Nightcrawler’s birthday is interrupted by the daughter of darkness herself, Mutina. She has an unimaginable favor to ask the Louisiana X-Men, and woe betide them if they refuse. Uncanny X-Men #22 is written by Gail Simone, drawn by David Marquez, colored by Matt Wilson and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Adam Reck: So when we last left Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine and definitely not-Sunspot headed to Argentina so we could learn more about Ransom’s backstory. Then the entire X-line took a few months to tell the epic-that-should-have-been-a-story-arc “Age of Revelation.” Gail Simone told the tale of the Nawlins X-team 10 years into the future in Unbreakable X-Men, while her artistic colleague David Marquez took on writing duties for Sinister’s Six. Now they’re back together, and frankly it’s as if we never left.
Happy new year, Austin!
Austin Gorton: We’re back, baby! Uncanny is back, Marquez is back, horny X-Men are back! Happy new year, Adam!
Adam: Despite this being billed as the return of fan favorite (I guess?) Mutina, this issue actually turns out to be more of a delightful Nightcrawler story. Let’s see what happens when these unlikely opponents square off.
BAMF Me
Adam: We open on Kurt Wagner enjoying a date with the woman The Last Wolverine contended would be his wife, Mackenzie DeNeer. Kurt’s looking dashing (Let’s face it, Marquez makes everyone look beautiful) and acquiesces to Mackenzie’s whispered request, “I want you to BAMF me.”
I don’t think we’ve ever had a writer in the history of X-Men try to make Nightcrawler’s BAMF-ing sexy, and given the nauseating smell that accompanies it, I’m not quite sure why this is so orgasmically titillating to Mackenzie, but after four consecutive BAMFs, she’s reacting as if she just had the best sex of her life. Thoughts on this, Austin?
Austin: I mean, to each their own, and I’m not going to yuck Mackenzie’s yum, but yeah, this definitely doesn’t track with what we know historically about Kurt’s teleportation. Not only the sulfur/brimstone smell, but also the fact that it’s meant to take a physical toll on passengers — Kurt has used it as a weapon in the past, grabbing a foe and undergoing a fast series of short teleportations to weaken them. Certainly, I was never under the impression at those times that he was orgasming his enemies into submission.
Adam: I applaud the attempt to widen Kurt’s prowess in unexpected ways. Anyway, it’s Kurt’s birthday! And frankly that’s adorable. What could go wrong? Oh, Mutina’s here? Wah wah.
Mixed Mutina Motivations
Adam: Austin, can you explain Mutina to me again? I don’t remember her deal. She hates mutants? She is a mutant?
Austin: I’m not even sure Gail Simone can explain Mutina at this point.
But yeah, I believe the idea is she is a self-hating mutant. Or, at least, a mutant who is presenting herself as anti-mutant and keeping her mutant identity broadly a secret (it was a surprise to the Outliers when they confronted her that she had powers).
Adam: And now she wants to be an X-man but also wants to kill the X-Men in their sleep? Oh, but it’s totally cool because actually all the Outliers are murderers! And Mutina knows who THE ENDLING is! (How does Mutina know who the Endling is? Did she get copies of Unbreakable X-Men? How does Mutina know anything?)
Oh, but she brought Kurt a birthday cupcake. Aw, sweet! Except now she’s threatening to kill Mackenzie! Seriously, WHAT IS THE DEAL, MUTINA?! Make up your mind!!!
Austin: It’s … a lot. She says the reason she wants to join the X-Men is largely for good publicity; her (anti-mutant) movie (shockingly) led to anti-mutant violence, and so joining the X-Men would be a good way for her to deflect blame by showing she’s pro-mutant. Which is a fun, cynical approach for a villain to take, but I’m not sure why she would ever think the X-Men would agree to it WITHOUT her resorting to threats of violence? And wouldn’t joining the X-Men either blow up her secret mutant identity, or show it as the cynical publicity stunt it is (if the idea is you don’t have to be a mutant to be one of the X-Men), which would undercut the whole point? Or maybe the point is just that she’s kind of nuts, and her actions aren’t all meant to make sense (which seems like too easy an out)?
