How much power does belief really hold? Krakoa is in crisis as mutants question their belief in their leaders, their peers, and their Gods. It’s up to Nightcrawler (after a steamy night and following day with the Weaponless Zsen) and the Legionnaires to answer this question in Legion of X #4, written by Si Spurrier, drawn by Jan Bazaldua, colored by Federico Blee, lettered by Clayton Cowles and designed by Tom Muller with Jay Bowen.
Ari Bard: Believe it or not, Armaan, Legion of X almost cleaned up its act in this issue. Things were less abstract, more focused, and asking interesting questions. In fact, if not for one specific blue character, I think I would have thoroughly enjoyed Legion of X #4. Legion has a satisfying confrontation with his father, we learn some exciting tidbits about Weaponless Zsen, Nightcrawler even has a somewhat insightful conversation with a God/chimera about belief in oneself and in other individuals. Unfortunately, some answers to insightful questions from Weaponless Zsen left me as the only unsatisfied one amongst the three of us.
What about you Armaan?
Armaan Babu: I agree, this is definitely the most put-together issue of the series so far. We’ve both wished this series would stop messing about and get to the point, and now that it finally has, it’s making for a much better read. It helps a lot that it stopped juggling so many different plot lines — it chose its focus and just ran with it. Let’s get right into what —
…wait, did you say there were three of us?
Switch Escapes and Nightcrawler Takes his Place
Ari: In a somewhat expected turn of events, Switch doesn’t stay held captive for long. Why, you may ask? Because he has the backing of a powerful god wishing for him to wreak havoc, and that he does.
Armaan: The jury’s still out on who exactly let Switch and his tagalong god out, because those two were pretty effectively contained last we saw them. As far as we know, our patchwork god Tumult only has two followers, a pretty weak showing. Someone with purple arms and a rectangular, mechanical-ish speech bubble wanted chaos, and damn if they didn’t get it.
Ari: Switch’s actions coupled with the reveal of the god he’s been serving or partnering with as this chimera combination of beliefs and ideas rather reduces his purpose in this story. As far as I can tell, Switch is a resentful child who is only interested in chaos and a bit of vengeance, leaving all of his actions feeling relatively empty for me.
At the same time, this god that we end up meeting clearly demonstrates themselves to be extremely powerful, but the idea that they get manipulated by someone as narrow-minded as Switch reduces their capabilities in my eyes as well. Ultimately, I suppose it leads to one of the most fascinating conversations the book has offered us so far, but when you think of the real estate of a monthly superhero comic, the path we took to get here does not serve the story nor the readers.
Armaan: It was a mess of a time getting here, and the telling seemed to get messier with every issue. I’m glad we’re finally at a place where we can focus on the ideas the book brings up instead of having interesting ideas presented as throwaways amidst the chaos. The reveal we get here isn’t a bad one — but the Loki teases we got along the way didn’t do a lot to serve the reveal. There was mystery that could have been set up. Someone noticing that there weren’t just the obvious Loki clues, but touches of less familiar gods as well. Instead, no one on the page noticed anything, and as a reader I felt I was being force fed misdirection. Extremely unsatisfying.
Back to our god, though, I find it interesting that we see the word “patchwork” come up again with our new god, Tumult. Legion was our Patchwork Man from the last series — and what is David, really, but a collection of the patches of consciousness that make him? What is Krakoa hoping to be, but a nation united under one ideal?
Despite Nightcrawler’s insistence that the Way of the Spark is more of a philosophical guide and less of religion, I’m starting to wonder if Tumult is being set up to become Krakoa’s own, Council-member-approved god.
If so, then it’s a little comforting to have a god who’s had a rough start to things — it humanizes him, although it also ironically means that I have a lot less faith in his abilities. To me, Switch is less compelling as a character than the questions he brings up. Once Switch is captured, how is Nightcrawler going to judge a man who’s done such harmful things? Switch also represents the worst of what can happen when followers twist a god to their own ends, when faith becomes a transactional bid for power.
In this Small Gods/American Gods (pick yer favorite) look at godhood, gods are pretty desperate to please their few initial followers, because if that faith is lost, the gods cease to even exist. Tumult calls it symbiosis, but initially speaking, gods get a pretty raw end of the deal. No one, apparently, has asked what happens when gods just up and believe in themselves, though — and thanks to the Spark and Nightcrawler’s suggestion, it looks like we’re about to find out.
