THE REIGN OF THE QUEEN

MUTANT X #8 (MARVEL COMICS)

“In another place–in another life–Alex Summers led a team of mutants in a battle against oppression. His methods were extreme, his tactics questionable, but–in his soul–he knew that he was fighting for the greater good.

Now that soul has been transferred to another world, and Summers, also known as Havok, has found himself living a lie, allied with a team of mutants who are sinister, parallel versions of his friends and family. It is to this dark, new place that Havok has come, where he stands as a man alone… a mutant alone. Alex Summers is Mutant X.

Fear him. Fear for him.”

25 years ago, Marvel Comics launched Mutant X, a Havok led X-spinoff. I recently came into a complete run of the series, and so now I’m going to re-read the series once a week, and you guys get to come along for the ride!

This week, as the Goblin Queen advances her plans for domination, Havok goes back to a place he once called home!

THE ISSUE ITSELF

Mutant X #6 is cover dated May of 1999, and has Howard Mackie as writer, Cary Nord and Yancey Labat on pencils, and Andrew Pepoy and Scott Elmer on inks.

Vice President Robert Kelly works late at the White House when it is attacked by an unseen force. Madelyn Pryor enters his office and informs him that she has killed the President, and that Kelly is in charge, and the Six will now be his cabinet. Meanwhile, Alex, Scotty, and Elektra arrive at the X-Mansion, which is vacant apart from Cerebro, a Technarchy-based living version of the X-Men’s mutant finding super computer, who has been left in charge of the grounds while the X-Men aid the Shi’ar in space. Alex asks Cerebro for assistance finding Maddie and the others, and locates them attacking Larry Trask in his secret Sentinel base. Alex realizes Maddie is raising an army, and he’ll need to rally his own forces. He asks Elektra to keep Scotty safe. The Six and their Sentinels lay siege on New York, and Alex returns in search of Maddie. He’s found by The Fallen, who brings Alex to her. She wants Scotty back, but Alex refuses, so she flings him from a tall building.

This issue is a lot of set-up, but it’s got some nice little touches that really work in its favor. As the Six make grand sweeping plans and changes, she get some nice smaller moments with Havok’s story. The Warlock-esque Cerebro is a really fun twist, like a more benign precursor to Danger. Elektra also gets some decent focus, solidifying her own odd relationship with Alex, as she starts to realize that there’s something different about him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Though it may be largely filler, this issue is honestly one of my favorites thus far. I loved the Cerebro angle, and I’m actually enjoying the sequences with Elektra, which is a rarity for me.

I snagged this whole run from my usual comics stop, Cosmic Comix, so I want to give them a shout out here, because it was a pretty great find.