Throwback Tuesday: Ms. Marvel's Mind Control Turn

Now, strictly speaking, since Chris Claremont barely writes any new comics any more, every entry is potentially a throwback, despite the day it's published. But for now, let's roll with the meme, even if isn't Thursday. Today, we're covering the mess that is Uncanny X-Men I#269.

As regular readers of this all too infrequently updated blog already know, the events of this particular issue have already been kinda covered in this entry from late 08. Still, upon further examination, it turned out we barely scratched the surface of mind control weirdness. Let's start with the basics...

Uncanny X-Men I#269 tells the story of whatever happened to Rogue after she sacrificed herself dragging the lethal robot menace Master Mold through the Siege Perilous back in Uncanny X-Men I#247. The Siege is a mystical portal that leads to a conventiently undefined afterlife where higher powers examine who you were and use it as a basis for your next incarnation. It's like the John Lennon song Instant Karma without Yoko's backing vocals.

Master Mold would return years later as the mysterious, mutant hating Bastion but Rogue was the first one to come back... As, well, herself... So much for advancing along the karmic wheel. She was returned to her old room in the abandoned Australian outback town the X-Men had been using as a base when she went through the Siege. And the minute she returned, she was in for some bad news.

                "It has now been confirmed that Mystique, leader of the federal government's
                                          super-powered strike team... has been killed."

Talk about an ominous home coming... After learning her surrogate mother had been killed, not even noticing the dark, brooding figure of Jacob Reisz behind Val Cooper, Rogue rushed out to inform the  X-Men of Mystique's demise. But, much to her own surprise, she found the X-Men had long since been driven off by the town's former inhabitants: the Reavers. The cyborg mercenaries were ready to kill Rogue, regarding her as little more than the one who got away. But, she was rescued by the most unlikely of people...

              "Surprised, Rogue? Feeling's mutual. We have unfinished business, you and I."

I'll say... Not to mention unreal business. That's Carol Danvers, better known as Ms. Marvel... A woman whose powers, mind and memories Rogue infamously absorbed in between scenes of 1981's Avengers Annual I#10. The real Carol Danvers survived, though robbed of her personality, experiences and superhuman powers. Eventually, due to a supreme effort on Charles Xavier's part, she regained most of her mind and memories and the Brood would ultimately mess with her genetic structure to turn Carol into the white hole powered Binary.

So, in a sense, the one, true Carol Danvers was alive and well... Which left Rogue stuck with a copy of Carol in her mind. The two would often struggle and vy for control of Rogue's body, before she got herself sucked through the Siege Perilous. In the afterlife, Rogue and "Carol" were seperated, spewing both women back out as seperate individuals, because hey kids, comics.

"Carol" was ready to hand Rogue to a knuckle sandwich or two for having been trapped inside her head all those years and she didn't care if she had to punch a hole through the Reavers to do so. An added wrinkle: it seemed that Rogue no longer possessed Ms. Marvel's super strength and flight. All she had to rely on to keep her safe were her original mutant power and personality absorption abilities... Luckily she was able to think (and walk) on her feet: she headed for the teleporter Gateway sitting on the outskirts of town.

                                       "What you won't (ah hope, because you cant) give...
                                                          Ah'm afraid ah'll haveta take."

So, in order to escape from a furious victim of your mind control, you decide to... mind control somebody else? Well, that's one way to solve a problem and hey, it does give you one magnificent tan.

"The bull-roarer opens the gateway portal.
But you have my word, dear friend. I'll be back."

And with that, Rogue is gone moments before "Carol" can catch up. Rogue was able to teleport herself to the Savage Land where she was forced to fend for herself for an extended period of time. Without any powers other than her own, surviving in a dinosaur filled realm that time forgot, Rogue slowly regained her self confidence. But, whatever became of Carol?

           "Welcome to Muir Isle, Carol. How delightful t'see you seperated from Rogue at last."

... Without any explanation whatsoever, "Carol" finds herself on Muir Island where things aren't exactly as she remembers. Moira MacTaggert seems vicious and cold, the sorceress Amanda Sefton appears equally evil hearted and what's Polaris doing there strapped to a wall? All is soon made clear when "Carol" meets the villain to beat.

