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Uncanny X-Men # 423
"Holy War"
Part 1 of 2 |
Rating:
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Writer:
Chuck Austen
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Penciller:
Ron Garney
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Key Events
Questions Raised
- Is Skin really dead? Is he the only one?
- Was Kurt ordained or not?
- Can I possibly dislike the Summers brothers any more?
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Inker:
Morales, Nelson & Green
| Colours:
JD Smith |
Letterer:
Chris Eliopoulos
| Editor:
Mike Marts |
EIC:
Joe Quesada
| Date:
July 2003 |
| Featuring:
Nightcrawler, Archangel, Iceman, Havok, Polaris, Cyclops, Jean, Wolverine, Husk, Chamber, Annie, Jubilee |
| Versus:
The Church of Humanity |
Quick Synopsis:
The X-Men return home to find six mutants have been crucified on their lawn. A sign reading "Evolution is NOT the will of God" can be seen. Jean scans them and says that they're all dead. Cyclops orders the bodies to be taken down. Husk and Chamber spot Jubilee and Skin among the victims. Wolverine rushes Jubilee's body into the mansion, the others not far behind. Inside, Angel is going to attempt a mass transfusion, hoping that his healing factor will kick in and save them. Cyclops and Nightcrawler exchange words about Kurt wanting to step down as leader. The X-Men meet in the War Room to discuss who might have done this. Angel sends Husk away with Chamber, saying she's wasting her time with him. Husk gets the double meaning and is upset. While discussing possible culprits, the foremost being the Church of Humanity, Cyclops again takes Nightcrawler to task about his leadership. Wolverine tells Annie to unhook Angel because the transfusion isn't working and it's slowly killing Warren. They're all surprised when Jubilee speaks. Nightcrawler tells the team what he knows of the Church, making mention of his ordainment. The X-Men are surprised that Nightcrawler is a priest, which in turns surprises him because they were at his ceremony. As the team moves out to the church, they see that Jubilee is awake, as is Magma, who was another of the victims. Husk is delighted, but the mood becomes somber when they realize Skin is still not moving. At the Church in Brooklyn, the X-Men confirm that they've never been here. Nightcrawler is confused, as the church looks different now, and Jean says she can detect psychic tampering on him. Inside, there's blood on the floor, and when Jean rips away the floorboards, the X-Men discover an underground laboratory/dungeon for mutants.
Full Synopsis:
The issue opens with a commentary about religion, and how it drives people to violence. Nightcrawler's thoughts are made real as the X-Men return home and discover that six mutants have been crucified on their lawn. A sign reading "Evolution is NOT the will of God" hangs from the neck of one of them. Jean quickly scans their minds but can't detect any thought or heartbeat. Wolverine and Cyclops want to get the bodies down immediately, Nightcrawler and Iceman as worried about destroying any evidence. Scott shouts that the bodies be taken down NOW. Jean telephatically summons Annie, the school nurse as the X-Men move from cross to cross. Husk and Chamber then notice one of the victims -- it's Jubilee. Wolverine starts to freak out, demanding to know where Xorn or Warren are to heal her. He runs into the mansion, Jubilee in his arms, and Paige discovers Skin has also been crucified. As the victims are rushed inside, Annie asks Bobby who could've done this. He doesn't bother to disguise his anger as he says it's people who don't like mutants. Like HER.
In the medical ward, Warren is lying in the center of the room, each of the victims on a seperate bed spread out around him. He's going to attempt a transfusion and save all of their lives. Jean is searching for Xorn without luck; she can't find Xavier either. She continues to search as Scott pulls Kurt aside. He tells Kurt to assemble his squad, but Kurt responds that as he gave up the leadership, it isn't his squad any more. Scott insists that it is -- Xavier gave Kurt the team leadership upon Kurt's request for more responsibility. If Kurt is having trouble, it's because he would rather be liked than make the tough decisions. Again, Scott orders Kurt to assemble his team, which Kurt moves to do. Paige wants to stay with Warren but he tells her and Jono to go with Kurt, she's wasting her time here. Hurt and angry, Paige leaves, Jono in tow. Annie tells Warren that he was too hard on Paige, as she really likes him. Warren says he knows, but she loves Chamber. Annie can't believe it's true -- Chamber has no mouth, so there's nothing to kiss. There's nothing more important than a kiss. Jono frowns, having overheard.
