Professor Xavier's A-Jerkin' Your Mind part II: Do As I Say, Not As I Do

In the first chapter of Professor Xavier's A-Jerkin' Your Mind, the New Mutants were at long last reunited with their old mentor. Charles had been in deep space with the Starjammers for months, after a destroyed warpgate made it impossible for him to return home.

But thanks to Illyana Rasputin's teleportation powers, he was virtually back in Westchester already...

Yet, as always, there were a few problems he had to deal with. For instance: last issue the Starjammer was damaged in the fight against Magus... And being in orbit of a planet that self destructed in the aftermath of that confrontation didn't help either.

Add to that the fact the Starjammers were wanted by the Shi'ar empress Deathbird, which meant bounty hunters everywhere were on the lookout. Long story short: the Starjammers needed Xavier and his telepathy for their continued survival, while Charles also felt he had to return to Earth to help out after the mutant massacre. Who do you abandon?

One heck of a dilemma, but in the opening pages of # 51, it seemed like Illyana was about to make that decision for him...

"Get out of my head and leave me alone... Or I'll teleport myself to Limbo. I mean it...
And leave you all behind forever!!"

Instead of leaving her be, Xavier had other plans for the obviously terrified girl, who just last issue risked her very life to teleport across time and space to reach him. If you don't want to listen to reason young lady, we'll make you...

"Karma, I'll give you entry to Illyana's mind, so you can "possess" her 

and make her unlock the door."

Apparently, in space... when diplomacy fails, mind control is the way to go. This is a complete break from how Claremont has written Xavier up to this point. The 1960s Xavier didn't even blink when he had to control crowds, erase someone's memories or worse: make Beast's parents forget they even had a child.

But under Claremont, the professor became a bastion of morality who flat out refused using his powers for manipulation, not even for a 'good cause'. Here he is seen pontificating that very point in Uncanny X-men # 151, right after Kitty Pryde's parents decided to transfer her to Emma Frost's school and Wolverine made a sensible suggestion...

"To deliberately manipulate a sentient mind would make me no better than the villains we oppose."

From your mouth to Illyana's mind, Charles... And hey, it's not like it'd be the first time Kitty's parents got zapped by a mind control whammy...

"Just doing what comes naturally."

One might argue that Charles had no choice in this instance. Maybe Illyana was, in fact, too unstable and mad with fear and grief to listen to reason... And yes, you might also say that Xavier couldn't risk having her freak out and bolt, because it would mean stranding the other New Mutants in a potentially deadly situation.

But all that still doesn't rationalise what happened once a possessed Illyana emerged from her room...

"An excellent opportunity to learn what prompted this outburst,
without having Illyana resist my probes or questions."

Now this is just wrong... Getting her to cooperate and calm down is one thing, but having Karma use her possession powers to drag a very emotional, extremely personal truth out of Illyana... right in front of Dani, Rahne and the others is a flagrant infraction of every conceivable code of ethical or moral conduct. 

"Satisfied!?! Got your lousy pound of flesh?!!"

Charles claimed he did it to figure out why Illyana was reluctant to return home, via Limbo. And the answer should be obvious: she doesn't want to return to Limbo where she left her darkside behind, the part of her soul that was corrupted by years as Belasco's apprentice. On the Starjammer, she's as close to being her normal self as she'll ever be and she didn't want to lose that.

But it's not like she'll have an actual say in the matter...

"I won't go back to Limbo... I can't... professor... Please, oh, please don't make me!"

And Charles was really hoping she would be pleasant and understanding about being forced to succumb to her (inner)demons again. Well, if she doesn't want to do things willingly, there's always Karma...

"I haven't the time or inclination to argue the matter, young lady."

With that, Xavier sent his children home, keeping them safe from the roving band of cloaked Shi'ar bounty hunters that were closing in on the Starjammer. He was the only one able to pick up their position by homing in on the crew's thoughts. If he'd left for Earth, the Starjammers would not have survived.

On paper, he made the selfless and right decision, sacrificing his own desire and chance to go home in order to keep everyone he cared for as safe as possible.

Still, that did little to improve Illyana's mood once Xi'an released her...

"You made me little better than a puppet"

In Limbo, she fell prey to the evil influences she had left there and was reunited with her soulsword... In other words, Illyana Rasputin was gone, now all that remained was Magik. And she was mad.

