The X-Men go one last round with the Brood!
Originally Published September 1988
We begin at the famous Mile High Diner in Denver, Colorado, where--
That's right, the X-Men's throwdown with the Broodgäng continues to spread through downtown, where people are nonplussed to see supowerpowered mutants (a much-disliked minority) fighting in the streets. So much for the X-Men's "pretending to be dead" advantage.
The Brood Gang, as you know, are mutants specifically targeted by Brood Boss Harry Palmer to be turned into Brood aliens and use their fabulous mutant powers in the service of Brood ideology.
Harry's been a busy guy, because there's like... eighteen of them.
Er, make that seventeen.
Yes, the X-Men manage to take care of (as in kill) Whiphand there and Blindside (a teleporting Brootant), while Spitball (who projectile-belches energy) gets away and rejoins the team. The X-Men are at something of a numbers disadvantage since Rogue and Psylocke remain in the thrall of the Brood from last issue.
Meanwhile back in the Dreamtime, the featureless protoform of Madelyne continues to wander the Outback, as the mysterious, all-knowing gateway watches silently on.
The Australian heat melts Madelyne's outer shell and re-forms her into the Maddie we know. She stumbles into a cooling oasis and meets a face familiar to us...
S'ym offers Maddie a selection of opportunities, and she selects one that - purely hypothetically, with absolutely no bearing on the waking world, I'm sure -- would allow her some measure of revenge against Cyclops for his betrayal.
Whoops, no! As it turns out our girl Maddie here has just entered into a legit deal with a demon and now he owns her body and soul. Tricky!
Back at Red Rocks, Reverend William Conover prepares his sunrise service. He's battling a little bit of stage fight but his main concern is for his wife Hannah and her arthritis, wishing he could relieve her of her pain.
When he overhears one of the crew mention there's a big "m*tie fight" in Denver, he scolds the man, saying he won't tolerate the use of that word any more than other forms of hate speech.
When Bill takes the stage, Hannah is taken aside by the paramedic on duty -- who happens to be Harry Palmer's partner Josey Thomas, seen in previous issues -- who is ready to offer her something for the pain.
En route to Red Rocks are Rogue, who is carrying both Temptress - the pheromone-producing Brood Gangster, whose power enables her to have Rogue in thrall - and Wolverine, of late implanted with a Brood Warrior Egg and soon to be making his transformation. Any minute now, in fact.
With a slash of his adamantium claws, Wolverine does a murder on Temptress. In retaliation, Rogue hurls him to the ground. Following on the ground in the Broodsmobile, Harry and the Crew get a psychic alert about Temptress' death thanks to Psylocke, who is also still in thrall of Temptress.
But the B-Boys have more pressing problems.
The X-Men have arrived for the next round. In the skies above, Storm and Rogue clash, with Rogue still intending to implant Storm with the Brood Queen egg.
From the ground, Dazzler takes aim but has a moment of hesitation -- she'll have to fire her hardest shot to have any effect on Rogue, but if she misses, she'll kill Storm!
The solution, of course?
Don't miss.
At the amphitheater, Wolverine -- battered, bruised, and undergoing Broodification -- stumbles onto the stage. Conover's handlers warn the Rev to stay back, but he can't resist the call. He thinks this Wolverine may have a drug problem or something that requires ministering.
In a moment of supreme hubris, Conover elects to cast these demons out!
Yes, Rev Bill is shocked to find that Wolverine is possessed in as literal of a form as once can possibly be. For a moment it looks like he's in for the fight of his life, when, seemingly miraculously...
Yes, as the Reverend marvels at his seemingly newfound exorcism powers, Wolverine reminds us that it's his plain old regular healing factor at work as seen previously when trying to induct him into the Brood lifestyle. Seriously, they should probably focus on just trying to kill him in the future. I mean, that won't work either, but it's a more worthwhile goal.
The X-Men and Brood Gang scuffle some more and Havok finds it somewhat easier to pull the trigger on his power to off some Brood Gangstas this time.
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| All those violent video games ard sinking in! |
Big Bad Harry makes his entrance with Hannah as his hostage, and uses his mic time to make a big speech about the certainty of Brood Conquest of the Human Race.