"Stop it, stop it... I just wanted to play with everybody's head!"

"Carol" quite correctly identifies the astral projection as being Charles Xavier's son David Haller... But, just like everybody else on Muir, the boy isn't himself. So, who's to blame for all these mind control shenanigans... Ow, you guessed it: the Shadow King. And he means business. So much so that he turns himself into a particularly penis nosed reptile to charm Ms. Marvel.

      "My province is the mind. As I claimed this boy, Legion... and all the others on this rock..."

Oh, you can guess what happened next, right?

The Shadow King made sure Carol was his to control, mind, body and soul forever. But just how she arrived on Muir Isle was never touched on in the actual comics. Well, as it turns out, Chris Claremont had planned this particular issue to be but a minor chapter in a larger Shadow King centered storyline that should have run all through Uncanny X-Men I#300. Along the way, it would have been revealed the King didn't merely control Moira and the people on Muir, he was also in command of both the Reavers and Gateway. This would have explained the fact Carol popped up in Scotland... *and* the Savage Land, moments after her conversion.

"We don't possess sufficient life-force between us to sustain two independent beings.
As one prospers, the other rots!"

Mind controlled by the Shadow King, "Carol" is determined to absorb Rogue's lifeforce in order to regain her full potential. All this in an attempt to be able to serve her new master even better. And as it turns out, even being near the monstrous Ms. Marvel's form infected Rogue with the Shadow King's deep, dark influences.

"Her face... she's like a walkin' corpse! Shoot... the same's happenin' to me!"

And, just when things seemed at their bleakest, salvation was at hand from the most unlikeliest of sources... That is, if you didn't spot his helmeted cameo on the cover a little earlier. But first, let's indulge "Carol" in what would prove to be the final speech she'd ever deliver...

"The Shadow King finally managed to track you down. Once you're dust, your powers added to mine... I'll be able to serve him that much better!"

And with a well placed magnetic force blasts, a certain magnetic mutant decided to involve himself. He chose sides and made his presence known.

                                                                       "I chose you."

A good half a decade before the Pokemon craze, Magneto already coined that franchise' most popular catchphrase. With "Carol" dead, Rogue was safe, even though she was roped into fighting the magnetically powered Zaladane along with Magneto, Ka-Zar and SHIELD. After that adventure, she'd find herself on Muir Island only to end up mind controlled by the Shadow King after all in Uncanny X-Men I#278.

                                              "This is wrong! 'Cept it seems so natural."

If only Rogue had told Magneto what she'd been going through, even before the final confrontation against "Carol" in the Savage Land. As it turns out in Uncanny X-Men I#275, the master of magnetism had his own run in with the evil entity. 

"At last I confront the Shadow King. Followed by sick shame at the awful cost of my survival."

Knowing Claremont, he would undoubtedly have revealed the circumstances of Magneto's initial encounter with the King, leading up to the proposed climax in Uncanny X-Men I#300. This anniversary issue should be marked with the death of Charles Xavier and Magneto taking over for the professor full time.

Alas, Claremont more or less willingly left Uncanny X-Men with issue 279, already co-written by Fabian Nicieza and Jim Lee. So a lot of plot threads were left dangling, though Claremont confirmed the connection between the Reavers and the Shadow King in 2001's X-Treme X-Men Annual. It's also not unthinkable he meant to reveal a lot of Magneto's horrendous, evil deeds were indirectly caused by the Shadow King's lingering corruption, which would have made Magnus' intended status quo a lot easier to digest.

Maybe someday we'll know for sure...

Subtle Brooding part II: Embry-whoa! 'tcherdoin' there?

When we last left the X-men, professor Charles Xavier had just woken up from a long, self induced coma... seemingly looking none the worse for wear.

"Professor, you're awake! You're all right!"

If only they knew that Xavier had been overcome by the very reason he put himself into a coma: the Brood egg growing inside him.

In fact, the only reason he woke up at all was the fact the alien embryo had gained control of Charles' mind. As would be revealed in later issues, a Brood zygote had superior regenerative abilities. So if Charles' coma had purely been the cause of a physical or mental injury, it would have cleared it right up. Since Xavier went into a voluntary coma, the fact he woke up with the embryo still inside him was definitive proof the Brood was running the show.