Ari: Indeed, I’m very interested in seeing what a deep examination of belief in individuals, not as gods but as people, as well as the belief in oneself, will lead to in this book. Who knows, Nightcrawler may have found the perpetual motion machine of spirituality through self-actualization. It would certainly throw the nature of godhood in the Marvel Universe into chaos and upend the Arakkii council.
You’re into something about faith and power being transactional, especially when it comes to cape comics, and I find that largely disappointing. I’m happy to give Spurrier some credit for pointing this out, but it’s always a let down to see the doors writers close in the process of illustrating things we’ve seen before. The mere suggestion that gods and mortals could have a nontransactional system of faith is more intriguing to me than any path to resolution still available, it’s just more difficult to imagine I suppose.
Either way, it appears that a mix of church and state is coming, as the Quiet Council will likely get involved with a God in their midst sooner rather than later, despite Kurt keeping Charles at a tail’s length.
One Juggernaut; Two Telepaths; Three Eyebrows
Ari: No matter how much X-Men I read, I never enjoy seeing Xavier being put in his place any less. This is a father-son relationship that Spurrier knows how to write, and I appreciate the idea that there may be more “No-places” in existence than we knew. Confrontations and revelations like these are a reminder that the events of this book don’t only live in mutants’ heads.
Armaan: Say what you will about the way Spurrier writes character voices (and we have said much), he clearly puts a lot of thought into them. Xavier’s become the kind of leader you love to hate, and Spurrier makes him extra detestable with his flowery diplomacy, his constant attempts at manipulation, his inability to recognize that no one around him truly believes that Xavier knows best anymore. When he straight up shut the Juggernaut’s mind down just to keep a minor Krakoan secret, I was seething. But that’s what Xavier does — try to shut down or exclude what he can’t control. Nightcrawler and Legion’s Way is all about inclusion and — as is discussed this issue — a certain lack of control.
I also really appreciate the way Bazaldua draws David here for this confrontation. I like David, and he’s definitely in the right in this confrontation, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still being an ass about it. David doesn’t just show up — his pose, his backup Zorn and Xorn, his smugness — he’s showing off. That he is able to prove his father is fallible by pointing out Xavier’s missing eyebrow, that’s just icing on the cake. We don’t often get to see Xavier with his helmet off in this Krakoan era, so I have extra appreciation for the way Bazaldua gives us a Xavier trying to hold on to his dignity in the face of his son’s earned smugness — all while missing an eyebrow.
It is worth noting that for all of David’s bluster, and despite clearly coming away from that confrontation a winner, when we next see David he’s not celebrating his victory, he’s fuming. Xavier still got under David’s skin, enough to make David want to consider making a deal with the devilish Mother Righteous, and that’s telling.
Ari: Definitely, and it just goes to show how even when Charles walks away the lower, he’s always someone to which you have to pay attention. I will say that Blindfold’s absence in this issue was particularly felt. It would have made a lot of sense for David to confide in her after his meeting with Charles, and I feel as though she could have been integral to this whole Switch situation. It just goes to show how some writers make sure characters always matter, even when they don’t take up the most real estate, in ensemble books, while others construct a cast of characters that disappear when they’re off the page.
As you said, Balzadua is particularly on point this issue, and does a lot of heavy lifting with regard to tone. This is a rather serious book with some very heavy topics, and it’s important to keep things light in the transitions and moments between and within confrontation. Between the funny, eyebrowless expressions on Charles and the poses amidst the banter between Nightcrawler and Zsen, Balzadua is integral to making sure the book doesn’t get too weighed down.
It’s interesting that you mentioned a certain lack of control in this issue, because the individuals with the most control that I see across the X-line right now are Doug and Warlock. One of them seems to be present in almost every book, even if it’s as a background character or within a minor subplot. They’re the ones who really know what’s going on on this island, and I’m curious to know if they have any reach on Arakko as well.
Armaan: I really enjoyed the data page in Legion of X #4. I’ve been wondering how the Quiet Council feels about Kurt essentially starting his own court within Krakoa, separate from the Council’s judgements…and it’s great to see Xavier once again put in his place. Kurt calling Xavier how on the harm of excess caution? Beautiful. As is him straight up denying Xavier the detainees that the Legionaries have already captured…although as of this issue, there aren’t any left.