At Wolverine's mercy, Harry reverts to human form and begs off, claiming not to know what is going on or why the X-Men are after him. There seems to be real, genuine fear in his eyes...
Later, as things are wrapping up, Conover gives his statement to Trish Tilby of the Nightly News, saying that his congregation was attacked by monsters and it was a band of mutants who saved everyone's lives. He gives an eloquent speech about mutants as humanity's children, to be supported and protected.
Meanwhile, Hannah's arthritis appears to have cleared up. Bill takes this as a possible confirmation of his miraculous healing powers, but it's possible that there's something a little more... untoward at work here.
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| See ya real soon, folks! |
As they arrive back home at the X-Hostel, Wolverine congratulates Havok on a job well done, but Alex doesn't want to hear it -- he's sick from all the killing he had to do to complete the mission.
And lest we forget, something is going on with Madelyne... but that will have to wait!
Further Thoughts:
My, how times change. Years earlier when the X-Men faced the Brood, it was a rip-roaring adventure across the spaceways that was resolved with some kooky space-fantasy mumbo-jumbo about a space whale soul. And yes, it was grounded by several issues spent contemplating the X-Men's mortality in the face of a seemingly unconquerable evil, but in the end it was Comics as All Getout, the mix of reality and fantasy that made early-80s X-Men adventures what they were.
Today, it's a new day. When the X-Men went up against the Marauders for the first time it really did signify a shift. Now the heroes who are willing to kill outnumber those who don't, making Havok a conspicuous outlier. Of course, what we're dealing with is a malignant alien infestation that threatens the whole of humanity on planet Earth, so it's easy to dispense with the sentimentality.
In fact, I have zero problem whatsoever with the X-Men using lethal force in this case (because, again, deadly implacable alien monsters.) What I'm talking about here is that the X-Men didn't used to get put into situations where killing was the only way out quite so frequently, and if they were up against foes like the Brood there would be some crazy resolution that made it safe for the kiddies in the audience. Now the X-Men can be quite bloodthirsty when the time comes, offing the Broodgang members one after the other after another -- and like I said there sure were a lot of them to kill. For the most part they -- even former sensitive guy Colossus -- do their duty.
The heaviest part of it is the ambiguity in the relationship between Brood and host. Cyclops was cured of being a Brood host, but only by dint of the Acanti racial soul they had on hand at the time. Otherwise, not even Professor X was able to overcome the Brood implantation, as they had to kill his original body and clone him a new one just to restore him. We see these Broodgangers reverting to human form but have to believe that there's really no meaningful trace of humanity left in them, that Harry's last words are a falsified attempt to play on sympathy that Wolverine wouldn't be able to afford him. That shows exactly where the X-Men are at, and where the comics are at
Real life just happens to be a lot more complicated than "kill your problems away."
The inclusion of Reverend Willian Conover is an intriguing layer to add to the comic, further deepening the series' interest in examining faith. We didn't cover "God Loves, Man Kills" here on the blog (but you know, maybe someday on Patreon) which examined the potential hypocrisy of being so pro-humanity that you go deep into anti-mutant (which in its way is a kind of prejudice that exists across the spectrum of minority experiences.) Here we get a much kinder and more sympathetic portrayal of a religious leader. I don't know that there are many real-life analogues to Bill Conover, since nearly any preacher who will go on TV in front of an audience of millions is usually a blowhard with conservative views, but, yes, it's entirely possible to be religious and actually live up to the ideals of your faith, sure.
The business with Hannah and Josey -- who, (gasp!) Has been Brood this whole time! -- provides an intriguing sequel hook for X-Men v. Brood Round III, but we'll see if Claremont gets around to it. (Spoiler alert: he does not.)
Finally, we are continuing to build... something with Madelyne. The work being done to build this really underscores that something major is brewing, with incredible, pointed dream sequences and examinations of where Madelyne is as a character, a woman brought low and primed for manipulatikn and exploitation by these demonic forces. I don't know what it is exactly, but getting her wrapped up in these demon folks seems like a dangerous combination.
Excuse me, I just need to go check the A/C because it is unseasonably warm in here...
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