In the War Room, Scott wants clues as to who did this. Havok makes an educated guess that with the crosses and all, this may be the work of the Church of Humanity, a group that he encountered with Nightcrawler's team a few weeks ago. Scott has never heard of them -- and he's not happy about that. Kurt says that he assumed Warren had briefed the other team. Scott again presses the point that Kurt asked for extra responsibility, which makes it his job to make sure everyone has information -- especially when his team failed to deal with the threat. Alex and Bobby come to Kurt's defense, and Scott tells Alex that it's nothing to do with him. Alex says that since he is a mutant, this does concern him, and what they need is a proactive direction, not anger.
Warren is beginning to feel the effects of the mass transfusion, his healing factor simply isn't regenerating blood fast enough. Annie says that she can't see that it's working at all. Wolverine confirms that there's no change in Jubilee and the others and tells Annie to stop. Warren protests weakly, pleading to be allowed to continue to try. Logan again insists that Warren be unhooked, no more dead are needed today. "Who died?" Jubilee croaks.
The X-Men discuss the Church of Humanity. When Kurt first encountered them, they said they had to leave him alive. The next time he encountered them, they were shooting at him. The only difference between then and now is that Kurt has renounced his priesthood. Havok is surprised. Given Kurt's demonic apperance, Alex wonders if Kurt could have been a priest to anybody but mutants. Iceman asks why he and the other X-Men weren't invited to Kurt's ordination ceremony. Kurt says that they were invited. And they all attended. Didn't they? Scott wants to know where the "ceremony" was held.
The team returns to the infirmary. Paige is thrilled to see that Jubilee is okay. Annie is administering aid to another of the mutants, identifying her as Magma. Paige hugs Jubilee enthusiastically, but notices Jubilee is crying. Skin didn't make it.
The Blackbird lands outside of St. Michael's Church in Brooklyn, where Kurt was ordained. Kurt says that he's been here many times to perform his priestly duties, under the watchful eye of Father Whitney. The church has been active and in good repair. Bobby says that he's never been here before, and Jean detects evidence of psychic tampering on Kurt. The team enters the church to find it deserted and almost falling apart. Kurt is taken aback, he's been here dozen of times. Jean detects blood on the floor, and something else. Using her power, she rips away half the floor, revealing the carnage of an underground laboritory. Blood and bodies are strewn everywhere. Three bodies are submerged in a tubes against the wall. One of those bodies opens its eyes as the X-Men stare down in horror.
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Review:
Never have I been so wishy-washy about an issue. When I first sat down and read this book, I really liked it. I was totally blindsided by Jubilee's appearance, and my stomach tied itself in a knot by the circumstances. I read on nervously, concerned as to her fate. But she recovers! Yay! It was a mini-roller coaster ride for me, and I was delighted. Having just returned to the X-Men after such a long hiatus, I'm completely out of touch with the series in its current incarnation. I moved right as the overhaul began at Marvel, and as I'm working to regain my collection, I've been reading scattered issues of Uncanny. I've been less than impressed. To again encounter an issue that mattered to me on anything more than a superficial level was a godsend. "This is it," I said to myself. "This issue has cinched for me that this series could be as good as X-Treme. Hell, I even want to punch Havok in the nose. If that isn't an indication of the good ol' days, I don't know what is." I was planning to give this issue a 3 out of 5.
But then I went to read it again, for the purposes of this review. Second time around I found myself less enthusiastic. Oh, I was still delighted that Jube survived and I chuckled at her dialogue, but I took a moment to look at the rest of the story. Maybe it's because I don't have the benefit of reading many issues before it, but I was pretty unimpressed by what's going on here. Essentially, it was only the endangering of, followed by the saving of, Jubilee that I enjoyed. Had she been missing entirely (which could have easily been done. The fact that it was Jubilee was not piviotal to the overall story), it would definitely not have rated as high with me. And while I'm thinking about it, I've only read the six of this new (to me) Uncanny group, and I swear that Warren has used his healing factor in at least half of those issues. It's starting to get lame. Deus ex Worthington, anyone? Okay, so let's drop it to 2 out of 5.
