Astonishing X-Men #3

No Title Again!

Timeline

The morning after Astonishing X-Men #2

The Sitch

AXM 3 opens up with a sunny day on the grounds of the Institute. Kitty is counseling a student who is worried that the new “mutant cure” will be forced on to him and he will lose his ability to fly, which he treasures dearly. Kitty assures him that no one will force it on him and that the mutant community will stick together to get through the crisis in their very existence.

Kitty’s young charge’s answer? “Miss Pryde, are you a @&$%ing retard?” His response is strengthened by the fact that 1600 mutants have already lined up outside Benetech for the cure.

In what has to be one of my favorite scenes ever in an X-Men comic book, the next two pages give us a peek at a mutant teacher’s lounge. Kitty comes in to discuss the maximum amount of detention that a body can withstand and is immediately pointed to the Benetech situation on TV by Wolverine. Emma takes the opportunity to snipe at Kitty again, noting that 3 students were missing from her ethics class.

Emma provides a laundry list of the impact that the news story is having on the story with open fights and dire predictions running rampant. Kitty’s response to Emma? “YOU teach ethics?” Another snark-fest ensues. Henry stumbles into the lounge only concerned with coffee and reveals that he has been analyzing the serum all night. When questioned, he tells the other staff that he has visited Kavita Rao and will be only a day.

Parallel to these events, a charred Ord is screaming at Dr. Rao. The connection, in true Whedon style, is revealed. Ord is berating Dr Rao for giving Hank the serum and tells her that she knows what the X-Men are to him (which we still don’t know). Dr Rao berates him right back for acting like a super-villian. Ord tells her that the serum would not be possible without him. Kavita points out that it’s the technology of his people and not him that helped him and that his anger is a liability to them. Ord menacingly threatens that Dr Rao will see his anger one day.

“Somebody’s gonna die. You know how I know this? ‘Cause I’m gonna kill them?”

Ever since Xander called Riley and Samantha “Nick and Nora Fury” in “As You Were”, I’ve been fascinated by the idea of how Joss would treat Nick Fury. Even Xander’s eye patch inspired the thoughts. I wonder no more. Nick Fury in four-color Whedony goodness is having a conversation with Cyclops about the weaponry they discovered during the fight with Ord’s henchmen.

Nick and Cyclops go a couple rounds over the mutant cure, Magneto, Manhattan and the events of Genosha. Nick lands his final punch by telling Scott that SHIELD (Nick’s federal agency) is watching Emma. Scotts counters by telling Nick that he has an incredibly narrow vision for a person with one eye. Nick stares at Cyclops and reminds him that he knows the way off the Helicarrier.

I might add that the imagery of this interaction is just perfect. Scott and Nick are both cut from the same rug. Things are black and white and both shoulder everything with strict seriousness. And both have a single eye. Two sides of the same coin. A mysterious woman appears from the shadows to ask what Nick thinks Cyclops knows even as Scott flies away.

At that moment, round two of the X-Mansion fight club is brewing. In one corner, Hank, who is analyzing the serum, ready to take it and end his devolving state into a walking feline. In the other, Wolverine, who has been tipped to Hank’s thoughts, is ready to stop him from doing it. At the heart of the issue is an X-Man, Hank, who is ready to cave. If he does, Logan notes that the whole belief will unravel. Wolverine threatens to turn Hank into a throw-rug unless he flushes the cure.

It’s the last straw for Hank. Hank and Logan tear through several rooms of the mansion in front of students before being stopped in their tracks psychically by Emma, who forces them to bow, break and go the Danger Room. In what is one of the most subtle moments in a comic book, Cassady draws two students who are watching the brawl.

In the first panel, the first student asks if the teachers all fight at the school. In the second, he says that the school is so cool. The subtlety is in the second student’s face. In the first panel, he is basically disinterested. In the second panel, without a word, his agreement with the assessment of the school is echoed by a gap-toothed, near-imperceptible grin.

In the Danger Room, which Emma has ordered up a doll house to reflect the childish nature of the brawl’s, Scott asks Hank if he can complete the analysis, while telling him that he agrees with Logan on the topic of taking the cure. He asks Hank to simply talk with him about any decisions. Hank counters by asking about Nick Fury. Scott notes that they’re on their own.

Kitty asks about bring Professor X into the situation. Emma and Scott decide that they are in charge, and Scott assigns tasks (very Giles-like). Kitty is to do research. Hank is analyzing. Emma is checking on the students. Scott will contact the other X-teams to see how far the situation is reaching. And Logan? Have a beer and stay away from Hank. No issue there.

Scott stays behind with Emma to express his frustration. Emma reassures him and tells him that Kitty believes Emma is telepathically forcing Scott to say everything. Scott asks Emma if she is.

“You’ll never see me naked again.”