Adam: The psychopath angle does seem to be the way in here. Just total chaos agent and no logic whatsoever.
Austin: That said, the character worked better for me here than in her previous appearance, thanks largely to the general air of menace surrounding her. The idea that she can get to the X-Men anytime (proven out by her earlier appearance in Calico’s bedroom) and her knowledge of the Outliers (however inexplicable her having that knowledge is) expose some real vulnerabilities in the X-Men, and that’s rarely a bad thing for a villain to do.
I also like how her “reveals” about the Outliers are a mix of interpretation, possible truths and outright gaslighting. We’ve already clocked the mysterious circumstances surrounding the fate of Calico’s home/family and her occasional creepy demeanor. Could Jitter have killed someone, albeit most likely accidentally, when her power manifested? Sure. But the framing of Ransom’s violent acts conveniently underscores the people he attacked were his kidnappers.
That said, there’s some real “build up a new character by having an established character talk about how awesome they are” work going on here, with Wolverine more or less crowning a teleporter with knives and a bad attitude the greatest threat they’ve ever faced before Mutina goes toe to toe with Nightcrawler in a duel, and I don’t love that.
Adam: While I wasn’t a fan of Wolverine yet again being bested by a character whose powerset doesn’t seem all that clear and/or powerful (this happened earlier in this run with Sarah Gaunt), it does give another character a chance to fight her, and I’m on board for what follows.
Rooftop Duel
Adam: Despite Wolverine’s reservations, Nightcrawler agrees to duel Mutina on the roof of an old barn. This is great because we get swashbuckling Kurt with three swords, which makes me kinda forget the “God watches us all” Kurt from a few pages before.
Just a quick aside: I know both you and I have expressed annoyance about Kurt’s religiosity in this volume. To have him even teasingly be nicknamed “pastor” by Mutina here brings me right back to that weird line (“Wait, do I call you ‘father’?”) from the first issue. How did Kurt forget he invented mutant religion?! OK, I’m done.
Back to swordfighting Kurt, because no lie — it’s great.
Austin: It is (and shades of one of the more fun moments in the first season of X-Men ’97 as well). All in all, the focus on Nightcrawler here is much appreciated and well done. I know Simone has talked about getting more attention on Nightcrawler (and Jubilee), and hopefully we get more like this (and less weird, inconsistent religious stuff). Nightcrawler as a dapper, impishly horny swashbuckler is great.
Adam: In all, I enjoyed this issue. From the solicits, it looks like we’re getting an X-Men vs. monsters arc next, including the threat of more vampire Jubilee (Can Morbius even do that?), and that also sounds fun. Maybe I’m just grateful to be on the other side of “Age of Revelation,” but if Uncanny can continue to be a good hang until we have to inevitably wrap up the Graymalkin Prison stuff, that sounds enjoyable to me.
Austin: Reading this issue really crystalized for me the fact that this book is at its best — and is clearly meant to be — a hangout book, a book where, sure, there’s plots and fighting and junk, but it succeeds when that stuff takes a backseat/supports the characters just hanging out together and bouncing off one another vs. driving the action. That’s been the case for a while — arguably for all its existence, though crossovers like “Raid on Graymalkin” and “Hunt for Xavier” early in the run obscured that — and just accepting the series on those terms makes it a lot easier to enjoy.
X-traneous Thoughts
- Marquez’s art is truly fantastic on every page here. Glad to have him back.
- Nightcrawler celebrated his 21st birthday in X-Men Annual #4 by, among other things, receiving a framed picture of Wolverine from Wolverine as a gift; I wonder if Wolverine gave him an updated pic for this birthday?
- Looks like Mutina is headed for a hero turn faster than a villain in a Fast & Furious sequel.
- It was weird when Chelsea/Dome was indirectly suggested to be the Endling in Unbreakable X-Men #2, and it’s weird here to have that series-long mystery offhandedly revealed here by Mutina, of all people.
- What was in Mutina’s cupcake? She said it was “special.”
- Oh no, Deathdream ate too much cake!
- According to Rogue, there is no X-Men without Nightcrawler. Uncanny during Excalibur would like a word.
Buy Uncanny X-Men #22 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
