Madelyne's Mean Mind Control part III: X-tracting The Worst.

Assuming the role of the Goblin Queen during Inferno changed Madelyne Pryor.

A lot.

For one thing: she developed certain abilities... No doubt because she was a clone of Jean Grey, one of the world's premiere telepathic minds. Maddie's mutant powers however, focussed more on moral corruption... mind control, by any other name.

At the height of Inferno, she orchestrated a meeting between the X-men and X-Factor... An encounter rife with tension, because X-Factor didn't know the X-men were still alive (nor were they easily recognisable due to Inferno's demonic corruption).

And as far as the X-men were concerned, X-Factor was little more than a team of mutant bounty hunters. Hardly what professor Xavier had in mind when he assembled his first group of students.
It made for tense moments... and having Maddie there in the opening pages of X-Factor # 38 didn't exactly help matters.

And ow yeah, she had already overpowered Jean Grey. Of course, this was signified by Jean wearing a slave collar made of energy. Anyhoo... She gleefully revealed the nature of her new powers...

"I bring out the demon in things... and in people... as I have in all of you." 

Makes sense.

After all... What could keep the X-teams from attacking the Queen? Well, apart from a virtually unending horde of demons... mostly their own teammates, of course.

Y'see, remember how Madelyne had already started to corrupt the X-men well before she even turned into the Goblin Queen? Back in Uncanny X-men # 242, Alex finally and most willingly made the decision to serve as Maddie's lover...

 "Spoken, lover, like a true Goblin Prince!"

That explains why he was at her side, tattered costume and all, when the Queen confronted the X-people in Central Park...

"I offer...the spotlight! Center stage. The starring role!"

Bless Madelyne for knowing just how to seduce the already influenced X-men. After living with them for an extended period of time, she's fully aware of their deepest desires. Dazzler always wanted to be a world famous singer, before her mutant powers forced her out of the limelight. And Longshot, while not a mutant per se, was genetically engineered to be *the* star of Mojo's many movies.

It only makes sense their life with the X-men, living in the obscurity of the Australian outback and being believed dead by most of the world at the time, left them longing for... well, recognition. And they were more than willing to do anything for that spotlight.

"The world is watching! So play your parts like the stars I know you are!"

Dazzler and Longshot brought down X-Factor charter member Warren Worthington, formerly the Angel. But after Apocalypse gave him a pair of techno organic wings and pressed him into service as one of his horsemen, the now blue skinned Warren reinvented himself as the much more volatile and deadly Archangel...

Just the right tool for a mind controlling woman intent on causing carnage...

"We have been tainted by evil. But evil is the price of power."

The Goblin Queen managed to corrupt Archangel... somewhat. But his initial corruption by Apocalypse took precedence, in a way. His techno organic wings refused to obey Madelyne's commands long enough for him to inadvertently free the others, which led to a big fight between the two X-teams and Maddie.

Who won was never really in doubt...

"X-men and X-Factor confront Mr. Sinister!"

And indeed they did... As we covered *here*.

But there was even more mind control, courtesy of Mr. Sinister... As we'll cover in the next entry.

Madelyne's Mean Mind Control Make Over Part II: Inferno Infers The Inconceivable

The Goblin Queen just might be Chris Claremont's most stereotypical creation ever.

"It appears your devices have limits. And I don't."

Yes, the Goblin Queen is 'Claremont concentrate' when it comes to the way he writes villains and powerful women. A driven, determined and strong willed woman who wields considerable power and dresses provocatively in black leather... radiant in her glory all the way through.

Goblin Queen started out as Madelyne Pryor, the self reliant pilot wife of Cyclops who was also a dead ringer for Scott's first love Jean Grey. They shacked up, had a baby boy and then it all fell apart. Cyclops abandoned her, the Marauders tried to kill her, the X-men rescued her but before long she was forced to sacrifice her life in a fight against the Adversary...

After being revived by Roma, Madelyne stayed with the X-men, tending to the advanced computer systems in their new Australian base. Those systems showed her what had happened to her husband: Scott had joined the other original X-men into forming X-Factor... With Jean Grey!  

Driven insane by jealousy, anger and grief... Madelyne slowly went down the path to become the fearsome Goblin Queen, after getting influenced by Limbo demons S'ymm and N'astirh. But before she put on the tattered, black thong bikini, she had already started to corrupt the X-men.

"No more, dear heart... nor less... than I."

Madelyne slowly started to seduce Havok, better known as Scott's brother Alex Summers. On the eve before her ascension, she slept with him... Which would lead into a plot point later in the Inferno crossover. But before that, Madelyne had another score to settle...

"I want the Marauders found... so that the X-men can pay them back..."

