Friday, October 2, 2015

The Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon #4

Normally, I would start my AXM reviews with an introductory segment before going straight for the summary of the content plus my insights on what happened, but for now I'm skipping that part and doing the next one because I don't have anything else to talk about that piqued my interest and can be related to this series like that Divergent article, and Freytag's pyramid. Besides, this fourth installment of Gifted is pretty straightforward and we get the complete leading five X-Men of this series in one place while another thing happens back n the Xavier School with two students.

Last time, I discussed that we're at the RISING ACTION of the dramatic structure at this point, and I can say that issue #4 still keeps us even on that level even if there have been certain developments and surprising revelations that occurred for this installment. I still couldn't say this is the climax, though, and I am definitely hoping that the next issue would count as that. Wait a minute, I shouldn't lie to you guys. I actually read the next issue along with #4 so I already know what happened there, but I'm still trying to decide if that was supposed to be the climax. I'm in a weird place right now because I'm sort of sick and need lots of bed rest but instead I'm typing reviews because I have a schedule to uphold, and I'm nothing if not thorough and consistent.

Holy shit, those two paragraphs feel like an introductory post. Fuck it, let's get right on track and forget for a second that I'm honestly typing this while I have terrible colds and a throat infection. Those are just stupid distractions. What matters right now is persevering through reviewing this issue of The Astonishing X-Men.

The issue starts with Cyclops leading his team to break in BeneTech Laboratories after Hank made the timely discovery of the disturbing measures that Dr. Kavita Rao and the other scientists have taken in order to acquire and produce the so-called mutant cure. Later on, during the mission, Wolverine would inform Beast about what the media has been covering regarding said cure, and that Rao and her team have named it "Hope". 

I can't help but suppress a tiny smirk (or was it grimace?) upon reading that. After all, I've just finished reading the big-event stories that happened after Whedon's series, namely House of M, Messiah Complex and Second Coming. In those stories, we witnessed the mutant decimation where mutants become an extinct species. But then a mutant was born again for the first time and she was considered as the messiah. Her name is Hope. It's quite amusing at we had both cure and messiah named after the same thing but they function differently and for contrasting purposes. Well, one is a person and one is a medicine that's supposed to abolish the mutant gene so there's always that.

(Goddammit, while typing this review, I was also eating Chinese takeout and then I accidentally touched a spicy substance in one of the containers and then wiped my hands on my face and the spicy shit is now near my eyes but  then I rubbed my eyes, and now they sting so bad because of the fucking spice. I washed them but it still hurts. I'm literally tearing up as I soldier on and type this).

Speaking of threats to mutantkind, I finally realized who Ord is supposed to be in this story right after reading this issue. I also had to research him because he's beginning to piss me off and I need to know why he's vital to the series. Apparently, he was sent from his planet called Breakworld in order to destroy mutantkind because mutants will somewhat cause the destruction of his home planet in the future. To accomplish this, he teamed up with Dr. Rao herself by aiding her to come up with a mutant cure hoping that this would be enough to prevent mutants from spreading across galaxies. This will come to play later as we discover the means he secured in order to help Dr. Rao with said cure. But I digress. Let's talk about the fact that's a dumb-dumb. Desperate to confront the X-Men, he went to the Xavier School to talk to the two innocent mutant children, Hisako and Wing. Meanwhile, if he just waited in the BeneTech Labs, the X-Men would have come to him willingly since they are currently in that place. But because he's a dumb-dumb and a cruel piece of shit, he hurt Wing just to send a message to the X-Men. But the worst part was that he injected Wing with the cure. This is the same kid who was just talking to Kitty Pryde last issue (and yes, who admittedly asked if she was a fucking retard), but we also find out minutes ago during his conversation with Hisako that he wants to be a part of the X-Men himself. How can he do that without his powers? Way to crush a young boy's ultimate dream, Ord, you dumb-dumb. I'm going to start officially calling Ord as Ord the Dumb-Dumb for the rest of my reviews from now on.

Back at BeneTech Laboratories, Kitty with alien mini-dragon Lockheed is on a solo assignment to find the main security systems of the lab and dismantle them while the rest of the team gather around a corpse of a mutant girl who looked like she committed suicide. Emma gets insecure about Jean which is all Scott's fault anyway for assuming that it was Jean's body that was being used to conduct experiments concerning the cure. When Wolverine suggested that they burn down the lab once and for all, Scott argued that they might be other bodies so they better be safe than sorry. Good thinking, Scott, but I can't help but wonder if there's a tiny part of you that hopes that Jean's body will turn up and, better yet, it turns out that she wasn't dead after all! Well, that would be a convenient twist and we can restart the love triangle among you and Logan (or a love square, considering Emma is involved now) but unfortunately for you, slim, the one who gets reunited with an assumed dead lover isn't you...but Kitty Pryde when she was discovered by the guards and was escaping for her life. All of a sudden, she opens a door and out comes Colossus, who was definitely supposed to be dead, since he sacrificed himself to stop the Legacy virus a few stories ago. As shocked and out of her depth as she was, it's a good thing Kitty still remembered to phase up as Colossus mindlessly started attacking the guards, ignoring that she was standing right there.



Once he snaps out of his angry daze, Colossus recognizes Kitty at last and collapses in front of her:


Like I said, I read the next issue already and it explains how this was all possible, and what does it all mean in relation to the cure.

Now, if y'all excuse me, I have to crawl back into bed and try to get some well-deserved rest.


RECOMMENDED: 8/10

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