Secretly Sinister Mind Control part II: Return Of The Back Issue Babe

Say what you want about Chris Claremont, and yours truly most definitely has... but the man is nothing if not persistent and consistent when it comes to his characters and storylines.

Case in point: Dr. Robyn Hannover, a minor supporting character Claremont introduced in 1989's Classic X-men # 41. She started out as the physician at the Nebraska orphanage where Scott Summers spent most of his childhood.

There, he shared a room with Nate, an odd boy who acted like he owned the place. And in a way he did, as Robyn learned when she angered the kid and he confronted her in his guise as Mr. Sinister... mind controlling her in the process as well...

That's how the two part back up story left her. She almost seemed destined to remain consigned to comics' limbo... until Chris dusted Robyn off, changed the color of her hair... and put her mind controlled butt to work in X-Men Forever vol. 2

"Very nicely done, doctor. I don't think I could refuse you myself!"

The one speaking directly into her mind was none other than Mister Sinister himself. Well, the way Chris Claremont had originally imaged the villain, that is. Instead of being a mid 19th century British geneticist who got his powers from Apocalypse, young Nate was actually a mutant with a lifespan of a 1000 years or so and an appropriately retarded ageing process...

So while he still looked like a 10 year old, he was already pushing 50, with all the emotional maturity and... adult... urges of that age. All things he simple wasn't able to express. That made him a little cranky, to say the least.

"I liked Scott better as an orphan. Which means, eventually, they'll all have to be dealt with."

Cheerful little fellow, isn't he? And yes, that decapitated robot corps in the back is Mr. Sinister. In an interview with Comixology.net, Claremont revealed the reasoning behind this interesting twist. 

"Of course, looking like an 11-year-old, who'd take him seriously in the criminal community? [...] So he built himself an agent in a sense, which was Mister Sinister, that was, in effect, the rationale behind Sinister's rather - for want of a better word - childish or kid-like appearance. The costume... the look... the face... it's what would scare a child. Even when he was designed, he wasn't what you'd expect in a guy like that." 

Or, as Claremont rephrased it to work Sinister into his current storylines... 

By the time this scene from X-men Forever vol. 2 # 7 was published, the X-men were trying to cure a newly discovered, deadly disease they called burnout. In all fairness, it wasn't a disease in the traditional sense of the world. Despite all their great powers, mutants still had basically normal human bodies that were never designed to handle the strain this put on them. Mutants who used their powers often and at high intensity, ran the risk of, well, burning out.... literally.

In the world of X-men Forever, burnout was what actually killed Magneto (instead of burning up when Asteroid M fell to Earth). It was also the cause of Wolverine's failing healing factor (a plot point Claremont first brought up in 1990). Heck, the affliction even put professor Xavier back in a wheelchair.

Basically it struck older mutants first. Which had the middle aged evil kid genius decidedly worried...

And that brings us to just why Sinister ordered Robyn to Alaska to befriend Cyclops' family. At first, he was just scouting them out, but then he spotted Scott's young son Nate.

"Such things are trivial compared to the boy. The key to ending burnout is in him."

Just why Sinister thinks Nate Summers would be of any use to him isn't explained. But for the next several issues, we have Robyn befriending the Summers family, meeting the X-men and the Starjammers and generally charming everyone she comes across..

Heck, even when Sinister had the Marauders attack the Summers family and Robyn tried to kidnap Nate by taking off in a plane with him, she got away with it... by lying through her teeth. Also, as Phoenix discovered, she possessed an unusually impenetrable mind.

" s'okay, we all had a happy ending"

...

Alright, my mind's out of the gutter again.

After the three issue battle against the Marauders, Robyn hang around with the Summers in Alaska for a while, not raising any suspicions whatsoever. Although Scott did have a bit of an epiphany about her in the penultimate issue of the series... 

"I remember her... from the orphanage."

