Post 175: True Love, True Mind Control

It's post 175!

We're still hip deep in the continuity backwaters of that alternate reality series X-men Forever, so celebrating this milestone might not feel too legitimate. But today's entry covers X-men Forever Annual # 1, a comic in which Chris Claremont featured both mind control and a fan favorite forbidden couple: Jean Grey and Wolverine.

It all started with Nick Fury sending Logan and Jean on a covert mission to discover strange goings on at a tropical island SHIELD suspects is a hotbed for superhuman terrorism...

"We should be so lucky."

Ow boy, Jean... You weren't kidding, not even two pages into your tropical vacation... we get this.

"It's a mix of science and magic... One to subject our minds... the other, our souls!"

Yes, Wolverine and Phoenix got themselves captured by those ne'er-do-wells, the mystical ninjas of the Hand. So much for enjoying their unexpected but by no means unwanted romantic holiday. There had always been more than a little spark of affection between the two of them, but by the time Wolverine came around Jean was already faithful to Cyclops. Luckily for Logan, this being an alternate universe Chris Claremont was free to experiment and paired him off with Jeanie...

Unfortunately, they weren't quite themselves...

"As we succumb to the enchantment... there'll be some kind of physical metamorphosis... as the demon they unleash makes itself flesh."

Jean tried her very best to stave off this unfortunate transformation, but while her mutant powers protected her from the worst of the Hand's two pronged metaphysical, magical mind control act... 

...Wolverine wasn't quite so lucky. That means the minute an impromptu team of X-men burst in to save the couple, Logan wasn't exactly himself anymore...

If only someone told that to Shadowcat...

"Raaaaaah!"

Well, Jean did... but who'd listen to her pleas not to free her, heck... someone might be controlling her mind, right? With Wolverine properly conditioned by the Hand to serve as their assassin, the X-men were in for one heck of a fight... Even though Psylocke tried her best to deal with the situation, 'Wolverine' still had quite a bit to say to her...

"Your vaunted power is nothing! I am the master assassin of the Hand...
And with these blades, I will claim your heart and soul!"

Yes, for some reason the Hand has been able to magically alter Wolverine's adamantium claws into  heart and soul sucking devices... Which sounds great, until you realise adamantium is a type of iron... And iron is historically known to break and destroy magical spells.

Ah well, continuity...

Lucky for all of us... Love burns through all bonds, especially if the lady formerly known as the Phoenix is the one doing the burning...

'

"When my blades cut you, you'll bleed... And then you'll scream!"

Not so much, Wolvie... Love cures all. Jean is able to restore Logan to normal and with the Hand defeated, the X-men enjoy a little R&R on a sunny holiday island. But Jean and Logan can do without those not quite welcomed guests...

"We'll make our own way, thanks. Tell the others not to worry."

And yes, there's no reason to worry indeed...

"THIS is my choice."

Like I said, no reason to worry at all.

...Well, unless your name is either Cyclops or Mariko Yashida, that is...

X-men Forever Mind Controlled: Lodged In Logan

Back in 2009, the creative eggheads at Marvel had a novel idea...

What if... the past 17 years or so had never happened? What if Chris Claremont had never left after writing the first three issues of X-men in 1991? What would he have come up with? The answer to that was given in a biweekly series called X-men Forever. And despite the fact it was a bit of a nostalgia act, the mind control wasn't all that obvious. At first.

The first issue saw the X-men dealing with the aftermath of X-men # 3. Magneto had seemingly perished when his asteroid home was destroyed, only Fabian Cortez, the criminal leader of Magnus' Acolytes escaped... but the team was on his case. Unfortunately, Fabian's mutant power regulating gifts proved more than a match for the X-men...

"Lady says you're hurting, little man! Be my pleasure to make things a whole lot worse!"

Kitty tried to use her phasing powers to free Jean and Logan... but her rescue attempt had some... unexpected... consequences.