Just how she thinks its right to blame áll the New Mutants is a little weird, especially considering Dani stood up for her... But you don't argue logic with a hopping mad mistress of a demon realm who threatens to stab you in the heart.

"We're home, we're all okay... even Magik once she calms down... Our school's still intact. How bad could things be?"

... Famous last words, Roberto.

Mind Controlling Magik part IV: Salvation Is But A Stepping Disc Away

Part three of Mind Controlling Magik ended with Belasco finally 'liberating' Illyana Rasputin from her protectors, Storm and Cat. Now she could at last start her apprenticeship at the feet of the demon lord.

Of course, there's no such thing as a free lunch... The price for Belasco taking you under his wing is literally your soul. When they first met, Belasco took part of Illyana's soul to create the first bloodstone, now she has to repay him by creating the second stone herself... willingly sacrificing herself even more. And that was just the first day! 

Belasco's teachings focused on Illyana warping life to its most darkest possible outcome, as this unfortunate 'Squidge' showed. Despite having three chunks of her soul corrupted by evil, Illyana still felt bad about what she had become... let alone about what she still was to do.

Alone in her appartments, Illyana realised she was more than just Belasco's demonic sorceror apprentice... Just like her brother Peter, she possessed certain mutant abilities. While she couldn't turn to solid steel like Peter, she was however able to control the light circles that plagued Limbo, circles of energy that teleported people caught in them all across space and time... Quickly mastering them, she teleported both herself and her bedroom...

 However, fate and interdimensional crosstime *can* be a cruel mistress as Illyana's initial attempts at teleportation caused a rather interesting run in with her future teammates... the New Mutants.

However, as Illyana teleported away, that scene would appear rather differently from the New Mutants' point of view. 

For some reason, their appearance in Magik # 3 was little more than a stop along the way to appear in New Mutants # 14, cover dated April 1984... close to two months ahead of schedule. A nice piece of foreshadowing and a prime example of making interlocked continuity work for you. But what had happened to Illyana after her blind jump?

Well, seconds after her jump Illyana learned another aspect of her powers. Not only was she able to teleport across space, time also seemed to be a factor as she arrived in Belasco's demonic lore library. Her destination was right on the money, the timing could use a little work. She arrived decades in the past, just as a still relatively young Storm faced off against Belasco.

After using her mutant abilities to kill Belasco, Storm underwent a sudden change... her innocence giving way to a new form, more atune to Belasco's demonic tendencies. Which is odd, after all, she just killed the demon lord of Limbo, right?

Fraid not... Belasco had used a cheap parlor trick and replaced himself with an innocent man. By attacking and killing him, Storm unwittingly lost most of her humanity, causing her to revert to a demon... Much to Belasco's pleasure.

However, this sojourn into the past was nothing but a warning about things occuring in the here and now. An enraged but ancient Ororo was attacking Belasco, ready to take Illyana back again but already convinced she was no match for him. As the old woman lay dying, Belasco forced Magik to kill her, thereby revealing his secondary motive... the creation of the third bloodstone.

"Splendid. Some of your soul still remains to be corrupted."

After being forced to kill her former mentor Storm, Illyana goes on a bit of a rampage. Using her stepping discs to escape, darting across Limbo with Storm's body to give her a proper burial in the glade the former weather witch had created. However, seconds after the funeral a zombified Storm popped up from the rocks that made up her gravesite, followed by the long dead form of her brother Colossus.

A panicked Illyana instinctively calls upon her powers to take her home... Unfortuately for her, home isn't exactly the safe haven she was used to as she manifests in front of her parents' farm in Russia's Ust-Ordinsky collective. Knocking on the door to greet her parents, Illyana is only met with outrage and dismissal when she exuberantly approaches to hug her mom and dad. They are understandably confused and dismissive. How can this teenage girl possibly be their tiny snowflake?

Demoralised, Illyana doesn't even put up a fight when Belasco and his minions arrive to claim and torture her.

Of course, this punishment also involves a little bit of mind control for the heck of it... 

After draining the third bloodstone from her, Belasco decides Illyana ought to languish in exile for a while before he summoned her to create the fourth stone. This basically meant Illyana was allowed free reign, which isn't the smartest decision considering how devilishly devious Belasco had been making her for years now...

