You’ve known her as Rachel Summers… Rachel Grey… Phoenix… Mother Askani… Revenant… Prestige…but all of that is over. Only THE HOUND remains! And you’d better pray she hasn’t caught your scent!
X-MEN GOLD #32
Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Artist: Pere Pérez
Colors: Jay David Ramos
Letters: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover: Phil Noto
Publisher: Marvel Comics
What You Need to Know:
The day after the wedding that never was…and the one that replaced it….has arrived. For those X-Men that still remain at the Clarebyrne Hotel there is more to deal with than just hangovers. Mesmero is seemingly playing with Rachel, manipulating her into believing she is back in her old home reality and it doesn’t look good for anyone. With Kitty, Colossus, Storm and young Cyclops down for the count only Iceman and new recruit Pyro are left standing to face her and her controller.
What You’ll Find Out:
We find Rachel standing over the prone forms of Kitty and young Scott, with Pyro and Iceman trying to talk her down, before backtracking twenty minutes to discover what really happened and how they all perceived the events that led to Rachel taking out most of her allies. Bobby is in bed and Simon comes out of the bathroom telling him the shower is free and teases him that he can go back in if he wants some company. Bobby just gets through telling him that last night was a one time thing when they hear a thump above them and go to investigate. Outside Kurt and Rachel’s room Bobby suspects attack but Simon is unsure they should be walking in on them. When they find Kurt coming round on the bathroom floor and ask what’s happened he just has one word.
By the way, nice boxers Kurt. Meanwhile Illyana is agonising over breakfast with Ororo, who is trying to make her realise that her talk with Kitty was with the best of intentions, when Illyana simply passes out. Before Storm can react she is attacked by a Mark I Sentinel. Summoning Stormcaster she goes on the attack, but the mutant hunting robot coolly analyses her and spears her with a flagpole and as she falls to the ground we see no evidence of the weapon or the attacker. Psylocke and Armor arrive to assess the situation and Betsy checks on Storm and no sooner does she discover who has taken her out than she herself falls unconscious. As Hisako looks up to find Rachel behind her she too falls to psychic attack.
Just then Kurt, Simon and Bobby arrive at the front of the hotel to find Kitty and Scott unconscious and look up to see Rachel in front of them. As Kurt tries to talk her down all she sees is his older counterpart in green overalls and goes on the attack. A shocked Cyclops blast is deflected and she calmly picks him up telekinetically and as all she sees is again her Earths version of her father she dispatches him, under orders of her controller….which brings us up to speed on events and we see Bobby and Simon confront her. As Bobby tries to calm her down Pyro talks tough and says they will take her down if they have to but even he isn’t convinced. But it isn’t the words of either that shake her, but young Scott recovering and talking to her. The shock of seeing him actually alive after she convinced herself she had killed him is enough to make her see all is not as it seems and she suddenly doubts all that is going on around her. Exploiting the edge he has he continues to talk her down and explains that even though he doesn’t know what she’s been through, he can understand as it’s not too dissimilar from his own ordeal.
Behind her Mesmero, disguising himself as her human controller tries to reassert his control, but it’s too late, she has broken his conditioning and reminds him she is Prestige and she shows him all the things she isn’t any more. No more Phoenix, no more Marvel Girl, she is moving beyond all of her issues and he cannot control her with the ghosts of her past. As his spectral form fades away like so much smoke, Bobby asks if she is ok. Leaving her to look down at what she has done and wonder.
What Just Happened?
Art: Another stunning cover from Phil Noto here, showing Rachel can be fierce even without the Phoenix Force. And overall the interior art this issue has been quite the most breathtaking I’ve seen in a long time on this title. Whereas before it has been good, this time it covers all the bases and everyone looks well rendered, especially the collage effect scene with Kurt and Rachel facing off. Well layered and showing the action without being confusing as to what is gong on.
More so this is helped by the colors which are similarly perfect and compliment the art and showcase the drama to full effect. We can almost feel the summer sun of the New York morning as Ororo and Illyana share breakfast on the patio, but we are quickly transported to the dark era Rachel hails from just as effortlessly.
Again a throwback to the original Days of Future Past storyline, as last issue also from Pere Pérez, with a Sentinel dispatching Storm. In the same way as last issue and the Wolverine/Ink destruction this was chilling, as at this point we still weren’t sure if the damage inflicted was physical or mental, which then brings to mind worry about Scott’s condition. Although personally I was in no doubt that effects would not be lasting or of any consequence, it still gives that moment of breath catching in the throat.