Then I started writing my synopsis and looking at the characters in this issue. I don't know where Annie came from, but she's been grating on my nerves since I first saw her. Scott's being even more of a jerk than usual, Kurt's a huge wuss, Jean is callous and Alex ... Well, he's Alex, but I remember disliking him because he couldn't go ten seconds without whining about something, not because he's an asshole. Who are these people? I grant you that things have changed with the group (Warren? Not blue? Healing factor? Scratching head.), but to the point where the only characters I recognize are Logan and Bobby? This isn't right. 1 out of 5. And I'm sticking with that one instead of going to zero because whether it had to be Jubilee or not, the knot was real enough. The creative team did something right for me to feel that way. And that's their only kudos. Why TPTB choose to make Uncanny 25 cents to attract new fans of the movie and not the direct tie-in (and infinitely better) X-Treme X-Men #25 I'll never know.
I have to take a few minutes to gripe a bit more on those problems I mentioned above. Firstly, Nightcrawler. Most of the issue was told from his perspective, which meant a lot of religious quotations and a bit of questioning at the beginning of the issue, but it went downhill sharply after that. He's being brutally, and unfairly, attacked by Cyclops, belittled by Alex, and seeming to doubt everything that is at his core. Either the story is told from his perspective or it isn't, but if you're going to claim that it is, then follow through. We get zero insight into Kurt's thoughts and feelings while Scott picks on him, but we have a page of him giving exposition on the X-Men and their powers at the beginning of the book. Why a recap of information we already know (especially when the "Previously" page runs all of this down for new readers) but keep us from stuff that's actually important?
I know a lot of crap's been going on with Jean, too. But it seemed inherantly un-Jean-like to hear her shooting off-hand comments at Scott when he told her to get the nurse to help the seemingly dead children crucified on their lawn. Was it really necessary? And while I did find the one-side conversation between her and Annie amusing at first, it seems as disturbingly inappropriate, given the scene they were facing, as Kurt's "Blueberry Muffin" comment during the exposition.
Which bring us last, but never least, to the Summers. Gods that entire family tree irks me sometimes. Scott is nothing but a colossal jerk to Kurt in this issue. Okay, perhaps Kurt has been resisting being leader, but he did officially announce to them that he wanted to step down. This should have been a major clue to Scott that Kurt could use some help, some guidance. Instead he gets severaly chastised, almost to the point of verbal abuse, by Cyclops in front of the very people that Scott is demanding Kurt lead. Leadership is about more than making unpopular decisions, it's about respect. With every word, Scott is loosing more and more respect, which makes him more unfit as a leader than anybody else in the room. Scott has been at this since he was a teenager. He more than anybody should know that this was not a conversation to have in public, no matter how he felt. Putting logic before emotions is also a valuable leadership trait, wouldn't you say, Scott?
Alex. Ahh, Alex. I don't think I've ever read a single scene you've appeared in that has made me like you. Thanks for returning and keeping up that fine tradition. Alex spends the entire later half of this book incredulously questioning Kurt's desire to become a priest. For the most superficial of reasons at that: Kurt's appearance. "What did you hope to gain?" he quizzes Nightcrawler repeatedly. "Come on. Look at you. You're a devil in the house of God." Isn't this sort of blind prejudice exactly what the X-Men have been formed to combat? The fact that Kurt wants with all of his heart to try is at the heart of The Dream. Alex giving voice to all of Kurt's doubts and fears -- repeatedly -- is insenstive at best and cruely hypocritical at worst. The fact that not a single X-Man, not even Nightcrawler himself, called Alex on his deplorable attitude is unfathomable.
Hopefully they'll straighten Scott out and send Alex back into a coma or something soon. I could tolerate him a lot more when he wasn't talking. Oh, and for the record, those head thingies look stupid no matter how close to the head you make 'em. Alex should start letting Lorna dress him.
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Quotes:
- Wolverine: Scared the life half outta me!
Jubilee (weakly): Really? Cool.
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