Maybe Mind Control Might Magikally Be But A Dream...

Today's entry is an interesting one...

Chris Claremont left New Mutants after issue # 54. However, he was credited with the plot to issue # 63, by which time former editor Louise Simonson had been writing the teenage mutants for close a little under a year already.

The tale touches on several then current storylines, like the apparent death of the X-men at the hands of Forge, and the changes within the New Mutants themselves. However, this still mainly feels like an inventory issue, a stock story that got dragged off the shelves to fill a hole in the schedule it really had no place filling.

Way back in New Mutants # 21, the team had a slumber party that was rudely interrupted by the arrival of Warlock. In time, the techno organic alien would be a valiant teammate, but in his first appearance, he was perceived as a villain. Illyana Rasputin engaged the creature, but when she got infected with the technovirus, she retreated to Limbo, grabbing Kitty's petdragon Lockheed for safekeeping.

Near the end of that issue, she returned...

"Professor Xavier! Boy, am I glad you're here.. Have I got a story to tell!"

However, Illyana and Chris never got around to telling that story... until New Mutants # 63 in which Kitty Pryde spotted the alien armor inside Illyana's closet and prodded her roomie to tell the story behind how she got it. Kitty's persuading turned into a little soft lesbian college dorm tickling fun, with some unexpected consequences...

After accidentally dropping into her brother's room while he was butt naked, Illyana started to wonder what was going on. After all, Kitty was still on Muir Island at the time, recovering from the injuries she received during her fight against the Marauders... and for all she knew, Peter had died with the other X-men. 

Still, in an attempt to make sense of the odd situation Illyana decided to tell Kitty all about the where and how she got that strange alien armor. After briefly bringing up the aforementioned slumber party, Illyana revealed how she desperately tried to get rid of the technovirus infecting her form once she was in Limbo. Her struggle didn't go unnoticed by the many vicious and power hungry creatures there...

"Miststress... what you do to poor loyal Skunge...?"

Inadvertent mind control, that's gotta be a new one.

Still, after catching her breath in timeless Limbo, Illyana decided to deal with the techno organic infection head on. She summoned the full power of her Belasco taught magics and performed what can best be described as an exorcism on herself. Exhausted, she teleported home via one of her light circles. And when she came to in her bedroom at Xavier's, everything seemed all right. Until she opened a random drawer and things went from bad to worse...

"I'm Illyana Rasputin, Peter's little sister! Don't you know me?"

As it turned out, the X-men really didn't know her... Even Kitty and Peter are totally unaware of her. Shocked, Illyana realises her unreliable teleportation powers might have stranded her in yet another alternate reality... It's not like it never happened before.

They also never heard of Lockheed, thinking Illyana meant the X-men's plane when she asked where he was. Even worse: she couldn't simply teleport away, something was blocking her abilities... and to add insult to injury, these X-men decided to lock her in her room until Professor Xavier could figure out what to make of her...Illyana wasn't planning on waiting that long...

The X-men overheard Lockheed's arrival, but the tiny dragon viciously attacked Colossus and Cyclops, before carrying off Illyana to safety. They both ran into the woods of the Xavier estate, while the X-men chased them. Illyana noticed how odd the team was behaving. Cyclops was clumsy at best with his optic blasts and why was Wolverine attacking her with a knife?

"Lockheed, did you see that? OUR Wolverine wouldn't have been fazed by a steel I-beam! And why the knife? Why not use his claws? Hey... he doesn't have claws!"

Her musings were interruped by Lockheed, who spit a huge ball of flame that revealed a rather disturbing truth. Illyana hadn't teleported into an alternate reality, she was on board a giant spaceship that had an area set up as Xavier's school for gifted youngster. And judging from the size of the vessel, it has plenty of room for that sort of thing...

"I crept closer to the observation window... spun a chair aside when it blocked my view...
And came face to face with one of the original inhabitants!"

One thing, though... that original inhabitant was dead. Courtesy of that other presence on the observation deck...

"At first, I thought Magneto was the villain. Then I recognized it... a Sleazoid!
The X-men had fought their kind before!"