And in Uncanny X-men # 240, the X-men did just that. Sneakily teleporting into their base in the Morlock tunnels, the team proceeded to clean the villain's collective clocks. Their fight eventually moved to the surface and there... they noticed the city of New York was right in the middle of a demonic infestation... and the X-men weren't immune to its effects!

The Marauders were pretty much routed in Uncanny X-men # 241, when all of a sudden a new threat entered the scene...

"We are well aware of your abilities, Dazzler. There's no need to boast."

During their confrontation, Colossus noticed his teammates were rapidly changing. Becoming more rough, unhinged, lethal and yes... demonic. 

"Work ain't done, heroes... So long as a Marauder's left! Let's bust some heads!"

Storm and Wolverine are already falling prey to the Inferno lit by the Goblin Queen. The other X-men share their fate, slowly giving in to their nastiest, most undesirable impulses... Like when Longshot tries to make love to an anything but cooperative Dazzler.

"Your eye... that glow... Makes me feel...okay, lover."

Yes, they all succumbed to the madness of Maddie's Inferno. Everyone, except Colossus...

"In my heart and soul... I burn. I want to join the others... let myself be consumed..."

Colossus lumbers off by himself, eventually playing a part in the New Mutants chapters of the crossover, before returning right in time for the finale.

Speaking of which, when next we see the X-men, they've met X-Factor for the first time. There's quite a bit of distrust between the two teams, not in the least because the X-men have been fully consumed by the Inferno...

All that right around the same time the Goblin Queen finally makes her appearance as well, as we'll see in part III of Madelyne's Mean Mind Control: X-tracting The Worst.

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

Mind Control Is Anything But X-Tinct Part III: Don't Rahne On My Mutate Parade

The third part of Mind Control Is Anything But X-Tinct opens on the rooftops of the Genoshan capital city Hammer Bay, with recently depowered mutants Rictor and Boom-Boom delivering some fine exposition.  

Just as the two New Mutants are waiting for Jubilee to return in the opening pages of New Mutants # 96, they notice she's in trouble. While trying to steal some burgers from a local fastfood restaurant, the young fireworks hurling girl gets chased by a group of Magistrates and their pet Mutate, designed to track mutants.

With a little help from Rictor and Boom-Boom, Jubilee is able to overcome the Magistrates... But what of the scared Mutate?

"The Genengineer does something to their brains that makes them docile... so they can't think for themselves."

Unsure of how to deal with the mutate, the trio decides to take him along as they find a place to hide until the other X-men are able to sort out this mess. However, the first appartment they break and enter belongs to an member of the Genoshan magistrate who happily informs them their fellow mutant Wolfsbane is about to be transformed into a Mutate. Fuelled by Rictor's rage, they decided to charge the citadel and free Rahne.

However, somewhere else in Hammer Bay, the members of X-men, X-Force and X-Factor were planning to storm the proverbial castle as well... Albeit in a slightly more subtle way. The key to any victory is proper planning and Cyclops decided to place explosive charges on the outside of the citadel that could provide sufficient distractions. So... who were capable of placing these delicate devices?

Don't let Rob Liefeld's art fool you. While it may look as if Jean's only taking Cable and Beast, that's just a ruse... Because a few pages later this rather covert strikeforce suddenly includes both Forge and Sunspot as well. But let's take a minute to check in on the person they were actually trying to rescue...

This might as well be a mere miscommunication between the different creative teams, but here we have Rahne Sinclaire pre-mutate conversion and already bald. Usually, the transformation process turns them bald. The in story explanation is that Rahne's head was shaven before the procedure but that's neither here nor there.

Of far greater importance is the fact that Hodge insisted on making Rahne's transformation as horrible as possible... By making her an anything but mindless yet still helpless slave...

And while all of this was going down, Jubilee had managed to sneak Rictor, Boom-Boom and the unnamed Mutate to a rooftop close to the Genoshan main citadel. Much to their surprise, they saw Jean, Gambit, their mentor Cable and the others at work to breach the citadel. But before they could run out and join them, Cameron Hodge showed up with you-know-who in tow...

"What is that whisper of voices like an errant breeze? Who is making all that racket?!"

Boom-Boom and Rictor were about to be discovered, but the supposedly mindless Mutate thanked them for their kindness by running out into the open and pretending it was him talking out loud. Falsely assuming a Mutate cannot lie, Hodge and the others departed with their newly captured mutants in tow... But not before completely crushing their hopes...

The public turning of one of their own, let alone the capture of the bulk of their forces, should have had a demoralising effect on the mutants, but the opposite was true as we'll see in part IV of Mind Control Is Anything But X-Tinct: Dramatis Personae Under The Magistrate's Sway