Nightcrawlers #2: A Holy Heist

This second issue was much more skillfully rendered than anything that Spurrier has heretofore produced for the Krakoan era, managing to compose both a workable plot and a story with a modicum of emotional resonance, leaving readers with a book that is, for perhaps the first time in his current run, actually worth the price of purchase.

This issue will be incredibly frustrating if you happen to be a Nightcrawler fan who has already been forced to endure over a year of terrible characterization and awful pseudo-philosophy, as Kurt has been slowly dismantled for no purpose beyond shock value and the writer’s desire to vent his hatred of Religion as a concept. Suppose you were hoping that this character’s brutal (painfully drawn out) transformation would serve any purpose in the larger plot (beyond the author’s desire to torture a religious person for the sin of being religious). In that case, you are apt to be disappointed as he is dispatched quickly, without ceremony, and in such a way that neither his death nor transformation has neither purpose nor effect. Of course, given the highly compressed nature of the Sins of Sinister event, the story was rushed, and certain characters were squandered. But aside from this, and the fact that the thesis of this story appears to be (as I’ve said numerous times) Religion = Bad, the narrative held together relatively well.

Spurrier is at his best when writing his characters, and every creature in this sandbox (up to and including Vox Ignus, who has nothing in common with Banshee besides a poorly rendered accent) belongs to him. Wagnerine is particularly fascinating, and her evolution has largely been a pleasure to watch.

Of course, this book is incredibly white (the characters are blue and red, but they’re all white-coded) and almost painfully straight (they’re all hybrid clones. Why is straight coupling the only idea they’ve had for love or reproduction?), and that’s frustrating. Wagnerine pairing off with a Cyclops clone is meant to be a sop for Logan/Summers shippers, but why not let them be queer? Why go to such convoluted efforts to force a straight answer? While we’re on the subject, why are so many supposedly liberal straight, cis white men absolutely incapable of inventing a world that doesn’t center around themselves or their nightmares? And, yeah, I have to say that this woman-led church is inherently evil and is reflective of the fear that lurks in the hearts of a certain kind of cis, straight, white guy. All religions are bad, but those religions that women leave are the worst, right, mates?

Added to this is the fact that although Wagnerine is being positioned in a heroic role (and she is a great character), the driving force behind her apostasy is the fact that she wants to settle down and have babies. The evil mother goddess isn’t letting her. Because that’s what makes a woman good, right? Wanting to reproduce and live happily ever after with a man. But although the society Spurrier has created has almost entirely been lifted from Walter M. Miller Jr. and Kurt Vonnegut (minus their brilliant, beautiful liberal humanism), it’s still developed surprisingly thoroughly considering the short space it’s been given.

Aside from any narrative difficulties, this is a beautiful story. Much of this world-building is down to the rather phenomenal work of Andrea Di Vito. Di Vito’s incredibly detailed scenic rendering, the positioning of the rituals, and the images of a plethora of dying worlds are nothing short of beautiful. Added to the frank mastery of the line work are the brilliant colors provided by Jim Charalampidis. This world, this story, is necessarily dark, but in Jim’s hands, the darkness never overwhelms the light that remains.

Aside from some unfortunately seriously regressive gender politics, this story was a fun, rollicking tour through a devastated dystopian future.