Hank, in the wee hours of the morning, finds a reference to a DNA cross-sample and is repulsed by what it means. He tells Scott that they have to go to Benetech tonight. Scott asks if the serum is real and dangerous. Hank responds that the serum is irrelevant. It’s the body that they’re running the tests on.

Hank, eyes filled with pain, asks “Why does nothing ever stayed buried?”

“Jean?”

End of Issue Three.

Thoughts

So, my thoughts on this issue drift around quite a bit. First, the whole notion of the mutant cure is an intriguing one and one that is certainly something new covering something old. How would a world who fears mutants get rid of them? The answer in the past has been genocide – the Sentinel program with giant robots to crush mutanity or the legacy virus to weaken and destroy it.

But here’s a curve ball that Whedon throws us. What if humans didn’t kill them? What if they simply took away their powers? A variation on a theme, no doubt, and an intriguing one, one that has roots in history. For example, take the power that is a vote in a democracy. Remove that right, and though you aren’t destroying a people, you are removing their ability to fully participate in the nation. Removing a mutant’s power is similar. They can exist but not as they should be able to fully function.

I am curious to see where this one will go as well. Is the removal of the power permanent? What about Ord allows him to remove mutant powers?

And for that matter, what are the X-Men to Ord? What about his world was so affected by mutants that it would cause him to hate them so badly. I am guessing time travel, alternate dimension or something that the X-Men did in the past, though for the life of me I don’t remember them ever fighting anyone like Ord.

And while we’re at it, why does nothing ever stay buried? It’s a question that you have to ask yourself if you read or are aware of comics in general. With one notable exception (Captain Marvel), characters don’t stay dead. Superman didn’t. Cyclops didn’t. And with Joss, I have to wonder if it’s a chicken and egg thing. Is he bringing back someone because he did it on Buffy AND Firefly? Or, did he do it on those shows because he’s a comic book fan?

I stepped back and gave some thought to that question, and I came up with three answers. First, I think that there is something about the idea of cheating death that intrigues us. It’s a common destiny, and the idea that we can escape it is appealing.

Second, a slight variation on the first, I think that there is a common archetype (forgive my Jungian moment here) that we like our heroes to fight death and win. Joss plays with that desire just a little I’ve noticed. His characters always seem to beat death through strange means – Buffy twice, once by Xander, once by Willow and Mal even with Niska’s shock paddles. Each time though, that core archetypal desire shown through those characters. Buffy beat the bad guy twice after beating death. Mal got his. And my bet is that whoever that mutant is at Benetech will beat the bad guy too.

Finally, um, well, bringing back characters pumps the old distribution numbers. So good old economics wins the day.

I have to comment on a couple of small items I appreciated from this story. First, the teacher’s lounge. I had really never given much thought to the X-Men as teachers until this moment. Mind you, I’ve been reading the X-Men since 1985, so that’s nearly 20 years to realize this fact fully. That being said, the teacher’s lounge moment cracked me up.

As a former high school teacher, the teacher’s lounge was a rite of passage. The first time you walk in and aren’t looked at sternly. You’re a part of the big time in that environment. And when the veil of the teacher’s lounge door is parted, you really find out what you’ve long expected. Teachers lighting up cigarettes. Discussion of exactly which student you ALL know is awful. It’s quite the moment of realization. OK, so maybe not THAT big a moment.

And finally, there’s a small touch at the end of this issue that I love. When the Beast tells Cyclops that they are using someone to experiment on. Cyclops doesn’t call her Phoenix; he calls her Jean, and you can almost feel the connection not just between Scott and Jean, but between Hank and Scott. They are two of the original five. The first X-Men. Jean. Scott. Hank. Bobby. Warren. Not Phoenix, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman and Angel. It’s a small touch, but it pulls at decades of history. And I love it.

Cover Art

The cover art on this issue was a great exercise in perspective. Wolverine is leaping from a position in the air, claws extended and upside down. It’s quite a nice shot, but really has not so much to do with the issue. I would like to have it as a poster though!

What's My Line?

YOU teach Ethics?

Just tell me there’s coffee.

Somebody’s gonna die. You know how I know this? Cause I’m gonna kill them.

Even for a guy with one eye, your vision’s incredibly narrow.

So either flush that junk down the john right now…or I’m gonna turn you into a throw-rug.

So, what – the teachers spend all their time here trying to kill each other. This place is so cool.

Me? Have a beer and stay away from Hank.

Why does nothing ever stayed buried?

Rating:

3.5 out of 5 (We’re still cooking, but I think it’s about time to turn up the heat)

Main Credits (as listed in the issue)

Writer - Joss Whedon
Artist - John Cassaday
Colorist - Laura Martin
Letterer - Chris Eliopoulous
Assistant Editors - Stephanie Moore & Cory Sedlmeier
Editor - Mike Marts
Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada
Publisher - Dan Buckley

Published June, 2004