A drained and starving Illyana picked herself up for a little road trip on foot across Limbo, travelling towards Storm's abandoned glade. There, she sits by Ororo's ancient oak tree, the symbol of the wind rider's white magic. Trying a few of the white magic cantations Storm taught her, Illyana soon realised she had been irrevocably corrupted by Belasco's deviltry. However, she also made a discovery that would allow her ultimate freedom... something that had been there all along...

Finally attaining a weapon capable of dealing Belasco some serious damage, Magik teleported to his inner sanctum and fought the lord of Limbo. Her sword, capable of breaking any and all magic spells, soon gave her the upper hand, causing a remarkable change to take place between her and Belasco...

In Limbo, even winning is losing... As Illyana proceeded to beat Belasco, she turned more and more into the person she hated all along... Belasco's demonic features transferred to her, grooming the girl to be the next ruler of the demon realm... If only she'd deliver the killing blow!

In defeating Belasco, Illyana also drove him from the throne of Limbo... In effect making her the new ruler of the realm. But other matters weighed heavily on the young demon sorceress' head... as she decided to fulfill the promise of a seemingly unavoidable timeloop as best she knew how...

"I used my powers to dress for the occasion. I hope they like it."

... Well, Illyana, for my money... I know the mind control fetishists sure as Limbo liked it!

Ms. Marvel's Mark Missing Mindcontrol

After five elaborate posts on all the mind control misery Claremont put the X-men's Sage through, lets flip the script a little and take a look at something rather rare: Chris Claremont judging another writer for using mind control.

Over 30 years ago in Avengers # 200, writer David Michelinie and artist George Perez celebrated Earth's mightiest heroes' anniversary by having Ms. Marvel give birth to a baby she didn't even know she was having until a few days before she went into labour.

One might think that the unexplained, accelerated pregnancy of one of their own would cause the world's premiere superhero team to be, at the very least, a little cautious. But look at them gushing over the infant.

Yet, that's not even the worst part: the child quickly grows up to be a man who calls himself Marcus Immortus, son of the ruler of Limbo and... the man who got Carol pregnant in the first place. Guess that explains that convoluted storytitle The child is father too... And wouldn't that make a great episode of Maury?

Without batting an eye, the Avengers accept Marcus' story about how he was trapped in Limbo after his father Immortus died and that his only way of escape was by being born in 'our' dimension. He fell in love with Ms. Marvel while using Limbo's time scanning machinery to study Earth and an idea formed: He yanked her to his domain for, well... see for yourself...

"With a subtle boost from Immortus' machines... you became mine"? 

As if dragging someone to your place against their will and holding them hostage for weeks weren't enough reasons for concern, he freely admits he was mind controlling her so she'd be more open to him... impregnating her with himself. Impregnating? Lets just call it what it really is: he drugged and raped her.

Yet, the Avengers didn't seem to notice or care. Not even when Carol suddenly declared she'd realised he might be the best thing that happened to her in a long time, prompting the decision to return to Limbo with her 'son'/'lover'/abducter...

Sheesh, who knew Limbo was a suburb of Stockholm?

Avengers # 200 caused a lot of controversy among fans, and rightfully so. Even Chris Claremont, who wrote Ms. Marvel's first solo title a few years before that, got upset by how she was literally shipped off to Limbo. So, he set off to right a wrong by having Carol return to Earth in Avengers Annual # 10 (1981). 

As a coda to the annual and the storyline from Avengers, Carol confronted her former teammates who were still blissfully unaware of what they'd let happen. They even wanted to know what happened to Marcus, because the two of them appeared so much in love. 

Ouch.

And she went on from there...

Amen.

(But, to play devil's advocate for a second, no one took into account the possibility that Carol wasn't the only one Marcus was mentally influencing back in Avengers # 200. Who's to say he didn't use Immortus' machines to make the team less suspicious of him?)

Getting back to Chris Claremont...Some might say his little tirade is a little unfair, considering he does this sort of thing all the time. Even to Carol herself. Heck, you could even make the case that Claremont was being a little childish, lashing out at another writer for what he had done to 'his' character...

Either way Avengers Annual # 10 reads like the pot calling the kettle mind controlled. But fair's fair...

... He's not wrong.

Be that as it may: not being wrong doesn't necessarily mean you're less of a hypocrite, as we'll see next time.