A Tail of Two Paths
Armaan: I was a little nervous when I saw Nightcrawler and Zsen start to get into a deep discussion in the previews, because based on previous issues I worried we’d simply get the start of an interesting conversation that was quickly abandoned. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Zsen and Nightcrawler’s conversation continues (via flashback captions) through the entire issue, really getting into it (as, ah, Nightcrawler and Zsen keep getting into it, as it were).
The debate boils down to, essentially, whose way is better — Zsen’s relentless devotion to harsh discipline and control, or Nightcrawler’s more flexible approach, of new untested ways, and the Spark? While through this issue, Zsen seems to be finding her own wiggle room, she still manages to turn things around on Nightcrawler — though she questions his method less than she does his motivation. Does Kurt truly believe, or is he using the sense of wonder granted by the Spark to cover up the emptiness he feels inside?
It’s with Legion of X #4 that I have finally decided to let go – or at least, ease up on – what’s been bothering me since Way of X: Nightcrawler’s mischaracterization. This nervous, faith-obsessed and lost Nightcrawler is not the Nightcrawler I’ve come to know and love, not even if you account for him having gone through some personal crisis in the background before Way of X began.
This is, however, the Nightcrawler at the center of the story, whose themes the rest of the book revolves around, and the one I’m choosing to embrace for as long as he’s under Spurrier’s pen. He’s not a character I even like all that much, but accepting him as written is becoming necessary to let the story sink in…and now that that story’s being better told, this is the bitter pill I feel I have to swallow in order to enjoy what’s being told.
And what’s being told is the story of someone with a hollowness inside who’s been desperate to fill himself up on faith. Despite the joy and wonder inherent in the Way of the Spark, Kurt’s been hiding behind an ideal — ignoring his own needs in favor of helping out people out, because that makes it easier to ignore that hollow inside.
When Kurt has his heart-to-heart with Tumult, he finally comes face to face with that. I’m very curious as to what happens next.
Ari: Like you, I am optimistic as to where Kurt is headed after the conversation with Tumult. The path forward appears to be more interesting than what we’ve read so far.
Thing about Spurrier’s Nightcrawler for me, is that I do not mind a character in crisis. In fact, I welcome it. It makes sense for Kurt to feel lost and for there to be a hollowness to him as a result of all of the new revelations Krakoa brought. The problem is that the ideal he’s chosen to hide behind should be principled and familiar. Kurt has a rich past that had informed his relationship with spirituality even if it’s rocky. His faith, even if questionable, should be informed and it does not feel like it.
He can barely answer Zsen’s questions, which are insightful, throughout this issue. Trying to keep up appearances of lightheartedness and banter is one thing. But Nightcrawler is so noncommittal, unsure, or always changing the subject that the conversation deflates throughout most of this issue. Nightcrawler, at the very least, should feel informed, even when lost. and learned he simply doesn’t.
Armaan: Zsen’s more of a blank slate, though, and I enjoyed walking with her through this issue. She’s beginning to find a bit of a that wiggle room in her orders — wiggle room that comes just in time, because it turns out that my favorite slug-on-an-eyeball, Ora Serrata, was one of Tumult’s first worshippers, as much as she’s ashamed of it. Given that Tumult has only two followers that we know of, and that Switch’s a mutilating maniac, it seems that we have Ora Serrata to thank for the unconventional improvements that Zsen finds happening on Arakko. Acts of mischief that work to bind people together, that make Arakkii society better than than it was. If this is a preview of the kind of god Tumult is going to be, I can see future writers having a lot of fun with the concept.
More than that, though, I want to revisit Zsen’s thoughts. Nightcrawler’s words seem to have gotten through to her. As a result she’s looking at her own beliefs with new eyes. We’ve yet to see her powers in action, but I’m excited to see what truth she paints with when she gets the chance.
All in all, I’m looking forward to future issues a lot more than I have been so far. Let’s hope the book can keep this level of quality up.
Altared Records
- As is apt, we’ve completely forgotten about Forget-Me-Not this issue.
- “Chimera” is a word we first heard in relation to Sinister, patching mutant gifts together. Given that Sinister’s been tasked with creating a new god in AXE, I’m very curious to see if Tumult ties in.
- As we learn in X-Men Red this week, Ora Serrata’s ability to erase entities from existence isn’t perfect, which makes her slightly less threatening…but only slightly.
Ari Bard is a huge comic fan studying Mechanical Engineering so he can finally figure out how the Batmobile works.