Writing: Marc Guggenheim took a calculated risk with the finale of this arc and it paid off well. This issue could have seemed like repetition to some impatient readers, who will have simply wanted to finish the dilemma from where we were dropped at the end of the previous issue. However, even though at least half of it is taken up with exposition, many readers did have questions from last issue and so it is vital we find how all the players arrived at the places they were and how they discovered what was going on, as we only saw Rachel’s view of events and not what really happened. Not to mention whether Scott really DID get his neck broken, which was a question that would have been informed, if not resoundingly answered by the inclusion of the scene with Storm getting speared. Also the perfection that was Scott being the one to talk Rachel down due to his own time travel issues. Perfect and a refreshing change to not make it someone she knows well as especially Kurt could have been too hokey and come off a little obvious. And I know everyone is so over Stormcaster, but I loved the way Storm called it to her side when she needed it. The image itself was very satisfying even if you know she truly doesn’t need it. But of course all that is to come next issue.
Though it was awesome seeing Rachel dispatch everyone with a wave of her hand, especially Armor and that “GFNG–!” my only problem with this issue was that it was a little anti climactic right at the end with Mesmero. I know Rachel of old. I don’t necessarily agree that she wouldn’t fall for these tricks and yes she does get manipulated. The enemy always knows the best tactic is to take out the psychic first. But she wins out in the end, always has. Even had she given into the influence, Rachel would NEVER let anyone go without showing them in no uncertain terms that they can’t hold her or give them some mean payback when all is said and done. From the beginning of Excalibur, with the Warwolves in Sword Is Drawn, Shadow King in Excalibur #22, even Mastermind in Excalibur #26 (who tried EXACTLY the same trick of tapping into her angst about her home reality) thn Nightmare in Excalibur #29 and again D’Spayre in Excalibur #35. Even Mesmero himself in the past, although that time all of Excalibur were saved from him and Fenris by Lockheed and the girls of St Searles School…so let’s not go there. But when Rachel DOES break free of someone’s mental restraints she does so in truly explosive style, with or without the Phoenix. And lets them know in no uncertain terms she is the master of her own mind….no pun intended. All of these in her days in Excalibur and countless others since. I know the power itself before was Phoenix and that is now gone, but the sheer hotheaded temperament and indomitable will was always that of Rachel herself and that is what needs to be shown here, if not the sheer raw power. It could be that the calming influence of the years in her new home have made her more mellow, but I feel more could have come of her rebound back to reality. Or maybe that’s just me wanting more of Rachel the Phoenix and not giving enough credit to the more grown up woman she has become. I do miss ‘Baby Phoenix’ as Mojo used to call her.
Characters: OK let’s deal with the elephant in the room….Bobby and Simon. WOW!! Hold the phone!! That one came in under the radar. Like the coming out of Bobby Drake some of us DID see this a mile off. There was a little exciting frisson of tension between these two when he first joined and it’s nice to see it confirmed here for certain. Kudos for revealing the status between them finally. I had been wondering if something was going on there or if it was my imagination. I only wonder if this is the short fling Bobby says it is or will we see Simon more in the new Iceman series. I can’t wait to find out and think this could be a better pairing than most Bobby has had in his life so far, from either gender. Aside from the obvious fire/ice narrative there is something good and positive about this as Simon is an unknown quantity and is a little bit of a challenge for Bobby. And yes we know he doesn’t usually react well to challenging situations. But this is a new Bobby for a new time. Let’s hope he can hold his own…so to speak.
And a great nod to young Cyclops here. As already mentioned Scott is the only logical choice to talk Rachel down here. Who better to understand what she is going through than someone who has been ripped through time to a place they aren’t really from and make her see the truth of things. Especially as he missed his chance to be the hero in Phoenix Resurrection when he wanted to talk to Jean and was so callously brushed aside for Old Man Logan, who had no more right to that honor than Scott did himself, but was seen as the logical choice nonetheless. It also gave an interesting dichotomy of using back up ensemble characters and not just go to team mates or known factors.
The conversation between Ororo and Illyana as well echoes how we all feel, poor Illyana is feeling so guilty for doing what a true friend must do. And as she says, what IS more dramatic than that? But today was not the time to explore that and thankfully the melodrama took a back seat while the Rachel dilemma was dealt with. But HAS it been? While it all seemed to be cleared up neatly I think there’s more to come, after all wasn’t it Cassandra Nova over in X-Men Red that really put the whammy on Rachel? Was it that which allowed Mesmero to play in her mind in the first place? Was it even really Vincent we saw all this time, doing this to her from prison? He’s really not that powerful and Rachel IS. My guess is Nova was playing from the shadows as she did before in the arc of Astonishing when tricking Kitty into setting her free, pretending it was him and allowing them to think they had won, only to come back later as though she was simply testing the waters. Is the threat over for Rachel or is there more to come? Only time will tell.
Rating: 8/10
Final Thought: I do wish this story had led into Extermination, as that would have dovetailed quite nicely. But on the whole aside from the over simplified resolution all was well.
COMING NEXT…
Storm goes back to the Kenyan village where she was once revered as a Goddess…except now it’s true…isn’t it? What IS the deal with Stormcaster? Find out next issue.
X-Men Gold #33 On Sale August 1st 2018!
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