"I can't pull us free... Never felt anything so awful...Loganpleaseohplease make it STOP!"

Just why Kitty felt so much discomfort wouldn't be revealed until X-Men Forever # 4. By then, a lot had happened... Wolverine had been killed by Storm, of all people. And when their fellow X-men confronted the wind rider, Ororo quite easily beat them back, until Kitty struck and popped a boner... of sorts.

"I'm going to find out who made you turn against the X-men, Storm..."

Yeah... Not to be a spoilsport, but it doesn't involve mind control. However, the situation with Kitty would involve a fair amount of controlled minds. Mainly her own... Because during that unfortunate merger with the dearly departed Wolverine, Kitty got more than that single adamantium claw lodged in her skeletal structure...

"Inside my head... I see Logan's face, I can hear his voice."

We'll cover the story behind that particular picture in the next entry... For now, let's suffice it to say Kitty wasn't exactly alone in her head anymore. Forget that adamantium claw she was able to pop out, she also had inherited a semblance of Wolverine's healing factor, enhanced senses and rough, dominating personality... Which made her question if she was even in command of herself at all... Scenes like these certainly don't make it seem an actual 16 year old girl was 'home'...

"It was a long time ago. I was just a kid."

In the issues that followed, Kitty was fighting a losing battle against Logan's presence in her mind. Despite her best attempts, she suddenly started to adopt his gruff demeanor and speech patterns, which might have been worrisome, if not for the fact it also felt like Claremont was grooming her to be the next Wolverine. That is, until Kitty received an unexpected surprise during a fevered battle with the Marauders.

"You're supposed to be DEAD!"

Yeah... 'a' Wolverine showed up during the fight with the Marauders, widely known as Mr. Sinister's cloned henchmen. Everyone assumed Sinister had simply obtained a DNA sample in order to clone his own Wolverine so he could shock and disturb his former teammates. That's why Kitty, after getting gutted, showed no mercy and left him for dead... 

Well, she tried at least.

After her initial confrontation with this 'faux Wolverine', Kitty experienced very vivid dreams of being stalked by him... And in those dreams, she felt like she was slowly being turned into him as well... 

Luckily, this was all still a dream... but her behaviour did become a lot more erratic. For one thing, this not close to legal girl suddenly started flirting with Gambit. A lot.

"The way he's looking at me... I haven't felt like this in so long."

Not exactly lines you'd expect from a super intelligent 15 year old girl... So who's been fuelling her attraction to Gambit, then? Surely, it can't be Logan's influences... Alternate reality or not, the man's as straight as they come...

... Or maybe not.

Luckily, even a thief like Gambit wasn't ready to steal a kiss from a minor.

"You talk 'bout instincts... You ready t' trust 'em, body an' soul?"

Yeah, it's safe to say Kitty Pryde is more than a little confused. Add to all this the fact she's also been thinking in Japanese for some reason... It's high time she went to Japan in order to get some answers. However, the teenage Storm and Lockheed snuck on board her ship and joined Kitty in getting some anwers. Y'see, she figured it might not be Wolverine who was mind controlling her...

"I'd been possessed... By Logan's old teacher Ogun. He tried to make me a master assassin."

Logan or Ogun... Just who was trying to control Kitty is never made clear, because the threesome gets caught up in the proverbial perfect storm of converging storylines. Not in the least because this guy showed up. Again.

" <...Logan will always be the hunter!>"

After getting chased by what is clearly not just a Wolverine clone, Kitty, Storm and Lockheed dash across Japan in order to seek refuge with Logan's highly influential former lover Mariko Yashida. While she does indeed manage to keep away the maddened crazy man with the bone claws, Mariko is also in league with the X-men's big bad: the Consortium.  

