trying to capture Louise Simonson rather overwrought, emotional dialogue by having a deformed Louie Anderson lookalike talk some sense into a sullen, bored looking ginger boy who is resting comfortably on a barcalounger. 

Hodge's big plan fell through when Warlok used his last energies to free his teammates. Storm, Boom-Boom and Rictor headed for the American embassy, but Wolfsbane refused to leave Warlock behind.  Unfortunately, her valiant stance proved to bein  vain. A seriously ticked off Hodge watched as Warlock died, before shoving her back into a cell and fast tracking her transformation into a mindless Genoshan mutate...

And while all of that went down, the combined forces of the X-men, X-Factor and New Mutants were watching the news when the Genoshan president Renau announced that, well, read on...

Executed? If ever there was a reason to jump into action. But more on that in part II of Mind Control Is Anything But X-Tinct: You're Once, Twice, Three Times A Mind Controlled Lady...