Half paralyzed by the Brood's unexplained gunk spray, Illyana scrambled for safety while the Brood took on Lockheed... and found time to deliver some exposition...

"And now, my dear, since you are Colossus' sister,
you, too, will make an excellent host subject!"

Instinctly using her powers to escape the Brood, Magik teleported herself away to the relative safety of a snowy glen. Here, she mastered the use of the energy weapon she'd taken from the deceased alien on the observation deck. Once confident in its use, Magik 'ported back to the ship, ready for action. When she realised the Brood had already left, she donned the dead alien woman's armor, just to be safe.

The second Illyana got suited up, the X-men charged in, ready to take her into custody. She managed to evade them long enough to run into the Brood again, who was about to do what all Brood do best...

"As the egg hatches within him, it will absorb all his knowledge, memories, abilities... and he himself will be... transformed... or perhaps I should say... subsumed into one of us!"
It's a fascinating process. Perhaps you'd care to watch?"

Turns out, Illyana wasn't... Fortunately, the Brood had plenty of other things to discuss and reveal...

"I found this ship, slaughtered its crew, cloned adult X-men, altered their memories and injected them with the eggs! You see, they are under my influence! They think *I* am their adored mentor..."

So, that's the Brood's big plan. The actual X-men might have defeated the embryos implanted in them by the Brood queen, it's always a possibility to clone the team and infect them. A host body's a host body, after all... right?

Unfortunately for the Brood, the cloned X-men overhead his ranting as they came in chasing after Illyana... With the enchantment broken, they were in no mood to aid their 'professor Xavier'. After an entertaining struggle, Lockheed kills the 'Xavier Brood' with a fire blast, but the survivors were still feeling pretty guilty...

"We were hypnotized... he made us believe he was our teacher... our friend!"

Even worse, Cy-clone-ops... he also implanted an embryo deep inside all of you. So do try and say hello to that tiny Brood baby just waiting to hatch and take over. Wolverine is ready to die to keep the rest of humanity safe, begging Magik to finish him and the others, but the mistress of Limbo has a better idea...

"I swung it with all my might... and the darkness faded and there was only the light."

So, Illyana's soulsword, specifically designed to be ineffective against material objects, is able to perform an instantaneous multiple abortion of sorts? And what about Wolverine's healing factor? Shouldn't that have taken care of the embryo?

After exorcising the Brood embryos, Magik soon found herself back in her own proper time and place... presumably popping up during the aforementioned scene in New Mutants # 21. But after hearing this story, Kitty really wanted to try Illyana's alien armor on...

So that's it... Illyana used her magics to engage in a little mind control of her own, changing the thoughts and memories of the cloned X-men so they'd eventually develop their own seperate identities, no longer restricted by their genetic mold like most other clones.

Keeping the armor as a memento of a rather special adventure, Illyana returned with Lockheed in time to grace the closing pages of New Mutants # 21. After that, Claremont spends the closing pages of the issue with Illyana and Kitty discussing Magik's caper, while Kitty wore hér armor...

And then, Illyana woke up.

Yup... the space adventure against the Brood had been nothing but a dream inside Illyana's bigger dream of being with her absent best friend, deceased brother and the other X-men. A very understandable desire, but this story simply doesn't seem like the right vehicle to tell this.

New Mutants # 63 was cover dated May 1988, but for it to have real impact it should have been published at least 3.5 years earlier. That way, this rather interesting tale about a band of cloned X-men running a planet size starship would be in continuity... and not a dream. It also doesn't make sense, because # 21, in which the armor first debuted, ís still in continuity which means there's quite the mystery left to explain...

And no, Marvel editors, don't be too smart for your own good. While this might be the 80s and the X-men *did* die in Dallas... It'll be a cold day in hell before anyone buys someone coming out of the shower to tell Illyana it was all a bad dream...

... No, not even Bobby 'Iceman' Drake.

Backdoor Brain Befuddlement aka Mind Control Madelyne Style

Sometimes, even Chris Claremont doesn't know he's writing mind controlled characters.

Case in point, January 1986's Uncanny X-men # 201 in which Claremont gave the team time to catch their breath and reflect.