Speaking of the Brood being in control, a few days after the professor woke up, the Shi'ar royal cruiser Z'reee Shar appeared in orbit over Earth to take Lilandra home. But before she returned to challenge her sister Deathbird, a banquet was held on board the vessel to thank the X-men for their help.

Charles was still too weak to attend (which also ensured there would be at least one Brood still on Earth). But the other X-men and their houseguest Carol 'formerly Ms. Marvel' Danvers attended...

"We're among friends, so why am I on edge?!
I keep spottin' traces of familiar scents, but I can't place 'em."

Turns out Wolverine had every reason to be suspicious when Lilandra suffered a seizure halfway during her speech...

Sheesh, looks like the princess can't hold her liquour...

"Your courage does you credit, Cyclops... but your cause is lost."

And Deathbird wasn't kidding. A hidden explosive device took out the entire team, leaving them vulnerable to whatever the Brood were planning...

"Satisfied, clan master Ram'n'ehan?"

That Ram'n'ehan was, and then some... He promised the X-men would serve as host-forms for the spawn of their blessed ruler, the 'mother-of-us-all'. The Brood Queen by any other name... And when they came to in Uncanny X-men # 162, they were decidedly being mind controlled, thinking they were on the Shi'ar throneworld.

"Sleazoids! The Brood... we're their prisoners!"

Chalk it up to Logan's healing factor overcoming the effects of the mind control, but he got brief flashes of what was really going on. His fellow X-men and Carol Danvers were mostly oblivious to the actual reality of the situation, and even his partial clarity didn't save him from suffering this fate...

"Look into my eyes, hear my voice... am I truly so terrible to behold?"

And with that, the corruption of the X-men was done...  

Regaining Rogue part II: So You Think You Can Rogue?

Remember Uncanny X-men # 182 ...?

It's the one where Rogue lost control of her mind and Carol Danvers' psyche finally managed to resurface, albeit temporarily... Well, that was just the first confrontation in the ongoing war for mental domination of the grey matter.

Remaining kind of dormant during the X-men's plights, even ignorning the fact Rogue died and was reincarnated during the battle with the Adversary, Carol was still alive and well inside Rogue's head when the two of them found themselves in Genosha during Uncanny X-men 236. The Genoshan mutant Wipeout had used his own mutant abilities to delete Rogue's, so she was a helpless, defenseless victim...

Even worse, without her natural ability to keep back the imprints of those she had taken over in the past, Rogue's mind ran the risk of being taken over by, well, anyone ranging from a random Dire Wraith to Loki and Captain America. Luckily, Carol was there to help out...

"You'll have to trust me!"

Carol Danvers took over from Rogue, right in time for the former secret agent to deal with the arrival of a few handsy Genoshans...

Carol quickly took care of them and then freed her old war buddy Wolverine. Together, they took the Genoshan regime down a peg or two, despite the fact Logan was severely weakened by the adamantium poisoning his now defunct healing factor used to keep in check. Luckily, Wipeout could be persuaded, nau, forcedto restore their powers, Wolverine was back to her old self and so was Rogue.

That is, until the Australian outback days of Uncanny X-men # 244  when Rogue threw a sudden temper tantrum.

"It's her, Storm, don'tcha see?! Ahh, golly-gosh, don't any of y'all understand?!"

Yup... After Genosha, Carol had used their arrangement to occasionally take over Rogue without warning... Let's see what she did with that self claimed liberty... 

"Look around... Without even so much as a by-your-leave"

For some time now, Carol had subtly been influencing Rogue's decisions... Which resulted in not so subtle things like redesigning Rogue's living quarters.  So when Rogue finally regained control for a second, she got pissed off... And understandably so.

Still, one might think it's only understandable a young woman like Carol Danvers, snuffed out in her prime, would also long to live a little... albeit vicariously through the woman who "killed" her.
Still, Rogue didn't quite see it that way and, fed up as she was with this mental time sharing deal, she begged to be released...

"Psylocke... You're a telepath! You can wipe Danvers outta my head!"

