Legion of X #6: Daddy Issues, Redux

This issue was substantially better than all of the previous entries in this series — most likely because it was co-plotted by other writers. It enabled Spurrier to play to his strengths by focusing solely on one of the characters that he writes exceptionally well, and it contributed to the (beautiful, brutal) arc that Nightcrawler is enduring in other books within this crossover event while giving that character minimal panel time for Spurrier to write him as badly as is his usual wont.

This isn’t to say that Spurrier handles him well here. Nightcrawler still stutters uncertainly at critical moments, and he is utterly lacking in his usual skill and panache, but it’s an improvement over the first five issues, and the fact that Kurt is personally paying so much to save other people is very much in character. The issue also hints at the nature of his upcoming breaking bad moment. If someone suppresses their own needs for too long, something inside of them will definitely shatter, often in a dramatic way that has the potential to be rendered symbolically via this medium. 

I’m not anticipating reading about Spurrier’s take on Evil Demon Lord Nightcrawler, and I hope that none of the nonsense that Spurrier is putting him through proves to be as permanent as internet rumors are hinting, but at least watching him save thousands of people by himself was something to see. At least the pain that it caused him gives adequate reason for his upcoming descent. This holds true, even if Spurrier was certain to give Legion all of the credit for the good that he did. 

As usual, Legion was the star here. One must ask, how often are we readers going to be required to sit through panel after panel after panel, page after page after page of an adult, straight, cis, ridiculously privileged, extremely powerful white man who has an insane amount of control over other people’s lives, complaining about how his daddy never loved him? Because that’s what this is. David’s angst is well written and well thought out, and the visuals are amazing (more on that in a minute), but it’s still just the masturbatory musings of a highly privileged white man expecting us to give him pity, attention, and the high currency of understanding that straight white guys demand everywhere, regardless of the effects that they have on other people’s lives. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry that I hurt you, non-white, non-straight, non-male person, but you see, I’m in So Much Pain for reasons. if you don’t forgive me, maybe you are the real monster.’

In a book that pays lip service to diversity, by again literally dehumanizing and downplaying one of the few Muslim X-characters, by featuring two (2) gay people who existed solely to be tortured within the bounds of a single issue and have never been seen again, we are expected to care about a man who blithely controls everyone around him, to the extent that he is literally creating their environment. There are other perspectives out there. If Spurrier is sophomoric enough to be incapable of accessing them and writing about them in a manner that doesn’t force them into service as object lessons (objects generally) for his lead, well, maybe he shouldn’t be writing books at all. 

Having said all of this, I have to say that the art in this issue was truly excellent. Rafael T. Pimentel can render a vast array of environments and settings with an absolutely startling amount of skill. He can convey strong emotions, pain, pensivity, contemplation, fear, rage, and love without ever descending into the realms of visual cliche. I am excited to see what he does with this book. Federico Blee’s color work is as wonderful and rich as ever. These two artists work together exceptionally well, and I am very excited to see what they do in future books.