In this prototypical classic 'downtime' issue, the X-men were reflecting the many changes thrust upon them after Uncanny # 200, which featured the departure of professor Xavier, the arrival of their former archenemy Magneto as the new headmaster and...

The birth of Cyclops and Madelyne's first child: Nathan Summers.

Which was a little weird for Rachel Summers, the redhead telepathic future daughter of Scott from an alternate timeline. Here we have a touching scene between Kitty and the Summers siblings.

"Wow That's beautiful!"

It's hard to imagine just how 'beautiful' the thoughtprocess of a newborn is, considering they can't even recognise their own fingers yet. 

Still, years later during his Excalibur run, Claremont remembered this psilink, established between Kitty, Rachel and young Nathan. At the start of the Inferno storyline, Nathan was kidnapped and Rachel flew to his rescue, dressing Kitty up as a baby in the process... 

"Long story. Later."

Getting back to the actual story... Uncanny X-men # 201 saw the X-men and their former leader Cyclops returning to the mansion after some adventures in Asgard and Paris, France. Their recent experiences had left Scott with the nagging notion that he should take over as teamleader. Storm had been a more than capable replacement after he left in the wake of Jean Grey's death... But Ororo had recently lost her powers.

Scott felt this no longer made her fit to lead, forcing him to step up, especially in light of the professor's absence and Magneto's presence. Madelyne didn't really agree.

"Or... are you afraid... they really can get along without you?"

... For someone who just gave birth, Maddie Pryor sure is in amazing shape. Bye bye excess baby weight, hello skin tight mumus. And, quite understandably, she wants Scott to leave the team and be a father to his son. After all, would you prefer a husband who abandons you on a regular basis to court death? With, from her point of view, a band of strangers no less?  

Their argument led to a fight Storm broke up by offering a resolution.

"One of us must lead. The best way to choose, I feel, is a duel..."

And what better place for a duel than the X-men's holographic Danger Room?

"Hadda happen."

In a truly classic 1980s scene, the X-men and the New Mutants (along with Magneto dressed in hot purple pink in the far right) huddle in the Danger Room's control perch to witness the confrontation that's about to take place. Doug 'Cypher' Ramsey programs an environment that compensates for Storm's lack of powers. And while the two X-men leaders throw down, Madelyne has a quiet moment with the baby...

"I want Scott to lose, so he'll be coming with us. Except losing will break his heart."

And ow dear... he *did* lose...

"I don't believe it. I'm dreaming! This isn't happening! I lost"

Scott doesn't know the half of it. He leaves the team to be with his wife and son, but before long he abandons them after learning his first love Jean Grey was still alive. Along with the former original X-men, Scott and Jean formed the new team X-Factor, took a hold of baby Nathan... While Madelyne was abandoned and, well... let's see how she fared?

After some decidely convoluted doings, Madelyne was almost killed by the Marauders... This assassination attempt only made sense, considering their leader Mr. Sinister was the one who created Maddie, a clone based on a genetic sample of Jean Grey.

When Jean returned, Madelyne had become superfluous to the evil genius' plans... Not in the least because she had already gave birth to a child that contained Mr. Sinister's ideally imagined bloodlines: Jean & Scott.

But poor Maddie would soon become essential to the schemes of Limbo demons S'ym and N'astirh, who ultimately transformed her into the Goblin Queen during the 1989 Summer crossover Inferno.

The X-men and X-Factor gathered to oppose her, but in X-Factor # 38, Louise Simonson had the Goblin Queen drop a little truth bomb...

"I didn't know that till later, that my nascent powers had awakened."

It may seem like a bit of a cheat of a convoluted cop out, but it actually makes sense. If you clone a telepathic telekinetic, it only makes sense you end up with a clone that has at least a similar genetic potential.

But Scott kept things in perspective.

"Stop! ENOUGH!"

Mind controlled or not, the X-men and X-Factor joined forces to stop the Limbo demon's invasion and Madelyne didn't survive the experience...

All's well that ends well, but with Maddy revealed as the reason Cyclops lost... one does wonder who would win: Cyclops or Storm?

Any thoughts?