The presence of two seperate yet intertwined minds within one body, made Rogue and Carol's psyches not unlike Siamese twins. Psylocke was unable to cut and separate the two of them, condemning them to spend their lives together. It didn't go over well with Louisiana's favorite skunk haired river rat...

Storm had very little sympathy for her plight, though...

"Sorry about that"

Rogue's apologising? Ow, heavens no...

"I figured the kid could use a chance to cool off".

Carol took over, a change made clear by Rogue's eyes shifting from green to blue... Also, the whole 'not smashing stuff and yelling at anyone in sight' was kind of a tip off, along with Carol wistfully filling in her teammates on what had happened.

"... Finally, I got fed up and took over."

So, when she got half the chance, we got this resolution...

"You cannot keep her locked away forever, Carol"

Well, that's what Carol tried to do, until she and Rogue got sucked into the Siege Perilous in Uncanny X-men # 247.

When Rogue reemerged, the Siege had separated her from the Carol essence still inside of her. That stolen bit of lifeforce had also respawned as a rather horrific memory of sins and things past... And she came to get her revenge a little under two years later in Uncanny X-men 269 when Rogue and the Ms. Marvel remnant had a physical struggle to determine who was worthy to lead her life...

"We don't possess sufficient life-foce between us to sustain two independent beings. As one prospers, the other rots! And guess what, "shugah"... that won't be ME"

Oy, Rogue seemed to be in a real pickle... Freshly reincarnated by the Siege Perilous and freed from the Ms. Marvel aspect of her soul, she was about to die in the Savage Land... 

"No matter how hard ah try... nothin' works... She's drainin' me, body an' soul... like ah did her"

But just as Rogue was about to succumb to the Ms. Marvel remnants's madness, a certain someone stepped in to make sure the right gal won the struggle...

"ARRGH!" indeed...

"I chose you"

Magneto killed the newly spawned 'Ms. Marvel', allowing Rogue to survive. For some reason, despite being reverted to her old self thanks to a trip through the Siege Perilous, it didn't take long for Rogue to regain her powers...especially the ones she'd stolen from Carol.

So much for leasons learned...

Regaining Rogue part I: Applying A Little Rossi For That Black Eye

"Ah'm Carol... In all the ways that count!"

Welll, how dó we explain this one?

Remember how back in 1981, Rogue forcibly took over the powers and mind of Ms. Marvel? Sure ya do, it was back in Avengers Annual #10. 

Yeah, funny story: turns out you can't just absorb another person without some serious repercussions. After getting drained, Carol remained dormant for a while... But all of that changed in 1984's Uncanny X-men # 182 in which Rogue lost control of her mind.

A little background: this tale is set right after the X-men returned from the gruelling events of the first Secret Wars. The X-men departed the Beyonder's Battleworld and, much to their own surprise, found themselves in Tokyo upon being returned to Earth. Before long, they'd be forced to fight Lockheed's dragon girlfriend who had grown to giant size and planned to turn downtown Tokyo into her nest... But before all that went down, professor Xavier asked Rogue to check in on the New Mutants back in Westchester... Which meant she had to fly halfway across the world.



I know this tale is set in the early 80s, welll before the internet made global communication a lot easier... But how about dropping a yen or two in the nearest payphone and simply call home?

Just a thought.

Still, flying from Tokyo to the States tired her out so much that Carol's spirit was able to gain dominance. Once she got home, she found the New Mutants missing, they were busy getting mind controlled by Emma Frost at the Massachusetts Academy, but the school's answering machine also included a call for help from one colonel Rossi... Hearing his voice was all it took for Carol to take over.

Rossi happened to be one of Carol's former lovers and he was being held captive. Carol/Rogue immediately flew off to rescue him and even invaded their fearsome flying fortress... the Helicarrier. In this really cool scene, Carol's smarts combine with Rogue's innate brashness to come up with an impromptu way of breaching the Carrier's defenses...

Penny for your thoughts...

She was able to rescue Rossi from SHIELD's clutches, but was shocked when the colonel (naturally) didn't recognise the young woman. When she told him the story, Rossi freaked out and slapped her. No way to treat a lady... especially one who can absorb your mind when her skin touches yours...

