Mikhail makes Colossus an offer he can't refuse!
Originally Published November 1999
We are once again in a weird pocket dimension, this time at the behest of Colossus' long-lost brother Mikhail and his codpiece. He gives us a long reflection on all the crazy antics that led to him being the ruler of his own dimension, including having his death faked, being the only surviving member of a Soviet excursion to another pocket dimension, returning to Earth with the X-Men, turning someone into a tree, and drowning the Morlocks but also whisking them away to this place.
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| This isn't an important moment but let's take a sec to raise an eyebrow at Shiro's high pony. |
Years as ruler of his own Morlock world has caused Mikhail to reflect on what really matters, and what matters to him is to use his Godlike powers, along with Colossus' eye for aesthetics, to resurrect their departed sister Illyana. He demonstrates his power by turning a chair into a lizard monster -- which is great if you want more lizard monsters, don't get me wrong, but now there are fewer places to sit.
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| Do not play musical chairs with this guy, is what I'm saying. |
Piotr is not really "down" with this whole "resurrection of the dead" thing, possibly having read one or two Stephen King novels on the subject.
And where is Marrow? Well, she's got in search of her mother figure and mentor in mayhem Callisto, whom she'd seen running around. But when she catches up to her her, she finds her distant -- distant as a memory, that is, because Marrow is taking a walk through her literal past.
Sarah is remembering the day her mutant powers first developed, which according to the law of this particular society means she had to be thrown into the outlands to do battle with the monsters there, to fight for survival and a right to return.
She reflects on how far she's come -- in controlling her abilities, in getting along with others as part of a team... but is it over, just as she's come to accept it?
Meanwhile, Mikhail continues to harangue his brother into helping him violate the laws of God and nature, as only an artist can, but Colossus is beyond reticent. Whatever they create would only be a soulless simulacrum of life, void of any humanity or purpose, much like AI-generated "art."
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| I would wager that the fake Illyana is still less harmful for the environment than ChatGPT. |
Mikhail was not hoping to hear this, to say the least, and lashes out at his kavon.
Meanwhile in the past! Marrow returns from her excursion, somewhat more twisted and battle-hardened.
This is not the end of her test, of course -- Past!Mikhail's cruel lesson is that life is a constant battle one will never stop fighting, possibly because your leader keeps throwing goons at you.
The Rasputins have it out over whether to join forces to raise the dead.
Marrow joins the fray, understandably having some complex feelings stirred up by her reflections on her upbringing.
Marrow challenges Mikhail to battle but he declines and has something of a meltdown over the whole matter, overwhelmed by his power.
It turns out -- as Colossus helpfully gleans with ease -- that Mikhail has unknowingly been in a symbiotic relationship with the reality-warping entity that actually controls this dimension, which is now at odds with him and possibly trying to pressure him to do... you know... general bad stuff.
In a moment of clarity, Mikhail realizes he can open one last portal to send Colossus and Marrow home. When he pleads for his brother to come too, he explains that he now understands the entity would come with him and pose a danger to all. Colossus posits that perhaps Mikhail is strong enough to keep it from following, and Mikhail is like "yeah, maybe, I guess!"
They find themselves returned to the art gallery, but now the painting of Illyana has been destroyed. Piotr is sanguine -- the painting was only a reproduction, but now he has his real brother back.
Elsewhere, in Egypt, where the secret cult of Modern Day Ancient Egyptians (just... go with it, ok?) work to prepare for the coming of their master. Deathbird, who is linked up with said master, wants payment for gathering these Nile-dwellers, but is rudely rebuffed to say the least.
Further Thoughts:
Hey, so, who do you think the "Beauty and the Beast" in this title refers to? Is Peter beauty, Marrow beast? Is Illyana beauty? Is Mikhail beast? Is Marrow both? Of course titles can (and often should) have multiple meanings, but I wanted to check and see if we could all agree on the intent and significance and that it wasn't just a random series of words that happens to fit.
And for that matter, what happened to Marrow kind of acting all bubbly and whatnot? Did I imagine that? Was it dropped?
Anyway, there are worse things in life than this issue. Yes, the X-Men comics have recently, in 1999, been very hit-and-miss with scattershot outings to wacky sci-fi fantasy settings, questionable characterization and motivations driving the action, and focus on things that don't feel pertinent to the X-Men at all when there is focus... but, this story works.
Here we get to build on the established and budding pairing of Colossus and Marrow, who have connected on various levels. We have Piotr and Mikhail reuniting as brothers, bonding over their shared loss of Illyana, and a moral quandary over whether it would be right to combine their abilities to, in some way, bring her back. We have a story that invokes Peter's artistic sensibilities and explores Marrow's rough-and-tumble (to say the least) background and how she came to be the way she is. Ultimately, this is what the X-Men franchise has going for it -- a robust collection of characters with rich inner lives who intersect in interestng ways.
I quite liked Colossus' statement that sure, he can capture the image of Illyana, but not, ultimately, her soul. I already made the connection earlier, but it's worth repeating that at the very least, what an artist does -- what humans do -- is to create purposefully, to explore our humanity through expression and thought and deliberate motion, whether by a paintbrush, a keystroke, or some other act of creation. The soul of Illyana may not be found in a painting of her, but the soul of Piotr Rasputin is. What "A.I." does, what machines do, is simply regurgitate what has been fed into it -- commonly through unethical means -- with no purpose and no soul. If you are a user of any A.I. platform -- Midjourney, ChatGPT, what have you -- I would beg of you to stop. Beyond the well-documented horrifying consequences for the environment, beyond theft, beyond negative consequences to industries we love, the results are so hollow and non-human as to be disgusting to anyone who is in touch with their soul.
If you need or want something created, learn to draw, commission artists, read books on how to write, do something to reclaim and engage your humanity.
As a nice little oasis of story amidst everything else that's been going on with the X-Men lately, this was quite enjoyable. No, it isn't the kind of thing that's going to revitalize the X-Men's cachet as top-selling Marvel heroes -- I feel like I say that with just about every issue -- but at least this one had a satisfying core to it. It's solid, if unspectacular, storytelling, which always pleases me to see in this project.
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