Mind Control Is Anything But X-Tinct part V: Once, But No More, Oh Green And Pleasant Land

With two more issues to go, Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson had to wrap up the late 1990 X-Tinction Agenda crossover. New Mutants # 97, penned by Simonson and drawn by Guang Yap and regular series penciller Rob Liefeld on cover art, saw most of the X-teams reunited in a final battle against Cameron Hodge...

In order to get any new readers up to speed, Simonson drove the good ol' book mobile of exposition in the opening spread.

The fight goes rather poorly at first for the X-men, but when the mutate formerly known as Storm gradually repowers her teammates, the tide begins to turn and Hodge makes a hasty, though he might argue strategic,  retreat. This allows Storm the peace and quiet she needs to give everyone else their powers back, including her on again / off again lover Forge... And, while New Mutants was still considered a kids' friendly book at the time, we get this scene...

After Hodge's handiwork left him without a leg or a hand, Forge finally catches a break when Storm returns his mutant inventive genius to him. All the restoration process needs is a mere touch, but why resort to a boring old handshake when a passionate kiss works just as well? This literally stormy peck leaves Gambit jealous, which is a little odd considering he only met Ororo after she'd been turned into a little girl.

But Storm's mutant powers had always been weather control. Just how is she able to do all this?

Surprise! 

Storm wasn't really a mindless mutate after all. The Genengineer considered her to be his secret weapon against Cameron Hodge and only changed her physical appearance. While she might appear to be a compliant accomplice, she was actually in full control and even granted an extra power that restored mutant abilities... (Storm's altered genetic makeup is never addressed after this, by the way... She just returns home, grows back her hair in between issues and that's that).

But the X-men are a bit too busy to deal with that. After all, Cameron Hodge still has to be dealt with. Not to mention rogue elements of the Genoshan Magistrates, including Cyclops' own brother Alex. Speaking of which, Cyclops finally makes a command decision regarding Alex...

"Try to reason with him... incapacitate him or go through him. Whatever it takes to get to Hodge."

Giving a team that includes a bersker rage prone adamantium clawed killer, a ruthless cyborg with big guns and a blue skinned Apocalypse approved winged Angel of death to either reason, incapacitate or go through someone... you know you just signed his death warrant, right?

Still, while all of this was going down, Alex Summers finally regained his senses and freedom somewhat...

"Finally I'm free... and fully myself" 

Who knew even the Genoshan mutant Magistrates were actually under the gun, or so to speak? Havok was still wearing a collar that kept him in check. Without it, he's truly himself once more. Which sadly enough, isn't something that can be said for Rahne Sinclaire, aka Wolfsbane, aka Mutate 490. Here's how she greets her old teammate and one time love interest Rictor...

"Number 490...cease your attack!"

Weirdly enough, the Genoshan mutate population has been confirmed to in the thousands. From healers to mineworkers, personal aides and even gardners... they're everywhere. This makes numbering Storm mutate # 20 and Rahne # 490 a little odd, to say the least.

After calling back his watchdog, the Genengineer explained to an exasperated Rictor that he wasn't able to return Rahne back to her old self. Luckily, Storm arrived with her magic touch and restored both of them anyway... Even though there was a considerable catch with Wolfsbane...

"In your human form you will always be helpless, a mutate, mindless and obedient. But as a werewolf you will be stronger... more powerful... than you ever where."

Now isn't that just sweet? Rahne Sinclaire, the 13 and a bit year old God fearing Scottish girl gets changed so she basically has a choice between living life as a docile and subservient creature or embracing her inner demon, the werewolf form she was cursed with.

Soo, here's the dilemma: either be a prim and proper person without any sense of true joy... Or become the beast and and revel in its unbridled yet ever so ungodly glory... Knowing full well that these sensations are ultimately sinful?

One way or the other, she'd be doomed to a life of misery. Hey kids, comics!

But at least Rahne had her priorities in order... Cameron Hodge still had to be dealt with. In the final pages of New Mutants # 97, Hodge strikes back and critically injuries several key players like Psylocke, Rictor and the Beast, which makes for an exciting teaser... And oh yeah, Warlock's cremated remains are there too!

