Before I tackle the developments of this fourth issue, I'd just like to mention the fact that I think it's almost a risky endeavor to write something in this scope for a comic title that isn't independent but rather one of the longest running superhero titles of Marvel. I say this in the context of what I've read for Simon Spurrier's stint in Vertigo comics for The Dreaming, and the author essentially seems to be going for the same vibe here, which would be a meditative piece concerning power and faith.
Maybe it's time we pull back from the fanfare of heroic violence and monster-of-the-week where X-Men stories are concerned and go back to the roots of that fascinating era that Chris Claremont had pioneered, in which the X-Men were penned with nuanced characterization and narrative. Often the adaptations on screen hardly do them justice. To me, they are the original collective of weirdos, freaks, and the lost and found underdogs who represent so many of us who do not identify or could not be happy with the oppressing status quo of the world.
There had been many times that notable stories in the X-Men canon delved into encompassing themes concerning identity, prejudice, civil rights, and inequality of power among institutions that harm its citizens more than safeguard their freedoms. That has always been the core of the X-Men and why their story is a cornerstone for portraying the ups and downs of social movements whether pacifist or radical ideals. Sure, it's still a comic book; and a lot of the classics of this title managed to be as entertaining as they are intellectually and morally engaging.
But that's why I feel X-Men stories have so much potential to be more than a black-and-white, hero-saves-the day, good vs. evil narrative. We got plenty of those going already, and what X-Men offers has less to do with pure and simple heroism and more about how each individual with immense power governs him-her-their-self as well as how they must function accordingly in the society that actively hates what they are and wants to police it.
That's the operating theme for WAY OF X, and the fourth issue peeled back that layer yet again in the mythos of mutants even if it meant possibly sacrificing a more fast-paced, action-packed installment. I know that I was surprised that this issue didn't pack more punches (pun intended) in that department. It made me wonder how someone who has only read comics for the first time or a short period of time would react if they pick up this title and read something that did not cater to what they expect a comic book story should be. I thought about these things because I personally promulgate the idea that everyone should read comics. Why shouldn't they? The MCU has done strides commercializing what used to be a medium that has associations with damaging stereotypes where one's social status or label are concerned. To reads comics should be 'cool' nowadays. I suppose that puts more pressure in the industry to cater to how the masses would perceive a story in comics on the merits of its entertainment value for these changing times.
Would the last four issues of Way of X pass with flying colors as, meaning does it have enough entertainment value? Yes and no. Yes, because it's bizarre enough to hold even the most passing interest from a casual reader, and no because there is something much deeper happening within each issue that it can possibly alienate--if not irate--someone who simply wasn't familiar what else the X-Men stands for (and given how much Fox keeps fucking up their cinematic continuity for all the movies it released under the X-Men, the average reader who only read comics because of said films may not be as invested emotionally on the characters).
So what happened for this fourth installment? Nothing much, really, as far as the surface level of each scene went. It opened with a story within a story, told by the new mutant character Marinette, whose powers of anti-gravity rendered almost all mutants in Krakoa throwing up. She's self-described as 'Lost', and to avoid another mishap in the nursery of baby blooms from last issue, they decided to sort of give her a time-out in Mars. The parable she relayed about early tribes and a crime committed by a brother against brother might have allusions to her past, but Kurt and David weren't sure. All they know was that all of this was concerning, both in the small-scale scope that was Lost's pitiful search for knowing herself and why she was there, as well as the more urgent business of Onslaught preying upon the minds of the Krakoan citizens.
What does duo do? Divide and conquer, what else, but their approaches to these seemingly separate yet possibly interrelated issues carry distinct weights. I really find it interesting so far that these two characters were the ones who have designated themselves as caretakers for what ails this Brave New World the mutants have created after so many decades enduring hate crimes and not-so-friendly fire from their own kind. For Nightcrawler, he'd been focused on the troubling implications of mutants governing themselves without a higher power to answer to, especially the young generation, particularly since the pioneers of the revolution Professor X and Magneto are with them and yet still too stuck in their roles, no matter how they claim they want to adapt alongside their surrogate progenies. Kurt as a man of faith knew that moral relativity leaning on chaotic neutrality would destroy a nation that is still in its exodus. He struggles to install a new religion in Krakoa that upholds free will but also holds its citizens accountable, possibly more so than the Three Laws.
While the last issue tackled the darkly humorous first law 'Make More Mutants', this installment focused now on the second: 'Kill No Man'. And no other than staunch bigot is a prime example of how much this law can be bent without breaking it entirely than Fabian Cortez. As a former acolyte who's feigning turning a new leaf, Cortez was understandably not a man you will warm up to during the first meeting. Like, ever. What makes him so frustrating as a character was the fact that he, too, is a mutant. His mutation 'manifests as a localized field of bio-resonant energies, upon which he exerts a degree of control,' according to the helpful notes of Doctor Nemesis. He is a 'booster', who can 'stimulate or sedate the X-gene expressions of his fellow mutants'. And what did he decide to do with that power right now?
He orchestrated an insipid show that placed Gorgon, a mutant with mild telepathy and can turn people into stone through sight (hence his moniker), at odds with narrow-minded humans who took one look at Gorgon and decided to dehumanize him. Homo sapiens, you know; they always know how to show up during a random mob gathering in the streets. Kurt bore witness to this and listened as patiently as he could as Cortez tried to justify his actions with some of that moral relativity. He's not actually killing anyone. He's not actually breaking the law. But more or less, he is actually proving to Nightcrawler why he truly must interfere when it came to such morally reprehensible actions disguised as shrewd philosophizing. In the quaint parting words of Doctor Nemesis from the same journal entry about Cortez:
"I don't know. I don't care. The more I observed him, the more my skin crawled, so I gave up and went home to re-gene some psychedelics and eat expensive chocolate. Sometimes a [REDACTED] is just a [REDACTED]."
I couldn't agree more with the good doctor. Fabian Cortez is the same self-righteous [REDACTED] that he's always been.
Meanwhile, in the David's side of things, he was still playing bounty hunter to Onslaught and we get an actual honest conversation between himself and the old man. Charles is a great father figure but also the worst father to his actual son.
I know I tend to emphasize more on Kurt's scenes for each issue and not enough of David's, mainly because I just find Nightcrawler's ruminations about morality and faith to hold more weight in the context of this story's themes. That said, I would like to point out that David playing for the good side even if he was still doing it out of self-interest (or a favor to Kurt, to be more technical about it) is super refreshing for a character that's between True Neutral and Chaotic Neutral half the time in earlier stories he'd been written in. It would be far too dismissive, I feel, to label him as the 'man of science' that contrasted Kurt. I believe that he most likely represented Team Free Will more than cold rationality. Those panels above were followed by his reasoning that Charles should allow young mutants to make their own mistakes, and that he doesn't have to constantly play Dad. The irony of that, after all, was not lost to either.
The issue ended remarkably anti-climactic for me. Well, if you consider the fact that Onslaught manifested again and killed everyone in the vicinity anti-climactic, that us, but only because as a reader I already know they will be resurrected soon enough. How can you value the loss of lives when it's only temporary? But it looks as if David has other plans going by the last page. I honestly don't know how to make of it.
It's Legion after all, and he's always full of surprises.
RECOMMENDED: 8/10
