UNCANNY X-MEN #324: Deadly Messengers

The X-Men get sacked by Gene Nation!

Originally Published September 1995 

We begin in New Orleans -- that is, the New Orleans in Gambit's mind, which is far from a Mardi Gras, more monochromatic and moody. Psylocke is all suited up in her special psychic stealth armor, complete with combat heels.

At least they're chunky heels

Psylocke is violating the inner sanctum of Gambit's mind on a hunch that he's harboring some dark secret from his past, but only because he pretty much said "Oh no, now Rogue knows the dark secret from my past." Understandishably, Gambit is not in favor of letting someone forcibly uncover his deep dark secret, and ejects Psylocke from his mind.

In the waking world, Psylocke insists -- somewhat halfheartedly -- that she was just trying to "help" Gambit, since he had passed out. In a house that includes Charles Xavier, it's really tough competition to be the shadiest telepath around, but Betsy is pulling out in front.

Down in Manhattan, Storm. Cannonball. Wolverine. and NYPD Detective Charlotte Jones are facing off against members of the Gene Nation: Vessel and... *heavy sigh*... Sack.

The Geeners explain that they will be exacting deadly vengeance on the human race: for every one (1) mutant killed, they will kill a hundred (100) humans.

They go on to allude, vaguely, to having arisen out of the Morlocks.

Charlotte falls victim to a Sack Attack, with the GN member explaining for her benefit that his power is to possess people in a way that is fatal to them. He is also bulletproof in his natural form -- as Charlotte discovers after opening fire -- which makes one wonder why he would want to be in a more easily-killable human form... except, oh right, he likes killing humans.

Cannonball blasts into action, wrestling Sack off her and zipping away into the night sky. 

Squaring off against Wolverine, Vessel explains, for his enemy's benefit, that his deal is that he absorbs psychic residue from the recently deceased to increase his raw physical power. Basically, he eats souls.

Down in Millstone, Arizona, Rogue pulls up to a roadside diner looking more boob than woman.

Bobby, meanwhile, is still struggling with seeing unwanted, familiar faces where they ought not to be.

This polyester uniform is beneath the dignity of the White Queen

Cannonball is in trouble: it looks like he's about to get Sacked, with the Gene Nation member fixing to absorb his body (floppy hair drapes and all) and use it to destroy the X-Men. 

Vessel rampages, busting up a Friends of Humanity rally. Beast intervenes, somewhat reluctantly saving the life of hatemonger Graydon Creed.

While Wolverine and Storm tango with Vessel, the green guy alludes to a personal vendetta against Storm. And why, just because he was a Morlock, which she once led, but while she was neglecting her responsibilities to them they all got massacred? Is that any reason to hate somebody?

Meanwhile, Wolverine makes a shocking discovery, that if you kill Vessel... he will die.

Okay, somewhat more complicatedly: If you puncture Vessel and release the "psychic residue" of all the people he has absorbed, he will lose his power and... yes, die, I think.

Cannonball, meanwhile, does some funny business with his powers to try to kill Sack without killing himself. Sack protests: that's crazy! But your name is Sack, who are you to judge?

Almost only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and mutant warfare.

Storm goes full Palpatine on Vessel with the lightning, and before you know it all the immortal Christian souls psychic residue return to their rightful corpses.

Graydon Creed, watching this light show go off, muses that this is pretty much the reason why people don't like mutants right here.

Down in Arizona, Rogue and Iceman are getting ready to depart the diner, when she abruptly and apropos of nothing has a cryptic message for the waitress: "Give my regards to Grey Crow."

The waitress is confused: "How do you know Grey Crow?" Rogue is confused: "How do I know Grey Crow?" And we're confused: "Who is Grey Crow?" Apparently, he is some old Native American guy Gambit used to pal around with.

The car is ready, but Bobby is otherwise engaged, firing off a long distance call to Boston, to get some answers from Emma Frost. Is he just hallucinating, or is the psychic toying with him? Unfortunately, she's not saying!

I mean, it really does seem like she knows what's going on, but it's... (dun dun dun)... ambiguous!!

Further Thoughts:

Okay, time to break character a little bit. I do know who Grey Crow is, and I bet you probably do too, X-Men fan of 2024, but it's not a name that I've seen written in the pages of Uncanny X-Men so I really don't know if we're supposed to know who that is. Reading old comics can be a bit of a mind trip from time to time!

The Gene Nation are one of those bad guy factions you only get in X-Men: ideologically contrasted with the X-Men, who are for mutant rights but opposed to killing humans. It's actually a nice example of the different degrees of any political issue where it grows intense enough that there is a murderous, terroristic wing of the cause. 

Obviously, the Gene Nation are not superstars. They're an off-brand Brotherhood of Evil Mutants staffed by cut-rate Morlocks. Never mind that. Not every story can pit the heroes against Magneto or Apocalypse. Going up against C-list bad guys is not really a problem when a comic is so hot that readers just want to spend more time with the characters any way they can. So the bulk of the issue is a harmless little scuffle, which has implications for Graydon Creed's campaign against mutants.

The bigger deal is what's happening on the margins, as we inch closer to possibly learning more about Gambit's shadowy past, the dark secret it's harboring and what Rogue may or may not know about it. It's easy to go along on this ride and makes for a compelling comic, even when it coasts for a couple of issues.