But by that time, there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it. The X-men were involved in a complicated conflict involving an evil clone of Storm who ruled Wakanda, the equally evil Consortium and a whole slew of forgettable baddies. And while all of this was going down, Corsair finally took  Robyn on that flying trip across Alaska she'd wanted to hire him for in her first appearance. Nate happily tagged along...

And then it all went horribly wrong.

"So, no matter what, you can always be blind-sided?"

Using some previously unknown power, she knocks Corsair out and takes charge. Nate is understandably worried about his grandpa, but Robyn assures him she'll fly them to 'the best doctor' she has ever known...

"He wanted to meet you for a long time."

"He has such plans for you."

The Robyn Hanover arc ends with her flying off  into the sunset, ready to deliver Nate to Mister Sinister. Just what the villain had in mind with the child, we'll never know... X-men Forever was cancelled with this issue. A shame, it would have been intriguing to see Cyclops face off against his 'old friend' from the orphanage.

And dollars to donuts, Sinister would have had a mind controlled, empowered Nate ready to fight his dad and the X-men. Hey, this is still a Chris Claremont comic, after all!

Secretly Sinister Mind Control Part I: Lil' Orphan Nattie

We all know who Mr. Sinister really is, right?

The man who would be Sinister was a British geneticist called Nathaniel Essex. Born in the mid-1900s, he survives until the present day thanks to a chance encounter with Apocalypse who used stolen Celestial technologies to turn Nathan into an immortal (and decidedly immoral) avatar of En Sabah Nur. Well, forget all that because this entry still focuses on the alternate reality series X-men Forever. 

In other words: whatever happened after Chris Claremont left in 1991 doesn't count. Especially the things Chris did to Sinister before!

Here we have Cyclops apparently blasting Mr. Sinister to bits at the end of the Inferno crossover, thinking he had finally dealt with the manipulating mastermind behind the massive Morlock murdering mutant massacre and the Marauders. 

But who was Mr. Sinister, really? He always seemed a little goofy looking, what, with his chalk white skin and Eddie Munster style widow's peak... heck, in his first appearance back in Uncanny X-men # 221, artist Mark Silvestri even drew him with dark red lipstick and razor sharp, piranha like teeth. 

"You failed me, Marauders! And failure is something MR. SINISTER does not tolerate."

Not to mention the fact that a codename like 'Mister Sinister' sounded like something only a kid would come up with. But that was just what Claremont was heading for... Even several years before the villain would make his first appearance, a fact he revealed in an interview posted on Comixfan.com. 

"Dave Cockrum and I were over ideas and what we were coming towards was a mysterious young boy - apparently an 11-year-old - at the orphanage where Scott (Cyclops) was raised, who turned out to be the secret master of the place. In effect what we were setting up was a guy who was aging over a lifespan of roughly a thousand years. Even though he looked like an 11-year-old, he'd actually been alive since the mid-century at this point - he was actually about 50 [...] He had all the grown up urges." 

Initially, none of this proposed origin made it into Uncanny X-men or was even remotely hinted at. And, with Sinister apparently dying during the Summer of 1989, there didn't seem to be any need for an origin story. That is, until a few months later the back up strip in Classic X-men # 41 showed a young Scott Summers growing up at the Nebraska orphanage and sharing a room with a rather obnoxious and arrogant boy called Nathan...

"You got some mouth on you, buster."

The dark haired woman berating Nathan is doctor Robyn Hanover, the orphanage's newly appointed physician. She takes an immediate liking to Scott, who was still suffering from amnesia after his parents tossed him out of an airplane as a kid. Unaware of all this, Robyn tried to befriend him with a little chitchat...

Robyn takes an active interest in Scott's plight and even tries to get him adopted by local pilot Rick Bogart and his wife. Their first meeting at a local airshow goes off without a hitch and Scott expects to be leaving the orphanage any day now. When Nathan finds out about this, he isn't very pleased and shows doctor Hanover just who is boss...

"I was in my room... asleep... I must be dreaming!"

... Wait for it, wait for it!

"You've become quite a nuisance (...) The time has come for that to end."

And just how was 'Mr. Sinister' planning to ensure doctor Robyn would tow the proverbial line? 