"I wish I had the power to kill you."

Wait, he *did* just hit her with his bare hand, right? So much for falling prey to her aforementioned powers!

Ow, continuity...

Ms Marvel and the big bloated brain busters

While returning to this blog after almost three years, I noticed an unfinished vintage post that had been lingering in the data buffer all that time.

Might as well polish it off and present a little tale of the 1970s, when Chris Claremont wrote the first ongoing Ms. Marvel series..

Carol Danvers developed as a strong female character under Chris' guidance, often juggling responsibilities as a superhero with her private life and her real job as editor of WOMAN magazine (yes, this was after all the 1970s, so Carol rode in on the fiery waves of the women's lib movement, making sure everyone could hear her roar).

Still, strong, independent females and Chris Claremont tend to be, well... an unfortunate combination.
Take a look at what happened in issue #23...

"It will be a simple matter... to remold her mind and soul... in MY image." 

Ahhh, don't you just love the smell of male domination in the morning?

The Mysterio-lookalike, in case you were wondering, is known as the Faceless One. This one-off baddy is an alien, hellbent on destruction, conquest and all that other good, fun stuff maniacal menaces are in to.

Still, despite all his grandiose claims, Marvel breaks free of the Faceless One's control and strikes back...

                                       

So, yeah... not only does the bad guy not have a face, he turns out to be bodiless as well. Yes people, Carol got mentally enslaved by little more than a disembodied head. 

Needless to say, so weird and unbelievable a villain like the Faceless One would never be seen again. Surely, the notion that a mere floating head is enough to conquer the lead character of your book is utterly ridiculous and...

Ow.

Well.

Yeah... There was that other time the Kree Supreme Intelligence and that other big floating head thingie MODOK teamed up to turn Carol into a slave.

... I am woman, hear me roar indeed.                  

Well, in Chris' defence, he worked out his obsession with big giant male heads dominating womenfolk when the 80s dawned.

I guess thát's something, at least...

Whose mind controls who?

"Ah'm Carol... In all the ways that count!"

Welll, how to explain this one?

Remember how back in 1981, Rogue tok over the powers and mind of Ms. Marvel? Sure ya do, it was back in Avengers Annual #10. 

Yeah, funny story: turns out you can't just absorb another person without some serious repercussions. After getting drained, Carol remained dormant for a while... But all of that changed in 1984's Uncanny X-men # 182 in which Rogue lost control of her mind.

A little background: this tale is set right after the X-men returned from the gruelling events of the first Secret Wars. The X-men departed the Beyonder's Battleworld and, much to their own surprise, found themselves in Tokyo upon being returned to Earth. Before long, they'd be forced to fight Lockheed's dragon girlfriend who had grown to giant size and planned to turn downtown Tokyo into her nest... But before all that went down, professor Xavier asked Rogue to check in on the New Mutants back in Westchester... Which meant she had to fly halfway across the world.



I know this tale is set in the early 80s, welll before the internet made global communication a lot easier... But how about dropping a yen or two in the nearest payphone and simply call home?

Just a thought.

Still, flying from Tokyo to the States tired her out so much that Carol's spirit was able to gain dominance. Once she got home, she found the New Mutants missing, they were busy getting mind controlled by Emma Frost at the Massachusetts Academy, but the school's answering machine also included a call for help from one colonel Rossi... Hearing his voice was all it took for Carol to take over.

Rossi happened to be one of Carol's former lovers and he was being held captive. Carol/Rogue immediately flew off to rescue him and even invaded their fearsome flying fortress... the Helicarrier. In this really cool scene, Carol's smarts combine with Rogue's innate brashness to come up with an impromptu way of breaching the Carrier's defenses...

Penny for your thoughts...

She was able to rescue Rossi from SHIELD's clutches, but was shocked when the colonel (naturally) didn't recognise the young woman. When she told him the story, Rossi freaked out and slapped her. No way to treat a lady... especially one who can absorb your mind when her skin touches yours...

"I wish I had the power to kill you."

Wait, he *did* just hit her with his bare hand, right? So much for falling prey to her aforementioned powers!

Ow, continuity...