"See X-Factor # 62 for the dramatic conclusion of The X-Tinction Agenda"

So, finally... it's about to come to a close. Still, isn't it a bit of an odd decision to end a major X-men crossover in X-Factor? Especially considering that book's regular artist Jon Bogdanove has been catching considerable flack for his less than exciting style. If only they'd planned the story so it would climax in the Jim Lee drawn Uncanny X-men, anything that guy pencils is sure to be an instant cash grab...

Well played, Marvel editorial... well played indeed. An actual attention grabbing Jim Lee cover on a book that only one month earlier relied on this Bogdanove production to rake in the dough.

Just guess which issue sold better.

Still, Bogdanove pulled out all his stops to give the finale his all and he didn't really diappoint. The fight between Hodge and the semi armada of X-men is more than competently portrayed. But while this is still a blog that focuses on mind control, let's revisit the mutants Hodge injured back in the penultimate chapter... Beast was forced to take care of them and while he was hurt as well, he figured that turnabout is fair play and made mind control work for him...

"All right you genejoke bums.
Get over here, I have a job for you and I expect you to put your backs in it."

Beast got the others to safety, just as Cyclops finally reunited with his freed from mind control brother Havok, just in time to finally deal with the menace that is Cameron Hodge. After a fever pitched fight, it was Wolfsbane and Rictor who got to deliver the killing blow...

Agreeing that toppling an entire skycraper on top of his already shredded head was enough to finish off Hodge, the X-men declared victory and tried to deal with the aftermath of their latest Genoshan venture as best they could...

Several (yes... se-ve-ral...) days later, chief magistrate Anderson takes to the air and resolves the international incident caused by former Genoshan president Ronald Reag... Renau... Cleverly relying on several half truths, Anderson manages to explain away all of the recent transgressions... But there are still a few loose ends to tie up...

So, after several days, Rahne and Havok are still parading around in their ripped and torn outfits... An interesting development since even Wolverine, appearance wise as big a slob as the Blob, is wearing a different outfit. And don't forget Rictor, who's had plenty of opportunity to change his mutate skinsuit for something remotely more human...

Ah Louise... the art inconsistenices one creates by even adding a single caption.

Still, the X-Tinction Agenda ends where it all began... At Xavier's school for gifted youngster with Boom-Boom and Rictor honoring Wolfsbane request as she remained on Genosha with Havok (for all but 6 months or so). The X-men returned home to lay to rest one of their quirkiest recruits, Warlock... the techno organic being that started this whole crossover, 5 parts and 22 years ago.

Mind Control Is Anything But X-tinct part IV: Dramatis Personae Under The Magistrate's Sway

The X-Tinction Agenda is reaching its mind control heavy finale, so let's have a quick recap of who's under who's control at this time, courtesy of the opening page of X-Factor # 61.

So, of all the mutants running around on Genosha, only Cyclops, Archangel, Beast, Iceman, Cannonball and Banshee still have their powers. With the capture of Jean and the others, their initial plan to distract the Magistrates by setting off a series of strategically placed explosions has probably been discovered. More than enough reason to go for plan B... 'B' as in 'bald cap'.

For some reason, artist Jon Bogdanove enjoys drawing halfnaked men. In the previous issue, Cyclops and Havok were wrestling each other dressed in tatters and here we have a barely clothed Cyclops and Iceman dressing themselves up as Genoshan mutates, complete with a prosthetic 'bald cap' to make them look the part.

Minutes after leaving for the citadel, Cyclops' suspicions were proven right. Hodge had used a mutate to scan the minds of the captured X-men and learned of their location and plans. The Magistrates burst into their hideout ready to arrest them. However, their arrival triggered a big explosion that effortlessly took out the heavily armed forces. This resulted in fireworks that were visible all the way to the citadel where Cameron Hodge was showing off his latest pet mutate Storm... 

Ow look, good ol' Ronnie Reagan is wearin' Nancy's outfits again. Still, the haunting image of a glassy eyed Storm looking on as outside a vicious storm was building, mirrors a scene from Uncanny X-men # 146, in which Doctor Doom captured and coated the X-men's leader in a chromium alloy. 

But, to get back to the main story... Cyclops' strike team splits in two. While Cannonball, Banshee and Archangel execute an aerial assault on the citadel, the mocked up mutates rely on a clever ruse to get in.  