Well, mind control of course! A few days after this fateful encounter, Robyn was approached by Scott who wanted to know if there was any news on his promised adoption. 

You can see Sinister's influence in more ways than one...

Yup... Sinister was in total control of Scott's fate by manipulating doctor Hanover and having his prospective adoptive parents suffer an unfortunate, 'accidental' plane crash. The story in Classic X-men # 41 and 42 ended with professor Xavier and Jean Grey arriving at the orphanage, after sensing his emerging mutant powers. 

And the rest, as they say, is history.

After Claremont's departure, his successors tried their best to incorporate the events of these two issues in their story. Fabian Nicieza had the X-men fight a bunch of cloned Marauders in a secret lab underneath the orphanage and the Claremont coined name 'Nathan' would eventually be used to reveal Sinister's full name Nathan Essex.

Yet, nothing of Chris' original origin for this illustrious baddie seemed to have survived... That is, until this scene from X-men Forever vol. 2 # 3. In which Corsair (Christopher Summers)'s breakfast with his grandson Nate is interruped by the arrival of an unexpected guest...

"Robyn Hannover. I was hoping to rent a plane."

Uh-friggin'-oh.

More on Robyn, robbing minds and plans most sinister in part two of Secretly Sinister Mind Control: Return Of The Back Issue Babe. 

Nightcrawling Towards Some Mind Control

Today's brief sojourn into mind control past, focuses on Classic X-men # 23.

The Classic X-men title was dreamt up by Marvel in the mid 80s to capitalize on the continued success of Claremont's Uncanny X-men. Many fans came to the party late and missed the early issues that set the scene. More than reason enough to launch Classic X-men, a title that started reprinted the 'early' adventures of the X-men, starting with issue #94...

Joined by popular artists like Art Adams and John Bolton, Claremont added several new features to what would otherwise be a rather dull reprint book. Claremont wrote one or two page scenes that were inserted into the original stories to embellish his long running narrative. 

As an added bonus, he also wrote backup features that served as vignettes to individual characters. Often centering on their personal development during whatever arc the main book was engaged in at the time.

Naturally, some mind control had to be involved... In this case, it's Nightcrawler in between issues # 117 and # 118. Leaving the Savage Land on a rather primitive raft, after their fight with Zaladane, Garok the petrified man and the mind controlling Sauron, the team found itself caught in a freak weather event that would have killed them if not for the timely arrival of a freighter.

Convenient to the story, the captain of the Jinguchi Maru informed the X-men they were operating under radio silence because of some secretive mission the vessel was on... for another month and a half. This meant the X-men couldn't even tell professor Xavier they were still alive.

So, what did the team do to pass the time on board? Leave it to Cyclops to come up with a schedule of fun filled activities: he had them train... a lot. But, as Claremont revealed in the back up feature to Classic X-men # 23, Kurt also had quite the adventure en route to Japan.

After one of Cyclops' rigorous exercise routines, Nightcrawler was resting in his cabin when he spotted a woman going overboard. Teleporting after her, he failed to grab her and was soon overcome by the sheer force of the waves, washing ashore on a nearby island.

There, the half naked blue furred mutant discovered the remains of a  crashed 1930s plane straight from season one of Lost. Searching the debris, he found some appropriate attire and dressed for the part to live out his own Errol Flynn style caper: Kurt was ready to save that damsel in distress.

Alas, he soon realised he might be in way over his head...

For story purposes, Nightcrawler automatically assumed the missing woman was on the same island... And wouldn'tcha know it, he was right. Captured by the locals, the woman Kurt finally recognised as Eiko Shimura, was about to die in a ritual.

Nightcrawler deduced the tall figure must be the high priest. Whoever he is, the man sure proved able to control minds. After all, not only does Eiko appear totally subservient, she also willingly lies down on the altar to be sacrificed...In her undies no less. The man has power.

Luckily, so does Kurt.

However, a punch to the nose isn't enough to deal with this particular baddie, as Kurt learns the hard way when he turned away from his enemy to free Eiko.

