Weapon X is making his way through an icy landscape when he is spotted by two of the Reavers, Mangle and Dead Eye. They go to attack him, but they're of course no match for him, and he slices one in half and chops the head off the other. He has now made it to his destination, Wundagore Mountain, the former home of the X-men we saw back in X-Men Chronicles #1.
He is intercepted by an awesome looking Carol Danvers, who from what I can tell never had her encounter with Mar-Vell and is therefore just a normal human. But she's a normal human with tons of skills who apparently smells like "gun oil, C-4 and Chanel No. 5" according to Logan, so I don't recommend messing with her. She also refers to Jean Grey as 'puissant and pulchritudinous" so she'll totally beat you on that next vocabulary test. What I'm saying is I'd like to be Carol Danvers when I grow up. I really have to read that new Captain Marvel series.
Logan tells her that Jean isn't around, and then he asks her if she's still watching "Gee-Dub's back" and I swear I had to stop reading for a minute and try to figure out who he was referring to, and the only name coming into my mind was George W. Bush and I knew that couldn't possibly be right, so I eventually gave up and just kept reading.
In London a refugee is showing the Human High Council evidence that Apocalypse has gone back on his word and slaughtered quite a few humans who were trying to leave America. They mention that all their hopes lie in Logan succeeding in his current mission. There's also a quick panel where Emma mentions she "gave up too much to escape Apocalypse" and I really wish someone had told the story of just what happened to her so that she's got that permanent X and half mohawk.
We cut back to where Logan is, where we find out G.W. stands for Gateway, the aborigine mutant who can open portals at will. He's holed up in the tower watching all kinds of media in all different languages, as if he knows the world will end soon and it's his duty to remember it all. I'm used to a silent Gateway, so it's a little strange to see him so chatty here once Logan pulls the plug on all his monitors. Logan wants him to come along to pilot the lead airship that will attack Apocalypse, but Gateway is a man of peace and isn't too interested. Fortunately Gateway won't be dying of an aneurism this issue like Cain did over in X-Calibre.
However he does have a bit of a close call on his life when Mangle and Dead Eye appear at the door, now fused together. Carol totally has this under control though, kicking them out and dropping a grenade on them. They are not alone though, as Vultura and Donald Pierce are flying toward the tower. Our three heroes escape the tower and hop on Pierce's plane. Vultura provides a distraction so Pierce can attack Logan, but Carol intercepts him by diving into him so they both fall out of the plane, and then she sets off one of her grenades, killing them both.
Logan refers to her as the clutch hitter coming through with a grand slam, and Gateway is now at least willing to hear out the Human High Council and consider helping them out.
The way this issue starts, it could just as easily be a normal issue of Wolverine rather than Weapon X, which I suppose is okay. Logan is Logan in pretty much any reality, or at least he's the same in both of these realities. But really this issue is all about Carol as far as I'm concerned. What an awesome but brief appearance for her here.
While AoA Carol Danvers' AoA costume was surprisingly practical and non-exploitative by 90s standards, I have to wonder - what's the deal with the mask? Or is that supposed to be facepaint? Either way, why would she be wearing it? She's not a superhero in the altered universe.
ReplyDeleteAnd what is going on with all the red ribbons? Are they part of her costume or the costume of some other character that's just off-panel?
But questions about the design aside, it is nice that Carol had a pro-active and strong presence in AoA. Especially since, from what I understand, the character was in limbo at the time (it was between Rogue/Binary stuff and Kurt Busiek's attempt to revitalize the character during his Avengers run. I find this depiction fitting, since Carol Danvers was originally intended to be Marvel Comics' first feminist character, a response to the increasingly vocal feminist movement at the time. It didn't quite come across in her original appearances, and later writers couldn't figure out what to do with the character, but I always felt that feminism, inner strength and determination to overcome steep odds are a the core elements of Carol Danvers, and any writer who didn't include those clearly wasn't doing it right.
It's been a while since I read the actual issue, but yeah, I don't think the ribbons are a part of her costume. As far as the mask/face paint, eh, it's the 90s. :)
DeleteA really damn great issue. :)
ReplyDelete