#genegineer

[gaknar]

It’s hard to sympathize with this Genegineer guy. For every person who has ever had an abusive parent that’s sent their kid away to a conversion therapy camp or otherwise forced them to live a way that was unnatural to them, we just want Storm to slit this guy’s throat. How can you treat your kids like this! I can’t even understand how anyone can hold convictions this strong, let alone the wrong ones, let alone against your own child. Pretty much just fuck all of humanity that acts this way. If bringing children into the world isn’t enough to spark any form of true human compassion, they you are an absolute lost cause.

Man, Cameron Hodge is such an unexpectedly great villain in this story. Look at him slinking around like a cybernetic tarantula, what’s left of his flesh rotting off his face. Or are those old age spots? Doesn’t matter. Man, this is all I need in a villain! I need him to look awesome and be psychotic. And look at how much better stupid puns work when the person saying them is completely psychotic! “Stick around!” Ha. If this was Arnold Schwarzenegger in Batman and Robin I’d be like Jesus we need to make 6 sequels to this movie. (Uncanny X-Men #271 - Dec 1990)

[the-uncanny-jake]

This beautiful hardbound collection was delivered today and I can’t wait to read it.

The introduction to Genosha and the X-tinction Agenda storyline was one of the most incredible stories to come out of Marvel in the 90s. X-Men. X-Factor. New Mutants. Three teams united in the face of savage bigotry.

[gaknar]

Storm gives the New Mutants their powers back, and Wolfsbane manifests a more powerful version of her wolf transformation. This is also why we don’t see her transform into a human very much when she joins X-Factor shortly after this, because her human form is all messed up thanks to the Genegineer’s brainwashing. I don’t see why she couldn’t just write herself a bunch of notes when she’s in her wolf form so when she transforms into a human she knows what’s going on. Like in the movie Momento. Notes are very helpful. (New Mutants #97 – Jan 1991)

[gaknar]

The only way this could have been better is if Hodge ripped the Genegineer apart by his legs as if he were a wishbone and then threw the two halves of his body at different people. Man, when I go out, I hope I go out blasting some hideous monster in the face with a bazooka right before he tears me apart with his tentacles. 

I’m just going to ignore the fact that Rahne can transform into her full-wolf form and her half-wolf form and the skin suit that’s grafted onto her body just magically disappears and reappears because I’ve already focused way too much on how those suits work. It’s just comic book gobbledygook at this point. What’s not gobbledygook is it’s almost time for the New Mutants to come home from another mission and they’re carrying another one of their teammates home with them in an urn. The way this is written, I’m actually surprised that Warlock stayed dead after this. Seems like this was being set up for some kind of technoorganic resurrection for Warlock and possibly Doug Ramsey as well once Warlock gets sprinkled all over him. I guess once the chips fell, no one cared enough to used the characters. (New Mutants #97 – Jan 1991)

[gaknar]

Ahhh Jesus what have they done to Strom!! They turned her into some kind of X-Files alien! Look at those gigantic dead eyes! That soulless face! It looks like they sealed her eyelids shut and drew gigantic cartoon eyes on her face like those crazy makeup artists do!

My new Facebook profile picture. (X-Factor #61 – Dec 1990)

[gaknar]

Welp, Madelyne Pryor has officially gone from run-of-the-mill neglected housewife to bonafide mysterious X-Men badass, complete with all the intrigue, charisma, and relatability that the best X-Men characters possess. This is helped in no small part by this sleek and slender artwork of Marc Silvestri. Maddie is so realistically rendered here as a little girl you can practically hear her humming to herself as she picks daisies out in the field. That is, before she sets off a Phoenix nuke in the middle of imaginary Genosha. The Phoenix metaphors are coming hot and heavy now as we approach Inferno, even though they’ve existed ever since Madelyne was first introduced, and its obvious Claremont has finally settled on a concrete story arc for her character. All that’s left is for things to play out. (Uncanny X-Men #238 – Nov 1988)

[gaknar]

God damn it this is provocative and violent!!! Guns getting shoved in peoples’ faces. Nude ladies pressing themselves up against their lovers. I was 10 years old when this came out!! Honestly, this material seems awfully adult and I can’t believe Marvel got away with putting it on the magazine racks next to Archie Comics. Also, I guess Havok and Madelyne are together now? They must have started fucking in Australia already? I’m telling ya, sometimes the less ya show it, the more edgy it feels. Which is why I always wear long-necked turtle necks. It drives the ladies crazy!! (Uncanny X-Men #238 – Nov 1988)

[gaknar]

Alright this was terrifying for about 10 god damn minutes, because it’s not crazy to consider “taking a few liberties with” as a euphemism for rape when a bunch of authoritative male figures are manhandling a helpless woman. But fortunately, later in this comic it is revealed that the guards were only being rough with her, but the brief physical contact from the encounter was enough to give poor, touch deprived Rogue an emotional breakdown. It’s sad that we live in such a rape infested society that it’s not so crazy to just assume that the worst possible thing happens to people. I’m glad Rogue didn’t get gang raped by a bunch of racist, jackbooted soldiers though. (Uncanny X-Men #236 – Oct 1988)