Oopsie.

Nightcrawler got himself mind controlled and willed into unconsciousness, ready to be the second human sacrifice of this ancient tribe. Luckily, Kurt regained control in time to fire off a flare gun he had found in the crashed plane. The flare was spotted on the nearby Maru and the X-men stormed to their rescue before any serious harm befell them...

This lucky turn of events ensured Kurt was ready for action by the time Uncanny X-men # 118 rolled around... Which proved to be a distinctively different tale (for one, there was *no* mind control menace).

Holy Moses Magnum indeed...

Shi'aring the mind control

Ah, love... it truly is a many splendored thing.

Remember how professor Xavier used to have a thing for Lilandra Neramani, the now deceased ruler of the starspanning Shi'ar empire? Theirs was a love both long distance and improbable. And ow yes, fraught with mind control.

Before her first appearance in Uncanny X-men # 105, Lilandra's presence was felt through the many intense nightmares Charles Xavier had been experiencing. The one constant in all his vision like dreams was a human creature dressed in an advanced, alien spacesuit. At first, Charles dismissed all of it, chalking them up to mere fatigue... But alien astronauts become kind of hard to ignore once they actually beam in for coffee...

Notice how Xavier instantaneously knew the alien's name was Lilandra? A lucky guess, you say? Well, not quite. Claremont actually tied this arc to a storyline from the original X-men run in the late sixties that featured the alien menace known as the Z'nox.

Back in the late 60s, Charles became aware of this warlike, psychopathic race that was totally devoid of love, empathy or mercy. Worse of all: The Z'nox were gathering their forces to invade Earth. In an early example of Professor Xavier is a jerk! syndrome, Charles decided to keep sitting on this information (no wheelchair pun intended). He became convinced he alone was capable of warding off the Z'nox so he faked his own death and went underground for months to prepare and a plan.

Eventually, he devised a way to defeat the psychopatic, unfeeling alien race. Using his massive telepathic talents, Charles contacted every sentient being on the planet at once, explaining the situation and asking them to focussing on all that is good and noble about mankind.

He then focussed all these thoughts and emotions in what can only be described as a 'decency beam' that he fired straight into space towards the approaching armada. All these 'good vibrations' caused the Z'nox great pain and forced them to abandon their invasion plans... The 60s, everybody!

Right before Charles Xavier fired off his mental love rocket, Shi'ar princess Lilandra Neramani had just escaped her pursuers. As the disapproving younger sister of the mad Shi'ar emperor D'ken, Lilandra was rather unpopular with both D'ken and the military. They all planned for Lilandra to have a little 'accident'.

But she survived, as this Claremont written issue of Classic X-men shows... Only to be caught in the backlash of Xavier's Z'nox attack.

Falling victim to an unwanted wave of alien emotions, Lilandra scrambled to her feet. But... Were they hers, really?

In a flash, she not only saw Charles Xavier's life pass before her eyes... Somehow, she connected to his very being and got mind controlled by it...

" I am human. But humanity is a state of mind..."
Speaking of state of minds... it wasn't long before Lilandra got Charles' entire mind forced upon herself...

"Yet (...) even in that first, terrible moment... her mind... trained to repel the slightest psychic invasion... and her spirit, which since birth has reveled in its defiant, unviolable solitude, untouched and untouchable... do no resist this alien intruder but (...) welcome him."

For what were supposed to be basic Classic X-men back up strips, Claremont sure gave his readers their money's worth.

Two minds, fighting over just who is in control. Wonder how that'll play itself out...

"She doesn't like it..."

To be fair, who would enjoy waking up one day to find yourself violated by what can only be generously described as a chimpansee's mind?

As unfair as this may sound, that is how humans must appear to the Shi'ar, a race of avian (!) aliens that rule large chunks of the known galaxy. And to have one of the ruling cast fall hopelessly in love with a mammal? An invalid mammal hailing from a backwards, backwater little world that hasn't even mastered basic interstellar travel?