The last few issues of X-men Forever dealt with them and their global influence, leaving the Kitty Pryde/Wolverine plotline large unresolved. Was this feral, bone clawed creature 'but' a clone or actually the real Logan? All we know for sure, he wanted back whatever Kitty got from him... And this is the last substantial thing Kitty ever said on the matter before X-Men Forever was cancelled...

*SNIKT*

Th-th-that's all folks!

Logan, Love, Marriage & Mind Control...

In early 1998, Marvel's then editor in chief Bob Harrass approached Chris Claremont with the request to write a story arc on Wolverine, the series he helped launch in the 1987. The timing couldn't be better, considering Claremont's debut would start with the big anniversary issue # 125.

Most fans figured Claremont would use the opportunity to restore Wolverine's status quo, maybe even restore the adamantium that was ripped out by Magneto at the end of 1993's Fatal Attractions crossover. To his credit, Chris intentionally did the unexpected, unfortunately his three issue storyline was, well, haphazard at best. The anniversary issue starts out with Jubilee running from some bad guys in a scene that mirrors Kitty Pryde's escape from the Hellfire Club in Uncanny X-men # 129.

Jubes was rescued from that particular horror by, well, just guess...

Yup, that's Shadowcat and Lockheed... Looking ever so spiffy in green. But what's caused her sudden change in appearance? And for that matter, why was Jubilee being chased by those Hellfire Club goons, who by the way looked like X-women in outfits similar to Kitty's?

Bless Claremont's gift for exposition. The rather psychotic terrorist Viper, also fond of dressing in green leather, is revealed to be the big bad. Desperately trying to get at Wolverine, Viper used a special mind control poison (because that's what poisons do apparently) to recruit some of Wolverine's closest female friends and associates. Viper had managed to claim Psylocke, Rogue, Tyger Tiger, Jean Grey, Kitty Pryde and Yukio. Jubilee was about to join their ranks, if Kitty hadn't broken free from Viper's conditioning to save her.

Five of their colleagues however, weren't quite so lucky... And neither was Wolverine once the green squad tracked him down.

So why was Viper after Wolverine in the first place? Well, he once sorta promised Viper his hand in marriage in return for her aid. Its rather reassuring to know the lady might be a psychotic, mass murdering maniac, but she sure ain't forgetful!

Wolverine reluctantly obeyed his sense of honor and agreed to marry Viper, but their wedded bliss was cut short by Sabretooth who showed up to kill Logan's better half.

In a nice tip of the hat to a Wolvie wedding that that never was, Claremont has Sabretooth swear he'd kill any mate 'the runt' would ever take. Back in the early 80s, Claremont and Byrne had planned to have Wolverine and his lady love Mariko Yashida tie the knot... Only to have Sabretooth appear as the villain who ripped her apart.

And by 1998, the crazed mutant was about to fulfill his destiny after all. Yet, as the end of the second issue fast approached, even Victor Creed proved to be a mere accomplice to the real bad guy because well... Hey, why *DID* we shovel out that extra dough for gatefold covers that tell everyone what they need to know?

Yep, in the third and final chapter everyone got kidnapped and mind controlled by the Hand, leading to delicious scenes like these...

All the pain they caused Wolverine and Kitty had a remarkable effect on the erstwhile Shadowcat as she appeared like a latter day Psylocke...

But the Hand wasn't just planning on mind controlling Viper. They had a few more of those sensory depravation tanks lying around so why not stick a few more of Wolverine's women in there. In skintight outfits of course, mind control or not, there's always room for some eye candy.

In the end, all the heroes broke free to fight another day and Claremont bowed out after this three issue stint... While leaving the Wolverine/Viper marriage stand and revealing the Hand had reinforced Sabretooth's claws and skeleton with adamantium, making him a truly tough foe.

Alas, these story elements were quickly reversed by future writers who had the happy couple break up because, well, one's a sociopath with odd hair, a bad temper and connections to terrorist groups bent on imposing their views on a world that hates and fears them... and the other is Viper.*


* With sincerest apologies to Craig Ferguson