But, considering this is still part 6 of a 9 issue crossover... they soon ran into more troubles. And this time it cried Havok... Cyclops fought Alex some more, hoping to break whatever Genoshan (or so he thought) mind control he thought his brother was suffering from.

Cyclops actually thought he was getting through to Alex now, but as always the big bad showed up to even the odds. Cameron Hodge dropped by, distracting Cyclops long enough for Havok to grab a gun and shoot his sibling, immediately reaffirming his loyalty in the eyes of Hodge. But appearances are, as always, deceiving...

Let's continue with chapter 7 of the X-Tinction Agenda, better known as Uncanny X-men 272. The Genoshan government kept their promise and put the X-men on trial for their alledged acts of terrorism. But true to form, Wolverine tried to hack his way out of there... for a little while, until mutate 20 (Storm) and chief magistrate Anderson put him in his place. Unfortunately, his outburst angered the judge considerably and that meant Logan had involuntarily condemned his teammates to a far more cruel fate... and master.

Hodge had a merry old time torturing the mutants in his own private dungeon. From ripping off Forge's cybernetic limbs to cutting Cable's techno organic parts, the sadist had fun, while the Genoshan ruling body looked on in horror. Soon, they would realise what a big mistake allying themselves with Hodge had been, but until that time it was Psylocke who made the ultimate sacrifice...

"Please. No more please, not for me, I beg you! I can't bear this. Please have mercy. Forgive me Cyclops... I accept the chief magistrate's offer... and freely submit myself to the genemod process."

The newly mindcontrol free Havok used Genosha's own laws against them and took the clearly faking Psylocke from Hodge's clutches, only to stand idly by as she made her escape in an attempt to save the others. Hodge remained blissfully unaware of all this, he was a little busy enjoying a confrontation between two X-men who didn't particularly like one another...

"Wolverine... I can't control my wings! They're attacking of their own volition!"

With the Genoshan mutant Wipeout literally wiping out their powers, Warren had lost conscious control of the techno organic wings Apocalypse gave him. The metal had a life of its own, desperate and hungry for blood. Without Warren to reign those parts of himself in, Wolverine had to fight for his life. But, it wouldn't be a Claremont scene if both parties didn't have Hodge's tentacles curled around their necks to symbolise their position as slaves...

Speaking of Wipeout, Hodge was indeed aware of one particular betrayal... one inside the Genoshan government itself. Both the president and the Genengineer were less than thrilled with his outsider approach to their ever so sensitive internal affair. That's why the Genengineer was actively working on a plan to take care of Hodge, a plan Jubilee and the depowered Rictor and Boom-Boom happened to walk in on...

The same plan Hodge himself became aware of when he put his robotic form to exceptionally good use for 1991...

"As my master commands"

Accessing Genengineer Moreau's personal computer (a rarity in the early 90s), the largely mechanical Cameron Hodge learned all of the Genengineer's plans... but he also used the opportunity to get revenge on magistrate Alex Summers who only a few pages ago took away Psylocke. Hodge killed the Genoshan power-deleting mutant Wipeout with an energy weapon largely similar to Alex's cosmic blasts, hoping to pin the murder on him...

But just as Hodge called Alex to the crime scene and forced mutate Rahne to falsely accuse him, the X-men were having a breakthrough of their own. They finally managed to escape Hodge's torture chambers thanks to Gambit's lockpicking skills. Rushing in to stop the Wolverine/Archangel death match, Cyclops was surprised by the arrival of an unexpected presence...

"What's she doing... my eyes... they're BURNING!"

Accompanied by chief magistrate Anderson, kid Storm arrived on the scene and without any satisfying explanation restored Cyclops' mutant abilities just by touching him. But for some reason, the Genengineer's mutate process had another, unexpected effect on her as well...

"I am once more myself... in mind, in spirit... in body!"

Scott regained his optic blasts and made the best of 'm, especially considering Cameron Hodge was about to overrun him and the others...

More on that in the fifth and final chapter of Mind Control Is Anything But X-Tinct: Once, But No More, Oh Green And Pleasant Land