That'd be like the daughter of the president shacking up with a peg legged duck. Both unheard of AND uncalled for. Still, its what happened once Charles and Lilandra met up.

And not long afterwards, we learn just what Lilandra was running from before she got herself accidentally mind controlled by her one, true love.

Meet the big meany, the one thing Lilandra fears above else... Even D'Ken himself doesn't disturb her half as much as this...

Its a Soul Drinker, an outer dimensional creature that enjoys sucking down on the soul of D'ken's enemies... still, how hard would it be to avoid the creature? Why not run away from it?

Having an alien, mind controlling creature coming for her soul... Threating to suck it out and forever make her a part of itself made Lilandra feel very scared indeed. Yet... isn't Charles Xavier every bit as much an alien creature trying to control and consume her mind? And you share your bed with him!

Yeah... the irony slaps you in the face about as hard as the soul sucking Shi'ar creature.

Classic X-men mind control

Hard to imagine as it is... the X-men weren't what anyone might consider popular...

Once that changed, Marvel started reprinting the earlier, hard to find issues of Uncanny X-men in a series called Classic X-men. Printed on better paper, the best feature of the book were the Claremont penned back up stories... In these little 8 to 12 page vignettes, Claremont could indulge himself. This resulted in brief, yet surprisingly intense character studies that fleshed out the decisions and thinking behind whatever characters featured in that reprinted issue.

Those back up tales made for interesting reads, but even they weren't free from their fair share of mind control. Nothing proved that point better than Classic X-men # 17, a reprint of Uncanny X-men # 111, better known as... the one where Mesmero mind controls the whole team and forces them to work as circusfolk. For more on how that caper unfolded, look HERE.

Most of the back up stories offered valuable character moments that told you something new about the X-men, their foibles and weaknesses... Yet, reading Mesmero's dialogue in the panel above is all anyone would have needed to understand how the X-men had been captured.

Because, yes, all this tale tells you is how Mesmero captured each and every X-man. It all started simple enough...

"Jean Grey... Your will is mine!"

Interesting to note that Mesmero only fought the X-men once before (in issue # 49) and he never saw Jean unmasked or out of uniform... So having him recognise her is a bit of cheat, especially since his power is hypnosis, not telepathy. Still, what dire fate did Mesmero have in mind for his one time adversary?

Mesmero was using his powers the way any other red blooded, green skinned, man would in his place... make beautiful women fall in love with you, ever ready to service you in the most skimpy of lingerie. He was still looking for a fiery red head to complete his set of service ready sluts.
So, by all means Mesmero, hop to it... 

Turns out all the mind control in the world isn't powerful enough to beat the Phoenix Force... Or the Comics Code Authority for that matter. See, this wasn't actually the real Jean, only a manifestation of the universal power known as the Phoenix Force, that had taken Jean's place and... Ow, never mind all that, Mesmero can't touch her, that's all you need to know for now.   

"I can't touch my new toy... But I sure can use her!"
What happened wasn't half as dirty as that last remark implied. But that just gave the man an idea as he forced Jean to take him home with her. And this is still a Chris Claremont comic, so Mesmero had Jean dress in black leather. All set, he simply walked into the kitchen and started mind controlling X-men left and right.

With Kurt being the first to fall, there wasn't anyone left who could make a quick escape. Next up... the one mutant who could yell and alert everybody.

Two down, another three to go....

Effortlessly nailing all of her teammates, only Wolverine is able to take action... And he does. 

Actually, Wolverine was just playing along to get close to Mesmero in order to finish him off. Mesmero caught on early enough and had the team pound Logan into submission. 

After an afternoon or so of having the X-men fight each other, Mesmero got bored with the bickering and decided to look for new ways to torture them. At a loss for ideas, a picture of Nightcrawler during his circus days provided inspiration for this...

So that's how the X-men ended up as circus performers. Twelve pages to tell a backstory that was more than adequately established in a single panel of the decade old comic it preceded?

Forget Bendis. The hell of decompressed storytelling really started here.