Nightcrawlers #3: Ace of Hearts

Nightcrawlers #3, the final issue of the Sins of Sinister event, was, by far, the most coherent installation of the Nightcrawlers storyline because the plot was composed by writers with clear vision. Si Spurrier has, unfortunately, spent much time harping on his usual ‘religion is inherently bad’ refrain. Still, this was limited by the fact that he was required to supply the penultimate issue of the event and, therefore, could not determine the plot points himself. Editors for the win.

As a result, Wagnerine could showcase her general badassery without succumbing (too far) to the sexism that the previous issue enmeshed within the character. I feel saddened that I must point out that the fact that, by the end of this story, all the leading players were women is not in itself a feminist statement. If all of the players are ‘strong’ women but they are solely driven by 1) thwarted maternal desire, 2) an insatiable hunger for power (which they satisfy exclusively via manipulation — a sexist trope in and of itself), or 3) cowardice and a fear of death, being ‘strong’ cannot undermine the fact that they were conceived and written within an inescapable matrix of sexist thought. The archetypes on display in this book are basically Mommy, Manipulator, and Shrew. That’s….not a great look.

But aside from this, the plot was passably coherent, and a few good moments made this story a bit more fun to read. The (hilarious) fact was that the Low Key Brotherhood were getting off snorting powdered Infinity Stones. I awarded points for the clever Neil Gaiman reference. Still, more was deducted for framing one of the few nonbinary characters in Marvel as emphatically and exclusively male — continuing Spurrier’s trend of either erasing, insulting, or literally torturing LGBTQIA people within the context of his stories. I enjoyed the depiction of Nemesis as a living, coffee-fueled computer/ship. The reappearance of a surprise Final Boss in the Moira Clone Farm was reasonably well executed. 

The art was fantastic. Lorenzo Tammetta and Philip Sevy worked together seamlessly to create a dark, virulent world. They brought light to a world where all the light was slowly dying. I particularly enjoyed their depiction of facial expressions, blood magic, and faltering machinery slowly stuttering out. Rain Beredo’s colors were, as usual, absolutely gorgeous.

There was a visual richness to this book that compensated when the writing failed.